Registered: 09/27/06
Posts: 1758
Loc: Victoria, BC
We recently shared the project we worked on with Floyd Jane: The Birth of a Song with a short (under 6 min) video link.
But it can take longer than 5 minutes to explain the songwriting process! The project is complete, and in this extended version of the video (it's over an hour long!), Songwriter Floyd Jane shows in detail the songwriting process from inspiration to performance and publication. (YouTube link: https://youtu.be/qPrejgnwb4M)
The idea for this project came about when many members on this forum and elsewhere were asking questions about the song writing process. There are many aspects, and many parts of it necessary to create a song, get it arranged, performed, and then published on the internet. So we asked the great songwriter Floyd Jane, who is a regular member on this forum, if he could help. Floyd agreed and was even able to collaborate with other forum members, Janice and Bud. The result is this video we put together that you can see on YouTube, called "The Birth of a Song (w/Floyd Jane)".
We hope this video helps other songwriters with their songwriting process, and also shows them tools that are available to them along the way. Also, we mention this User Showcase Forum, and hope to see many new aspiring or accomplished songwriters join this community blush
A big Thank You to Floyd for sharing your knowledge with the community and making this possible, and to Janice and Bud for your great collaboration!
Table of contents for the full length video: CHAPTER INDEX: 1 - The Challenge - 01:23 2 - Inspiration for the Song - 01:57 3 - The Musical Hook - 02:58 4 - Writing the Lyrics - 03:21 5 - Writing the Chorus - 04:29 6 - Taking a Break and Refining the Lyrics - 05:53 7 - Adding the Musicians and Creating the Arrangement with Band-in-a-Box® - 10:56 8 - Exporting the Band-in-a-Box® Tracks to use in Studio One - 26:10 9 - Using Studio One to Record the Vocals - 26:59 10 - Importing Band-in-a-Box® tracks to Studio One - 29:14 11 - Microphone Setup - 32:51 12 - Recording the Vocals - 37:57 14 - Creating the Guitar Solo in Band-in-a-Box® - 42:43 15 - Recording the Electric Guitar Lick - 47:07 16 - Mastering the Song in Sound Forge & Follow up - 47:35 17 - Uploading Finished Song to SoundCloud - 51:09 18 - Posting to the Band-in-a-Box® "User Showcase Forum" - 53:53 19 - Concluding Thoughts - 58:28 20 - "A Little Bit Of Me" Music Video - 1:00:13
The original shorter version of this video:
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Callie Marketing Representative PG Music Inc.
Good idea to break it up into chapters too, I just finished watching a few of them, will watch more later when I have more time.
BTW, love your tele style guitar, Floyd! When I was a kid, 15 or so, I vividly remember seeing an off white tele with a white pickguard in the local music store, first time I had ever seen a Fender in real life (grew up in a very small town). Ever since then I've always wanted one with that particular colour scheme.
Registered: 05/12/12
Posts: 2584
Loc: South Africa
Really enjoyed this and learned a few things along the way. Very inspiring, which is what I need right before FAWM. Especially loved the music video at the end.
Thanks Floyd and PG Music for sharing this video – really interesting to see how others work with songwriting and the technical part of the production. Always some good tips and tricks to pick up. And the MusicVideo at the end – as Joanne mentioned above – great stuff!
@Dave (BlueAttitude) - Hey, Dave... tell you a "secret"... the tele is a G&L ASAT Classic that I picked up on the Musician's Friend Stupid Deal for $299. BEST! $299 I've ever spent! Out of the box, the intonation was perfect. The neck has a silkiness that is a pure joy to play - feels great, so smooth. It stays in tune amazingly well. I grab it most often now (over my Strat) as my "play a little guitar" guitar... love it. Keep an eye out for the Stupid Deal (they have run it again since I got it) - their return policy is good in case you don't want to keep it...
@Charlie - (congrats on your award!) Glad you enjoyed this - it is a lot to watch....
@Joanne - Thanks for watching. Really glad you liked the video at the end! We had a lot of fun making that!....
@Einar - Thanks! Pleased that you like the ending Video!
@Charlie Gannon - Thanks for all your work on this!
Registered: 12/27/13
Posts: 1769
Loc: St. Louis, MO. USA
Very enjoyable to watch Floyd!
I was really interested in your description of the harmonies and that you just use a 3rd above. When I did mine I wasn't sure and mostly did 3rd above with a 3rd below turned down much lower. Nice to know I won't need to work below.
