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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thanks Gary and for the kind words. Thanks also to Matt.
It's good to see you on the forum again Gary. You were missed around here.
Leilani and I are still gigging and grinning and it's the middle of our tourist season so we are delightfully busy.
I really prefer MIDI styles. I can export them to a MIDI sequencer or DAW and edit them to my heart's content. I can change instruments (change that Rhodes to a Grand, and so on), change chord inversions so the melody note is on top, exaggerate the groove, re-mix the drum set to emphasize or suppress one or more of the instruments, and thousands of things more. Plus I can put a proper intro or ending on it.
A good MIDI synth will sound 90-95% as good as a real track instrument. MIDI sequences are thousands of times more editable than audio tracks. It's a trade off, but for me to make the very good output of BiaB into something that is as excellent and ready for stage, I choose MIDI.
I wouldn't go on stage with an unedited Real Track song. They are good, but I can edit to make MIDI tracks much better.
Of course, there is more than one right way to make music. That is my way.
Right now Leilani and I are working on two new style disks and three new fake disks. Mostly jazz and rock content. Hopefully a release in a month or two, depending on how many problems need fixing. Stay tuned.
Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 10,153
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Thanks for the welcome back, everyone. No, things are not well with me, look at my signature line.
Bob, with the newest generation of sound generators, I agree that you can do a lot more with MIDI now than you could with it, even seven or eight years ago. The technology has gotten a lot better, and the price has come down significantly.
When I bought my PA800, it was like $3,800. Today, the PA1000, which surpasses it in every regard, is only $2,200! So, yeah, tech is getting better and cheaper.
Still, RealTracks provides for the ability to lay down some very amazing tracks quickly and easily with a very Pro sound without all the work necessary of tweaking a MIDI track.
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Gary,
My first and ONLY question: What can we do to help you?.
You've certainly paid your dues around here.
I noticed that FB has a money collection service but I have no clue how it works.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2003
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BIAB is for creating your own backing tracks although as VideoTrack says you can download midis from the internet. There are even BIAB song sites where you can downlaod other people's versionsd of standard songs in the BIAB format. In fact, BIAB is not the best midi file player if that is all you want. RealBand would be better so you can more easily edit individual tracks.
But why should BIAB stop at jazz standards? why not country? why not pop? why not blues?
the list is endless and it's not really what BIAB is for. for $14 another company seems to have what you want sewn up - so why should BIAB get into markets it's not designed for? The Bobs nailed it!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Gary! Wow, seriously homeless? Very sorry to hear that since you can post again, are you back on your feet?
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Don,
Really, there's nothing you can do. Prayer is always good, of course, just to let God know there are others thinking about me.
I'm in a Transitional Housing program for Vets, so I have a place to sleep, eat, I have clothes on my back, and I make a couple of dollars working around here. Not much, but something.
What I need is to get the court to see that I'm not the monster I was made out to be, and get them to lift the order of protection against me. That has been the thing that destroyed me, since no one will hire me with it in place. It's not even a criminal charge, nor is it sexual based, but there's nothing in the background checks that indicate that, so people just assume the worst.
However, my list of 'Oh boy, that would be great for when I get back to working and get my own place' is pretty long. But, I'll keep that one to myself. LOL
Really, even knowing you'd be willing to do something like that is pretty awesome. Thanks!
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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No, far from it Bob, but working on getting there. I'm alive, that's the important part.
Gary
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 90
Enthusiast
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I can only relate my own personal experience with popular song layouts that I have used that don't have melodies or lyrics and only chords and a style.
Personally I have found that it is so easy to get totally lost when using just the chords only without any melody or lyric included, and I totally understand the copyright reasons why it can't be included.
The song may have an intro but it can be a pain to determine exactly where the actual intro ends and song or even chorus starts in the chord layout, and unless one is 100% totally familiar with the song it can be a real pain to follow it through from start to finish correctly.
Even if I am 100% familiar with the song I still get lost.
I know everyone's ear is different and it may seem a doddle to do so from the actual writers point of view, but I have found it to be more trouble than its worth.
Martin57
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Last edited by martin57; 02/20/20 01:13 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2000
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Most of my fake disks are made with a published fake book.
You can open the book, play the fake disk song and read the melody while the backing track plays.
I originally wanted to put the melodies in my fake disks. I called the Harry Fox agency, who represents the majority of the publishers, and found some publishers flat turned me down and others wanted up to $2.50 per song with an up-front payment for thousands of copies.
I said, "I can buy a fake book with hundreds of songs in it for about $0.08 per song", and the rep said, "Then buy the fake book."
That's when I got the idea to do my fake disks based on fake books published by Hal Leonard, Warner Brothers, and other major publishers. Some of the books sadly are out of print, but new ones come out, and compiling the new ones take a lot of time, but it's rewarding.
