Near my house is an are of the local Metro Parks system known as Treaty Line Rd. It's a nice little walking trail with a series of exercise stations along the way. I used to take my Wheaten Terrier, Twiggy, walking there. Then Scruff after her. Now I take Chunk there. Also note that this is the place designated in my farewell instructions to mix my ashes and however many boxes of dog ashes I have.
Today as I drove in I saw a guy there sitting on some kind of a case and playing a button box accordion. It was just him, the trees, and the breeze, and he was playing his heart out. I walked over and said hello and told him that what he was doing right there takes me back 65 years. We talked for a good 5 minutes before I went on our walk. And when I came back, he was playing a really nice waltz into his cell phone. It seems that he plays at nursing homes and eldercare assisted living residence type places. I heard that waltz and was sent back to when my mother had me sit with her and play The Blue Skirt Waltz over and over and over, alternating with her between melody and harmony. And she was quite strict about me getting it right, telling me "If you really want to be a musician when you grow up you need to know this stuff." Guess what that guy (Jerry) was playing as I walked back to the car after our walk?
Yep. The Blue Skirt Waltz. I couldn't hold it together. Between the memories of my mother driving home her point and the wonder of seeing this man doing what he was doing JUST for his love of music, it was too much. And I have been thinking ever since why I am how I am. When I play a show I agonize for DAYS about every note that was out of place, about every harmony that was flat, every cue that was missed, every arrangement that was broken... This drive for unattainable perfection is going to either kill me or drive me crazy like Shumann not being able to stop hearing "that note". I know there is no such thing as perfection, yet I strive for it myself and push others to join me in the quest, often making people really mad at me.
And today, here was this guy...
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.
When I was 10 years old, there was a widow in our neighborhood that treated all of us kids like her own. She went out and bought a big pool for all of us kids despite having no kids of her own. And she did stuff like that all the time. Her porch had a fridge that was stocked with NeHi pop every day! So one Saturday, all the grownups plotted and planned to paint her house. They met at my house, 3 houses down, and at 8am they went over and started banging on doors and windows to wake her up. Then the ladders went up. The men started painting, and the women stated cooking a typical Slovenian feast. Stuffed cabbage, kielbasa and fried potatoes, pierogi.. all of it. About 6:30 some "old" man (remember I was 10) came up the driveway and started playing his accordion. 10 minutes later an upright bass player showed up. Then a drummer. A sax player, a banjo player... When they were all in 4th gear my mother pulled out my accordion and there I was playing with these "old" guys. (More on that in a minute.)
About 9pm, up the driveway walked The Polka King himself, Frankie Yankovic. I didn't know until much later that this was not impromptu. All those "old" guys were the band he toured with. And here I was, at TEN YEARS OLD, playing with them. And holding my own!!!
I found out when I was in my 30s that after the music stopped at 11 or so (I had to go to sleep! Again, I was 10!) that Yankovic pulled my mother aside and told her "Whatever this kid does with the rest of his life, you make sure he stays with his music. I never heard somebody this age play so fluidly and with such good timing."
And that song you just posted right there still brings me to tears. My mother has been gone 20 years now, and every time I play I can hear her telling me "You HAVE to learn how to harmonize if you want to be a musician." She also taught me to polka and waltz at a very young age, part of why I have really good rhythm and timing.
I once did a recording of Blue Skirt Waltz JUST to have a copy of me performing it. It took me at LEAST 40 vocal takes to get through the song without blubbering.
My father? 100% HATED that I chose music as my path. 100% did not support me on my journey. Never once came to see me play. He wanted me to be the same hard working blue collar guy that he was. He died in 1991, at 73, when I was 39, disappointed in me. That has been a hard load to bear for these last 30 years.
Loved hearing that song one more time!
Last edited by eddie1261; 07/23/2109:14 AM.
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.
Incredible story Eddie. Thanks for sharing that. Obviously your mother loved you very much and wanted you to be happy. Next time you walk ole' chunk along that trail just smile and think of Mom, and hear that song play in your head. Its the memories of things like those moments, that make life such a great journey.
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User Video: Next-Level AI Music Editing with ACE Studio and Band-in-a-Box®
The Bob Doyle Media YouTube channel is known for demonstrating how you can creatively incorporate AI into your projects - from your song projects to avatar building to face swapping, and more!
His latest video, Next-Level AI Music Editing with ACE Studio and Band-in-a-Box, he explains in detail how you can use the Melodist feature in Band-in-a-Box with ACE Studio. Follow along as he goes from "nothing" to "something" with his Band-in-a-Box MIDI Melodist track, using ACE Studio to turn it into a vocal track (or tracks, you'll see) by adding lyrics for those notes that will trigger some amazing AI vocals!
Wir waren fleißig und haben über 50 neue Funktionen und eine erstaunliche Sammlung neuer Inhalte hinzugefügt, darunter 222 RealTracks, neue RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, "Songs with Vocals" Artist Performance Sets, abspielbare RealTracks Set 3, abspielbare RealDrums Set 2, zwei neue Sets von "RealDrums Stems", XPro Styles PAK 6, Xtra Styles PAK 17 und mehr!
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!
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.
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.
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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!
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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