Liked that you used the same 2688 Brent Mason soloist that I did. It's amazing that those soloists can cross genres so well. Took the tip in to generate the entire track a few times. I only did once. Like you, the solo part that was already aligned with my guitar solo section of the song and worked as-is and I didn't have to play with it.
Enjoyed the final music video on the song too. Good idea with the lyrics on the wall. Well done.
Thanks for spending the time in making this video for those of us that can use it as a learning experience!
I enjoyed this and learnt a few new things about BIAB. I just wish you also used Realband and Reaper! Seriously, I thought it was really well put together and I loved the Dylanesk bit at the end!
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Windows 10 Home 1809 Build 19037.1 BIAB 2020 (Build 706) Intel(R) Core(TM), i3-4160, CPU @3.60 GHz RAM 16 GB, 64 Bit X64-based processor Zoom UAC-2 (USB 3 interface-built in midi) VoiceLive 3 Extreme, Sputnik Valve Condenser Mic
@steve - typically in this type song and production (which covers MOST of them) all you need for harmonies are a third above. And you can do a bunch of them. That makes the background big and fat - AND subtle - all important things...
@Mr. Snyder - the acoustic is a Yamaha FG500. Fairly rare. A GORGEOUS instrument. Like a well worn Martin. It was damaged years ago, which caused the saddle to release. I replaced it myself (with Elmer's glue and a new saddle). Mic? That is just my wife's iPhone recording what we did (she did a GREAT job of handling the videography throughout)
@Terry - I use the standard version of BIAB. For most of my productions it is all I need. I have heard a few things using the Audiophile version that make a difference - if your song is mainly acoustice guitars - and the cymbals are sometimes noticeable - but for productions that include electric guitars, I can't hear the difference... a matter of choice and styles...
That was awesome. You gave me some good ideas and I liked how you used Studio One. Since I’m a sonar user, I was looking at studio one as a replacement since cakewalk seems to have gone belly up.
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He who is not busy being born is busy dying. - Bob Dylan
@Neil - glad you got a little out of this. I hadn't really thought of the ending video as "Dylan-esque"... I had thought about doing just a lyric video and then decided to try more of a "hybrid" approach....
@Dave - thanks...again!
@bodhi65 - Studio One is a great DAW (imo). You might give Reaper a try, too...
Registered: 04/13/16
Posts: 1939
Loc: Stanwell Park NSW Australia
I've downloaded the updated/extended version. thanks. It's a cool comparison of workflow as well as a few handy hints.
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Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe Pop on over to The Recording Rebels for positive, honest commentary, critiques and support. https://therecordingrebels.com
Top Notch!!!, anyone who writes music should watch this video. I will more than once. Floyd mentioned something about a line while riding a lawn mover, HA, how many songs have been started mowing a yard, or riding a tractor. A great video guys!!!
A big thanks to you, Floyd (and Janice & Bud) for putting this together. While PGM's instructional videos are very good, seeing another forum member use it really gives some insight into the creative process beyond the nuts and bolts of using BIAB. I'm thinking the only thing harder than the entire song creation process is DOCUMENTING the song creation process. So thanks for what I'm sure was a lot of work.
Floyd, I'd really like to see an interview style video on how you guys who were writing on music row went about coming up with song ideas and turning them into a finished song for a recording project. Hook, lyrics, music. Because of your 15 years on the row you have some unique insights to share. I think it would be fascinating.
Thanks for all your hard work and to the folks at PG Music who helped get it out there.
Late to the party, but just wanted to echo thanks for the video and demonstration. That dang song will be in my head until next week, at least. :-)
I smiled with recognition at the first parts, picked up some good pointers in the latter parts, and just enjoyed the video and complete play through at the end. I hope that lyric sheet is worth big money one day.
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BIAB 2019 Audiophile. Windows 10. Former user of old version. Prefer creating while learning over learning before creating. Passable, intermediate level acoustic rhythm guitar player. Songwriter, lyricist, composer loving all styles.
I'm almost a year late in finding this, but very pleased to watch and learn! Good job to everybody involved in the project!
Watching it I am reminded what an analytical thinker Floyd is... as well as being a heckuva nice guy! Not everybody would take the time to share their knowledge the Floyd has. His presence on the User Showcase has really made a difference.
