I wanted to add a Gadd9 chord (I,III,V, IX) and BIAB automatically changed t to Gadd2. I understand this and the note equivalence. But why does not BIAB allow and make provision for "add9" chords? The add 2 and the add9 chords both include the same notes but the add9 chord will ensure that the note is in the highest position.

On a piano and on a guitar sometimes the add9 chord is very beautiful. But its beauty may very be lost if the 9th is just made into a 2nd note.

Also you might add a feature corresponding to a slash chord but the chosen note would be the highest note in the chord. This would allow a Gadd2 to really should like a Gadd9 as long as the A note was chosen and specified to be the highest note.

Please include add9 chords in BIAB. Alteratively, please add a way where you can force which note is the highest note in the chord. This is similar to the slash chord that ensures which note will be the lowest note.

Also BIAB now allows for 2 chords which have the notes 1,2,3,5. Could you please add a suspended 2 chord which would be notes 1,2,5? There are important sonic differences between a 2 chord and suspended 2 chord. The context will determine which is better--i.e. aesthetically pleasing.

+1
I love add9 chords !

The thing is, BIAB reserves the right to voice chords as it sees fit, depending on style and instrument, so even if they included “add9” in the roster, it would just be a synonym for “add2”.

I do like the idea of a “high slash chord”, though most styles will have a bass line to handle those slash notes, whereas there is nothing like a corresponding “high line”.

I agree!

+1

That would be true for all MIDI and RTs right now but in the future new MIDI and RTs could add the add9 chord. Plus maybe PGM could/would modify previous MIDI and RTs to include an add9.



This is a good idea. Maybe something like C/C/D where the first slash is the bass and the second the high would work; only the programmers know for sure.

Which, when you think about it, would give you complete voicing for triads, and so would be a big step in the direction of being able to simply spell the exact chords you want. "I'll have the C4/E4/G4, please, with a D5 on top." Presumably there would have to be a filter so you don't get to tell a guitar to play C4/C#4/D4/D#4 (Mario, if you can find a way to play that chord, it should be named after you!)

The major problem with my suggestion is that RTs would have to be played in all variations and/or inversions. That would take a lot of disk space!

I do very little work with RTs, usually just take what they give me when the rare times I do use them. Maybe RT stems would be an answer.

This could have been two threads. It's two different topics.

About the add9 and sus2 chords, I think some definitions need to be understood for what BIAB supports versus what BIAB plays. You can type add2 or add9, or 2 or sus2, but what does BIAB actually enter, and what does BIAB actually play?

If you type Xadd2, you get Xadd2.
If you type Xadd9, it flips to Xadd2.
If you type X2, you get X2.
If you type Xsus2, it flips to X2.

So right there, you see that BIAB has made a decision to treat these as two chords, not four.

But it's actually worse than that. All four are the same chord to BIAB. Here's why:

This is an old file from 1999, still in effect to my knowledge, called /bb/Data/pgshortc.txt

; This file allows you to add new chord shortcuts
; The file pgshortc.txt should be used only by PG Music
; you can add your own shortcuts in a text file you can make called c:\bb\shortcut.txt
; If you find a chord that BB won't accept like Csus2, when it expects C2 instead
; you can enter this on a single line (without the quotes) "Csus2@C2"
; Then BB will enter the chord C2 if you type in Csus 2.
; these allow someone to type in Csus2 and the program will accept it.
; You can also use it for shortcuts, like if you entered j@maj7 , BB would let you
; type Cj for CMaj7
;Here's an example that would type m7b5 if you typed h
; Note these are already defined in BB, and you can't over-ride these shortcuts
;sus2@2 add2@2 m+@m#5 dim7@dim 7aug@7+ sus4@sus 11@9sus 9sus4@9sus
;13sus4@13sus add9@2 7sus4@7sus s@7sus h@m7b5 d@dim J@MAJ7
; f@7b9 m7+@m7#5 NC@C. no chord l@7Alt u@(Blues) 7u@7(Blues)
; Lyd@lydian Lyd@lyd Lyd@4#

;here's an example that types 7#9 if you type n after the chord name eg. Cn
n@7#9

Now we see some problems. It says sus2 requires a shortcut, and yet below it says sus2 = 2, and that's built-in and we cannot change it.

This file says sus2 = 2, add2 = 2, and add9 = 2. They are all the same chord to BIAB! Enter them one after another in BIAB and hear for yourself.

All these separate chords could easily be implemented in MIDI, and then these default shortcuts should be removed. Making these chords work in RealTracks requires the artists to record these chords and as Mario says, that takes effort and space, and would only work going forward with new RealTracks.

If it's not in the recorded material it will substitute.
You have Playable RealTracks now so you can add the extra note.
Maybe this can be added as as a feature to do this automatically rather than using Melodyne. I can do it in Reaper.

I would like it a lot if BB and RB treated the add2 and add9 differently. Especially useful when it comes to guitar fingerpicking backing tracks. I've used two workarounds:
1) adding higher accents by recording a second guitar track directly into RB (MIDI or Audio) to match my desired flavor (usually higher add9s)
2) creating a duplicate BB-generated guitar MIDI track (could be any instrument)in RB, shifting the MIDI notes up an octave, then killing all the unnecessary notes in the duplicate track, then assigning a guitar VSTi/VST. I typically use Sforzando and Ample Martin Lite and they work well. Both are okay for these kinds of add9 accents covering a few measures. Not so great for entire backing tracks. Still, very doable... if you're retired, happily housebound, given special permission to stay in the studio longer while putting other things on the back burner, etc. Dare to dream on.

Well articulated.

+1

Thanks all for you comments and suggestions. I hope PG Music will respond and at least allow MIDI styles to provide the add9 and thesuspended2 (1,2,5 NOT 1,2,3,5 [the later is the definition of a 2 chord without suspension]) Both the 2 chord and the suspended 2 chords are beautiful but they different in sound.

+1

Biab a box should be able to do all this intelligently.

There are added notes and a chord in this video using PRT. These can also be used to add notes to existing RT chords once the PRT SFZ is matched to the same tone.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ytk0n0rd5ziwpbv/RT3480-SFZ%5BSN0757%5D.mp4?dl=0

Same deal with midi, existing chord notes can be duplicated intelligently by Biab. This is all easily do in Reaper.
Midi Phrase Snap To Chord Tool

+1

Also remember to add the keyboard to display KEY

+1

I am not so polite as to say that BiaB "allows" for misspelled sus2 chords. They're misspelled, period. BiaB does not permit sus2 chords. When I type them in, they're converted to x2 chords, which are really xadd2 chords. I've posted my annoyance about this before. I'm currently working on a tune that uses "x2" chords, and there are 3rds all over the place. Annoying, and there's nothing I can do about it in BiaB because I cannot edit any track other than Melody or Solo. Yes, it would be nice if I could edit all the tracks, but really the point is, for sus2 chords, I shouldn't have to.

Obviously, I'm talking about MIDI here. RTs are another matter, and I really don't care about it. I just want MIDI sus2 chords.

If you have the 2022 version, you can edit MIDI on any of the Utility tracks.

Actually you can edit ANY MIDI track in the piano roll view. It is very easy to delete those thirds and/or to change the chord to an add9. Just go to the piano roll view and click on help as it will tell you everything you need to know. Just be sure to freeze the track so a regeneration will not change your edits. You can freeze a track will in the piano roll view.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the news, guys. Wow, it was about time. Yes, I have the 2022 version, so I will happily edit my midi files now. Good point about freezing the tracks, too. Although, I thought this applied only to RT's?

Hey Mario, I've hardly used the Piano Roll for editing purposes. I'll have to check that out.