Hi! I'm hoping someone here can help me. I don't mind paying but not well off by any means.

My musician father passed away on Monday. He used band in a box to create a lot of his songs and I can't figure out how to turn files into MP3s to move to CDs.

First off I'd like to mention how amazing a musicians brain is. My dad was showing signs of early dementia and Alzheimer's, couldn't remember what he had in his hand 2 sec ago and often called me from his cell phone for help finding his cell phone but could write and create using band in a box.

My dad was a amazing fiddle player, was known for playing upside down and backwards left handed and opened for several big names in his earlier life. He continued to play music until a few years ago when his hands got too weak. Even then he still used band in a box.

While creating a CD for his funeral I noticed a lot of unfinished songs. Many are just missing vocals only. I'd like to put his unfinished work on a CD for my brother's to rewrite/finish with their bands.

I'm normally pretty tech savvy but can't figure out how this program works. Unfortunately I didn't inherit the musical talent, perhaps that's part of the problem.

I'm seeking someone to teach me how to convert his unfinished music into MP3s or do it for me. I opened sgu file in program, selected mp3 via "save as" but had no success. I received many pop-ups asking questions I couldn't answer nor understand.

I loved my daddy dearly, was very close to him & I want to hold on to any piece of him I can. Plus I don't want his unfinished work to be forgotten on his computer in the basement.

I have enough music for his funeral so no rush.

My dad wrote his music life story on Fiddlehangout.com few years ago.
Here is link for anyone interested- he's "fujers" Jerry Holmes

https://www.fiddlehangout.com/archive/42655

Any help you can offer a grieving daughter is very appreciated.

Thank you!
Julia Holmes

Hi Julia,

I'm so sorry to hear about your father and I offer my sincere condolences on his passing.

As a starting place to getting you up and running, could you please start Band In A Box. Under the "Help" menu, select "About Band In A Box". In the dialogue window that appears, there will be a version and then a number in brackets. Please let us know that information. For example, my version is 2019(606). Also, are we talking the Windows or the Mac version of the program.

Lastly, as a precursor to understanding what to do, go to the link below (I'm assuming Windows BIAB)...

https://www.pgmusic.com/videos.bbwin.htm

...and, under the "Beginner" section, there's a video clip called "Exporting Audio Files Tutorial". It's 11:25 and well worth watching for background information.

Kind regards,
Noel

Hi Julia.

Sorry to hear about your dad.

Noel is very knowledgeable guy, and there are many others who will help you if things get tricky.
I am average user, let me try to look at this from a "general" user perspective.

When you open SGU file and press PLAY button, can you hear the sound? If yes, that is already most that you will need to export MP3

If you can hear the sounds, follow these steps:
Go to menu on top of the screen called "audio" under that, locate "Export Song as Audio File", Click that. Menu box would pop up. Under "Format" choose MP3 and uncheck "one file per track" if that box is checked. Click large "Render" button on the bottom. It will show you where it will save MP3 file and the name of it.

I hope it helps. If not, please come back to this thread. Stay strong.

Misha.

Julia,

I'm sorry for your family's loss.

Noel's advice was spot on. Providing the computer and program information Noel requested will help us provide answers to any questions you have.

I followed the link you posted. In addition to his musical history he also posted numerous instrumentals. I listened to several and they are well recorded. I hope you've downloaded them for your own listening pleasure.

How many uncompleted projects do you have?

In your Band in a Box songs done by your Dad there is one thing to look for and is located on the main screen. On the Main Screen there is a mixer in the upper right corner that lists all the instruments used in the song. If the bottom track with the name -Audio- has audio playing, that may likely be a track recorded by your Dad. There could also be a track named Performance Artist but that is unlikely. If there are only 7 tracks and no Audio Track, that means there was no live instrument imported or recorded.

Hi Julia, your dad sounds like he had a serious career in music.

The problem you're running into is Biab does not include the ability to automatically create an MP3, you have to install something called an MP3 Codec. Forget that. You can do this two ways, create a wav file or Windows has it's own compressed audio type called WMA. If you don't understand this, the only reason people use MP3's is to save file space because it's a compressed file format. Wav is uncompressed meaning you will get the best sound quality. You will see the choice to use wav or WMA instead of MP3. Pick either one and you'll be good to go.

Bob