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This series will follow my creating an original song in biab, then using real band, and finally into reaper for mixing and mastering- perhaps using sound forge for the mastering stage too. This is the first installment. Hopefully it's interesting enough that people will want to see the next parts. I'm pretty new at this video stuff. Audio is so easy compared to video. I've learned some stuff about my screen recordings and they will be better in the following installments. This is a lot of extra work thrown onto just creating a song, but I find it to be really fun and hopefully people will find it interesting enough to check in and follow along. We'll see!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y8X_T3QBIo

Dan
Hi Dan,

Very very instructive.
I appreciate the time and effort that you have put into this project.

I particularly liked how you added shots and holds along with part markers at the end of your chart.
I (for one) never thought about doing that but I will now

Can't wait until the RealBand section and also the Reaper part comes into fruition.

Well done.

Best regards
George
Good Job! Anything to proselytize these products is a positive.
Thank you for the look into how you organize a chart. This is very instructive and interesting to follow.
Love it Dan. Cool "sizzle" cooking the charts. Great tip on generating the extra drum fills - never thought of doing it that way. I'm looking forward to the next episode!
Dan, this was great and very appreciated. Look forward to the next one - thanks for sharing this.

Bob
Posted By: DrDan Re: My video series using BIAB, RB, and Reaper - 04/14/11 09:36 AM
Excellent, always fun to see how others work with our favorite programs. Thanks for sharing.


Jazzmandan - from somewhere deep in the heart of India, which may explain why I have been a little quite as of late! Can someone point me to the nearest Jazz Club?
Glad you're enjoying this! I'm working on part one of the real band chapter. Two parts will be needed to cover it. Stay tuned- it should be up soon. I suppose if you subscribe to my channel you'll be notified when new chapters are up. This is really fun and I'm glad there's at least some interest. Thanks all!

Dan
Enjoyed the video -- looking forward to the real band thing. I don't really use RB at the moment.

Kevin
Chicago to India eh? I'll report in next week from Europe. I have the tickets now. And the visa charges to prove it. I hope India is fun, I hope to go in 2014, and I also hope to wake up tomorrow. Ha.
Excellent tips. Answered some on going questions I have had. Will be looking forward to the next in the series.
Part one working in real band is now up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qCscIjxkuI

Dan
Waiting patiently for Part 2.... only kidding

Wonderful to see how it can be done.

Best regards
George
Well done my friend! I will watch these often and I am waiting for more. Thanks!
Good job and nice explanations!
Part two of real band now up.

Dan
Hi Dan
Great job on the videos! Thanks! I'm already looking forward to part 3
Peter
Thank YOU Peter, for everything! There's along way to go yet, including a chapter in my studio recording the vocals. Should be interesting! Thanks for watching. Means a lot getting a thumbs up from you!

Dan
Hi Dan,

Ditto to what Peter said.

I'm really looking forward to the Reaper section.

Best regards
George
Well, you certainly have generated enthusiasm for me in how this project is developing. I can't wait to see the next installment.
Next part is now up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKkN78DfWRQ

Dan
Hi Dan, thanks for these great how-to vids. Just finished part one and already picked up a few tips. Good on ya,

Cheers, J.
Thanks. I will mention though, it's not really meant as a how-to series. I use biab and real band in specific ways as a means to an end specifically for me and how I wish to work. What I do and prefer may not be what someone else should do, given what they wish to accomplish with the software. There's some general things that could be helpful, sure. I'm glad people are picking up some things. But biab and real band are really deep programs, and they can be used to many different extents for many different purposes. I suppose it can be said that the way I use the software doesn't go very deep at all, really relying only on real track generation through a song chart. There's so much more to the software. But if it helps someone a little or spurs on new ideas, that's great. I always find it interesting and lots of fun to watch someone elses process- providing they at least have a certain skill level I'm looking for. In that spirit, this series is being created. Not much more than this- how one guy goes from beginning to end using the software in certain ways. In that spirit, I hope you enjoy looking in on my process!

Dan
Nice explanations and I really liked the discussion of prefader volume level setting. That was really cool. Thanks.
Hi Dan,

Very clear instructions.

Can't wait until the next installment

Best regards
George
Posted By: Keebo Re: My video series using BIAB, RB, and Reaper - 04/21/11 01:52 AM
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I appreciate you taking the time to offer these videos. Quite a bit can be gleaned from reading and watching other people's approach to producing music with this awesome software.
Next chapter up now-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hDbRzwLMvc

Dan
Hi Dan,

Way to go man...
Show me more....
Very instructional.

