That's how I do it. But I also know both systems intimately so rarely need to think about "how much would that be..."
Yes, I under the concept. I find fractions pretty useless to begin with unless we are talking about very approximant measurements. A half a pie, half crazy. They have more relevance in machining, 1/2 inch but I prefer .500
The speed signs here are in MPH. The speedometer is designed to be read in MPH and yes there are some small numbers in kilometers.
I can think in miles, nautical miles, and kilometers. I have my GPS in my car set to display in kilometers because 700 meters is easier to understand than .435 miles or 87/200 and of course that would be displayed as 1/2 miles but in fact the GPS would never display that distance of 700 meters in miles to begin with.
I know visually what 13MM looks like, more or less the same as 1/2 inch. I know what 300 meters looks like, about from my house to the end of the street.
Part of my frustration is most likely related to constantly having to speak and listen in both English and Spanish and really never knowing when I must use one or the other.
I program my GPS to speak to me in French just to keep the language in my head and because I get tired of both English and Spanish...lol
I also am pretty conversant in both systems. Where it becomes problematic is when precision is needed. That requires precise conversion.
I cook in conventional USA terms...1/2 cup, two teaspoons ect. How much less trouble to have learned that in grams and milliliters.
I will vote for the metric system every time.
Billy
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
I remember when MLB first added 2 Canadian teams and the distance down the foul lines was metric. Toronto had 99.97 metres written on the wall in left and right. I wrote to MLB and asked them why, if Toronto said 99.97 metres that teams in the USA did not say 330 feet 7 inches. Why not round off?
Though it's still a travesty that pitchers don't bat in the American League but they do in the National League...
I would prefer that the USA gets off the Imperial system and goes completely metric.
Both systems have their pros and cons, but the majority of the rest of the world is metric, so it would be much easier if we joined the world community.
And Pianobilly, I agree that decimals are better than fractions for making calculations. Two of the only common things better expressed as a fraction are 1/3 and 2/3 :-)
FWIW, those still need to use the tempo map to be correct. But I did get the reference (music) so I smiled. Go ahead and do the below tempo map in fractions <grin>
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
As Trev said earlier, we went metric in the 1970s, but we still use a lot of "descriptive" terminology, such as "He's very tall, well over six feet" Or "the surf was big today ... well over 10 foot waves." There's two funny things I remember at the start of the introduction to the metric system. The first was a politician trying to "sell" the metric system, who said "It may be difficult at first, but stick with it. If you try to forget the imperial system, and think metric, inch by inch we'll get there."
And another person said "This is too hard ..... they should have waited until all of the old people died before introducing it."
...There's two funny things I remember at the start of the introduction to the metric system. The first was a politician trying to "sell" the metric system, who said "It may be difficult at first, but stick with it. If you try to forget the imperial system, and think metric, inch by inch we'll get there."
BIAB & RB2025 Win.(Audiophile), Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
In the worthless trivia category, the reason for 12 in the Imperial system is to avoid having to deal with fractions.
That is, 12 can be evenly divided by 2, 3, 4 and 6. When you're building stuff, you don't want rounding errors to cause problems, so dealing with integers is just simpler.
Same logic with a 12 hour clock, and 360 degrees. Only with degrees, you basically get to divide by 5 without a fractional result as well.
Vulgar Fractions and Decimal Fractions never worry me. I can us them all. Yep. I can use feet and inches too, no question.
But since moving to a decimal system here a long time ago, the terms: - 12 pounds and 6 and a half ounces, - Nine and three quarter U.S. gallons, - Seventeen feet, five and three sixteenths of an inch measurements are, well, well, so unnecessarily complicated - when there is already a much easier method that has been around for such a long time.
And yes, I also already know that that 1 mile = 5,280 feet or 1,760 yards
But, using metric, I don't have to remember that 16 ounces = 1 pound. 14 pounds = 1 stone or that 2000lb = 1 'short' ton.
I only have to know that - 1000mm = 1 metre, - 1000 metres = 1km. - 1000 grams = 1 kgm. - 1000 kgm = 1 metric tonne.
Just so, so much easier.
BIAB & RB2025 Win.(Audiophile), Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
14 pounds = one stone...lol At least I don't have to deal with that one...lol
We do have equally arcane measurement systems.
Horses are measured in hands because they didn't have standard measuring tools in ancient societies, so they commonly used hands to measure horses; this tradition continues to the present. One hand is considered 4 inches, so a 15 hand horse is 60 inches tall.
And while we are talking about not having the proper tools. I would like for Ben Franklin to just disappear into the dust of history. Electrons flow from negative to positive not the other way around like all schematics show. Call conventional flow! I call conventional BS!!!
