This forum is a great place to visit for help with BiaB questions. I've used it myself many times with great results. However, it does have a few drawbacks. It's not terribly easy to search and because of that there's many questions that get asked over and over again.
It seemed to me that a repository of BiaB solutions would be of great benefit to all BiaB users. To that end I have created a
BiaB Wiki.
It's very much a work in progress at this point. I'm currently adding all the tips and tricks I've authored over the years. I will continue to do so as time allows.
I would like to extend an invitation to any of you who'd like to contribute to create an account and add your own wisdom to the site. I'm sure that we can make it a really useful wiki in a short time.
As indicated in the welcome page, the site is for any kinds of tips and tricks you use to get the most out of BiaB. It isn't restricted to just the mechanics of using BiaB. Rather, I'd like to include musical tips as well. Things like how you compose using BiaB and how you use BiaB to improve your playing.
Ultimately we can use links to the wiki to answer those perennial questions that always come up.
Thanks to you all in advance. I hope to see you on the site.
What a great idea! I wonder why none of the chromedomes here thought of it first (self included). Best of all, it will be a permanent repository of information. I'll be curious to see how it grows.
I'll take a look at what you have so far when I have more time. I'll bookmark it on my DAW, too.
R.
I hope you like what's there so far. I also hope you can join and contribute. The real power of any wiki is the compilation of knowledge from all the users.
Great idea and you made it look real good, too!
Its in the bookmarked BiaB Favorites folder on my browser...
--Mac
Great idea Peter! Thanks!
Looks wonderful, I love the content aready. One suggestion, please keep it "advanced stuff only" for those who want to get into the working of creating with BIAB. The forum here can still help newbee get up and running.
Thanks for kicking this off, a great contribution.
I don't agree with that.
Might be good to organize the wiki such that there are two sections, novice and superuser or something like that, but it should be open to and usable by all levels of users in my opinion.
--Mac
+1 to Mac. There absolutely should be a Quick Start section, with very basic functions and a couple of song examples. And I expect the bulk of the articles will be covering basic functions. We might want to label various tutorials as Novice, Journeyman, Expert, and Master level.
Sorry Dan, I have to agree that there should be a section for individuals just starting out. I would say that those individuals are the one who would use it most.
Peter, I'll try to contribute something to it.
Gary
No problem, just one man’s suggestion.
Actually, I was so excited to see the content up there. What Paul has put up so far, dealing with importing MIDI and creating hybrid styles and new styles, is advanced for me. Given all my years with BIAB I have never really understood how the heck a BIAB song is constructed from scratch. I always felt that hunting through hundreds of styles for a particular sound (style) was not really the answer. But I never have really understood how to roll-my-own. Up to this point I have chalked it off to "midi programming" and I am content working with the 1000’s of BIAB tunes out there. For now I can maneuver around in BIAB and RB quite well, thank you. But, I plan in my retirement years to revisit the whole area. So I will keep a keen eye on the WiKi site.
Great idea Peter! Thanks!
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Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
No..... YOU'RE Peter....HE'S Paul
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Peter, I'll try to contribute something to it.
Gary
It's Paul!!
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Actually, I was so excited to see the content up there. What Peter has put up so far, dealing.......
PAUL PAUL PAUL 
That looks really good, Paul! What a great idea, I'm sure most of us regulars have had some kind of thought about doing something like this but it took you to actually do it. Well done.
One suggestion is to set up a peer review similar to Wikipedia so if something is shown to be not quite right or maybe downright incorrect, it can be rewritten.
Another suggestion is to go through the tips & tricks section of the forum, pick out the best ones and email the author asking if you can copy their post to the Wiki or maybe a better way is to ask them if they want to add it themselves.
I'm just full of thoughts now, how about searching through the forum for Andrew's posts? He usually only posts with a direct answer to someone's problem so some of those answers could prompt a section for the Wiki as well.
Bob
Well done, Paul. I'm sure many will find it very very useful
Where's Mary when we need her. Maybe just for now 'merry' should suffice.
Way to go Peter/Paul and Merry!
I've needed something like this for a long time.
Thanks Paul!
Thanks Mac. I'm glad you like the idea. Please feel free to join the site if you can. I'm sure your experience would be a great benefit.
