PG Music Home Forums PG Music Wishlists I want a video that shows me how to .... Complete song making from Intro to End.

Thanks for posting your insight to developing a complete song. However, in your first post, a complete song evolved from one tutorial into three versions of increasing complexity resulting into becoming a series of tutorials. I liked the initial idea of a complete song that showcases BIAB's capabilities.

Note this forum is where users request video tutorial's produced by PG Music staff not individuals submitting their own versions. PG staff will be familiar with all of the different features offered in the feature list menu and I envision this "How To" Tutorial to flow in a similar manner to Kent's excellent video you reference in your initial post. It's quite fast and while the narrator focuses on specific aspects of song construction like intro's, ending's and bridge's, alternate methods and techniques are mentioned throughout. For example in Kent's video, although he demonstrates BIAB's automatic intro, he also mentions the task can be done manually. As a PG staff production, the tutorial I suggest can easily be completed in a 10-12 minute timeframe. I agree if you are unfamiliar with each of these features it could take an hour or more to work your way through the complete list because you would be learning as you go through each one. That would not be the case with a PG staff member giving "How To" steps throughout.

I piggy-backed off of Kent's method of selecting features that only need the "how to" instructions and not a deep theoretical explanation of why the process is done that way. For instance, Kent's demonstration of BIAB's creating an automatic, default intro only takes 16 seconds and the instructions are clear enough that no questions or comments that any user is confused or lost are in the video comments section. The features I selected to illustrate all perform in a similar manner of the user selecting the feature and mostly either follow simple prompts or select the default settings and BIAB does all of the processing.

< Why not do it from scratch? >
1. There are too many variables to each song section. For example, there can be the Auto intro that Kent used, a manual intro, the Melodist can create a Chord Chart and melody. A song can be started with loading a BIAB demo, Midi file, an Audio file, a loop, a chord progression and selected style or even a live recording. Starting with a midi file is simpler than using an audio file and the ACW though both will produce very similar results. Starting with a midi file will also automatically provide a song groove, or "in the style" feel of a commercially released recording resulting in achieving satisfactory style without having to spend a lot of time auditioning hundreds of styles. Using a midi style will work with every version and year version of the BIAB program. Using a midi file will also give an absolute beginner the opportunity to create a song of more complexity in the arrangement than would be expected with a beginners lack of experience with the program. My thought is a user will likely be more pleased and proud of producing a song in-the-style-of the Bee Gees "Staying Alive" than "Old McDonald".

< While these are a valuable tools, (midi files and converting a midi file into a Style) I feel that starting with these will diminish value of BIAB in the eyes of viewer, thinking that it is designed for "importing and modifying", not creating. >

Here's why I disagree.
1. Referencing Kent's tutorial, it has received more than 50,000 views and was created by him using the Melodist Feature of BIAB without any user input other than selecting and activating the feature and over the three year period since posting, has not generated a single comment or question. I don't see any evidence that how the tutorial is started will sway any users away especially if the PG staff narrator explains it's just one of many ways to start a song.
2. A Midi file is a starting point that allows users with little experience with BIAB to follow the step by step instructions and create a more complete, full and complex arrangement than most other methods BIAB accepts to start a song. I'm not talking about a cover of commercial song, rather, an in-the-style-of song similar to Notes Norton's third party midi styles. This is a beginners level task to do ( similar in every respect to Kent's Intro portion of his video). Anyone should be able to follow the steps to convert a midi file to a midi style. Replacing some or all of the midi patches with either Midi Super Tracks, Hi-Q Instruments, VST's or RealTracks are also beginner level tasks.
3. In a private message, someone suggested using a loop instead of a Midi file. In discussion, they agreed the operation is nearly exactly the same so there was no benefit to substitute a loop for the midi file. But because as with so many other tasks, like the multiple ways to do an intro, there is a benefit of using midi because it provides the opportunity to include converting a midi file into a midi style.
4. BIAB has hundreds of midi styles and many are MultiStyles. My system contains nearly 1,000 PG Staff pre-made MultiStyles. They take a Chord Chart SGU song to a completely different level and it's accomplished simply by selecting and inserting a MultiStyle from the StylePicker list. It's very basic to take any existing style and modify it into your own custom MultiStyle. An SGU file can have up to 24 MultiStyles inserted into the Chord Chart. Using MultiStyles can let a beginner program an arrangement using just BIAB that would take hours to duplicate in a DAW.

There's not been another tutorial I've seen that offers this depth and complexity while keeping the steps easy enough for someone with little to no familiarity with BIAB to create a song that sounds like it's been produced at an advanced level and showcases what BIAB is truly capable of producing.

Nothing requires advanced programming by the user. Advanced production is achieved by the BIAB program at mostly default settings or easy to understand prompts.

Just my thoughts to how to implement what I think is a great idea and proposal that I'm stumped to why there's not a ton of people giving support to the project so PG staff will be motivated to put together a 10 minute "How to" video to complete making a sophisticated song from intro to ending. A tutorial following this list or a similar one, offers insights to a variety of users. There's something for each, if they want to do accurate covers, accompaniment songs, movie soundtracks, practice songs or original compositions.