Billy
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
Engineers and technicians are trained different theories regarding the flow of electricity. One theory addresses electron movement while the other theory looks at electron hole movement. When an electron moves left to right then the electron hole moves right to left.
It's just as confusing as trying to determine who won the calculator war, Hewlett Packard (HP) with their Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) or Texas Instruments (TI) with their Standard Algebraic Notation (SAN). Engineers typically were trained to use RPN while technicians SAN. We may strive to be a classless society but mankind always finds a way to classify people.
It's just as confusing as trying to determine who won the calculator war, Hewlett Packard (HP) with their Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) or Texas Instruments (TI) with their Standard Algebraic Notation (SAN). Engineers typically were trained to use RPN while technicians SAN. We may strive to be a classless society but mankind always finds a way to classify people.
But you have to admit that both RPN and TI beat using a slide rule! You young guns can look up slide rule
The fitness trainer asked me, "What kind of a squat are you accustomed to doing?" I said, "Diddly."
64 bit Win 11 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
Engineers and technicians are trained different theories regarding the flow of electricity. One theory addresses electron movement while the other theory looks at electron hole movement. When an electron moves left to right then the electron hole moves right to left.
It's just as confusing as trying to determine who won the calculator war, Hewlett Packard (HP) with their Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) or Texas Instruments (TI) with their Standard Algebraic Notation (SAN). Engineers typically were trained to use RPN while technicians SAN. We may strive to be a classless society but mankind always finds a way to classify people.
I have both calculators. I use the HP for mortgage and interest calculations and the TI for engineering calculations. Actually nowadays there are so many calculators on the internet I use them as much as anything. We also have programs designed for highly specific calculations such as structural engineering.
There are all sorts of terms of measurement that are slowly going away. Feet, yards, fathoms, leagues are rapidly being replaced by meters.
An even with the best of systems many measurements are difficult at best to conceptualize. How small is a nanometer? How far is a parsec? You can not see a nanometer because it is smaller that a wave length of light.
One parsec is defined as the distance at which an arc of length one astronomical unit subtends an angle of one second of an arc .
1 parsec = 3.08 x 1016m. Say what??? OK if you say so...lol
Billy
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
A couple of stories about Metric/Imperial confusion.
1. I saw this on a TV programme about 20 years ago.
In the 1800s an American millionaire acquired architects plans for a French style chateau and commissioned American contractors to build it on land he had bought in the US. Unfortunately the contractors thought the measurements were inches but were actually centimetres. The resulting chateau was 2.5 times bigger than intended.
2. I came across this one while reading a biography of the actor David Niven.
He had a residence in the south of France and employed a local firm to construct a swimming pool in the grounds. His hand written instructions were in feet which they thought were metres, so the pool was about 40+ feet at the deep end.
XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs Special Extended Until August 31st!
XPro & Xtra Styles PAKs Special Extended Until August 31st!
The XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs special offers are now available until August 31st at 11:59pm PDT!
Ready to take your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 experience to the next level? Now’s the perfect time! Expand your style library with XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs—packed with a wide variety of genres to inspire your next musical creation.
What are XPro Styles and Xtra Styles PAKs?
XPro Styles PAKs are styles that work with any version (Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition) of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). XPro Styles PAKS 1-9 includes 900 styles!
Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). With over 3,500 styles (and 35 MIDI styles) included in Xtra Styles PAKs 1-20, the possibilities are endless!
Get the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Listen to demos and order now! For Windows or for Mac.
Note: XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Get Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 19 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Listen to demos and order now! For Windows or for Mac.
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 19 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Don’t miss this chance to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box setup—at a great price!
Mac 2025 Special Upgrade Offers Extended Until August 15th!
It's not too late to upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® and save! We've extended our special until August 15, 2025!
We've added many major new features to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, including advanced AI tools like the amazing BB Stem Splitter and AI Lyrics Generator, as well as VST3 plugin support, and Equalize Temp. Plus, there’s a new one-stop MIDI Patches Picker with over 1,100 MIDI patches to choose from, all neatly categorized by GM numbers. The MultiPicker Library is enhanced with tabs for the SongPicker, MIDI Patch Picker, Chord Builder, AI Lyrics Generator, and Song Titles Browser, and the tabs are organized into logical groups. The Audiophile Edition is enhanced with FLAC files , which are 60% smaller than AIFF files while maintaining identical audio quality, and now ships on a fast 1TB SSD, and much more!
Check out all the new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® here:
Purchase your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac during our special to save up to 50% off your upgrade purchase and receive a FREE BONUS PAK of amazing new Add-ons. These include the 2025 RealCombos Booster PAK, Look Ma! More MIDI 13: Country & Americana, Instrumental Studies Set 22: 2-Hand Piano Soloing - Rhythm Changes, MIDI SuperTracks Set 44: Jazz Piano, Artist Performance Set 17: Songs with Vocals 7, Playable RealTracks Set 4, RealDrums Stems Set 7: Jazz with Mike Clark, and more!
Upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for just $49 and add 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and 20 RealStyles, FLAC Files for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks, Look Ma! More MIDI 14: SynthMaster, MIDI SuperTracks Set 45: More SynthMaster, Artist Performance Set 18: Songs with Vocals 8, and RealDrums Stems Set 8: Pop, Funk & More with Jerry Roe.
Learn more about the Bonus PAKs!
We’ve expanded the Band-in-a-Box® RealTracks library with 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 449-467) across Jazz, Blues, Funk, World, Pop, Rock, Country, Americana, and Praise & Worship—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Blues & World (Sets 449–455):
These RealTracks includes “Soul Jazz” with Neil Swainson (bass), Mike Clark (drums), Charles Treadway (organ), Miles Black (piano), and Brent Mason (guitar). Enjoy “Requested ’60s” jazz, classic acoustic blues with Colin Linden, and more of our popular 2-handed piano soloing. Plus, a RealTracks first—Tango with bandoneon, recorded in Argentina!
Rock & Pop (Sets 456–461):
This collection includes Disco, slap bass ‘70s/‘80s pop, modern and ‘80s metal with Andy Wood, and a unique “Songwriter Potpourri” featuring Chinese folk instruments, piano, banjo, and more. You’ll also find a muted electric guitar style (a RealTracks first!) and “Producer Layered Guitar” styles for slick "produced" sound.
Country, Americana & Praise (Sets 462–467):
We’ve added new RealTracks across bro country, Americana, praise & worship, vintage country, and songwriter piano. Highlights include Brent Mason (electric guitar), Eddie Bayers (drums), Doug Jernigan (pedal steel), John Jarvis (piano), Glen Duncan (banjo, mandolin & fiddle), Mike Harrison (electric bass) and more—offering everything from modern sounds to heartfelt Americana styles
And, if you are looking for more, the 2025 49-PAK (for $49) includes an additional 20 RealTracks with exciting new sounds and genre-spanning styles. Enjoy RealTracks firsts like Chinese instruments (guzheng & dizi), the bandoneon in an authentic Argentine tango trio, and the classic “tic-tac” baritone guitar for vintage country.
You’ll also get slick ’80s metal guitar from Andy Wood, modern metal with guitarist Nico Santora, bass player Nick Schendzielos, and drummer Aaron Stechauner, more praise & worship, indie-folk, modern/bro country with Brent Mason, and “Songwriter Americana” with Johnny Hiland.
Plus, enjoy user-requested styles like Soul Jazz RealDrums, fast Celtic Strathspey guitar, and Chill Hop piano & drums!
With your version 2025 for Mac Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons FREE! Or upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
The 2025 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 33 new RealTracks and 65+ new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 29 new RealTracks and 45+ new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 20 new RealStyles.
Look Ma! More MIDI 13: Country & Americana
Instrumental Studies Set 22: 2-Hand Piano Soloing - Rhythm Changes
MIDI SuperTracks Set 44: Jazz Piano
Artist Performance Set 17: Songs with Vocals 7
Playable RealTracks Set 4
RealDrums Stems Set 7: Jazz with Mike Clark
SynthMaster Sounds and Styles (with audio demos)
128 GM MIDI Patch Audio Demos.
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyles,
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
Look Ma! More MIDI 14: SynthMaster,
Instrumental Studies Set 23: More '80s Hard Rock Soloing,
MIDI SuperTracks Set 45: More SynthMaster
Artist Performance Set 18: Songs with Vocals 8
RealDrums Stems Set 8: Pop, Funk & More with Jerry Roe
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Mac!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
New! XPro Styles PAK 9 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and higher for Mac!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 9 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 29 RealTracks/RealDrums!
We've been hard at it to bring you the latest and greatest in this 9th installment of our popular XPro Styles PAK series! Included are 75 styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres (25 styles each) that fans have come to expect, as well as 25 styles in this volume's wildcard genre: funk & R&B!
If you're itching to get a sneak peek at what's included in XPro Styles PAK 9, here is a small helping of what you can look forward to: Funky R&B Horns, Upbeat Celtic Rock, Jazz Fusion Salsa, Gentle Indie Folk, Cool '60s Soul, Funky '70s R&B, Smooth Jazz Hip Hop, Acoustic Rockabilly Swing, Funky Reggae Dub, Dreamy Retro Latin Jazz, Retro Soul-Rock Fusion, and much more!
Special Pricing! Until July 31, 2024, all the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Windows!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
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