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One suggestion, please keep it "advanced stuff only" for those who want to get into the working of creating with BIAB.
Hi jazzmandan. Glad you like the site. I'm not sure it would be possible or desirable to limit the content to advanced topics. Since any user can contribute, the content will always reflect the level of the average user.
What I propose instead is that topics be catagorised as basic or advanced. This way the user can easily decide for themselves what to read.
I agree Tom. I've already started to arrange the site index into basic and advanced. As soon as I learn how to use the catagory feature I'll start to catagorise topics as to the level of expertise.
It seems you have some good ideas. I hope you can join the site and contribute.
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No..... YOU'RE Peter....HE'S Paul
Now all we need is Mary...
Ok, I'll get my coat.
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That looks really good, Paul! What a great idea, I'm sure most of us regulars have had some kind of thought about doing something like this but it took you to actually do it. Well done.
Thanks, I'm glad you like it.
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One suggestion is to set up a peer review similar to Wikipedia so if something is shown to be not quite right or maybe downright incorrect, it can be rewritten.
I think that's what the discussion pages are for. In addition, I'm encouraging everyone to cite their sources whenever making an assertion. Wikipedia can serve as a source if their articles are cited. Also the PGMusic site and manuals are good sources.
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Another suggestion is to go through the tips & tricks section of the forum, pick out the best ones and email the author asking if you can copy their post to the Wiki or maybe a better way is to ask them if they want to add it themselves.
Good idea. The tips and tricks section is full of good advice. It's just a little hard to search through it all. If members of this forum search for their own tips it will be a goldmine of information should they agree to contribute.
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I'm just full of thoughts now, how about searching through the forum for Andrew's posts? He usually only posts with a direct answer to someone's problem so some of those answers could prompt a section for the Wiki as well.
Another great idea. Thanks.
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Well done, Paul. I'm sure many will find it very very useful
Thanks. I sure hope so.
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I've needed something like this for a long time.
Thanks Paul!
Thanks. I hope it really grows and becomes a primary source of information to BiaB users.
Great stuff so far!!! Bookmarked!!! Will be an awesome reference.
Cheers,
Mike
Glad you like it Mike. I hope you can join and contribute.
What a wonderful generous thing to do.
Thanks!
You are most welcome. Please feel free to register and add your knowledge.
Super idea
You can lay claim to the famous Julius Caesar quote from 47 BC: ('v' was pronounced 'w' in ancient Roma.
Hence "Veni, vidi, vici" - translated "I came, I saw, I wikied".
And you did - congrats.
Cheers and thanks - Ian
Hey Peter,
What a GREAT idea! Good on ya mate.....
I've said for years that we need something like this. Even better would be a Video series on using BIAB & Real Band. At one point we were trying to get Mac to do this. I'm sure he has plenty on his plate though!
I never understood why there aren't more people selling 3rd party styles for BIAB, seems to me there should be 3rd party Video Tutorials for Power users also.
Happy Holidays,
Ed
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Hey Peter,
What a GREAT idea! Good on ya mate.....
It's Paul Warren's idea 
Cheers!
Glad you liked it Ian. Thanks. I hope you can join and help make the content great.
Thanks Ed. The wiki can host videos. There's a video upload icon in the edit screen. So if you or anyone else wants to do them it's easy to add to the site.
Not only that but it's easy to provide a link to the video tutorials on this site.
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Thanks Ed. The wiki can host videos. There's a video upload icon in the edit screen. So if you or anyone else wants to do them it's easy to add to the site.
Not only that but it's easy to provide a link to the video tutorials on this site.
Cool.
Can you store the actual video files somewhere or do we need to put them on some server and provide hotlinks?
--Mac
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Cool. Can you store the actual video files somewhere or do we need to put them on some server and provide hotlinks?
I'm not 100% sure, because I haven't tried it yet, but I think you upload the videos to the wiki database. This is what you do with pictures anyway and I have no reason to believe it's different with vids.
If there IS a difference, you could always upload to Youtube and embedd a link on the wiki page.
Screw Youtube.
If necessary, we'll build up our own server.
--Mac
You're not a YouTube fan I see...
I just don't want you guys to end up in a situation where you can no longer access the files.
Youtube is going thru a change right now.
Don't want to get into that kettle of fish here. Easily found if you are the type that has to know.
