I set up a new midi instrument (Guitar2) and typed in all the melody notes (on all 32 measures). Then I added 32 new measures at the beginning with just chords, no melody. And I set it to play all 64 measures twice. What I want is to have just the chords play for 32 measures, and then play the chords with the melody for measures 33-64. So it works exactly like this the first time through, and then when it repeats, it reverses and plays the melody over measures 1-32, and not over 33-64. This makes no sense at all since I (painstakingly) typed in the melody over measures 33-64. Why is it reversing it, and I guess HOW is it reversing it? I mean, the first 32 measures have no melody notes, how is it taking them from other measures and putting them there? It seems that my only solution here is to have 128 non-repeating measures and have to type in all the melody notes on 32 more measures. Is there any other way to accomplish what I'm trying to do without having to do that?

You mentioned that you "typed in all the melody notes (on all 32 measures)", so presumably the song at this stage is 32 measures long, and you later added 32 measures at the start of the song. Is that correct?
What method did you use to add 32 new measures at the beginning with just chords?
Later you mentioned that "This makes no sense at all since I (painstakingly) typed in the melody over measures 33-64"
Are those measures the original 32 measures that got moved?

It may be related to the start of the chorus setting values.

Check if your Bar for the beginning of the song is set to 1 and the Bar at the end of the song is 64, and that there are 2 repeats. It should look like this:

Update: from what you have described, if your settings are like this it would most likely give you the results that you have mentioned:

Yes it says 1 x 64 x 2. There is a left repeat at 1a and a right repeat with "x2" at 64.

To insert the blank bars I clicked on bar 1 and right clicked and selected Insert Bars (32). This inserted blank bars, then I typed in the chords on them.

When I put it in notation mode and run through it, the notation for 1-32 is correctly blank, and then the notes are there for 33-64, then when it repeats, it has the notes on bars 1-32.

[img]https://imgur.com/a/5JcLQGL[/img]

https://imgur.com/a/JqJD9dt

It is 1 - 64 x 2

And when you play the song can you confirm that in the first chorus, only chords play for 1 to 32 bars (measures) and then chords and melody plays from bars 33 to 64, then when it repeats (what BiaB calls the 2nd chorus) the melody now plays from chorus 2, measure 1 ?

Check in the same folder that the song has been saved in, that there is not a corresponding audio file (e.g. xyz.wav) with the exact same name as the song (e.g. xyz.mgu). If so, delete / rename the audio file, restart BiaB, open the song again and see if the results differ.

Look close at that picture. Is G+12 really what you want? And, can you just upload the song file so others can test it?

AudioTrack: Yes the chords and melody play on bars 33-64, and chords and melody play on 1-32 the second time through. And there is not a corresponding .wav file or anything.

MusicStudent: yes I think G+12 is what guitar gets set to since Guitar notation is an octave higher. When you pick Guitar it defaults to that, and it sounds right. As far as uploading the file, I don't know how to do that. When I tried to attach it, it told me I can only upload image files.

Anyway, I figured out how to easily fix my issue. I made it have only 1 chorus instead of 2. Then I clicked on bar 64 and inserted 64 bars. Then I used the "copy from...to" option to copy bars1-64 and paste at bar 65. So now I have a single chorus with 128 bars that has the melody on bars 33-64 and on the last 64 bars. It would probably be more aesthetic to be able to use repeats but this works.

I'm pleased that you found a workaround, but I'm still stumped as to why the melody doesn't play for the first chorus and does play for the 2nd chorus unless you have a setting in 'Bar Settings' to stop it playing on bars 1-32. (I don't recall that you mentioned adjusting Bar Settings anywhere).

This setting below would give you that exact result. Could something like this have happened?:

I haven't changed bar settings.

Anyway, it does play on the second chorus, just not on the correct bars. It should play on bars 33-64 but instead plays on 1-32. Is there some setting to reverse which bars to use on the second chorus?

Also, is there a way to post my file here? The other responder said to but it only lets me upload images.

Glad you found a fix, although it still sounds like something is wrong.
You need to utilize a file sharing application (Google Drive, Dropbox... etc.) to post a link to an external file for download. Often the fix is much faster by looking at the actual file then by trying to describe it back and forth.

Ok I see what you mean. Does this work?

Google Drive

Ya - I got it. I see two issues.

First issue I saw and heard was the tempo is way too fast for the streaching algorithim. That is why the entire band of RTs (tempo ~130) sound like crap when played at tempo - 205. Or is that the way you bluegrass guys like it?

Second was the Melody Track (which you call Guitar 2) was apparently set up incorrectly in the Melodist. Look in the Melodist menu. You have the melodist tempo at 95 with the song tempo at 205. When I put that tempo to match the song, the melody started playing at Bar 1 instead of bar 33.

Does that help?

I'm not too concerned about how it sounds. I just need a backing track to practice to. And 130 is way too slow.

