So I was wondering what the difference is with Generate and play or when should I use it. If I have a song and start it by hit Generate and Play every time does that change the song each time? I saw a tutorial on the PG site and it seemed to imply that the Style I pick would change slightly when the chord progression is played.
-paul
So I was wondering what the difference is with Generate and play or when should I use it. If I have a song and start it by hit Generate and Play every time does that change the song each time? I saw a tutorial on the PG site and it seemed to imply that the Style I pick would change slightly when the chord progression is played.
-paul
Welcome to the forums.
There has often been a small amount of confusion on the role between the two transport buttons.
The main understanding is that Play will 'Generate and Play' if certain parts of the song have been changed.
However, you can always avoid a regeneration by freezing your track(s) first.
If you hit just "Play" and haven't made any changes to the song since you last hit "Play", it will play exactly the same thing as the previous time you hit play.
If you make certain changes to the song and hit Play (for example, if you changed a chord), it will regenerate the song (meaning there will be subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, changes to the song from the last time you hit play). Not every change results in a regeneration. For example, if you add some MIDI notes to the Melody track, it won't regenerate the style tracks, but just play the new melody over the existing generated version of the song.
If you hit "Generate and Play", it will explicitly regenerate the tracks for the song (except for any that are frozen) and then play (and will sound slightly different from the previous time.
That's how BIAB works. You don't get the exact same arrangement each time.
Hope that helps.
Wow jford, that was a very well and explicitly written response. I believe you assumed nothing when responding which is so helpful to a newbie (like me). Nice!
Thanks so much that helps explain the changes. I thought freeze was just for special cases but it applies if I like what I hear and don't want it to change. Nice explanation. Thanks again.
-Paul
One of my top tips for any new BiaB user is to get used to freezing tracks all the time.
I've always thought that 'play' should come with a warning sign if it intends to regenerate, because often you don't realise it's going to (e.g. if you change a chord temporarily but change it back before hitting play, it will still regen even though it's ostensibly the same - unless it's frozen, of course).
I have never frozen a track - ever. Getting a slightly different sound each time is a bonus. But again I don't save an audio version of a song either, as I generate a fresh one each time I need it.
Just a different process, but it's what I want BIAB to do for me.
One of my top tips for any new BiaB user is to get used to freezing tracks all the time.
I've always thought that 'play' should come with a warning sign if it intends to regenerate, because often you don't realise it's going to (e.g. if you change a chord temporarily but change it back before hitting play, it will still regen even though it's ostensibly the same - unless it's frozen, of course).
+1 for sure.
Another +1
This was one of the 'features' that drove me nuts when I started using it, and the freezing feature came later .. oh what a nice feature that was when they first added it <grin>
I would totally expect to see at least ONE warning with an option to 'Never show again' if desired.
The default behavior to regenerate without warning caught me many times early on.
I think part of the problem is that originally, PGMusic included that it was a new arrangement each time in their description of BIAB (as a feature, which I actually like). However, that aspect in current descriptions seems to have fallen by the wayside.