Time will tell, but I say play it safe, though.
If you need safe and free server space, send me a PM. I'm sure we can do something, just not sure exactly on the particulars at the moment. Bandwidth is available though.
In the meanwhile, the first thing to do is to ascertain if you can upload videos right there where you already are.
--Mac
I wouldn't use YouTube if you put a gun to my head. The only change I'd like to see with YouTube is it disappearing.
Ok, was just an idea. LOL! Calm down, friends.
One of the questions most often asked on this site is what audio interface should I use. Because of that I want to include pages describing various interfaces on the BiaB wiki.
Here's an example.
Indigo io.
I'd really like to encourage you to join the site and add your own interfaces. It only needs to be short. Even the formatting is easy. just include the {{subst:Review_Page}} in the source editor and the formatting will be applied. All you need to do then is add your descriptions.
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One of the questions most often asked on this site is what audio interface should I use. Because of that I want to include pages describing various interfaces on the BiaB wiki.
Here's an example. Indigo io.
I'd really like to encourage you to join the site and add your own interfaces. It only needs to be short. Even the formatting is easy. just include the {{subst:Review_Page}} in the source editor and the formatting will be applied. All you need to do then is add your descriptions.
Something like this would have potential to become a great resource. Reports of what works and what doesn't with Band in a Box, that sort of thing.
--Mac
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I wouldn't use YouTube if you put a gun to my head. The only change I'd like to see with YouTube is it disappearing.
?????
As I have already stated - great idea, Paul. However, not wanting to be a spoilsport there already is a
Wiki on Band-In-A-Box at WikiPedia (and its not yours, Paul). Of course, Paul's is already so much better. So, how come there are two now? And how will the general public know which one to go too?
Confusing, to say the least...
Yeah, Sam, you'd better report such bl;atant attempts at competition to the Internet Interpol Police immediately!
There's not a whole lot in that "official" Wikipedia entry. I wonder who created it?
Plus, it needs updating. For example, here is the last fact cited: "To date, more than 26 RealDrums and 66 RealTrack sets have been released."
It is kind of interesting to have a bit of the product history, though, such as the year Real Drums were introduced. This shows up in questions in the forum on occasion, especially when someone says they are using BIAB version 12 or version 2007 or something like that, and it's hard to remember (and time-consuming to research) what features that version contained.
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...there already is a Wiki on Band-In-A-Box at WikiPedia
Sure, there's an entry regarding BiaB on wikipedia but it's not the same thing at all. Entries on wiki pedia tend to be definition or descriptions. The wiki I started is supposed to become a comprehensive source.
Many wiki's have entries in wikipedia as well.
The point in having a separate, and comprehensive, site is that it will be for dedicated BiaB fans.
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It is kind of interesting to have a bit of the product history, though, such as the year Real Drums were introduced.
I fully intend to get some history into BandinaBox wiki. To avoind duplication I'll probably link to that entry if it seems accurate and/or referenced. Otherwise I'll ask PGMusic for an official version.
BTW Sam, I did a google search for any 'official' Band in a Box wiki and couldn't find anything. I will probably link the wikipedia article to the new site which will make it unessesary to maintain the wikipedia version beyond what it is.
Paul, I would definitely ask PG music for their version of the history; the Wikipedia one is very spotty and not current.
It wouldn't be terrible to make it manually if we needed to; I often go to the internet archives to see what version of BIAB had what features, when I need that info to help someone.
Great job, by the way!
Well there are a couple of registered users now. Thanks to you who registered. I hope more of you will join as time allows. Your input will be valuble.
Just joined as well.
Cheers,
Mike
Great to have you onboard Mike.
You have to register? OK, I'll go look again.
You don't have to register but it's nice if you do since your edits and contributions will be signed and you will have messages etc.
In addition, some pages will be restricted to registered users to protect content.
Yes, just registered. I agree, and if that other wiki had author credits, we would know who let it become out of date and we could help them.
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I wouldn't use YouTube if you put a gun to my head. The only change I'd like to see with YouTube is it disappearing.
Curious you feel that way.
I've grown to like it a lot, sometimes when I'm bored I will go to one of my favorite vids like a live Herbie Hancock/Pat Metheny clip of them doing Cantelope Island and start surfing the links from there. I find all kinds of clips from all over and some are crap, some are great.