Best regards
George
Loving it Dan! I do lots of edits on my RT's. I totally agree with you that it makes them play your song your way instead of just playing so to speak. Great to see a similiar workflow. I do it in RB and now Tracktion.

Nice tip putting a limiter on the master bus to keep that punch early on. Learning away here.

Thanks again, looking forward to the next one.
Very informative looking forward to the vocal vids

What software was used for screen capture & edit

Suggestion

Increase the mouse cursor. It will make it ease to see mouse movements
Thanks all.

Pghboemike- I'm using movie edit pro 17 for the screen captures. I'm completely new at it, hence why the quality isn't what I'd really like. I am getting better though! And the resolution has to be dumbed down a bit for uploading to youtube because of file size restrictions. If my episodes were shorter, I could get away with HD quality. But I can barely fit what I want to include within 15 minutes! And my files, even at a reduced resolution, are approaching 2 gigs. I think it's watchable enough not be be annoying. I'll check out the mouse cursor thing too.

I was watching PG demos for 2011 last night. Man, I may have to spring for it. I like 2010.5, but 2011 seems so much better in terms of stretching flexibility. We'll see.

The next episode is coming soon. I'm one away from vocals in the studio. That one should be fun!

Dan
New episode up now-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7YYkZ_iyuc

Enjoy!

Dan
Posted By: Daisy Re: My video series using BIAB, RB, and Reaper - 04/25/11 03:47 AM
Great work, Dan -- much appreciated!!! You are making them (almost) faster than I can watch them.

Your method is very similar to mine, although (so far) I have not found it necessary to leave RB (even though I have both Sonar and Reaper)

Looking forward to your vocal methods. I have heard your vocals on other cuts, and you know what you are doing.

Keep up the good work!

Daisy
Thanks Daisy! I crack myself up in this one- saying 'metronone' instead of metronome! LOL! Guess that's the NY'r in me...or maybe just the moron! Haha. Go figure- I usually call it the click track! Thanks for watching!

Dan
Hi Dan,

Very good...Metronone indeed

Questions...

When you add the clicks to help your vocal.. How did you do that? is it easy to do? did you have a click track prepared?

Best regards
George
In reaper, you can choose from the menu 'insert click source' and a new track will come up with a click on it for the entire tune. Very handy. What I did in the vid though, is copy the stick count-off from the drum track because I prefer that sound and in this case, it will be all the more musical to sing over during the vocal in those spots. What you saw me doing was pastes of the copy.

Dan
Hi Dan,

Thanks for that explanation.

Now there are things I never knew that I will implement in my sessions.

1. In Band In A Box - use spare cells at the end of songs for ad-libs.
2. In Realband - generate lots of solo tracks..the more the merrier.
3. In Realband - get tracks as good as possible..i.e. volume and panning.. remember to listen
4. In Reaper - Cut and paste is your friend.
5. In Reaper - use click track for difficult vocal sections.

I am looking forward to your vocal sessions and hope to learn more from you.

Well Done.

Best regards
George
"3. In Realband - get tracks as good as possible..i.e. volume and panning.. remember to listen "

This one I'm not entirely sure matters IF you're dropping into another daw. If a tracks volume is at -10 and hard panned to the right, will that carry over with the drag/drop? Not really sure and I haven't tried. But I make it a practice to have tracks all the way up and panned to center, both in biab before opening the song file in real band, and in real band before I drag tracks out. A little investigation would tell the story.

If you're mixing within real band, or any daw, then yes- gain and panning matter a great deal.

Dan
Hi Dan,

Yes you are right.
If you take an audio track into Reaper it needs to be raw and as hot as you can have it without overdoing it.
I just finished a session in Reaper (new song on the horizon) and tried out various different ways to enhance the Audio.
My brain is totally fried trying to remember everything BUT I think that I am getting there.

Hurry up with the vocals Dan sorry I'm impatient.

Best regards
George
Well, it wasn't easy but here's the studio/vocals episode split into two parts-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S19t_gnJg4I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRSTV-iaPns

I had a lot of film with this one but how entertaining can recording vocals and all that it takes be?! This should do. Hope you enjoy this. I'll probably record vocals for better takes, so there may be a delay now before I get to mixing all this.

