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How did you get introduced to BIAB?



It must have been through ads in Keyboard magazine or one of the other Guitar Player pubs. I don't even recall whether I got it in a store or by mail order. I do recall having an e-mail exchange with Dr. G. afterwards.

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What year/version was it?



It was version 7, which came on two 3-1/2" floppies and came with v. 1.0 of Power Tracks, also on two diskettes. This would have been in the mid 1990s(?).

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What kind of computer did you have at the time?



A 386 running Win 3.1 with 8 Mb RAM and 30 Mb HD.

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was it a successful experience right away??



Not exactly. I was intimidated by the program's depth for a long time (which doesn't mean that I am not today). I played demos, entered covers, and pushed buttons for years before getting creative with it.

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Have you changed your gear to accommodate BIAB in any way?



Once I got serious about it, I built a dedicated DAW, which I have continued to upgrade since 2003 or so. It's really time for a completely new machine.

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Has BIAB influenced how/why you play music?



It has utterly transformed the process and the rationale. I have gone from covering songs with backing tracks to an almost completely original repertoire, using BIAB as a co-composer, as I have described elsewhere. It also took me out of the acoustic guitar/singer category and placed me square into full-on electronic compositions with electric guitar overtop.

The change came when I finally entered an original piece into BIAB, clicking "Play," and having my jaw drop when it did something totally unexpected (and brilliant) on a turnaround.

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have you used it mostly for practice, performance, recording, instruction, other?



I primarily use it for the initial stages of creation. I nearly always port compositions into Reason, if only for revoicing, and possibly into another sequencer after that either as MIDI tracks or via Rewire.

It is important to note, though, that my guitar playing has gotten a lot better since getting BIAB. Can anyone explain this? It's the band I always needed to jam over to work out my inner visions.

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any other observations not listed here?



What comes to mind are Wishlist kinds of things. I wish there was a way to customize the dropdown menus in order to remove or gray out commands I will never use. I whelm easily.

The other thing is to mention that I am incredibly grateful to PG et Cie. for this unique tool.

R.

"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."