And it was also fun to watch Janice's whole-hearted immersion into the song. I doubt she ever does anything half-heartedly. I mean that girl rides a bike up hills that most of us wouldn't even want to WALK up! Nuff said.
All our Band-in-a-Box® 2020 for Windows users will be thrilled with the enhancements added with the latest FREE Update (build 715)!
The program stability is vastly improved, with fewer possible crashes, BeStPlain chord font support has been added for additional chords, mid/xml/mxl file import has been tweaked to better handle certain cases (e.g. ties, zero duration drum notes), there is improved the stability of the audio chord wizard, and more.
Plus, hundreds of RealTracks files have been enhanced and improved with simpler options for RealTracks and MIDI SuperTracks, smoother transitions, updated RealCharts and Hi-Q RealCharts, improved transcriptions, and revised endings! Check out the full list of RealTracks and other Add-on improvements with build 715 here.
We didn't stop there – the VST DAW Plugin is also updated with this patch, adding TONS of enhancements and a new Shortcuts file feature! Now you can easily zoom within the Plugin, smoothly drag tracks, use the P hotkey to toggle between part markers, transpose chords to "natural accidentals," the scrolling has been improved, and more!
Read the detailed list of enhancements included in Band-in-a-Box® 2020 build 715 for Windows or download it here.
Using the Band-in-a-Box® 2020 for Windows Pro or MegaPAK? Upgrade to the UltraPAK today to get the most out of the latest build 715!
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This feature was initially offered with the VST DAW Plugin, and now it's available directly in Band-in-a-Box®! MultiRiffs allows you to quickly generate 7 variations of either a portion of the track (which would generate 7 variations of "Riffs" of a four-bar guitar solo), or the whole song with 7 variations that are generated to play different material at all times.
Read all about this feature here, or check out our New Features Video (46:00) to see it in action!
This feature is GREAT to help you locate a feature within the program!
How does it work? Access this feature by clicking on the [?] button on the main screen of the program or pressing the / Enter keys on the Chord Sheet. This dialog lists many features of the program and allows you to browse them, find the feature by text filter, read descriptions about the feature, find how to launch the feature, access to the online information or video about the feature, and do more.
Examples of a few situations where this feature is helpful:
-You know about a feature but don't know how to find it. Just type a part of the feature name and you'll see the hotkeys, menu, and toolbar info on how to launch it. For example, if you want to launch the Chord Builder but don’t know how to do it, type "builder" in the text filter, and you will quickly find the Chord Builder.
-You are exploring available features for Band-in-a-Box. For example, if you are a guitar player, type the word "guitar" and you'll see what's available.
-You prefer "one-stop-shopping" and would like to launch features from the same dialog.
-You are learning the program and like to browse or watch videos about topics you're interested in.
-You can't remember hotkeys and want to review them.
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DAW Plugin 2.5.18
Fixed: "Open Recent" opened file chooser dialog
Fixed: Unfold feature not working with some songs
Fixed: Choruses not resetting when playback is stopped in DAW
Fixed: Chord superscripts
Fixed: Clicking zoom many times will crash standalone plugin
Fixed: Undo removes all chords after opening a song
Fixed: Buzzing sound in Studio One
Fixed: Plugin determining chord accidentals now matches main program
Fixed: Removed alert menu when sync playing tracks that are not up-to-date (generated).
Fixed: Cancelling generate made song lose "dirty" state
Fixed: All selected tracks should drag from the plugin
Fixed: Shortcut file feature not working always working. Support was also added for pgshortc.txt files
Fixed: Double clicking grey area in chord sheet started playback
Fixed: Bar highlighting skipped last chorus when the start bar is greater than 1
Fixed: Right-click on bar should first launch popup menu
Fixed: Double clicking anywhere on a track should open its picker
Added: About to File Menu
Added: "year" to plugin name
Fixed: remove sync tempo button if already synced
Fixed: improve 2 finger scroll (too fast)
Summary of changes for Band-in-a-Box® 2019 Update - Build 323: (get it here)
Fixed: Bootup time is faster.
Fixed: It is not possible to type ^ (caret symbol for pushes) in chordsheet if using an Italian keyboard layout.
Fixed: Opening songs from older versions might misinterpret song title as ?.
Fixed: The time signature button on the main toolbar did not do anything.
Fixed: A maximum of 1990 MIDI events are loaded from a song file into the Melody or Soloist track.
Fixed: Various problems with localized versions.
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