Dan
Well Dan,

What can I say... Brilliant is one..Wonderful is another...I could go on.

It is a joy to watch the fun you are having in your control room (even if you think it wasn't fun filming yourself)

I think there will be many people envious of the facilities that you have at your fingertips (including me)

When you punch in your vocal is that easy to do in RealBand (for those that only have Band In a Box and Realband)

When you are creating your harmonies can you do that with a plugin in Realband (for those that don't have outboard gear)

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the series you are producing for us...free of charge (well I am a Scot you know that it was two Scots that invented copper wire, one found a penny on the ground and the other tried to take it from him )


Very well done

Best regards
George

P.S. I will be patient and wait for the next video...I promise
I think you're my biggest fan in all of this George and for that I thank you so much. The challenge with this one was the logistics of the video, and getting the signal to the camera right, as well as editing down all that footage. I must give high praise to the Kodak Zi8- an amazing camera which can be had for under a hundered bucks. Oh yeah, the vocal wasn't all too easy either! I spent the least amount of time on the vocal, actually. My sessions usually run 2-3 hours just on vocal alone, and I'll be doing more recording for sure.

Far as punching in with real band, that's one for someone with experience to say. I've never done it. Reaper is very seamless at it, but I really do prefer that recording console of mine. There is a harmonizer plugin in real band, I believe. Someone will have to jump in on that one too. I've never been a fan of harmonizers, but I understand the need for them.

Thanks again for watching!

Dan
Wow! Thanks for sharing your most impressive video with us. I'm just a beginner but I can actually understand quite a bit of your explanations. Your video is far superior to many others that I've seen. I like it that you don't go too fast, but also because your voice is clear and the distortion is minimal. Very clear to watch. Many thanks.

Stan
Wow Dan!

Great studio - love that mood lighting! Now I have studio envy LOL. Really fun to watch. You are doing an outstanding job with this series.

Two thumps up!
Great stuff, Dan. I just subscribed to you on YouTube. More later.

Bob
Final episode! Hope some of you enjoyed this. It was a blast to do. Thanks to all who watched and gave me encouragement and kind words. Means a lot. Enjoy this one, and take care!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttSQZhhqyjw

You can a listen to the finished version over in the showcase forum too.

http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=316118&an=0&page=0#Post316118

Dan
Hi Dan,

Well done for producing this series.

I know it's very difficult to show how to mix a track because it is so subjective.

People differ in their tastes (and hearing) that it becomes impossible to please everyone.

I have even found (as you say) that there are go-to FX inserts that don't even sound the same in a different song.

I for one have gleamed a lot of information from your Video's.

Thank you very much

Best regards
George
Shockwave, A great series of tutorials! I've saved them all in YouTube......and although I work in Sonar, I hope to update my BIAB version soon, to RealBand....so even better! Thanks again for taking the time. Joe Gordon
Heck Dan,
I kinda hated to see it end! Sort of like getting hooked on one of those reality shows. LOL.
Looking forward to what new videos await us in the future.
Hi Dan, I've sent you a PM. Joe G.
Hello Shockwave,

Just finished watching the video series on mixing from start to finish using BIAB, Real Band, and Reaper.
GREAT JOB SIR!!

I'm gearing up to get BIAB 2016, so the timing couldn't be better.

My name is Marty & my songwriting partner (and fiancee) is Linda Keser.(pronounced KEEZER) We've been publishing songs now for about three years. She's the lyricist and I'm the music guy.

We are older folks so not to savvy on the so called "newer Music" and our aim is to push towards the sync licensing TV/Film area. Not touring, no band and all that. (been there done that)

So the idea of using BIAB to arrange the song and export to my DAW is really important. (Home studio and very small so really like real sound.) I already use Studio One (my DAW of choice) and wanted to know if I could use BIAB to arrange the songs, and do the mixing in S1. Really nice job with the video series.
But I do have a couple of questions if you don't mind...
The ads/sales on the web are a bit contradicting.
PG Music says that 2016 version includes Real Band. But everything else I see indicates that Real Band is a separate software. (i.e. separate purchase) Can you clarify?
And if it is in fact a separate software, can I still render individual "Real" tracks in BIAB to individual tracks and still import to S1? It seems to me I should be able to do this, but if Real Band is part of 2016 version, that would really help a lot.

By the way...got a real kick out of your New York Speaking voice, and your great "Country Singing Voice." Great song too.