We enter the chords into BiaB, exactly as they appear in the book (sometimes if BiaB can't play a particular chord, we leave an extension off). Then choose a temporary style and check our work. We fix typo errors, and then send the disk on to subcontractors.
I choose working musicians to assign a final style from all the available styles from PG Music and Norton Music. I tell them not to favor my styles, but to pick whatever works with the song best.
The reason I pay subcontractors to pick styles is because I'd probably favor my own because I know them so well they would jump into my mind first.
Of course if you don't have my style or the PG style that was assigned, you can pick your own style. Also, especially with jazz, the standard have been done so many different ways that you might want to choose a different style. You could do a jazz waltz as a 4/4 swing, a swing as a Latin, and so on.
Then when I get the files back from the subcontractor, Leilani and I go through it page by page, auditioning each song, playing every song in real-time while triple checking for typos and a half dozen other things to make the song as good as the current version of BiaB can make it sound. In rare cases we might simplify a chord simply because it doesn't work with BiaB in that instance. In rarer cases we might override a style choice made by a subcontractor.
Then we release it to the BiaB public. Judging from my repeat sales, I think they are a good value.
Like I said, you can do this yourself, but in some cases it might take a day or two to finish a song, in other cases 10 minutes, then the style, check, fix, double check and so on it also very time consuming. But as I said, it's a labor of love.
Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Notes said "I think they are a good value." Actually they are an excellent value IMHO. Anytime I want to practice site reading, doing a song for someone else, or just want to have fun I grab my fake book(s) and the accompanying Notes fake disk. His disks save me a lot of time and they follow the fake book notation perfectly.
Do not hesitate to look at and buy one of his fake disks.
Note that I do not work for Notes, I just like his products.
Me, it's not about how many times you fail, it's about how many times you get back up.
Cop, that's not how field sobriety tests work.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Yes. As many times as is needed, I am pleased to post a +1 for the quality of Notes’ work.
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Gary
I just noticed what you said and your situation. You have my prayers and as a retired USAF Vietnam Vet let me know if the is anything I can do, calls I can make, etc. PM if there is
God Bless
Larry
Win10Pro,i9,64GB,2TBSSD+20TBHDDs,1080TI,BIAB'24,Scarlett18i8,Montage7,Fusion 8HD,QS8,Integra7,XV5080,QSR,SC-8850,SPLAT,FL21&others,Komp.14,IK suite&others, just a guitar player-AXE FX III &FM9T, FishmanTP, MIDIGuitar2, GK2/3'sw/GI20
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Larry,
That's the empathy that I've grown to love about this wonderful PG Family.
Kudos, sir.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,096
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Thanks Mario and Matt for the kind words.
Bob
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 10,153
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One of the other things that I want to bring up in this thread, and it was alluded to earlier in blank melody and a set of chords, in contrafacts. How many great jazz songs have been done from contrafacts? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_jazz_contrafactsI thought "Back Home In Indiana" was the leader, but Jerome Kern seems to have more contrafacts of 'All The Things You Are.' Ray Noble has even more with "Cherokee!" The absolute winner though is George and Ira Gershwin, well, George anyway, with 'I've Got Rhythm." So, having nothing but the chords from Notes and being able to change keys easily gives you a wonderful opportunity to take a chord progression from someone else and write an entire new song. At least you'll know that somewhere in there, it's already a hit.
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 10,153
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Larry, send us a little of that Arizona desert warmth?
No, one Air Force Vet to another, I thank you very much, but I am fine, and will be fine.
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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My experience with making jazz fake disks puts variations on the good old 12 bar blues as the most popular chord progression and variations on "I Got Rhythm" in second place.
There have been some very interesting and creative chord substitutions to both of them.
Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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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.
This free update is available to all RealBand 2024 users. To learn more about this update and download it, head to www.pgmusic.com/support.realband.htm#20245
The Band-in-a-Box® Flash Drive Backup Option
Today (April 5) is National Flash Drive Day!
Did you know... not only can you download your Band-in-a-Box® Pro, MegaPAK, or PlusPAK purchase - you can also choose to add a flash drive backup copy with the installation files for only $15? It even comes with a Band-in-a-Box® keychain!
For the larger Band-in-a-Box® packages (UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition), the hard drive backup copy is available for only $25. This will include a preinstalled and ready to use program, along with your installation files.
Backup copies are offered during the checkout process on our website.
Already purchased your e-delivery version, and now you wish you had a backup copy? It's not too late! If your purchase was for the current version of Band-in-a-Box®, you can still reach out to our team directly to place your backup copy order!
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!
Learn more about this free update for Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows at www.pgmusic.com/support_windowsupdates.htm#1111
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!
Congratulations to the 2023 User Showcase Award Winners!
We've just announced the 2023 User Showcase Award Winners!
There are 45 winners, each receiving a Band-in-a-Box 2024 UltraPAK! Read the official announcement to see if you've won.
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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