I am having difficulty with setting the precise start time of my midi song involving multiple tracks (to assist with accurate chord detection). What I would like to do is select all the tracks then perform the move, but I can't seem to select more than one track at a time. I'm assuming this is a valid operation. Any help please?

I assume the Audio Chord Wizard uses audio in RealBand the same as it uses audio in Band-in-a-Box; which means one audio file. The Audio Chord Wizard (ACW) in Band-in-a-Box only listens to 1 audio track (which makes sense because BiaB has only one audio track).

The RealBand manual does not implicitly state the wizard is limited to one audio track but certainly strongly implies the limitation.

Page 176 of the 2019 RealBand manual states: . Standard MP3, WMA and WAV audio files are either mono or stereo. In a later paragraph the manual states:

I would import all the tracks but one and then use the Audio Chord Wizard to populate the chord sheet and tempo map.

Select a track
Right click on the data area (where the MIDI/Audio events are shown)
Click Select whole track

method A: Hold down conrol key (CTRL) and click the number of the other track(s) you want to add to your selection

method B:
Select the initial track
Select whole track as described above
Hold down the Shift key and click the last number you want to select
RB will select all the tracks between the first one selected through to the one you click while holding Shift.

To Move a selected area of multiple tracks, select them as above.
Cut/Copy/Paste them where you want them.
Or you can try holding CTRL and dragging them, but that takes a little effort zooming in and such.

ProTip: If you 'select whole track' you will likely select from the very beginning of the song (1-1-0).
So pasting backwards (earlier in the song) won't work well as you would need to paste the start of the copied or cut data to before the beginning of the song (which doesn't exist), so in this case use the From-Thru settings to clear enough room in the selected area to actually move it back.
The From-Thru selection is important as it determines when the first bit of data starts.

It takes a little common sense but knowing how to select the tracks you want should not be a hurdle.

And
Yes ACW uses a single stereo track inside the ACW. To facilitate this is offers to do a Merge during the launch process; if you want to exclude certain tracks just Mute them before launching the ACW, then un-mute later.
When it first launches it has a pop up that asks if you want to open a new file or use current file. If current is selected it does a quick Merge to a temporary file before opening the actual ACW window.

Thank you very much, that helps a lot. I'm dealing purely with midi and so ACW is not used, only the custom midi chord wizard. I did try the shift method but not using the track numbers.
The initial midi was simply two tracks of piano on track 2 and 3 but the midi wizard was using Track 4 for the chording and track 3 for the Bass (there was no track 4 and track 3 for Bass was wrong). When I changed these to the correct values they were change back again. But the result worked well,

Thanks again

Thank you rharv for your detailed helpful reply. I now understand the process for multiple selection of complete tracks. Cutting and pasting was the way I was able to successfully complete the move. I wasn't able to use the dragging option though because when I Control-dragged on the selection, only the track that the cursor was on stayed selected, the other tracks deselected. But cutting and pasting is fine.

Thanks

Good morning. Is the difficulty you're having with the precise start time of a midi song because of the two bar offset? When I attempted to duplicate your issue as I understand it, I opened a midi file in RB. Prior to opening the file, RB shows a -2 offset but when the file opened, the file reset the offset field which results in renumbering the bars and the midi data begins at bar 3. Then if I select a RealStyle and generate, the RealStyles generation begin at what is now Bar 1 where there is no midi or chord data.

If that is the issue you're experiencing, that results in you attempting to select and move all of the midi song data back two bars so that all tracks will properly align?

Part of the problem I'm having understanding your issue is because when I open a midi song in RB, opening the file results in automatic chord detection, tempo setting, bar offset, and key signature selection. For this reason, I'm thinking when you open a midi file, you're not getting any chords placed in the first two bars of the chord chart and that throws off any additional tracks or styles you generate in your song. Am I understanding correctly?

I may have an easy solution for you if I'm understanding your issue correctly.

Thank you Charlie. My issue was a little bit more simple than this. It was just how I could select more than one track simultaneously so that I could move them to the correct position. Previous replies have shown me how to do this. Well, at least the cut and paste worked well but I was unable to use dragging for multiple tracks.

I did notice that, at one time, when I generated RealTracks, that at least on one occasion the RealTrack audio did start early, but once I had synchronized the chord sheet to the start of the song in track view I didn't get this problem again.

What I did find though, was that if RealTracks/RealDrums were in the song that I could no longer change the tempo without crashing RB. If there was only midi then this did not cause any problem.

John

Thanks for explaining your issue. I think there are tools and techniques I use that you may find useful as well. Rharv's method is the best to move audio and midi around in RB but I'll share how I expand on what he's explained and may help your workflow too.

I use markers and the snap tool to arrange the format of my song in RB. For instance, I'll mark out the intro bars, verses, chorus's, bridges, solo's and the outro. I use markers for any section I want to copy because it allows me to verify I have exactly selected what I want before committing to cut, copy and paste. I use markers to set punch in/out points, move to/from points and I find it is quick and gives me assurance I'm applying an action that is correct.

Using markers allows me to move entire verses and chorus's in sections that will merge flawlessly into new areas of my song. Every section should begin and end within a set area of bars. As an example, a four bar intro will be contained within the first four bars of my song. I can use the Snap to beat to accurately select bar 1 and press F7 then move the curser to bar 5 and press F8 and the first 4 bars of the selected track will be highlighted. In my example this track is track one and I have a total of 7 tracks with audio or midi. With Track one selected go to Track 7, hold the shift key as Rharv has outlined and enter to select all 7 tracks. These selected tracks can be copied, cut and pasted in unison. In this example I'll say that the first verse of my song is 12 bars and are chord repetitions of the intro. With my Snap To Beat Button to the 'on' position, I set my curser at bar 5 and press Ctrl-V will paste the four bar intro, move to Bar 9 and Ctrl-V will paste the first 4 bars again providing 8 bars.

This is a very fast and accurate way to arrange or create a song from just a few bars. The Snap to Beat button assures that your curser is accurately set at the beginning or end of a bar so entire sections, such as a verse, can be faithfully duplicated throughout various sections of your song. Using Multi Riff or regenerations will assure these sections differ slightly and are not exact replications.

Thank you Charlie. This is really helpful because I like to easily arrange the song easily and this would appear to be a great tool for doing just that.