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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Aug 2011
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OP
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Every time I start a new song file I begin by making two changes:
First I go to Edit > Song Form > and select "Unfold (convert to 1 BIG chorus)".
Second I go to the framing buttons on the toolbar and change the number of choruses from 3 to 1.
Changing these two defaults will reduce the time I spend getting ready to create and eliminate the need to perform two steps that aggravate me and take me out of my creative space. I can instead spend that time trying to be creative.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Dec 2003
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I do the same as Jim so a big +1 from me.
Back in my day the only time we started panic buying was when the bartender shouted "last call"!
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 3,891
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Yep! Big +1 on this! Annoying step I have to do. Every. Single. Song!
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jul 2000
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But you folks would make me undo these new defaults every time I work.
Would you be willing to make this a user setting? Then I’m fine, and you’re fine.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 24,567
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But you folks would make me undo these new defaults every time I work.
Would you be willing to make this a user setting? Then I’m fine, and you’re fine. Good idea. I would go for a user setting.
Back in my day the only time we started panic buying was when the bartender shouted "last call"!
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jun 2012
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I never unfold, so I think a user defined setting would be the way to go.
If so, +1
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jun 2012
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But you folks would make me undo these new defaults every time I work.
Would you be willing to make this a user setting? Then I’m fine, and you’re fine. I wonder how many users actually use this 3 chorus feature? I bet it is a small subset. And Matt, do you always use 3 choruses or do you usually have to change that to another number anyway? Bottom line, it should be set to default to how the majority of users use it. Making it a user setting that could then be customized would be great.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Aug 2011
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OP
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But you folks would make me undo these new defaults every time I work. Would you be willing to make this a user setting? Then I’m fine, and you’re fine. Making them a preference setting works for me, as long as the defaults are MY way! 
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jul 2000
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JohnJohnJohn, since you asked, I do indeed use the default almost all of the time. I write original music, and most songs have a melody chorus, a solo chorus, and the melody recap chorus with 2nd ending (a Tag).
Everyone, remember the history. BIAB was developed to enter songs from jazz fakebooks. That history explains several things, including what BIAB calls a chorus (the jazzer definition) and what is being discussed here.
I don't think we can ever know what the majority of users like. There is no way to know short of a poll, and that poll only reaches the subset of users who frequent this forum.
Sure, go ahead and change the default. Just make it an option so I can reset it once to the way I want it. And be prepared to answer a ton of questions on the forum after this change is implemented.
Cheers.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jun 2012
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be prepared to answer a ton of questions on the forum after this change is implemented But at least all the users without any jazz experience won't need to send in their ton of questions as to why it works like this! And I'd bet the marketplace going forward has far fewer users who have the jazz understanding of a chorus.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jul 2000
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I don’t think all the early adopters of BIAB are dead yet. 100% of the existing users know the defaults to be what they are. Just make it a user-selectable setting. You can change it once and you’re all set.
The Song Form feature was introduced to help the folks who think in terms of verse, chorus, bridge, but it is rather well hidden. I do see an opportunity to improve the overall interface regarding how one prefers to construct a song, and make that a lot more prominent. Wouldn’t that be the better solution here?
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Feb 2015
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Always do that, and in the BiabVST you are in the DAW so it's linear and the bars correspond. Especially now if they are making the simple Biab DAW Sync VST you need that option so the bar number correspond in both. That's why I got it as the first Custom Action in the Chord Picker Tool: 
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 515
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 515 |
Yes. Allow the user to set a preference for what a new empty song contains.
When trying out new ideas I frequently set it to 1 repeat and only 8 or 16 bars long just so the generation time is shorter.
RayL
Mac Studio M2 mid 2024 64 GB RAM
MacOS Sonoma 14.5
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Studio One 7.2
PreSonus USB AudioBox 1818VSL
Running BIAB from the external HD supplied by PG
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jun 2012
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I don’t think all the early adopters of BIAB are dead yet. 100% of the existing users know the defaults to be what they are. Just make it a user-selectable setting. You can change it once and you’re all set.
The Song Form feature was introduced to help the folks who think in terms of verse, chorus, bridge, but it is rather well hidden. I do see an opportunity to improve the overall interface regarding how one prefers to construct a song, and make that a lot more prominent. Wouldn’t that be the better solution here? IMHO, catering to antiquated, quirky standards like this is one of the reasons it is hard to reach new, younger customers. Can you imagine the reaction of Garageband users if Apple decided to make jazz choruses the default config? No, the default behavior should be updated to follow modern standards and anyone using old standards should be accommodated with the setting option. If PGM plans to be around 10 years from now when lots of early adopters really are gone they need to start cleaning up this software now!
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jun 2012
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A good compromise would be a transitional version of BIAB where this preference is included as a must-answer question during installation. That way everyone chooses their preference. Then, in future versions you remove the question and have modern standards (unfolded) as the default. But you retain settings previously set.
Now, that is how you move forward while accommodating those early adopters!
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jul 2000
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At least this setting is saved with the song.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Apr 2013
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At least this setting is saved with the song. As are some other BIAB defaults that benefit users that mostly use the program for accompaniment rather than composition.
BIAB 2025:RB 2025, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Despite my attempt to be cute response above to Matt, I have no objection to changing the settings from default settings to preference settings.
Changing a setting from a default to a preference setting worked out well in RealBand. Even though RealBand is a PowerTracks Pro derivative it did not originally save song files in the native SEQ file format. PG Music transitioned from the old to the new by creating the preference setting in one annual release and enabled the setting by default later on.
I see no reason why these Band-in-a-Box settings couldn't be handled the same way.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,513
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Posts: 27,513 |
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Dec 2016
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Expert
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Expert
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HP i7-4770 16GB 1TB SSD, Win 10 Home,
Focusrite 2i2 3rd Gen, Launchkey 61, Maton CW80, Telecaster, Ovation Elite TX, Yamaha Pacifica 612
BB 2022(912) RB 2022(2), CakeWalk, Reaper 6, Audacity, Melodyne 5 Editor, Izotope Music Production Suite 4.1
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