Anyway, thanks very much for taking the time to make those videos. They really are helpful. And you did a great job with it.

Peace!

Marty & Linda
Posted By: jford Re: My video series using BIAB, RB, and Reaper - 02/03/17 07:52 PM
Marty and Linda -

Since it came out, RealBand (which is separate software) has been included with Band-in-a-Box and the new versions of both are released each year.

I hope you are gearing up to get BIAB 2017 (you mentioned 2016), as that has so much more with it, but either version can give a lot of joy.

You should be fine using Studio One as your primary DAW, even if you use BIAB and/or RealBand to generate tracks. You can easily move tracks between the apps.

BTW, although obviously no relation, one of my good friends from Virginia is named Marty and his wife is named Linda.
Hi Marty and Linda,

Welcome to the forum. RealBand is included at no additional cost when you purchase Band-in-a-Box for Windows. PG Music does not offer RealBand for Mac.
Posted By: Kev T Re: My video series using BIAB, RB, and Reaper - 02/05/17 04:29 PM
Hi Dan,

Thanks for a really great series of videos. I found them very informative and particularly relevant to my own setup using BIAB and RB for initial track management and finishing off in Reaper (or occasionally Harrison Mixbus which I have just recently been trying). Some great down to earth advice there especially about clearing out redundant RB Drag & Drop and Backup files...mine had eaten quite some space in just a short time! smile Also loved your idea of putting extra stops and holds at the end of the song to use in later editing. Excellent!

Hope you find more allied subjects to cover. Looking forward to other future videos from you.

Kind regards,

Kev.
All,

If you look closely, you'll discover this set of videos were created in 2011. It is a great set of videos and pretty much provides the template for how I use BiaB to first create a song today.

Unfortunately I don't think Shockwave199 still actively contributes to the forum. I believe I remember reading his home studio was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy floodwater. If true that is a shame because this set of videos are as good as you'll see anywhere.
Hello all, still alive and kicking! There's a couple posts here from 2017- three years back not too far off! My studio is still in tact. I haven't used biab since I made the video series. I'm glad for whomever it may still help. Life is busy here working as a music coordinator, producer and music editor. I don't write nearly as much as I should but I'm changing gears lately and getting into commercial orchestration and the learning curve there is large, but it's still writing music. If you have the gift of writing compelling music it will work in any genre. So many talented people here. It's humbling. I'll have to check out the latest biab soon too. I just may get inspired again!
Originally Posted By: Shockwave199
Hello all, still alive and kicking! There's a couple posts here from 2017- three years back not too far off! My studio is still in tact. I haven't used biab since I made the video series. I'm glad for whomever it may still help. Life is busy here working as a music coordinator, producer and music editor. I don't write nearly as much as I should but I'm changing gears lately and getting into commercial orchestration and the learning curve there is large, but it's still writing music. If you have the gift of writing compelling music it will work in any genre. So many talented people here. It's humbling. I'll have to check out the latest biab soon too. I just may get inspired again!


Wow. Great to see you're still around and doing well. Your series was very instructional and inspiring when I first got into using BIAB. I encourage you to check out the latest version of BIAB, I'm sure you'll be inspired and excited to see how improved and very different from 2011 it is.
Dan,

Wonderful to see a post from you after all this time. I'm glad to read you are doing well. Even better to know the studio is still around and that you are even deeper into music than you were nine years ago back in 2011.

In addition to Band-in-a-Box the forum now has many, many Reaper users so you will feel right at home.

There have been some significant advances to Band-in-a-Box and RealBand in your absence. Time and pitch stretching is much improved thanks to the integration of Zplane Development's Elastique Pro V3. There are now more than 3100 hours of RealTracks audio. Band-in-a-Box supports the use of Acidized audio loops. Midi SuperTracks are created by musicians instead of a pattern generator. Most likely though the most significant feature is multi-riff.

Users can highlight part of a RealTrack and up to seven variations of the highlighted part are created. Multi-riffs are available in RealBand and the VST.

I will always be in your debt because of the how to create a song using Band-in-a-Box and Reaper series. It gave me confidence and inspired me.
I remember those great videos, thanks again !
I just sat and watched the whole series tonight. Most enjoyable. I particularly liked your voice. It makes such a difference when people are blessed with good voices. A lot's changes but a lot hasn't. I certainly picked up more than a few tips. Thank you and welcome back! I hope you get back into doing some more recording.
Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. Please be safe and remain well!
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