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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1
Newbie
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OP
Newbie
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1 |
Dear Santa,
I’ve noticed that New enhancements and levels of BAIB tend to come out near Christmas Time. Thus, you might be the appropriate one to talk to…
I’ve been working with Band-in-a-Box for about 10 years now, have purchased every level since 8.0, and love it! My compliments to the chef, as it were!!!... As a result of this, I’ve become pretty experienced with its use, and from time to time have had some ideas on how it could be enhanced, made more powerful, or easier to use. I’ve collected these into this compendium, and offer then to you for your consideration.
I might add that much of what I am going to suggest can be achieved by using Power Tracks Pro Audio, but I have found that toggling between BAIB and PTPA is a very cumbersome proposition. Much of what is added in PTPA is lost on the translation back to BAIB, since they are two different tools with two different purposes. It is possible to create “fragments” in BAIB and export them to PTPA, but this requires a lot of deft and error-prone editing. I have found that the best use of the combination is to do as much of the job as possible in BAIB, export to PTPA, and don’t look back! These enhancements would make it possible to delay that “transition point” as far as possible, greatly enhancing the power of the tools.
In any event, here is my Christmas list…
• Dynamic Octave Control:
Often, particularly when scoring jazz, I find it desirable to switch patches and voices in the middle of a chorus. Depending on the instruments chosen, the proper range for one is often too high (or too low) for another, making things like trading-four situations difficult to control in BAIB. The best solution would be a facility that lets me use the “Melody>Edit Melody>Utilities>Transpose up/dn one octave” facility at playback time in the same manner that patch switching is done.
This facility exists now, of course, but it applies to the ENTIRE track of EVERY Chorus. I am looking to transpose SELECTED bars of a SPECIFIC chorus.
Perhaps the best approach to this is to include a dialog box that appears just before transposition that includes Chorus # and a bar range that is determined by the bars selected, and can be overridden by parameters keyed into the dialog box.
• Auxiliary Tracks:
BAIB would be CONSIDERABLY more usable if I had an “auxiliary tracks” facility, which would essentially give me the ability to add and delete new tracks, assign names, channels and patches to these tracks, interchange data with the melody and solo tracks (in the same way that the M&S tracks do now), and give me the same piano roll, notation, and event management tools I now have on the other tracks. The Melody-B and C-tracks might be included in this facility (Indeed, it almost is now; Some harmonies, such as “George Shearing Quintet” and “Les Paul harmony guitars” generate several aux tracks).
User-defined AUX tracks (with “AUX” on the menu along with Melody and Thru) would be very useful. A dialog box that lets me select the “current aux track” (for purposes of accessing the notation and piano-roll windows) would be an easy method of accessing the aux tracks.
An interesting approach to defining these would be to include a “Null” harmony” (i.e. NULL3,NULL4,NULL5,Etc,) , 3 or 4 or 5 tracks, Etc, but with NO notes; presumably to be completed by piano-roll editing, or transfer in total from another track, if recording to these tracks is desired.
How AUX tracks would be treated on the menus is interesting. It would be possible to update the menu with all tracks included, but this would be cumbersome. A more workable approach would be to open a dialog box which could address each of these individually.
• Annotation on Chordsheet window:
Often, I “unfold” a multi-chorus song, and this results in a big chorus, usually 96 or 128 bars long. It would be nice to have the ability to “annotate” segments of the song as displayed on the chordsheet window to remind me of current style and patch, current tempo & volume, or other things an arranger would find handy. These could be either entered manually as simple text, or optionally be generated automatically with each patch, substyle, Etc. change.
This might take 1 of 2 forms, i.e.:
1. “Bars” that do not have chords in them, but do have some kind of annotaton. During playback, these bars are skipped, but otherwise are treated like all other bars (for cut-and-paste purposes, Etc.). Some formatting options (i.e. similar to those that appeared in BAIB 2008) would also be useful.
2. A popup window associated with bar (or better yet, with each beat in a bar) that would contain either user or program generated text (Bar no, style and patch settings, Etc.). These would bear a strong resemblance to “Post-its”, attached to a bar!
• Style/Patch Synchronizer:
In creating arrangements, I often “hop around” on the chordsheet window, i.e. playing the various segments of a piece asynchronously. The current patch and style settings DO NOT follow my jumping around, and this leads to confusion about what those settings might be. It would be VERY USEFUL to have an option that allows the automatic setting of patch and style settings appropriate with each bar, or, better yet, each beat of a bar. This could be done by back-scanning the piece until a patch or style setting is encountered, and making those settings current. A more positive (but in all probability, far more difficult) approach to this would be to embed the settings within each beat, and activate them when that beat is clicked (or double-clicked).
• Configurable (or “Intelligent”) settings on the piano roll window:
Piano roll sets up VERY USEFUL vertical spacings for a bar, but these are determined by the amount of screen space assign to the bars. Often, however, the bar is divided into 12 segments, regardless on the time signature. If you’re writing in 4/4, this means that the VAST MAJORITY of the notes DO NOT fall on a vertical line, leading to some confusion as to the length and boundary of the notes. The “snap to note” feature helps this somewhat, but it’s not a panacea.
This will suggest that vertical bar-and-note definition lines be generated according to the time signature of the piece, with a formula determined by “beats to a bar" algorithm. 4/4 would divide a bar into 4,8,16 Etc. segments, depending on zoom level. 3/4 time would divide a bar into 3,6,12,24 Etc. segments, again depending on zoom level.
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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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