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Can i use "real" instruments to play melody #801442 02/23/24 12:14 PM Beginners Forum
Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 25 E E. H. Hackney OP Enthusiast
OP E. H. Hackney Enthusiast E Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 25	Hi everyone. I'm still getting up to speed on BIAB. Can I use "real" instruments to play the melody on tunes? I can get Realband to play the chords and background but when I try to have a "real" instrument play the melody, I either get nothing or an ad-lib solo on the changes. Am I doing something wrong, or is this just not possible? Thanks in advance, Hack --//--

Re: Can i use "real" instruments to play melody E. H. Hackney #801466 02/23/24 02:48 PM Beginners Forum
Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 2,026 Essex England Bob Calver Veteran
Bob Calver Veteran Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 2,026 Essex England	Are you using Band In A Box or RealBand? Either way by 'real instrument' i presume you mean a RealTrack. RealTracks are recordings of real musicians playing live riffs and pharsaes that BIAB stitches together to give you a recording of a real musician playing along with the chord changes. but you are confined to phrases and riffs the musician recorded. you can't ask it to play a melody. how are you trying to play a melody at the moment? yes you can get a solo played on the chord changes. but if you want to play 'the melody' you'll have to use midi. do you know how to work with midi? and do you know what midi is as opposed to audio recordings? before anyone tries to help its worth letting us know if you are familir with midi. apologies if all this is stuff you know but the question you ask is a bit confusing. a 'real instrument' is what you get with a RealTrack but as I say, its limited to what has already been recorded.

Re: Can i use "real" instruments to play melody Bob Calver #802051 02/28/24 02:42 PM Beginners Forum
Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 25 E E. H. Hackney OP Enthusiast
OP E. H. Hackney Enthusiast E Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 25	Yes, I understand the rudiments of midi and have been using it with biab for years. But some of the midi instruments, especially the horns, aren't very good. But you answered my question. Thanks.

Re: Can i use "real" instruments to play melody E. H. Hackney #802056 02/28/24 03:45 PM Beginners Forum
Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 811 Sonoran Desert mrgeeze Expert
mrgeeze Expert Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 811 Sonoran Desert	Originally Posted by E. H. Hackney Yes, I understand the rudiments of midi and have been using it with biab for years. But some of the midi instruments, especially the horns, aren't very good. But you answered my question. Thanks. Some of the midi instrument sound libraries available are indeed, not very good. But some are much better. Some are actually worth spending money on Spitfire has some great orchestral horns. Native Instruments also offers some good horn stuff. But neither of these are free (although Spitfire did have a freebie a couple years ago). In general Midi instrument voice quality is much (MUCH) better than it used to be. For my $.02 It remains a bit of a "you get what you pay for". Also you can't play a trumpet like a guitar. Or vice versa. For midi instruments to sound compelling, you have to play as if you understand the instrument voice you are using. I'm sure there are bargains. I just don't know much about them. As I age I'm more willing to pony up the $$ and buy the quality stuff. Last edited by mrgeeze; 02/28/24 04:36 PM. Reason: additional thought biab2024(Mac) Latest Build Mac OS Sonoma 14.5 Apple M2 pro 32GB Ram Logic Pro 11

Re: Can i use "real" instruments to play melody E. H. Hackney #802390 03/02/24 04:38 PM Beginners Forum
Joined: Apr 2009 Posts: 9,722 Middlesex, NC Guitarhacker Veteran
Guitarhacker Veteran Joined: Apr 2009 Posts: 9,722 Middlesex, NC	Yeah you're never going to get it to play a custom melody. So yes, you can easily add your own live instrument using either audio or midi. Many people here do that very thing including me You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.

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