I don't want the melody to play at bar 1. I want it to play where I typed it in - bars 33-64. I play the melody for the first 32 bars, then I play the rhythm along with the melody on the next 32. And this works just fine. The problem is, when it repeats, the second time through it reverses it and puts the melody on bars 1-32 instead of 33-64.

Anyway, I can't find where you say the melodist tempo is 85. If I click on Guitar2 and then Track Settings, there is no tempo setting there. Where do you see this? Also where do you see 130 for the RT? If that's true, they don't understand bluegrass. These songs are played like 180 to 220. I don't understand why they would make a real track at 130 and label it "Fast Bluegrass".

Really this is needlessly complicated. If I type in a melody note for note then tell it to repeat the whole thing twice, why would it move parts of it around? Is there a setting to just play exactly what I typed?

OK, it can be frustrating - what you call needlessly complicated , others may call feature rich.

Here is a pic of the Melodist which shows what I have referenced as a disconnect with tempos. Since you selected to "write your melody" on the melody track, I believe this info maybe impacting what you are seeing and hearing. So did you actually hand anotate your melody via the piano roll/ anotation tool? Or did you have the melodist compose this track for you?

The audio files were recorded at the stated tempo. There is only so far you can deviate (+/- 15 bpm?) before you lose quality audio.

Regarding bluegrass tempos, are you just interested in how it sounds (which you say you are, dispite the poor sound quality) or are you trying to get the annotation to be correct on the sheet music? Either way, I will have to defer to others how have specific experience with this genre in BIAB.

Maybe someone else will step in and clear things up now that I have muddied the waters.

The issue is occurring because you actually have melody notes on the first 32 bars of the second chorus.

There are no melody notes on bars 1 to 32 of the first chorus. The melody notes start on bar 33 of the first chorus. OK so far.

Then there are melody notes on bars 1 to 32 of the second chorus, and no melody notes on bars 33 to 64 of the second chorus, and that is why you hear the melody notes as soon as the second chorus starts.

Have a look at the screen captures below:

Ok I don't understand how this happened, since I only typed in the melody notes one time, and then added 32 blank bars ahead of it. Typically, whatever I have there, if I add a repeat, I expect it to just play the whole thing, exactly as I input it, twice. Instead it reversed everything. How is that even possible? Does repeat not mean what I expect it to mean (like what it means in sheet music notation)?

Also, can you tell me what you clicked to see the notation in that piano roll view? I have been doing it like sheet music.

Firstly, here's how to fix it. There are 4 steps required:

1: Select Edit > Copy Special > Copy From.. To..


2: Enter the following values (note that you must select Chorus 2):


3: Select Edit > Erase From... To...


4: Enter the following setting to Erase bars 1 to 32 of the second Chorus (these have just been copied to the correct place in step 2)

The result:

I put it in notation view and put in the notes on the sheet music. I first tried importing musicxml but that didn't really work so instead I just painstakingly typed in each note. Which is hard because the input tool is not very easy. Like, you have to put the note then do a "force accidental" if the note isn't natural. And then getting the right note you have to click the mouse just right, which usually takes 2 or 3 tries.


I guess BIAB was made for jazz and not bluegrass. Again, why they would record at 130 and call it "fast bluegrass" is baffling. But, I just need a backing track to practice with, I'm not trying to record an album or anything.


I just want it to alternate playing the rhythm and melody, so I can play along playing the melody and rhythm. It's a simple backing track for practice purposes.

Can you tell me how you got that Tracks toolbar to display? I am clicking everywhere but can't find any way to show other toolbars. My screen looks like this:

Ok thanks. I guess I'm still learning all the screens. It's still weird that when you put in a repeat, it doesn't just repeat it exactly, but flips things around.

This is done by selecting the Piano Roll from the Views tab:



Hope this helps.

I can see the Tracks Toolbar tab in the top RH part of your screen capture. Is that the one you are referring to?

Maybe I'm wrong about typical bpms of these songs. I googled it and it seems they are usually recorded around 130-140. But I think it sounds a lot faster because they have a lot of 16th notes instead of 8th in the picking. I don't know, I'm still learning. I've been playing Blackberry Blossom reliably at 150 and it doesn't sound that fast. So I don't know. But I know in jams songs will get a lot faster than the recorded versions but I think that's just people feeling it and full of whiskey.

Oh yep that's it. The other guy's looked different, like this:

Also - how are you pasting images in your post? I have to use "Attachment Manager" and it puts it at the bottom. It looks like you are able to just paste it in line with your text?

See pic

There are Two (2) different views you can use - New or OLD. I'm old. Use these buttons to toggle.

Awesome. Thanks.

Yes Dan, we know that already

Also, you can press <Crtl>T to toggle between the two views.

(BTW: I'm 'New' )

I think this is why Cut Common time was added to BiaB a couple of years ago. I'm not specifically familiar with Blue-Grass performances. Others might know more.

send a PM to bobflatpicker and ask him to comment here. Bob understands this topic.

Yes, excellent suggestion. He would be the definitive expert on this subject.