My lovely wife Gayle has always wanted to do a Christmas Album of songs through the ages. I taught her how to use BIAB and Real Band, and midi, and set her up with her own little studio in her office. She went nuts. It was the most adorable thing I have ever seen. Every day she would come into my office with a little flash drive saying, "Hey Honey, I have a new song I arranged on the flash drive. Can you listen to it and help me mix it???"
On Christmas Through the Ages, she arranged, produced and scored midi for almost everything and did all the vocal parts. I mixed and mastered and helped her write the last song, All Glory in the Highest.
The whole thing is based on real tracks or midi. Plus her vocals.
I burned this to a CD and have it on constant rotation in the living room with my other "go to" Christmas CDs.
She is already planning another album even as speak trying to figure out the first original Praise song for the next LP. She is in there now. On Thanksgiving Day. While the turkey is cooking. I have created a monster. What have I done.
David Snyder Songwriter/Renaissance Man Studio + Fingers
David and Gayle...this is fantastic...it's great to hear that the wonder of BiaB and the wonder of Christmas are merging at your house...I listened to the excerpts of the album... Gayle you chose some great songs for your album...touching the true meaning of Christmas without resorting to the "well known carols" that are often used without thought or meaning...you have a lovely voice and your tender delivery is perfect for the music you chose...BiaB is hoot...right? you don't have to be Mozart to make good music...so now that you each have a studio you will become "two ships passing in the night" and will never have to ask again "honey, what shall we do tonight?" you'll each be in your own space cranking out the hits! Looking forward to the Praise album!
www.soundclick.com/firesong BiaB 2024, Steinberg Cubase Pro 13, Wavelab 11.2, SpetraLayers Pro 10, Audacity, Steinberg UR44 Interface, Yamaha Genos, Roland FP60 and FP10, Windows 10
You are who you are because you do what you do because of what you believe.
Wow, this is really impressive! Can't imagine having the latent talent to deliver on something this ambitious as a first effort. Just mind blowing, but in a good way.
A bit pressed for time as I'm on turkey basting duty, but listened to a minute or so of each song. Gayle's voice is quite unique but beautiful. She reminded me of someone but I couldn't figure out who until I hit the Ding Dong harmonies. The Roches! Not a well known act these days, but the Roche sisters had similar hauntingly beautiful voices, especially when singing harmony. Their Christmas album is my favorite.
But this may be a close second! Ha!
Gayle should be very proud, it's a killer product. Good on you for the encouragement and support.
Back to the turkey now...
Last edited by DC Ron; 11/23/2301:31 PM.
DC Ron BiaB Audiophile Presonus Studio One ASUS I9-12900K DAW, 32 GB RAM Presonus Faderport 16 Too many guitars (is that a thing?)
Gayle and David, this is a fantastic CD. I heard snippets on a number of songs and Gayle's vocal sound great. The mixes were spot on. There were great messages in the parts that I heard. Super work.
PS - as time permits I will be going back and listen some more.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
Hello FireSong, DC Ron, MarioD and rsdean. Thanks so much for listening and for your kind comments.
BIAB and RealBand are amazing pieces of software (I write software for a living so I really appreciate how incredible this is). I could not have done the album without BIAB and my husband. Hard to know who I owe the most to ;-)
Last edited by GayleS; 11/26/2311:02 AM. Reason: spelling erro
Ah, if only all monsters were created so beuatifully, David. But never mind what you created, Gayle did a wonderful job with her own. {First of all, cool pic with that weird tree thing ostensibly growing out of her guitar.}
David, I often listen to your songs, and now have a new playlist, right there with my Greg Johnson Christmas album. So far only heard 3, but the season has just begun. Man, this is really so good. Gayle really really got into it and created some of my favorite versions of these classics. Merrry Chrismas to you two.
Enjoy whatever happens! marty
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@babumusic51 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/marty-straub Band in a Box, Reaper, Cakewalk, Ozone 12, EZDrummer
I could not have done the album without BIAB and my husband. Hard to know who I owe the most to ;-)
Welcome, Gayle. Now we get to hear what makes David so special. Hey, the one to whom you owe the most is the one you're singing about. Wow, your house must be an incredibly inspirational place.
Enjoy whatever happens! marty
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@babumusic51 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/marty-straub Band in a Box, Reaper, Cakewalk, Ozone 12, EZDrummer
This is very nice! You did an excellent job putting this lovely album together! Great job with vocals with wonderful pitch control! Gayle will have to make more appearances here in the forum! Thanks, TB
A very cool Bucket-List check-off! There is an overall Joyful sound to the collection. There is a Smile in your vocals. And the tracks are Really nicely balanced. Going through the clips, it sounds like....an Album! Congratulations!
First, welcome to the forum, Gayle. So nice to have you with us.
I listened to four of the clips and I am very happy to have done so. You have an angelic voice, and the songs were terrific. A full album of Christmas songs is quite ambitious, particularly as a first effort for the site. Nicely done! Hope to hear more from you.
A very cool Bucket-List check-off! There is an overall Joyful sound to the collection. There is a Smile in your vocals. And the tracks are Really nicely balanced. Going through the clips, it sounds like....an Album! Congratulations!
Welcome to the Showcase!
fj
Thanks so much for the encouragement. The original concept was a live performance with a song from each of the last 10 centuries. Between songs there was going to be some history of what was going on in the world when that song was first being sung. I managed to hit most (but not all) of the centuries. Sometimes I could not find a suitable song from that time and (of course) there is disagreement among the various historical sources as to how old a song really is. So, this album hit on another one of my loves - history.
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202 New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2026!
With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
Playable RealTracks Set 5
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SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
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FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
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you'll each be in your own space cranking out the hits! Looking forward to the Praise album!
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