Hi guys...

First thing is wow...I am so impressed by the quality of this forum...I feel like I have stumbled upon the music shangrila...

I have been playing acoustic, mostly rhythm guitar off and on for 50 years...started when I was 10...mostly just play at home...but do perform once per year at a big family function...

This last year I have been trying to step up my game...learn some new songs...learn to play some lead...etc...

I have a fender acoustic electric guitar that I like to play most of the time...also have a new Epiphone Riveira P93 that I am not sure I like yet...hoping it will grow on me...

So as an example i have been working on learning a new Blues song...BB King..The Thrill is gone...tough song to sing when you are trying to play at the same time...but...I seem to be making progress...i have the rhythm part down...and the timing for the vocals...you gotta jump in on the 2 or it just doesn't work ...in time I will learn the lead...but that will take awhile...

So anyway... I am thinking that I will buy Band in a box...use it to play a backing track while I play and sing...for now...with thrill is gone...maybe the backing track will just be bass...drums...and ???....later...when I learn to do the lead at an acceptable level of quality...I can have the backing track play everything except lead guitar...I will play the lead..and sing...

My question is about the equipment I will need...

Right now I have a pc laptop that I want to use...it is a HP Silver Fuson 15.6 touchscreen....intel i3...4gb system memory...16gb intel Optane memory...1TB hard drive...windows 10 home...WiFi...bluetooth...dvd writer...

I am thinking I will load the Band in a box on this laptop...will it work???

And...I have a small portable PA system...it is a Pyle Karaoke PKRK10 system..400watt...Pro Audio PA System...it has a guitar jack input...a mic input...also has USB input...also has video/audio/aux inputs like you see on the back of tv's...it is not a high end system but it worked great last year when I used it the first time at the family reunion...plugged the guitar in...plugged a wireless headphone mic in...worked great...

Will I need any other gear to make this all work?

Will I be able to plug the computer into the PA system that I have now and get it to play a backing track from Band in a Box...and at the same time will I be able to plug my guitar and my wireless mic in as well....

or....do I need a diferent PA system?

or...do I need some sort of gadget or gyzmo that goes between the computer and the PA?

Help...I don't know what I don't know..

Luke

I have a gizmo between my pc and my pa system. Mine is a Presonus AudioBox that is no longer in production. They have others. Another popular brand is Focusrite and I am sure there are other manufacturers.

I plug the PA system into the Presonus then plug the Presonus into a USB port on my desktop. (No reason why it won't work on a laptop.) The PC sees the Presonus and I can then choose between onboard sound or the Presonus.

The sound is amazing.

Plus I can plug in a guitar or keyboard if I wish to do so. My unit has 2 jacks (XLR or 1/4 inch). Larger units are available.

...Deb

Play some audio from your computer, a wav file or mp3 and see if that will pay through your PA. If that works, you should be able to get BiaB to play through your PA.

I use a USB to Audio interface, as my PA does not have a USB input. If the above doesn't work, and if you have a spare audio channel, a USB->Audio interface will work.

Insights and incites by Notes

I render my BIAB files into a wav file and load them on my ipad. I Plug my ipad into the PA and then play them using Stage Traxx for live performances. Much more control then playing with BIAB in a live situation.

Luke,

"Will I be able to plug the computer into the PA system that I have now and get it to play a backing track from Band in a Box...and at the same time will I be able to plug my guitar and my wireless mic in as well...."

It should work without any other peripherals....Maybe just a cable to run from
Laptop 1/8" output to aux input. Pretty standard. Assuming that your amp can simultaneously accept "aux in" and Guitar / Mic inputs.

If not, cheap mixer will do the trick for practicing... or this:

I looked at your Karaoke machine... I believe it has a usb input for Flash drives.
(I am sure that whats it for) You can render WAV or MP3 backing track on BIAB write it to thumb and plug into your machine and it should accept it, to play along with that backing/minus with your guitar/mic.

