Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread
Print Thread
Go To
#80879 07/27/10 02:15 PM
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 31
M
Enthusiast
OP Offline
Enthusiast
M
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 31
Half time is working fine, i have a track at 220 bpm and i load a realtrack at 110 and sounds great but double time does not seem to be working. Say i write a song at 55 bpm and i load the Jazz Sw 110 Acoustic Bass, the double time feature does not work and i get a bad sounding bass line full of artifacts.
I have the 'allow half time/double' box checked but only half time is working. Anything i'm doing wrong?

Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,691
R
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
R
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,691
Only half the time! Opps sorry my bad! Did I say that out loud?


HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,944
PG Music Staff
Offline
PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,944
To make half time or double time work for a track, you need to set the track to half or double time. This is done in realtracks assign dialog, near the top right of the dialog.


Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 64
B
Enthusiast
Offline
Enthusiast
B
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 64
This isn't working for me either. I'm just now exploring the half and double time feature myself, and I'm having the same results as mellowstu. If my song is at 65 BPM, and I choose a snarly, wild electric guitar solo that's at 120, it doesn't seem to matter whether I put a checkmark next to "Double Time?" when choosing the Soloist, or choose "Double Time" in the 'Assign Real Tracks' dialog - I still get a garbled, artifact-ridden guitar solo.

There must be something else we're just not understanding here, huh?

BIAB 2010.5, Build 303

Bobby K.

Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,360
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,360
Hi Bobby,

Early on, I experienced issues with the Soloist. For me, it turned out that the issues arose because the Soloist track was frozen and I didn't realize it. That's when I learned that when BIAB saves a song with a solo, it automatically locks that solo. With this in mind, have you double-checked that the Soloist is not frozen before you apply the Double (Half) time option. Once that option is applied, it is then necessary to regenerate the track.

Regards,
Noel


MY SONGS...
Audiophile BIAB 2026
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,673
PG Music Staff
Offline
PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,673
Hello,

Quote:

I have the 'allow half time/double' box checked but only half time is working.




It sounds like you have an old build of the program installed, since newer builds don't have that checkbox. Install the latest build, then follow Peter's instructions, and it should work for you.

Quote:

This isn't working for me either. I'm just now exploring the half and double time feature myself, and I'm having the same results as mellowstu. If my song is at 65 BPM, and I choose a snarly, wild electric guitar solo that's at 120, it doesn't seem to matter whether I put a checkmark next to "Double Time?" when choosing the Soloist, or choose "Double Time" in the 'Assign Real Tracks' dialog - I still get a garbled, artifact-ridden guitar solo.




As Noel said, the problem is most likely that you are generating your solo using the Soloist dialog. Instead, use the Assign RealTracks dialog. For example, try this.

1. Set your song to 55 bpm
2. Right-click on the bass track and click on Add/Remove RealTracks.
3. Select Bass, Acoustic, Jazz Sw 110.
4. Set the Timebase to 'double time'.
5. Close the RealTracks picker and press Play.

In this particular example, note that if you *don't* set it to double-time, Band-in-a-Box will automatically substitute the 110bpm bass with 'Bass, Acoustic, Jazz Ballad Sw 060', then slow this one down by 5bpm. You can enable/disable this particular feature in the RealTracks Preferences dialog (Allow auto-RealTracks subsitution...)


Andrew
PG Music Inc.
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 64
B
Enthusiast
Offline
Enthusiast
B
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 64
Quote:

As Noel said, the problem is most likely that you are generating your solo using the Soloist dialog.




How else do you generate a solo? I did have success with the 'Assign Real Tracks' double time method you described, which gave me a nice, artifact-free *rhythm* track, but, that's not a soloist. How do we go about generating a double time *soloist*, if not from the Soloist dialog?

Thanks.

Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,360
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,360
Bobby,

When you get a chance, could you please step me through how you go about setting-up a simple solo? That way, I'll be able to read what you do and try it out.

