I want to know if there is such an instrumental method in BAND IN A BOX?
For example, the bass of the guitar changes with the chord progression, but the high notes are repeated. What is this playing method called in music production? I really like the feeling of the high notes being repeated like this.
I find that repeating high notes makes the music more modern. This song inspired me. You can hear a repetitive melody throughout.
I tried to remove the repetitive melody of this music and only use the chord progression D-Bm-Em-A7, then I felt that the whole song became very ordinary and not modern.
This is my attempt. It is an mp3 file. If you are interested, you can download it. https://ufile.io/s9370psd
I don't know what this kind of repetition is called. It seems that in classical music, Beethoven's music also has similar repetitive parts, which makes people remember it.
If it is replaced with arpeggios, it feels very ordinary and unattractive. So, can BIAB do this? Only the bass follows the chords, and the guitar treble remains unchanged? ?
This is my new discovery today, and I am very happy. I will share it here as soon as possible.
I wouldn't even attempt to get a complete backing out of BIAB all in one go. This is the sort of song that requires some dexterity with a sequencing program/DAW.
The bass and drums would be done with one take, pads another. The repeating arpeggio could be sequenced manually and copies as needed.
BIAB is not always a one-step tool. It needs work. In fact most of the time it is not a one-off generation - it can take many generations and pick and mix the results.
The answer for the small part I listened to in this song is an understanding of the upper extensions of chords (notes that are the ninth eleventh or thirteenth, sometimes altered like a b13). I hear her singing a sixth over your dominant seventh chord. I hear her singing a fourth over your minor chord. These chords are then a thirteenth and eleventh, respectively.
Once you understand the music theory, like Beethoven did, BIAB does have all the chords for this song. Of course, I am addressing only the chords, not the style. Different question.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
The answer for the small part I listened to in this song is an understanding of the upper extensions of chords (notes that are the ninth eleventh or thirteenth, sometimes altered like a b13). I hear her singing a sixth over your dominant seventh chord. I hear her singing a fourth over your minor chord. These chords are then a thirteenth and eleventh, respectively.
Once you understand the music theory, like Beethoven did, BIAB does have all the chords for this song. Of course, I am addressing only the chords, not the style. Different question.
What is this constantly repeating melody called in music knowledge? Repetitive melody? lick ? riff ?
Motif works. It's a recognizable concept or idea that repeats in how it is used.
However, what I think is being described is more a case of understanding upper extensions of chords and using them as the melody notes. The music isn't necessarily more 'modern' sounding because of this, because Beethoven and other great classical composers understood this thoroughly; it's simply harmonically more complex than the simple chords stated.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
This repeated musical phrase being played over and over is called an ostinato. The word translates from Italian as 'obstinate,' 'stubborn,' or 'persistant.'
It can occur in any instrument or any voice. One of the most famous ostinatos of all time is the bassline in Pachebel's Cannon in D.
Ravel also used ostinatos very cleverly when he wrote and arranged "Bolero."
There are probably a couple of ways to create an ostinato in BIAB. The way that I would do it is to use the Audio editor. This makes it very easy to copy a musical phrase and paste it side by side to create a full musical track.
In the file below, I've created a bassline using a bass that has held notes. Using the "snap" feature in Audio Edit, I then copied the first two bars of the Bass track and pasted that 2-bar section back-to-back to create a 16-bar bass line. I didn't change the ending (bars 17 and 18) and I froze the bass track. This was very quick and easy to do.
I like "motif" though this may be technically incorrect...
Originally Posted by Matt Finley
Motif works. It's a recognizable concept or idea that repeats in how it is used.
However, what I think is being described is more a case of understanding upper extensions of chords and using them as the melody notes. The music isn't necessarily more 'modern' sounding because of this, because Beethoven and other great classical composers understood this thoroughly; it's simply harmonically more complex than the simple chords stated.
I did see some articles saying this kind of repetitive melody is called a "motif"
I just found out that this kind of "repeated melody" I like is probably called Pattern?
The video is demonstrating an 'arp' which is simply an abbreviation for the word 'arpeggiator', which comes from the word 'Arpeggio' - to play the notes of a chord individually. The arpeggiator takes the individual notes from a chord and plays them in a repeated progression, usually ascending then descending, then repeats this process. You can refer to it as a Pattern, but in musical terms it is really an Arpeggio.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
The video is demonstrating an 'arp' which is simply an abbreviation for the word 'arpeggiator', which comes from the word 'Arpeggio' - to play the notes of a chord individually. The arpeggiator takes the individual notes from a chord and plays them in a repeated progression, usually ascending then descending, then repeats this process. You can refer to it as a Pattern, but in musical terms it is really an Arpeggio.
I have REFX NEXUS and SCALER. Both have arpeggiator functions. But the problem with the arpeggiator is that the melody changes with the chord progression. This sometimes doesn't sound good.
I found that the melody pattern that does not change sounds better.
I discovered this when I was using native instruments session guitarist. Because in NI guitar, you can select the as played option, and you can play according to your input. That is, the bass changes, but the treble remains unchanged.
1: Enter the chord(s) that you want the background 'arp' / 'pattern' to play, and generate. 2: Save the output of the 'arp' track to the Melody or Utility track and freeze the track. 3: Now enter the main chords that you want to main song to use and generate.
You will have notes of the 'higher' arp chords repeating, but now playing alongside the notes of the correct song chords.
Would that work for you?
Last edited by AudioTrack; 10/22/2401:44 AM.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
I forgot to add: You might needs to choose a style with arpeggiated chords, or you could do this yourself with either MIDI or Playable RealTracks, which would get you closer to the example shown in the video.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
Also: Styles: TekCraf or Tek_Arp or =BUSY (XPro5 pak) might work as a starting point for your desired musical style.
Filter the Style Picker for 'arpeggiator' to see what you have available.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
There are a number of free MIDI arpeggiators that have presets like that. You can generate a MIDI chord track, and then load into it the Arp/sequencing plugin them as VSTs and then add your softsynth/sampler/rompler/VSTi of choice next in the chain.
Very different, but there are two very famous songs that use an arpeggiator, both of which I still think are amongst the best rock songs aver made. Baba O'Reilly and Won't Get Fooled Again, both by The Who.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
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