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As I watch the demos coming out of NAMM every year, I can't help but think back to something I saw on television when I was young. This is a link to the youtube clip that will describe the point I am trying to make. http://youtu.be/uzkixTbOchEIf you take the time (5:11) to watch this HILARIOUS video of Pete Barbutti playing the "chordine" this comment will make sense. What prompted this post? One of the demos I saw for the new Korg Kronos was fantastic. Who was playing it? Jordan Rudess. THE best keyboard player around these days.... Jordan Rudess could play a $49 Casio from Toys'R'Us and sound great on it. So while the demos do show what the instrument can do, it also shows what they can do in the hands of a master player, not a garage band guy. Point is nothing more than to keep your perspective when you see the shiny new toys and do a quick risk/reward evaluation before you buy.
I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.
1. How much did you make in 2023?
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That's why my car is a Mini Cooper. I can't drive a Chevy, I'm no Tony Stewart.
John Conley
Musica est vita
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Pete B, an outstanding musician and a natural comedian. Always dug the cat.
As far as instrument demos go, I'd much rather hear a virtuoso any day - and find that I'm still able to evaluate the instrument from such performance, whereas if they were to utilize that "garage band" player you mention, there would not be any way to know for certain if a bad sound was due to the instrument or to the shoddy player.
In other words, a grand piano demonstrated by the likes of Monty Alexander would or should be able to show what the instrument is capable of doing.
BTW there is empirical evidence as well. Back in the 70s, the Hammond corporation tried using unskilled musicians as sales persons in demonstrating its line of autoaccompaniment home organs, such as the little Hammond Piper series and a few others. Sales went down. So they went back to using more skilled musicians for the demos, and sales went up.
--Mac
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Rudess is a ridiculously good virtuoso. He also writes out his parts. Check out the auditions that his band, Dream Theater, did for a new drummer. Rudess is using two flat panel monitors, one above the other, to view his charts. In the series of videos starting with this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L609JsPFmmIyou can see his rig - mostly from the back side of the monitors, but some shots show an over-the-shoulder shot.
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I have to hear someone who's at least better than I am for these demos. A pro will take it seriously and set the board up properly like I would if I were doing it.
Rudess is a great player but he's not relevant to what I do so I don't listen to his demo's too much. I listen to the guys who demo the meat & potatoes stuff. It's the same with a lot of the Kurzweil demos, some of them show how the PC3 can do these fantastic layers and how you can trigger the 16 arpeggiators to create some very cool sounding techno things but I'll never do that kind of thing, I want to hear someone do an actual tune.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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The best demo I ever saw was way back in the Ensoniq days when I made a comment to the rep doing the demo that I suspected that the board he was using for the demo was highly tweaked and unless you get so deep into it that you know the sound architecture to do the same tweaks that you couldn't get a board to sound like that. The rep, who I knew well and still consider a friend 12 years after the company went down, smiled at me, had one of the store employees get one from stock, cut the shipping tape open and put the board on a stand, and it sounded exactly the same. I bought one that night. (It was the ESQ-1. I still use one of those today.)
Point is that everyone here makes a valid point. Looking at it from both sides I can see what you mean.
Rudess and Barbieri (Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree) are in that class that after I listen to them I get into "What's the use?" mode so I only listen for enjoyment, not as a learning tool.
I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.
1. How much did you make in 2023?
2. Send it to us.
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Basically, this thread is about the best instrument isn't going to make you the best player, you have to do that bit, however the best player can get reasonable music out of a cheap shoddy instrument. It may not sound like the best instrument in the same players hands does though.
Now we come to the average or lesser player, may have started learning on a cheapo, which is fine, but when you are trying to get better, there is a certain amount of encouragement to do so when you spend over a thousand, in my case £ sterling on a Besson Sovereign cornet. Especially when it is your own hard earned cash, not a hand out from dad.
I am taking a break at the moment, the stress of contest playing in brass band and trying to hold down a full time job just got on top for a while, but I still keep the lip and play.
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One more observation, I would never want to make a purchase based solely on someone else's demo of an instrument. I have indeed purchased a few things without being able to do that, though, sometimes the sheer preponderance of evidence from two or more different sources plus perhaps not finding an example in a store near me to try leads to that kind of thing. Never been burnt by doing that. Yet. *grin*
The demo catches my attention, of course, then I endeavor to find out where I can lay hands on the particular instrument and find out a few things from myself before ever taking the plunge.
Audition the thing for yourself.
--Mac
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Update Your PowerTracks Pro Audio 2024 Today!
The Newest RealBand 2024 Update is Here!
The newest RealBand 2024 Build 5 update is now available!
Download and install this to your RealBand 2024 for updated print options, streamlined loading and saving of .SGU & MGU (BB) files, and to add a number of program adjustments that address user-reported bugs and concerns.
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The Band-in-a-Box® Flash Drive Backup Option
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Backup copies are offered during the checkout process on our website.
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Note: the Band-in-a-Box® keychain is only included with flash drive backup copies, and cannot be purchased separately.
Handy flash drive tip: Always try plugging in a USB device the wrong way first? If your flash drive (or other USB plug) doesn't have a symbol to indicate which way is up, look for the side with a seam on the metal connector (it only has a line across one side) - that's the side that either faces down or to the left, depending on your port placement.
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows® Today!
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows for free with build 1111!
With this update, there's more control when saving images from the Print Preview window, we've added defaults to the MultiPicker for sorting and font size, updated printing options, updated RealTracks and other content, and addressed user-reported issues with the StylePicker, MIDI Soloists, key signature changes, and more!
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Band-in-a-Box® 2024 Review: 4.75 out of 5 Stars!
If you're looking for a in-depth review of the newest Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows version, you'll definitely find it with Sound-Guy's latest review, Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows Review: Incredible new capabilities to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs.
A few excerpts:
"The Tracks view is possibly the single most powerful addition in 2024 and opens up a new way to edit and generate accompaniments. Combined with the new MultiPicker Library Window, it makes BIAB nearly perfect as an 'intelligent' composer/arranger program."
"MIDI SuperTracks partial generation showing six variations – each time the section is generated it can be instantly auditioned, re-generated or backed out to a previous generation – and you can do this with any track type. This is MAJOR! This takes musical experimentation and honing an arrangement to a new level, and faster than ever."
"Band in a Box continues to be an expansive musical tool-set for both novice and experienced musicians to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs, as well as an extensive educational resource. It is huge, with hundreds of functions, more than any one person is likely to ever use. Yet, so is any DAW that I have used. BIAB can do some things that no DAW does, and this year BIAB has more DAW-like functions than ever."
Convenient Ways to Listen to Band-in-a-Box® Songs Created by Program Users!
The User Showcase Forum is an excellent place to share your Band-in-a-Box® songs and listen to songs other program users are creating!
There are other places you can listen to these songs too! Visit our User Showcase page to sort by genre, artist (forum name), song title, and date - each listing will direct you to the forum post for that song.
If you'd rather listen to these songs in one place, head to our Band-in-a-Box® Radio, where you'll have the option to select the genre playlist for your listening pleasure. This page has SoundCloud built in, so it won't redirect you. We've also added the link to the Artists SoundCloud page here, and a link to their forum post.
We hope you find some inspiration from this amazing collection of User Showcase Songs!
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Our User Showcase Forum receives more than 50 posts per day, with people sharing their Band-in-a-Box songs and providing feedback for other songs posted.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed!
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