Something to keep in mind: Using a USB Audio interface is much more robust and reliable that the 3.5mm stereo plug into the laptop, which can suffer from static noise (dirty contacts), and also become dislodged.

guitar and mic into their normal inputs. then the headphone audio out of the laptop into the aux socket(s) if its red and white/black phono sockets you might need a mini stereo jack to phono lead (and maybe an extension mini jack socket to plug lead if the laptop will be close to you for operation and the pa a way away. all available cheap on ebay)

should work fine and for 'once a year' paying out for new gear is probably not worth it.

if the BIAB song you are using is all Realtracks then its all audio and you are set to go. if it's midi then the midi sounds you get from your laptop might be a bit naff - you'll need a good soft synth to get better sounds. BIAB comes with coyote wt which is ok. the coyote forte is better at $40 from PG MUusic and the Roland TTS1 is in my opinion even better and its free - see Peter Gannon's sticky 'no brainer' post on the BIAB forum. but you'll get away with coyote wt I imagine. listen and see what you think.

agree with videotrack usb is more robust but i've played live with the audio headphone output from a laptop and got perfect results.

wait till everyone's out and try it at home!

Hi there, FIRST POST: I'm a brand new aspiring musician, too!

I'm a retired Navy Chief Electronics Technician, but have long wanted to get the several albums' worth of music out of my head and into reality. I have the time to do it now... but at 56, I'm just not sure if I have enough time LEFT!

So I have purchased the top versions of several key pieces of software, including BIAB for Windows 64-bit... as well as some really good hardware. My home office/studio is finished, and I'm ready to learn.

I just don't know where to start. BIAB looks amazing... but I'm going to need, like many others in this forum, step by step instructions of "here's what this is, this is what that does, and you do it all in THIS order."

So I'm grateful for the forum, and the folks in it. Let's help each other master our software and get the most out of it.

It's great to be here!

Welcome aboard.




Maybe you should explain what all is in this new studio so we can help explain what you have, or what you are missing.

Well... I have a Dell Optiplex PC with Core i7, 24 GB RAM, a 1 TB SSD for programs and a 2 TB SSD for files, a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 5 Rx audio card connected to a very low latency 5.1 speaker system with optical cable. I also have Audio-Technica ATH-M50 monitor headphones. On the software side, the 2019 BIAB Win64 I mentioned, along with Mixcraft 8 for mixing, and the 64-bit Melodyne 4 Studio.

Hardware-wise, I have an old Yamaha DGX-230 Portable Grand for "practice" and learning; above it on the stand is my baby - my Yamaha PSR-S975 arranger/workstation. I have acoustic panels on the walls around my microphone.

It's a heck of an office/studio. Is all this overkill? Maybe... but I want to make sure I have the tools I need to go from concept to completed mp3 (except for maybe a pro studio for vocals and final mastering).

You asked!

What kind of mic?

If you got a nice mic preamp and an LDC mic you could do the vocals at home too, at less cost than going to the studio.

For a preamp, you can still find VTB-1's out there with a little effort.
A nice preamp makes any mic better. Especially LDC's

Or replace the Creative device with a Focusrite, which comes with decent preamps.
Not as nice as the VTB-1 IMO but certainly serviceable.

FWIW a VTB-1 and a B-1 mic would run about $250 .. and get you close to studio vocal sound.

Weird, it said I posted but I don't see it ..

Edit: now it appeared .. that was weird, my above post took a while to show up.

Actually, my microphone is this one:
amazon.com/gp/product/B07B47YNJ6
It's a pretty heavy mic, good quality, on a flexible stand with a pop filter. I'm pretty happy with it.

Back to Band In A Box: I've looked online and it's almost like every tutorial video out there assumes some level of knowledge about the program, and I have yet to find anything really helpful for someone entirely unfamiliar with it...

OP....

Have you checked out these tutorials to get you started:

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

Maybe they'll help a bit.

Other tutorials....'how to's"
https://www.pgmusic.com/howtos.htm

Carry on....

The tutorials have recently been updated but if you don't find what you need, just ask. You will never be flamed for asking. We've all been there and everyone has hung their egos at the door.

Back to the OP, Lukewwx. If all you really need is a backing track for Thrill Is Gone, there are a ton of them on Youtube. Not trying to dissuade you from buying Biab, it's an amazing program. If it's something you really want to get into in the future go for it but still, here's one example of a decent backing track of that tune:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-15DaGJ4EY

One thing newbies ask about all the time is why can't Biab give them real backing tracks of classic songs. It's because of copyright. Songs have certain specific licks in them that can't be legally duplicated. Biab can give you really great backing rhythm tracks that sound great but it's not going to give you that famous guitar part from Satisfaction for example. Stuff like that you have to either play yourself of find it somewhere and paste it in to your track.

Bob

To play live I use either tracks I have made in RB or BiaB. Recently I also started using an IPad app called Jamzone it work very well.