Originally Posted By: firesong
BT...really nice piece...one of the best and most cohesive uses of BiaB as an instrumental piece that I've heard...great bass work as usual...very mellow and ethereal...I especially like the strings and solo guitar melody...I don't know how much patching phrases together you had to do to get it down but it sounds great!

BTW...My mind doesn't associate it with the poem you posted...but my mind is weird smile

Hey fs, thanks for the glowing review. Coming from a master of music like you, this means a lot.

Not sure what you mean by "patching phrases together" as I'm still a 3 year old with BiaB and a 7 year old on the bass but let me summarize my process.

1. After hunting and pecking a chord progression in BiaB, I'll settle on a song structure. Usually intro, verse1, verse2, chorus 1, maybe a bridge, verses3 and outro.

2. Then I'll play the BiaB file in a loop and sit down at my Korg. I'll iteratively seach for a voice that matches the mood, theme or message in my head.

3. Once I find a Korg voice I like (strings, vibes, organ, etc) I'll try to play along with BiaB; basically with one or two fingers. It may take me hours to find a sequence of keystrokes that sound good to me at which point I'll hit Record in my DAW. Of course, take 1 will have a mistake in chorus2, take 2 will have a mistake somewhere else and so on. Eventually I'll obtain a "mistake-free" take.

4. Now I move on to Korg voice 2 and maybe a 3rd voice. For the subsequent voices I try to me mindful that they don't "overlap" or are too close in the frequency spectrum. [I'm sure there is a musical term for this I just don't know it.]

5. At this point I have all the tracks in my DAW and I make a decision which voice plays when and where. This is where each track/voice "fights for it's life" to stay in the mix.

6. When step 5 is "complete" I usually write and print a chord sheet then it's time to turn on my bass amp and lay down a groove. If the song is slow and simple I might be able to get what I like in one take. For up-tempo and more complex songs it might take me days. Even if it takes days, it's still fun.

7. Export the mix to MP3 format, upload to SoundCloud and share/learn from you true experts.

As I learn more and more this process will change. For example I recently discovered the 16-step drum sequencer in my DAW AND that my Korg has a built-in arpeggiator ! Two woo-hooos's smile

One of my life philosophies is to try to give more than I take in life. And because others here have a similar view I have learned a ton of music in the last 3 or so years I've been on this forum. Floyd is just the latest teacher, there is also Mario, MusicStudent(who I call MusicTeacher), David Cuny, Matt Finley, Marty, Ray and others. So I hope the above home made, DIY, clunky, 7-step procedure might help someone starting out in music, or at the minimum that if a self-taught novice like me can produce something, so can anyone. And of course, if you or anyone see ways to improve my method, do share.

--Steve

PS> It just ocurred to me that I think Eddie shared a 1500 chord progression document a few days ago. Thanks again Eddie.

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BiaB 2025 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.