Thanks Pete.
Yep, lots of packages and add-ons with BIAB.
I'm a songwriter, so using it to write, experiment with a mix of genres,
and even write and produce custom songs for hire which I've done just as
guitar vocal is how I'll use BIAB.
I'll be using it with Reaper as well. At least that is the plan. I need
to see what is the most accessible multi-track DAW to invest my time in.
I believe Reaper is becoming more widely used in studios now.
I see Hartgen Consultant has a course on it as well.
Brad
On 3/12/2021 9:57 AM, ptorpey00@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
I use BIAB for several purposes:
* One can find and download songs in BIAB format. I use these for
learning new tunes.
* I can also create my own compositions in BIAB and then print them
out so that my other band members can play them.
* I also have BIAB create backing tracks for my own compositions.
Then I export each instrument as a separate audio file, import
that into another DAW such as Sonar or Reaper, and create the mix
I want along with lead and other tracks.
Some people also use BIAB for practicing songs. It will repeat without getting tired, trade fours if one wants to improvise, etc. Easy to change key and tempo for learning or practicing.
As you mention, they sell many versions starting at around $100 going up to about $400 or so. The only difference between each version is how many styles and real instruments one gets. Depending on what you are doing, the basic version may be all you need. I find many of the styles superfluous for what I do.
--Pete
w
*From:* midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> *On Behalf Of *Brad Dunsé
*Sent:* Friday, March 12, 2021 8:18 AM
*To:* midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [freelists-midimag] Re: Couple Questions about Band-in-a-box
Newbie to the list. Interesting thread. I'm finally going to purchase and dive into BIAB.
I've got several songwriter friends who use it, albeit sightlings, but I really like the tool it is for writing.
You can get BIAB as low as $129 for the basic program, all the way upwards of 679 or so.
I've downloaded Pete's scripts, and will check them out as soon as I get my laptop up to speed and BIAB on it.
Would also be interested in the tutorials you mentioned, and wouldn't expect them free, same as I won't Pete's scripts once I get them installed and such.
I write web copy and etc. for a living, maybe I can write a persuasive piece on the benefits of supporting eyes-free tutorials and such 😉.
Can't hurt to try. They aren't that big of a company
Brad
On 3/11/2021 8:51 PM, Pshon Barrett wrote:
Hi, Gudrun, Thank you, that is very helpful. I’ll check it out,
but I don’t think I’m quite savvy enough for all that technical
stuff, but I enjoy yours.
Pshon
*From:* midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> *On Behalf Of *Gudrun Brunot
*Sent:* Thursday, March 11, 2021 8:37 PM
*To:* midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* [freelists-midimag] Re: Couple Questions about
Band-in-a-box
Hi Pshon: Band-in-a-Box is supposed to work on the iPhone as well,
but I installed it there and took it off again. It works better on
a PC. It is available from PGMusic.com, and it is upgraded every
year. It is not free. I can’t remember how much the program costs
now, but at least a couple of hundred dollars. You can work with
it just on the computer with a sound card, but it is good to have
a midi controller (keyboard) available also.
There are tons of tutorials on the website—most of them oriented
towards watching a video and “going here” and “pressing this
button will…” So, not too helpful. What the tutorials can do is
give you an idea of what they have covered, if not how to achieve
things from a keyboard entry aspect.
Peter Torpey has developed scripts for BIAB that works quite well,
considering that the program has aspects that are not too
accessible. I am working on developing some tutorials in
collaboration with a wonderful man in Canada. I have written to
PGMusic and suggested someone from there work with me to develop
eyesfree tutorials, but no interest. I wrote the BIAB email list,
and got some response, but not too involved. The, I decided to
write one last time, explaining that I have 16 issues that need to
be worked on in order to develop eyesfree tutorial. I didn’t
expect much by then—just wanted to write so I could tell myself
that, yes, I had tried everything. Then, this man, Roy Robinson,
replied. We’ve been working since July, practically every Friday
for a couple of hours. We’ve covered the style picker in detail,
copying bars, exploring issues with adding melody to style. The
song memo, you name it. Certain things take hours to explore, and
this man is patience incarnate.
