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I have been working with the BIAB Notation Window's staff roll notation mode lately to fix up bad melody timing in songs. It is so good! It is so much easier than the "Editable Notation Mode". You can fine tune the timing and I am wondering if I can use that to simulate 1/4 note triplets in a 1/16th division Latin tune by multiplying the 120 ticks by 2 then dividing by 3 to get 80 ticks for each of the three 1/4 note triplets. Gee, I wish I knew this earlier. You can also see the length of the note and the volumes as well.

I have never regretted buying BIAB.

Last edited by bowlesj; 12/23/20 05:10 AM.

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I have always adjusted timing and duration of notes by changing the tick value, particularly for triplets. Just right-click the note in editable notation mode. Very powerful for fine tuning, and present in BIAB from the beginning.

Also, just checking, 120 ticks per quarter is the default for BIAB, but did you know you can change that up to 960** if you want greater control and/or compatibility with DAWs.

** see my next post, below!

Last edited by Matt Finley; 12/22/20 08:11 PM. Reason: New information

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Originally Posted By: Matt Finley
Also, just checking, 120 ticks per quarter is the default for BIAB, but did you know you can change that up to 960 if you want greater control and/or compatibility with DAWs.


Thanks Matt, I didn't know the second text box for ticks could be set up to 960. So far I have assumed that if I want a not to last 2 and 1/2 beats I would enter 2 in the first text box (the beat) and 120/2 in the ticks box (actually I just figured this out tonight). So from what you are saying the 960/120 = 8 suggests I can enter up to 8 beats in just the ticks box alone.

The reason I am learning all this is the vocalist in our group learns by ear and I need to have these melodies dead on. For me I don't use the BIAB melody. I just do it the old fashion way (sight read) :-)

Last edited by bowlesj; 12/22/20 06:43 PM.

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Yes, the Right Mouse Drag feature is excellent for making adjustments.
The Piano Roll view has similar functionality.


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Originally Posted By: VideoTrack
Yes, the Right Mouse Drag feature is excellent for making adjustments.
The Piano Roll view has similar functionality.


Thanks VideoTrack, I didn't realize I can adjust the duration and volume with the right mouse drag. Cool. Big time saver. Exactly what I need.

Running this Jazz Jams Club has forced me to learn so much more about BIAB. I think the vocalist is going to buy it. The first person to listen to me...lol. Actually maybe the second :-) A drummer may buy it which surprised me especially since I didn't suggest buying it. See, he didn't listen to me...lol. I don't suggest it and he buys it :-) Reminds me of my daughter :-)

Last edited by bowlesj; 12/22/20 07:03 PM.

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Hi John,

Like you, I like the editable notation mode, too.

And like Videotrack, I also use Piano Roll mode. What I like about Piano roll mode, is that I can insert and snap notes to triplet timing when needed.

Regards,
Noel

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Originally Posted By: Noel96
Hi John,

Like you, I like the editable notation mode, too.

And like Videotrack, I also use Piano Roll mode. What I like about Piano roll mode, is that I can insert and snap notes to triplet timing when needed.

Regards,
Noel


Hi Noel, you must be a mind reader :-)

I was just going to ask how to snap a note to the 1st or 3rd beat then get the other 2 notes of the 1/4 note triplet spaced evenly over the 2 beats while running a 1/16th style. I thought I had it figured out by dropping them roughly in place then setting the tick duration of each of the three notes to 120 X 2 = 240 / 3 = 80. However it occurred to me that maybe this does not shift them into proper place such that they are perfectly evenly spaced over the 2 beats. Is there a place in the manual or a video explaining how to do this. It would also be really nice if the notation could detect they are evenly spaced and write them as 1/4 note triplets against a 1/6th Latin style. However for me this 2nd one is less important.

Thanks.
John

Last edited by bowlesj; 12/22/20 08:14 PM.

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John, careful. What this means is that instead of dividing a beat into 120PPQ, you can choose other values up to 960**. Some DAWs give you this level of accuracy so if you use one of them, it helps to stay in the same mindset when doing the math. We asked for this and PG Music gave it to us. If you don't like using math, use the piano roll.

Adjust this in Options, Preferences, MIDI File, Resolution for MIDI File pulldown.

EDIT: Interestingly, I just discovered that we now have 16 different choices here and the highest resolution is now 1920, not 960. Wow. I wonder when that became available!

