PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Beginners Forum What is the best method to create a cover song from existing sheet music?

With an existing sheet music chart of a popular song is it better to start with a new BIAB blank style screen and copy the sheet music into it note by note, or is it better/easier to select the closest possible style and then modify the generated notes to replicate the sheet music?
- Can RealTracks be used either way or must it be created in MIDI for the new notes/changes to play as intended?
- Is there a good video that simulates this process(es) in the editable mode?

Thank you,
Another Noobie

what most of us would do - at least I think so - would be to enter the chords and then choose a BIAB style that fitted and then use that as a backing track with any minor tweaks we wanted. I don't think any of us would enter the sheet music note for note. Sometimes songs have recognisable riffs - and they can be entered manually to match the recording. But entering the notes for a complete song is a major task and if you want to do it its probably best to start with a blank sheet as editing the Real Tracks will mean starting from scratch anyway as its unlikely they will be close to the sheet music. I'm not even sure that all RTs are editable. (Others may correct me.)

However, if you want note for note then other programs will scan in the music and then you can create a midi file. BIAB isn't really designed for note for note performance of sheet music.
Other forumites may be able to suggest another program that would be better for you. And don't forget, I think the sheet music is copyright.

I often do things a little different from Bob, though my main use is just for practice and I oftren want the melody for the first time through.

If I just want accompaniment, I'll enter the chords into BiaB as Bob does.

If I also want the melody, then I usually create a lead-sheet in a notation program (I use MuseScore, but whatever best suits you), then export as MusicXML and import that into BiaB onto the Melody track. My lead-sheet normally has only the basic vocal melody and the chords names. By using the lead-sheet, I also get the chord names imported into BiaB. There were some problems with that a little while ago, but I think it's now fixed. I'd better say that some people like the BiaB note-entry method. Personally I find it frustrating ... perhaps just a familiarity issue.

You can import onto other tracks, but you'ld need then to 'freeze' the track to stop BiaB regenerating.

After that, I think rest of what I do is very simiular to Bob's.

Trying to do the melody with RealTrack data doesn't really work well, as RealTracks are pre-recorded phrases. You can use 'Editable RealTracks' to adjust a few notes, but all that's doing is switching from the RealTrack to sforzando for those notes, then back to the RealTrack. It does, though, use samples from the RealTrack file and tries to blend them, so in principle it should match well.

If you can use a MIDI controller, you can use that to enter notes.

I may have misunderstood - do you want to enter the melody or all the parts on the sheet music? I have in the past stepentered the melody with the normal BIAB style playing the backing but even adding left and right hand piano from sheet music would be a heroic task!
As Gordon suggests you can enter notes using a midi controller. If you or you friend can do it you could 'play in' the piano part and record as midi

I'm like Bob a little confused about exactly what you want to accomplish. But I will give you my thoughts:
1-If you just want a similar and not an exact copy of the cover the I would listen to the song and pick a style that is close. It could be a RT style or a MIDI style. Then you could do your version of the song.
2-If you want an exact copy of the song what I would do is to look for a MIDI version of the song. There are some really good free ones available (plus a lot of poor ones) and there are some excellent ones that you must purchase. You would then bring them into either BiaB or your DAW and choose the sounds you want and/or record whatever you want, i.e. like a lead part.
3-The last option would be to ask forum members if they have a BiaB version of the song or where you might want to look for one.

I hope this helps and good luck.

I do what Mario said. I grab a decent midi file and then keep the track that has the signature riff and add RTs and whatever until i get what i want to do my take on the song.

If I want to transfer either the melody or any of the other parts from a piece of sheet music into a computer app of any kind, I play them in. The choice of MIDI or Audio would depend on the app and the usiage I have in mind.

Why play them in?

Entering them in will make the end product sound lifeless and robotic.

When playing music, variances of both timing and volume in the same way as you do when you talk makes the music come alive.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

I would like to add one more thing. I have a number of fake books. I also have Notes Norton's fake book disks which I highly recommend: www.nortonmusic.com

The chords are exactly like those in the fake book so all you do is to select the song in BiaB and the chords as well as a style are inputted. Then you can just play the melody and lead parts. This saves a lot of time.

So if you have the song you want is in a fake book or are willing to purchase the fake book then I suggest you get the accompanying Norton disk. Note be sure to check if the fake book you are going to purchase has a Norton disk prior to purchasing it.

Thanks Mario

There is a list of the fake disks here: https://www.nortonmusic.com/contents.html#fake

Most have a fake book. Some of the books are out of print, so clicking on the link will list all the songs and there is an additional link to buy the book @ Amazon (note: you don't have to buy the book).

You can use the sheet music as a reference and enter the chords into the BB grid. As far as entering the melody, I think the quickest way to do that would be to actually play the part in using midi and your keyboard. You can then simply use a VST- plug in synth to provide the audio for the melody.

