RB differs from BIAB in that all tracks are not regenerated... this means you can change the chords for different tracks to get exactly the effect and cadence you want. Many of us change the chords manually, or cut and paste chord sets to different bar locations... but this makes it awkward to remember which chord set was used for which track.

My request is for multiple tabbed chord sheets (like the tabbed Spreadsheets in an Excel document) each of which can be assigned to a specific track.

This would enable the composer to keep a permanent record of chords used to generate each track, and the project coud be duplicated/regenerated more easily.

Alternatively, you could give us an option to specify bars 1-36 for track 1, bars 40-76 for track 2 etc. That way the file format would remain the same.

(But you could still add the option to "Show as tabs" or "Show as sequential bars", because that would just be a matter of screen display, not file format)


see thread:
http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=356411&Main=356302#Post356411

I think this is an excellent suggestion. I too have had to change the chord sheet numerous times to render rhythms, holds, shots, etc., differently for different instruments. The tabbed idea would be ideal.

Terry

Ditto. I use many different chord structures when I'm putting together a song and many times I can't remember exactly what I used for each instrument. Especially when I use a lot of Shots and Holds or I decide to add another instrument at a later date. Being able to save the chords (even in a text file) and being able to import them would be great.

Bump.

I would REALLY like this feature~! I find that more and more my compositions require multiple adaptations of the chords to get different instruments to do what I want. This would let me experiment without screwing up what I already have. And once I nail that track, I could move on to the next track, copy the existing chords, then add, subtract or rearrange as needed.

It wouldn't have to be a large number of tabs. One or two would be great. 5 would be wonderful.

+1. Excellent idea, also for BIAB.

+1

Yes Please. +1.

Did I say +1?...why, yes I did, and I meant it.

Mom would be ashamed of me.. I forgot to say "please"

PLEASE??

if such a feature existed, I envision it working like this:

1) In BIAB, you might right click on one of the instruments at the top of the screen, and a new option "new tab" would be available

2) when you initiate the "new tab" function, the tab name would be the patch assigned to that instrument


In RB, it could be similar, except you'd access it by right clicking on a track, which would mean that track gets its chords from the new tab

The TRACKS right click menu has gotten pretty long, to the extent that (on my PC at least) the options scroll out of sight.


It would be useful if the menu was context aware... for example, if it is a midi track, it should ONLY have options used on a MIDI track... for example, to change the midi channel, midi patch, piano roll, and MIDI supertracks/styles pickbox would show when you want to add a new instrument etc

but NONE of the audio stuff (ie realtrack, real drum, audio effects etc) should be included in the right click menu of a MIDI track.

Likewise, an audio track should show only the items you'd use with an audio track, and none of the choices that are only applicable to a MIDI track.

+1
That makes perfect sense.

OK, we're closing in on a new release, so I'm bumping this request back to the top. This is my number one wish for RB. In my opinion, the ability to maintain multiple chord sheets would dramatically improve the compositional potential of the program.

The sheets wouldn't even have to be dealt with at the same time. As long as you could pick the sheet you want to use when generating the current track, that would meet my needs.

The slickest interface would be to have different tabs for each chord sheet, with the ability to select which tab is active.

Alternatively, if there was a way to export/import chords to/from a text file, that would also work. That way your basic engine would remain backwardly compatible because you'd still be generating from one chord sheet... the main difference would be that if you changed chords for various instruments, you'd have a saved record of the chords used for each part.

I envision chords being saved with names like Guitar_1, Banjo_track_7 or maybe with the name of the RT used on the track.

This is certainly still on my wishlist. Just recently I've tried to add a new instrument to a song I put together a long while ago and I just can't remember all the chord changes I modified to get the song to sound the way I wanted. Especially when throwing in holds etc. on only certain tracks. I really like the concept of Tabs. That would really make things flow (if it can be done.

Thanks for resurfacing this one.

Steve.

A huge +1 and thank you Pat for suggesting this.

I also put this in the BiaB wishlist some time ago along with a similar description of how it could work. I'll bump that thread and maybe you could all add support there as well. Thanks.

IF TAB$ = "IMPLENTED" THEN
   USER_HAPPINESS = 1
ELSE
   USER_HAPPINESS = 0
END IF


---------------------------------------
Link to PWarren's BIAB wishlist thread:
http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=202960&#Post202960

Or in pascal...

case TABS of
0: user_happiness := false;
1: user_happiness := true;
end;

+1

bump

bumping this back to the top so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle....

bumpity bump

I just noticed this request has been granted! Thanks!

BUMP!

once again, as we approach a new release... my #1 wish for RB is multiple tabbed chord sheets.

This wouldn't be necessary in BIAB, since RB is the environment in which I am most likely to tweak the various instrumental parts.

Pat, how do you currently work around this issue?

I have a folder for each song project.

In that folder I put any data that might be useful, (for example a text file of the lyrics, midi files, karaoke files, the original studio version, the BIAB file used to capture the essence of the idea, and the SEQ file created when I open the BIAB file in RB.)

Then since the entire folder is dedicated to the song, I save multiple versions of the project if I need to tweak the chords for different parts. I save each version by instrument name.. for example "acoustic guitar.seq" or "strings.seq"

Once I get the parts tweaked, I export them to individual WAVs and import each track separately into the master project, which is named after the song title. I mix in the master project.

This approach works fine, but it is not as slick as it would be to keep the whole project in one file. My gut feeling is that since there is a way to accomplish what I want without changing the program, PGMusic will opt to focus their efforts on new features that aren't possible in other DAWs. But the tabs would be cool.

Usually I just opt for the easy way and don't bother to make the changes that would make the song more dynamic. The tabs would make it convenient enough that I would be far more likely to "mix it up" and experiment with variations in the chord sheet for each instrument. I think if this were a feature, we would see a change in the way most of us approach the song creation process, and the resulting songs would be far less inclined to sound like they were created in an automated environment.

The telltale sign of a song created in BIAB is the way all instruments uniformly follow the chord sheet. IMO, the differences in style aren't enough to approximate the differences in phrasing that are the hallmark of live performances. BUT...(IMO) the combination of styles plus chord sheet variability would provide results that are indistinguishable from live performance.

And that's why I keep pestering for this feature.

+1 (again and again)

I have taken to doing screen captures of the chords tab and saving as jpeg. It helps (a little) but is cumbersome. And it still requires going back into the chord sheet and re-keying the chord differences (shots, etc). The biggest problem is I created some files 3 years ago and I have no clue how to duplicate. I wasn't capturing the data back then. Oh well.

yeah, me too. :-(