Last edited by Matt Finley; 12/22/20 08:09 PM. Reason: it's more than I thought.

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I am watching this piano roll overview video during my popcorn video time. Very interesting and useful.

Last edited by bowlesj; 12/22/20 08:41 PM.

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Update: although the info in this post is good to know this video shows you the proper way to enter 1/8th triplets and 1/4 note triplets into BIAB against a latin style song with 1/16th vertical lines in the editable notation window.

Did I get the snap for 1/4 note triplets correct in the picture?

I guess I did. I think I selected 1/8th note triplets then I moved the notes to the correct ones for 1/4 note triplets and the duration correct as well. It looks evenly spaced :-)

So I assume I should only set this during the time I want the 1/4 note triplets set. The rest of the time (for a Latin tune) I select 1/8th or 1/16th spacing.

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Last edited by bowlesj; 12/24/20 06:04 AM.

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Hi John,

That looks correct to me. If one has 3 notes to fit into 4 beats, then each note should take 4/3 = 1 & 1/3 beats. That's what I see in the image.

Noel


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Update: although the info in this post is good to know this video shows you the proper way to enter 1/8th triplets and 1/4 note triplets into BIAB against a latin style song with 1/16th vertical lines in the editable notation window.

Thanks Noel,

Using you idea but since 1/4 note triplets fit into 2 beats then it works out to 2/3 = 0.6666666. But I count them at slower speeds like this.

When reading music at slower speeds I count in 1/8th note triplets as 1-trip-let 2-trip-let. So this is 1/3 = 0.3333333. The 1/4 note triplets land on every other 0.333333 which means every 0.666666 which is correct. It maps like this.

0.3333333 1 <<<<<<<<<<<<<first 1/4 note triplet
0.3333333 trip
0.3333333 let <<<<<<<<<<<<<second 1/4 note triplet
0.3333333 2
0.3333333 trip <<<<<<<<<<<<<third 1/4 note triplet
0.3333333 let

I did this in BIAB starting with the editable notation mode in swing triplets, created 3 pictures of this then added a 4th picture after changing it to (1/16th notes Latin). This 4 pictures are copied into 1 picture.


John

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Last edited by bowlesj; 12/24/20 06:05 AM.

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John,

You are 100% correct. I'm wrong.

I read your text but when I looked at your image, I interpreted it as a triplet of minim notes for some reason. Since each minim contains two crotchets, that's where I got the four notes from. My apologies for that.

As I was typing, it occurred to me that music notation is another system that has varying standards throughout the world. I don't know if the USA uses the terminology of minims, crotchets, quavers, semi-quavers, etc. Here in Australia, it's the standard system of nomenclature for music notation. I believe it's also big throughout Europe. Every time I write something regarding notes on these PG Music boards, I convert to 1/2 note, 1/4 note, etc., to make it easier for non-Australians. It seems that different names for the same thing abound everywhere!

It seems that when it comes to musics, inconsistencies are all over the place.

I hope that you and your family have an excellent Christmas and New Year,
Noel


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Hi Noel,

no problem about the mistake. Mistakes are the best tools of learning we all have the right to use. Its is a Quote I created to never forget. Unfortunately many people try to hide their mistakes because they have not learned what over generalizing means (Taking one instance and incorrectly applying it to the whole). Once learned properly one realizes that a mistake of any type does not make us a lesser person on a total person basis. My problem is I know these so well I get myself in trouble forgetting that many do not :-)

Quote:
I don't know if the USA uses the terminology of minims, crotchets, quavers, semi-quavers, etc.


They do not use these terms in Canada either. I have never once heard any of them until now. I had to look them up in google :-)


Have a Merry Christmas down under :-) That reminds me of an Oriental Lady that emailed me from Australia asking if she could jam with us (our Jazz Jams Club - which use to be called Jazz Karaoke Jams). You can see pictures of her at this link and see her web page at this link. A very advanced piano player to say the least.

Cheers!
John

Last edited by bowlesj; 12/23/20 01:03 PM.

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I put this update in three of my posts above. The feature has been available since at least 2014 and I was not aware of it. I even requested it in the Wishlist and no one responded. I just discovered it. It pays to watch the videos.

Update: although the info in this post is good to know this video shows you the proper way to enter 1/8th triplets and 1/4 note triplets into BIAB against a latin style song with 1/16th vertical lines in the editable notation window.

Last edited by bowlesj; 12/24/20 06:09 AM.

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