PG Music Home Forums User-to-User Post your own Tips and Tricks here USEING RB WITH YOUR FAV DAW TO CREATE A MUSIC PRODUCTION POWERHOUSE.

10..now before i get into specifics and features that are nice in rb let me offer the following comments.
because i suspect some might think 'what is this fool OM going on about and why should i spend some
time learning another music app ??'...groan...so lets answer that.

in many respects rb is a dark horse.with tons of usefull deep features which...once ive gone thru things i like.....
i hope you agree with me...'under the hood' rb is rather amazeing for free. and remember its always getting better..
see the new features for details of rb 2024 on pg site. for me the new comp feature is very usefull as i'm a vocallist as well as the addition of certain editing features which enhance the product.

(btw...in my defence my background...and i dont mean in an egotist way... is not just in tech, building very advanced IT applications systems around the world but also for many years spending time in all manner of studios big and small creating lots of songs as well as singing in so many music groups and genres ive lost count of...from church and opera thru mor thru heavy rock and even punk rock,...lol...in summary music is in my blood. fyi my typical day for many years was working in tech during the day and then singing in various groups at night and weekends. ie a true jekyll and hyde existence.)

WHY SHOULD YOUR WORKFLOW INCLUDE RB ????...

...for people that like lots of fancy shmancy looking graphics in music apps rb might not be for you.eg i saw a gorgeous looking music app recently that costs big money...but as the old saying goes 'sometimes beauty is skin deep'....some of the most wonderfull people ive met in my travels thru' life looked a tad rough on the surface..but underneath had hearts of pure gold and kindness to myself and others.
yes rb looks a tad old skool ugly on the surface...but underneath it has many many usefull and in some cases unique music production features...imho its a highly underrated app. by contrast even tho' i loved the look of the aforementioned gorgeous music app...i quickly realised i would miss terribly many of rb's features...
even tho' the gorgeous app had some very cool features of its own.
...if your not a person willing to delve into something deeply...rb might not be for you...as it is choc full of deep audio and midi features that are highly usefull in doing songs...
(the fab powertracks and bb apps are the same...ie choc full of features...tbh even i after many years of rb use still slap myself when i find a new way of doing something.)
...if your not willing to go thru' the rb manual and tips and various rb vids done by pg then rb might not be for you.
let me say it has always been and always will be a struggle for developers to build apps that are both easily accessible and at the same time choc full of features. particularly in music production.
from my experience if a app is easily accessible it sometimes means it doesnt have a large feature set.

HOWEVER ..if your willing to put in some 'graft'..and development of your own work methods you might come to like rb like i do..for not only its session musician capabilities that are unique (like bb) but also the fact its choc full of neat features to help you create songs....let me say emphatically for the reader who thinks i might be biased re rb...i always keep an open mind re recording gear.

11...THE SPECIFICS...

let me get into specifics and more details of features i really really like...and you might also. ie...in each menu that make rb so usefull...and hopefully youll conclude that your current daw plus rb form a great usefull powerfull music production team.
i will comment briefly on each feature and why its usefull.
(the rb manual and various pg tips and vids on you tube should also be studied for more details...to save me typing loads of pages.
also youll notice that a user dialog has a help feature. also notice HELP>>>tip of the day.its kinda nifty and its a good idea to go thru every now and then because...if your like me sometimes a reminder is a good thing.)

lets start with some basic things i like.

..an.mp3 creator is included .in rb for free. i really like it. but dont ask me why. i really wish i could scientifically explain but i cant.
i used it in all the songs in my sig....its my go to mp3 creator.
it can be accessed via the rb render dialogue at top of rb.
watch your stereo mix meters. i would suggest a setting of about -3db....

... FILE >>> IMPORT will allow you to import all manner of formats into rb....check it out.
...below FILE/EXIT you will see latest projects you can access...convenient.
...EDIT at top of rb has a load of features includeing usual cut/paste etc.
...EDIT>>>TRACK will bring up around 19 features....all very usefull.
notice IN PARTICULAR...DUPLICATE feature. there are nifty effects tricks you can do useing this.
ie...sometimes i keep an original audio track dry and use this feature to create 2 more instances of the same track and on one i might put pg echo chorus and other track pg verb.then i experiment with settings of each to create interesting fx on say a vocal ..
the objective being to create a synergistic pleasant sound fx picture. also experiment with the volume of
the 3 tracks....and do things like keeping the volumes of the 2 duplicate tracks under the original dry one.
why am i gung ho re the pg fx ?? simple... low cpu useage. they have saved my 'A' more than a few times as well as money buying commercial plugins that sometimes consume lots of pc resources.
now start experimenting on your own re FILE>>>TRACK menu. youll notice depending on menu option chosen there will be a help feature. please also read up on the fix tuning menu option etc etc.i rarely need it...but you might find it very usefull.

...EDIT>>>MIDI. let me say one of the great strengths with pg products imho is the midi functionality.
(if your not up on midi there are lots of courses online and books etc etc.).
thus one of the great strengths of rb is its midi feature set. and it might be usefull to you in many many ways.
note...same as audio tracks you can easily drag a midi track from rb into your fav daw.
WHICH BRINGS UP A VERY IMPORTANT POINT....AND A HUGE PLUS FOR RB.
IE YOU CAN USE RB TO GENERATE AND FEED YOUR FAV DAW WITH ALL MANNER OF MIDI TRACKS.
SKYS THE LIMIT ONLY LIMITED BY YOUR IMAGINATION...
PLEASE...!! I WANT TO FIRMLY PLANT THIS IN YOUR MIND AND ITS LOTS OF FUN...you can in rb generate not just normal midi tracks whatever but also do things like generate drum solos like a drummer might do live. this is a hoot.
there are about 26 menu entries in the edit midi feature display....dont let this put you off.
these features give you oodles of midi control and power in your hands.
starting out look into quantise and other features like 'fill track with drum pattern'...
i use the latter not only for quickie tests of song ideas but also other fancy things...
(see my tips in tips forum re rb and modern songs.)
NOTE...in rb is a feature that might be usefull for some..ie setting various ppq's.
includeing high ones....ALSO NOTE THE FRACTIONAL TEMPO FEATURE.

more next time as i need a break. much much more to come.

happiness

om


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