Well, that’s a little bit about BIAB.
Gudrun
*From:* midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> *On Behalf Of *Pshon Barrett
*Sent:* Thursday, March 11, 2021 6:09 PM
*To:* midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* [freelists-midimag] Re: Couple Questions about
Band-in-a-box
Hi, is this a windows program? I have seen it on my iPhone, but
can’t get it to work with voiceover.
Where do you get the program and is there a cost?
Thank you,
Pshon
*From:* midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> *On Behalf Of *Gudrun Brunot
*Sent:* Thursday, March 11, 2021 7:04 PM
*To:* midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* [freelists-midimag] Re: Couple Questions about
Band-in-a-box
Pontes Media Downloader
Gudrun
*From:* midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> *On Behalf Of *Mike Rogers
*Sent:* Thursday, March 11, 2021 2:58 PM
*To:* midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* [freelists-midimag] Re: Couple Questions about
Band-in-a-box
Thanks Pete. This is getting interesting.
Mike
*From:*midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>] *On Behalf Of
*ptorpey00@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:ptorpey00@xxxxxxxxx>
*Sent:* Thursday, March 11, 2021 5:50 PM
*To:* midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* [freelists-midimag] Re: Couple Questions about
Band-in-a-box
Mike,
I looked into this a bit and here is what I think:
1. In the Control+F9 dialog to find a style, you can indeed
search for a song.
2. Once you find a song you want you can tab to the “Load Song”
button and activate it. This will load the song into BIAB.
3. If you hit escape, the song you chose will now be in BIAB.
4. A caveat: Usually, this will just include the backing tracks
to the song according to the artist selected, i.e., you won’t
get the melody. This is because melodies are copyrighted
while chord changes are not.
5. Going back to the control+F9 dialog for selecting a style, you
can also tab to the “Find Songs” button after typing in a song
name into one of the edit fields.
6. If you activate the Find Songs button you will see a list of
songs.
7. Arrow down to the song you want to select it.
8. Now tab through this dialog and you will find a number of
buttons that will take you to various web pages where you can
listen to or download the song.
9. People on this list have recommended a program called Ponte
(or something similar, I don’t remember) that will let you
copy in the URL to a song on YouTube and then automatically
download an mp3 version of the YouTube video.
I hope that helps.
--pete
*From:* midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> *On Behalf Of *Mike Rogers
*Sent:* Wednesday, March 10, 2021 6:32 PM
*To:* midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* [freelists-midimag] Re: Couple Questions about
Band-in-a-box
Hi. Thanks for replying. As to my second question: When picking
a style Cntrol f9, There’s a tab that states, “pick a popular song
and I can use that style. I write the name, and click. I’m taken
to a website that has names of songs. Do I just click on that
song stitle to get the style/? I’m not very tech savvy. Just
curious.
Mike
*From:*midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>] *On Behalf Of
*ptorpey00@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:ptorpey00@xxxxxxxxx>
*Sent:* Wednesday, March 10, 2021 6:05 PM
*To:* midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* [freelists-midimag] Re: Couple Questions about
Band-in-a-box
I don’t know anything about Real Band but don’t think it is very
accessible with a screen reader. When I want to mix tunes from
Band-in-a-Box I render the BIAB tune with each instrument on a
separate file and then pull these files into another DAW such as
Sonar, Samplitude, or Reaper.
As for the downloads, I don’t know which files you are talking
about. Perhaps you could provide a URL or description about what
exactly you are trying to download.
--Pete
*From:* midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> *On Behalf Of *Mike Rogers
*Sent:* Wednesday, March 10, 2021 1:25 PM
*To:* midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* [freelists-midimag] Couple Questions about Band-in-a-box
I’m using it pretty well, but don’t have a clue about Real Bands.
Is there a tutorial? Also not having luck downloading the
recorded songs from website.
Any help appreciated.
Mike