Of course, you can also grab the midi file ( if it exists ) for the song from an online midi song site and just use GM to play the parts which should include the melody.

If the sheet music is legible, Muscore has a feature for members only which will convert the printed score to a musesore file which can then be exported as midi. I have seen it work wonderful. If you are not a member, upload a pdf of the score and I will process it and send you the midi file.

Thank you all for the tips on process options. In my case I just want to change demo bass track to another bass line from books I purchased OR start with a blank sheet, enter the notes, save it and the replace existing demo bass track.
I will try both methods to see what I am more comfortable with.

If you want to transfer your playlist/music songs you can try Musconvtool.

Tell us more. Where? How?

A few more details to stimulate the talent in this forum into helping me figure out best practices to achieve my goal. As a beginner (both to BIAB and bass playing) I am thinking two approaches to it, but don't know if I am on the right track or if there's even a third and better approach.

Goal: Create practice tracks for mainly bass, but other instruments as well.

Scenario 1:
1. Pick a song from a sheet music book dedicated to bass covers
2. Select an existing BIAB demo style that resembles that song and change the chord structure to reflect the book sheet music
3. Isolate (freeze) the bass track and punch-in the bass notes according to the sheet music book
4. Play and practice with the new bass line

Scenario 2:
1. Select a new BIAB chart (with Blank style)
2. Isolate the bass track and enter the chords progression followed by the individual notes in editable mode
3. Save and use that bass track with a BIAB demo style that resembles the chosen song

What would be the least time consuming and easier to put together? Other?
Thank you

Both seem to be good, but if you are a beginner, I guess even for a first run, Scenario 1 might be faster since it employs brewed BIAB style that is close to the song. You can directly rewrite the chord structure to abide to different sheet music and then recording bass lines. This could save you time which you would use inputting each note in the second scenario.

Of course, it depends on how difficult your song is, but if it is simple and fast, then you try to work with the Scenario 1, and change it if necessary

I'm old school so I would suggest to learn to read music, tabs, and use your ears. Because you are using sheet music am I right in that you can read music? So maybe you already can read tabs?

I would take scenario #3 sans the input the bass lines and just play the song, mute the bass track, and record your actual bass as you read the score or tabs. If you can't read music use your ears and record your bass then listen to what you played, i.e. that is method us old guys had to do back in the days - play the record and copy our parts the best we could.

As a plus you can take your recorded base, convert it to MIDI, then see the actual notes you played all in BiaB.

Here are some sites that have free bass tabs:

https://www.guitarlobby.com/easy-bass-songs-for-beginners/

https://www.bigbasstabs.com/

https://www.songsterr.com/?inst=bass

I hope you find this helpful and good luck.

<< What is the best method to create a cover song from existing sheet music? In my case I just want to change demo bass track to another bass line from books I purchased OR start with a blank sheet, enter the notes, save it and the replace existing demo bass track. >>

What you're describing is something Band-in-a-Box is optimized to do. It is a particularly good and useful program to learn and become proficient with a musical instrument.

As a company PG Music has prepared a wide variety of song sets performed by some of their professional session musicians that create RealTracks for the company. These songs are grouped by artist and are called Artist Performance Sets. (See screen shots 1 and 2)

As you see in the screen shot text of screenshot 1, these sets use recorded audio and underlying midi for a transcription in notation and tab for the professional players performances that is typically melodies or solos and played over a BIAB SGU song. These are designed and intended as learning tools.

Why this is relevant to your question, is PG Music has provided the tools and features so users can create their own Artist Performance Sets from any performance and they will be the same as the PG Music Artist Performance Sets including notation of the performance.

Users can create their own Artist Performance File as described by PG Music documentation posted in December 2013. (Screen Shot 3)

If there's interest, I can make a second post detailing the tools and steps to create your own custom performance tracks for monolithic instrument performances for melodies and solos performed using bass or guitar solos. Most RealTrack instruments now have Real Charts which is underlying midi that displays accurate notation of the instrument performance and is automatically updated to any changes made to the Chord Sheet such as replacing chords. This allows users to capture great performances from any SGU song and turn it into an Artist Performance Set for practice and learning.

From the BIAB Help File: "Transcribe - This will transcribe the audio as MIDI data and write it into the same track. Note that the audio in the source track should be monophonic (e.g., vocal, saxophone)."

Users with BIAB 2025 have the capability to isolate a bass track from any audio and have it sync with the BIAB program giving users the ability to capture exact performances of their favorite songs and learn the part note for note using the Artist Performance File feature.

Good idea on scenario 3...will give it a shot even though my playing skill leaves much to be desired. I picked up my first instrument (bass) at 64 a couple of years back so I am not a young stud either.

Thank you for helping me manage the information overload...I do have the 2025 and already split the stems on a couple of songs to check the effect. I did not "transcribe" to midi but that seems to fit right into what I want to do for my own practice sessions. Thanks, I am sure I will soon be a pro at this...