PG Music Home Forums PG Music Product Forums Band-in-a-Box for Windows Trying to figure out 8th shots....

I'm trying to do something that I'm not sure is a doable thing.

So, I know if I enter D.. , D.. into a bar.... I get shots on 1 as well as 2. The shots are on the quarter notes.

Now... using Microchords.... I'm supposed to be able to achieve 16th note resolution. However.... when I go into the Microchord (MC) screen, and enter D.. into the 1 beat, skip the next ("e") box and then add D.. in the "and" box, skip the next ("uh") box, add the D.. into the 2 box.....( and repeat this as needed) I'm looking for shots on the 1 & 2 & 3..... followed by silence until the next measure..... I might want to have the drums fill the space in the second half of the bar from 3 to the end leading into the next measure where everything comes back in but that is not the question on this post.

Nothing I'm doing appears to work. I've added rests on the 16ths between.... removed the rests, placed the rests on the notes, removed them, Tried straight up D chords vs D.. shots.... nothing seems to work. Oh yeah... also tried the push function and all that did was offset the quarter notes.

When I enter the shots in the MC screen, and click OK, the chords show up in the bar as D.. for each of them. They're supposed to be shots based on what they look like. However, they play straight through like there's nothing in the bar that should change the chords. Or.... if I have rests I end up getting a shot on 1 and silence through the remainder of the bar.

I contacted support and worked with them for a fair amount of time while editing the project as the suggestions and advice were being offered on the chat. Nothing was working.... I was running the 2023 (1010) version and support suggested updating, which I did, to the 2023 (1013) version. That did not solve the problem.

So...essentially, I can use D.. , D.. D.. to get 3 shots on 1,2,3. No problem. I'm trying to get 5 shots in that same musical space.... and no joy.

Any ideas? Have you been able to replicate this with 5 notes, all shots, on the first 5 8th notes?


This might come down to a "think outside the box" solution where I have to edit it in my DAW. That, I know is doable, but it would be cool to solve it in BB.

Before you toss out a "try this".... kindly test it in your version of BB to be sure it works. Then, hit me with the solution. Thanks.

Hi Herb. Without using Microchords, I would first try to edit the song form to expand the song to twice the length, then adjust the tempo and style. Everything that was an eighth note or eighth rest becomes a quarter note or rest and you can use the 'old' techniques.

That's some out of the box thinking. Why didn't I think of that? I would only need to add one bar..... Double the tempo do the shots and revert to the original tempo. That does sound workable. Thanks for jogging my brain cells.

If I recall correctly, Matt's way works, but it had some tech issues going forward. Like inserting bars or something of that nature.

What we need is a clear video tutorial on Microchords, with at least half a dozen of real world examples / different case uses & genres. I use them, and the concept is great, but it's a hit or miss thing. I guess, it depends on type of RT that is being used.

P.S. I will head over to "I want a video that shows me how to ...." now. Please support request

I agree with both points. You can’t always find a style that works. [I haven’t encountered the insert problem.]

And Microchords are the intended solution here, not the workaround I suggested, so a video would be very helpful.

It really does make sense that not all RTs would work with the microchords. It can only do so much based on the foundation of the RTs.

Yes a video from PG Music would be great and some sort of way to mark which tracks are compatible.

Yes, that would be valuable detail, and ought to be included. +1

You can use the MicroChords dialog with rests/motifs to play the rhythm, but it probably isn't exactly what you are looking for (it's not the exactly the same as shots).

1. Type in the chords as normal in the chordsheet, but don't enter them as shots, just regular chords.
2. In the MicroChords dialog, alternate motif and rest up to the first beat of bar 3, followed by just rests, as in the screenshot below.

Note that Soloist and Background RealTracks and Drums don't follow motifs. However you could combine this with resting certain instruments that you don't want to play at all.

I'll try that tomorrow and see how it works.... or not.... in this situation.