Here's what I am thinking....

I want to write my song, get it how I want it, then mute the drums completely, save it out to an MP3 file, and then import that MP3 into Sonar. Then I can play the song out from software that sends MIDI clock, write my own drum track on my drum machine or sampler, and then I have the fills how and where I want them when I record the song.

That should work, right?

It should work, but what does not work with Real Drums? You can put the fills at any bar marker you want.

Another thought, write the song, export it as midi, and use better softsynth instruments in Sonar to make the midi tracks sound a lot better, and either use midi drums, real drums, or let Sonar play the drum machine. so that you have waht you want, the play that track back into Sonar and use a better drum sampler to play the drums. Bounce it all to a solid MP3 and ......

Like the idea Robh. The bigger scope of this is that at times I need just hat or kick quarter note beats for like 8 bars in an intro or a pickup during a break after a bridge, etc..... if there is a way to make the drum tracks in BIAB play just kick or just hat and put snare hits on off beats like what I can do with a drum machine? I am very new to the software and just now learning the finer tweaks of writing with BIAB.

And actually, thinking more about it, I could just mute the drum tracks during the measures that need those special fills and play those by hand when I record..... either on the Roland drum machine or the M-Audio Trigger Finger connected to the sampler... yeah, this will work out some way or another.

I can't comment on the drum machine but I wondered why you would make an MP3. You can Drag & Drop your BIAB song right into SONAR, where you can mute any track as needed, record new ones, export etc.

That was my basic question Matt. How do I save a BIAB composition to make it available for import into Sonar as individual tracks? I kind of thought that a BIAB file was all tracks in one file. I was not aware that if a song has drums, bass, piano, guitar.... that each of those is on their own track. Are they also on their own channel?

I am going to go up and play with this in a while with a quickie song I create as a "play with" file. I probably misspoke with "MP3"as I know Sonar will import wav files as well as MIDI and several other formats.

So much to learn all over, though I don't anticipate it will take anywhere near as long as it did to know just basic, rudimentary Sonar operation. I have had that for quite some time and can barely use it.

Are you using just RealTracks in BIAB or MIDI or a mixture? I take songs into Sonar from BIAB and I always replace the drums - I often like the hits and fills but I really don't like the sound of the kit used. If you're using RealTracks:- You can actually have your Sonar project and BIAB open at the same time - resize the windows so they're side by side - and if you've got a current version of BIAB you can then simply drag each instrment track over into tracks in Sonar (see button top left in BIAB). These are WAVs. If your BIAB song has ok MIDI drum beats then export that as a single MIDI track and import into Sonar, where you can tidy them up/improve them and use I drum sampler to make the drums realistic. I most often use XLN's Addictive Drums which I think sound great. MP3s don't figure in this. Let me know if you need any more help.

John

Drag & Drop the combo button and get everything all in one step.

Here's where I am getting lost. I created a test song (24 bars) in BIAB. I saved it as a wav file. I imported the wav file into Sonar. It did NOT come in as separate tracks. It was all one audio track in Sonar so I couldn't mute just the drums. I will assume from the comments that when I moved it from BIAB to Sonar I did it wrong. The "clicking" and "dragging" are confusing me. I know computers inside and out but "drag" what from where to where is losing me. I know "export" and "import" but in this context I don't know what or where to drag anything. Too many buttons on the toolbars I still have no idea about.

You probably have not set the Options for Drag & Drop.

Open BIAB 2011.

Play the song you want.

Click on DAW Plugin.

Click on Options.

Put a check in the third and fourth checkboxes, for Drag Combo and Separate Tracks.

Click OK.

Click again on DAW Plugin.

Click on Start Plugin Mode.

Open SONAR.

Create a new project.

Click and Drag the word Combo in BIAB and drag to anywhere in your SONAR project.

Wait. Watch BIAB instruments change color as tracks are loaded into SONAR.

Click on DAW Plugin in BIAB and End Plugin Mode.

Close BIAB.

Adjust the start of the tracks in SONAR if needed and continue in SONAR.

Hi Eddie,

If you have Band In A Box 2011 then it's very easy to have the files "Dragged and Dropped".

Here's how... Just below the File menu (top left) is a box labeled DROP.
Now let's say you want to save the Bass.. Click on the bass radio button (to the left of the word Bass)
Click and hold with the mouse and drag the radio button over to the DROP box (you will not be able to physically drag the radio button) but when you let go when it is over the DROP box it will generate a midi or audio file (whatever you have selected in the Daw Plugin mode).
The DROP box should then turn green when it is completed.
Then you should be able to "Drag" what is in the green DROP box to your Sonar or whatever.

Alternatively... If you don't have Band In A Box 2011....
Just click on the Wav icon (the one that looks like a disk with a microphone)
In the menu that opens you can save the file as individual tracks and then import into your Daw.

Hope this helps

Best regards
George