Mac posted a link of Nat King Cole doing Route 66 on some old tv show and I still watch that one from time to time. I'm sure some of these are running into copywrite issues so who knows what's going to happen.
Doug McKenzie is a forum member who has a whole series of piano teaching clips using Biab as well. He even explains exactly how he set up Biab with his video camera to create the clips.
I found another one of guy who built his own line array PA speakers try to duplicate the new Bose system for a few hundred bucks. The videos are in 9 or 10 segments and he goes into great detail with the videos showing the construction with some pro soundman talk thrown in. No idea who he is but he sounds like he knows what he's talking about.
To me there's ton's of interesting things on YouTube.
Didn't really mean to change the subject of the thread which is a good one but just had to comment on this point.
Bob
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Curious you feel that way.
I'm sure there's a lot of god content on YouTube. The reason I don't much like it is because of the mis-use. People posting videos of beatings and other atrocities. Then you have the various hoaxes that go viral and become accepted as fact. I guess I shouldn't blame YouTube for that, and I know they try to police it, but still...
And then you have YouTube answers. Arrrggghhh.
I'm in, I've contributed, and I like it.
I think this can be a great resource for newbies and experts alike.
When someone asks "the same old question" here, rather than going through the entire explanation here, we can just provide a link to the Wiki site that already supplies the answer.
I think it's a great idea.
Notes
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I think this can be a great resource for newbies and experts alike.
That was what I was hoping for. I really like this site, the help is prompt and the members are nice. Unfortunately older information can be harder to find and I believe 1 year is as far back as it can go. The BiaB wiki can pick up from there and be a great supplemental resource.
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When someone asks "the same old question" here, rather than going through the entire explanation here, we can just provide a link to the Wiki site that already supplies the answer.
Exactly. Once an explanation is given we can archive it and it'll always be there. Thanks Notes.
Paul,
I went to your WIKI and added an article on how to use continuous controllers in Real Band. I saw a previous message saying that such an article should probably go under the heading of MIDI DEVICES, so I navigated to that topic and then clicked ADD A NEW ARTICLE
Well, I did create the article, but it does not show up anywhere in the topical menu. A link to the article appears in the opening screen, under the heading RECENT ARTICLES, but apart from that link I can't find any other way to locate it. It looks like there is a way to move articles, but it didn't make any sense to me. If you know how to place existing articles into topical catagories, you may want to move this one.
Cool Wiki, by the way. Thanks for setting it up.
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Paul,
I went to your WIKI and added an article on how to use continuous controllers in Real Band. I saw a previous message saying that such an article should probably go under the heading of MIDI DEVICES, so I navigated to that topic and then clicked ADD A NEW ARTICLE
Well, I did create the article, but it does not show up anywhere in the topical menu. A link to the article appears in the opening screen, under the heading RECENT ARTICLES, but apart from that link I can't find any other way to locate it. It looks like there is a way to move articles, but it didn't make any sense to me. If you know how to place existing articles into topical catagories, you may want to move this one.
Cool Wiki, by the way. Thanks for setting it up.
I'll go there now and have a look. Editing and adding content takes a little getting used to. It's not too bad after a few tries. I'm gradually adding some notes about using the wiki as well. Hopefully that'll help.
Thanks for contributing.
Ok Pat, I added your article to the Browse, Content and Continuous Controllers categories. It now shows up under those. I also added it to the Expert category because it's an expert level task.
Very nice article BTW.
Here's a direct
link for anyone who wants to have a look.
Thanks Paul! I tried to figure out how to place the article, but I struck out. I hate that you had to do more work because of my inability to figure out how to use the WIKI... but, once again.. thanks! You da MAN!
I can see your WIKI becoming THE place where BIAB users go for answers. You are a good man to take such time to create it.
(Happy new year, BTW)
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Thanks Paul! I tried to figure out how to place the article, but I struck out. I hate that you had to do more work because of my inability to figure out how to use the WIKI...
No problem at all Pat. That's the thing about wikis, we can all help each other.
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I can see your WIKI becoming THE place where BIAB users go for answers.
That's what I'm hoping for. There's so much to learn about BiaB that the only way I'll ever get really good with it is to have a resource like this.
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(Happy new year, BTW)
And a most happy New Year to you as well.