Also, if the end result of your arrangement is going to be an mp3 (or equivalent), Realband is extremely versatile when it comes to manipulating solos. That program might be worth investigating, too.

Regards,
Noel


MY SONGS...
Audiophile BIAB 2026
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 64
B
Enthusiast
Offline
Enthusiast
B
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 64
Okay, good idea.

Here goes. After opening BIAB, in which my current default style is "=FBL12SP LitePop w/12str.FpkAc.Guit(65RT)", I enter a few chords like, say, C for two bars, then F, and then repeat that several times. Tempo is at 65. I then click the Soloist button, then immediately click the RealTracks button to narrow it down to just RT's. I then choose whatever 120-140 tempo RTs I happen to find - for example, "496 Guitar,El,Rh StoneZ1 Ev120", and then put a checkmark in the "Double Time?" box, and hit "OK". It automatically generates the solo, but when it plays, it sounds awful - slow, garbled and "artifacty". Same as if I *hadn't* checked the "Double Time?" box.

Bobby K.

Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,360
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,360
Hi Bobby,

Thank you for the information. I'll have a play around and get back to you.

Regards,
Noel


MY SONGS...
Audiophile BIAB 2026
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 64
B
Enthusiast
Offline
Enthusiast
B
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 64
Okay. Btw, like I said earlier, if I then right-click the soloist track and 'Assign Real Tracks', then choose the same style (496 - Guitar.... StoneZ...Ev120), with 'Double Time' selected in the Timebase area, it then generates fine and sounds great. I'd be happy doing it that way, but I thought the soloists chosen in the Select Soloist dialog play actual solos, as opposed to just rhythm parts, right? (it's hard to tell with the "StoneZ" style - probably not the best example of the difference between rhythm and soloist)...

...

Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,360
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,360
Hi Bobby,

I've had a little play around. The "double-time" option in the Soloist dialogue (the pop-up one gets when using the S button to generate a solo) is not a double-time for Realtracks. My understanding is that this particular double-time option is meant for the MIDI solos; it has been around for a lot longer than Realtracks. Double-timing MIDI involves different programming from double-timing RTs. From playing with the settings, my conclusion is that the S button can be used to generate RT solos in normal time only.

To generate RTs in half- or double-time, it is necessary to use the "Assign Realtracks" that you have already discovered (and select double-time or half-time options within the assign option). With Realtracks, it is possible to assign a solo instrument to any track, they are not restricted to the Soloist track. Moreover, the generated solo is created exactly the same on any track. The reason for this is that RT Soloists are pieced together from fragments of actual playing - assembling these solos does not work on a note-by-note basis like MIDI.

A trick that I use with RT solos is to generate the solo and then to use Edit >> Settings for current bar to bring the solo in and out of the mix by varying the volume at the appropriate bars.

Hope this helps,
Noel


MY SONGS...
Audiophile BIAB 2026
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 64
B
Enthusiast
Offline
Enthusiast
B
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 64
I see. Well if that's so, then in the Select Soloist dialog (via the 'S' button) the placement of that "Double Time?" checkbox - so close to the RealTracks button - is really kind of deceiving, isn't it. At the same time though, it seems like, if you can double or half-time RTs from elsewhere in BIAB (using 'Assign RealTracks'), it should be a simple matter of cloning that function over to the Select Soloist dialog. Maybe it's more complicated than that, I'm not a programmer... But gee, they've already got the RealTracks button in there - they're so close...

The other thing is, I discovered that soloists are among the choices in the 'Assign RealTracks' list. (you see, I thought that *that* route was exclusively for rhythm parts, whereas 'Select Soloist' was exclusively for solos - that was my little mistake.)

So, assuming all possible soloists are also available via the 'Assign RealTracks' dialog, I'm okay with that.

And thanks for the tip about bar settings and soloists. I've been noodling around with bar settings for the first time, and it's amazing the kind of life you can breathe into your songs, just by muting a couple of instruments here and there, and then bringing them back in. Makes my stuff sound... almost legit!

Bobby K.

Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 22
B
Enthusiast
Offline
Enthusiast
B
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 22
Hi,

I have a related question about half/double time. I'd like to try and get two kicks in a row, i.e. a shot on beat 1 *and* beat and then another kick on beat 2. (Two consecutive eighth notes). To date, when I've had to get two eighth note kicks in a row, I typically figure out which one is the strongest beat, and set Band in a Box to Shot or Stop on that beat. Then I play or record the beat that I want emphasized before or after BiaB's assigned beat.
It looks like with the double time/half time options I may have the ability to get two eighth note kicks from Band in a Box by forcing half-time for two bars and then doubling the tempo for those two bars. If this works, I can get around the limitation of not being able to have two consecutive eighth note kicks or more than four changes in a given measure. I look forward to the replies.

Thanks,
Bill

Last edited by Bill Lyons; 07/30/10 12:08 PM.
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Go To

Link Copied to Clipboard
ChatPG

Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.

ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.

PG Music News
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows Special Offers End Tomorrow (January 15th, 2026) at 11:59 PM PST!

Time really is running out! Save up to 50% on Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® upgrades and receive a FREE Bonus PAK—only when you order by 11:59 PM PST on Thursday, January 15, 2026!

We've added many major new features and new content in a redesigned Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®!

Version 2026 introduces a modernized GUI redesign across the program, with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, and a new Dark Mode option. There’s also a new side toolbar for quicker access to commonly used windows, and the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, making it easier to customize your workspace.

Another exciting new addition is the new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. You can view the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to process an entire track or focus on specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.

There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!

Upgrade your Band-in-a-Box for Windows to save up to 50% on most Band-in-a-Box® 2026 upgrade packages!

Plus, when you order your Band-in-a-Box® 2026 upgrade during our special, you'll receive a Free Bonus PAK of exciting new add-ons.

If you need any help deciding which package is the best option for you, just let us know. We are here to help!

Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® Special Offers Extended Until January 15, 2026!

Good news! You still have time to upgrade to the latest version of Band-in-a-Box® for Windows® and save. Our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® special now runs through January 15, 2025!

We've packed Band-in-a-Box® 2026 with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can process an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!

There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.

When you order purchase Band-in-a-Box® 2026 before 11:59 PM PST on January 15th, you'll also receive a Free Bonus PAK packed with exciting new add-ons.

Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® today! Check out the Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all the purchase options available.

Happy New Year!

Thank you for being part of the Band-in-a-Box® community.

Wishing you and yours a very happy 2026—Happy New Year from all of us at PG Music!

Season's Greetings!

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy holiday season—thanks for being part of our community!

The office will be closed for Christmas Day, but we will be back on Boxing Day (Dec 26th) at 6:00am PST.

Team PG

Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: The Newly Designed Piano Roll Window

In this video, we explore the updated Piano Roll, complete with a modernized look and exciting new features. You’ll see new filtering options that make it easy to focus on specific note groups, smoother and more intuitive note entry and editing, and enhanced options for zooming, looping, and more.

Watch the video.

You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!

Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe

This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.

Watch the video.

You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!

Bonus PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®

With your version 2026 for Windows Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons for FREE! Or upgrade to the 2026 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 2026 RealCombos Booster PAK: -For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles. -For MegaPAK customers, this includes 25 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles. -For UltraPAK customers, this includes 12 new RealStyles.
  • 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
  • RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
  • SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
  • Android Band-in-a-Box® App (included)

Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:


  • 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
  • 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)

Learn more about the Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®!

Forum Statistics
Forums57
Topics85,740
Posts795,630
Members39,946
Most Online25,754
Jan 24th, 2025
Newest Members
LaneWright55, Diddlysquat, pun61, smitoz, Jonnyfartpants
39,945 Registered Users
Top Posters(30 Days)
MarioD 191
DC Ron 116
Noel96 114
rsdean 104
DrDan 103
dcuny 90
Today's Birthdays
Ariloum, colly, dedou83, jlewis67, matzemu, Mike Levin, zakbosco
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5