I just spent 6 hours inputting a melody for a published song from sheet music using the mouse and keyboard. I know I can/ should be able to play right from the sheet, but I play guitar and am not good enough to play real time off a sheet from music I don't know by heart.
The reason I do this is because I'm pretty good at tab reading so once the melody is in I can play around with styles, keys, and play along / jam with my guitar by looking at the tabs.
I realize melodies are copyrighted so even though there are some free ones around to download I would rather pay someone on a by song basis to get the melody done against whatever style, like one of the built in styles or something from the Norton discs. I don't really care as long as I have the melody and can play around with the song.
Seems to me that what takes me 4 to 6 hours with a mouse would be pretty fast for someone with a piano midi that they can play and record the melody. So is there anyone who does this or would like to? I have no idea how one would go about paying the royalty or how much it would be but I figure on a song by song basis it wouldn't be that much.
David "DB" Barnes is a very proficient midi composer and according to his website, he's the same as you, a guitarist and not a keyboardist. He inputs very accurate and detailed covers of Beatle songs that are wonderful productions. He inputs each tracks individual notes and chords with a mouse and keyboard and using dated, older software. So, in my opinion, you are in very good company.
Beyond that, being a long time registered user of BIAB and also sharing your familiarity of midi with us, you may already be aware of my recommendation to capture midi melodies from midi files. Without regard to legal or moral issues, neither is my expertise, technically speaking, there are many benefits to getting melodies this way. Some are immediate while others may prove their worth in the future according to how much you progress in your musical skills and the musical path you may choose in the future.
The immediate benefit I see to you is the increase in output of finished songs to what you can currently do with the techniques you're using to input melodies. I don't think it would be difficult to increase your volume to six completed songs per hour versus the current one song per six hours. A total of 30-40 songs is not an unreasonable expectation. BIAB is designed and deeply linked with midi and is a marvelous tool to accomplish your goal to what presently appear to be practice recordings. Nearly every song you'll want to learn or perform can likely be found for free or purchase through the internet. It is not hard nor expensive to have a midi for any specific song created by a professional for purchase. There is also what I think is a huge advantage that the backing track you're performing to is unique and not the exact same track that 10,000 Karaoke performers are using too.
If you currently perform live or someday progress in skill to the point you begin to and your playlist includes cover songs and you use BIAB to create backing tracks, BIAB is a great tool for that too. Having a good collection of midi files, and especially a collection of good midi files, can be very beneficial to creating BIAB generated backing tracks that are equal in quality and superior in quality to many, if not most commercial Karaoke tracks. By creating your own backing tracks, you have the advantage of choosing how closely you want to replicate the original recording release or creating your own custom version of a commercial release. You also can assure that your backing track is in the best key for you or your vocalist to sing.
Regarding BIAB and midi melodies: Select < File\Import\Import Melody from Midi > is the first selection. BIAB will also automatically detect, analyze and load the chords, key signature, tempo, time signature and feel for the midi song.
Using midi melodies and securing them yourself allows you to do as many or as few as you want. You can also learn to include melodies into BIAB Styles you create yourself and maybe someday use them in performances. Regardless of your use of these melodies, you will have complete control to play around with styles, keys all the while jamming along with your guitar and following tabs.
You may already know most, if not all of this and have reason to prefer someone else create melodies for you rather than use melodies from midi files but if that's the case, perhaps some other person has struggled with the same issue as you have and this will help them along.
Have you tried using BIAB's Melodist to create MIDI melodies for you? I find that the Melodist gives a great starting place and I then tweak notes to suit.
Thanks a lot for the replies. Since my original post I've used some of the tips here and have gotten better at entering and editing melodies using the mouse.
What I would like to do now is to enter the melody with either a midi keyboard or the computer keyboard. Inhave learned how to do that using the midi keyboard wizard. My melody shows up on the soloist track.
What I still would like to do is to show the notes that I have played, and that show up on the soloist track, in guitar tab form. If I play a midi melody that I have downloaded from somewhere, I can select the guitar track and see the notes either as notes or as tab. But when I record my own midi I can only view them as musical notes on the treble and bass clef.
How can I record a midi melody using the keyboard and have it show up as a guitar melody showing both the notes and the tab? Is that possible?
Edit: I figured out how to do it. For those who may have the same problem, here are some tips that took me a long time to figure out. In BIAB 2017 you won't see the full menu with the MIDI button unless you hit CTRL-T. Once you hit the midi button, click on MIDI Keyboard Wizard Enabled. Then hit the record MIDI button with the melody clicked on. You may have to have the mixer window open when you record.
just a quick tip from one guitarist to another. use the transpose function on your midi keyboard and play everything as if it was in the key of C. much easier to stick to the white notes if you're playing by ear.
Add updated printing options, enhanced tracks settings, smoother use of MGU and SGU (BB files) within PowerTracks, and more with the latest PowerTracks Pro Audio 2024 update!
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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!
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."
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