Members Mark L Posted March 17, 2017 Members Share Posted March 17, 2017 Anyone use it? Looks quite interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted March 17, 2017 Members Share Posted March 17, 2017 I've never used Band in a Box, but I'll take this opportunity to say it's quite nice to see you back around these parts. nat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark L Posted March 17, 2017 Author Members Share Posted March 17, 2017 I've never used Band in a Box, but I'll take this opportunity to say it's quite nice to see you back around these parts. nat Thanks. I haven't been myself for a while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlamoJoe Posted March 17, 2017 Members Share Posted March 17, 2017 Dinkleberg uses it a lot...You know where to find him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted March 18, 2017 CMS Author Share Posted March 18, 2017 I used it about 25 years ago. What I heard from them at the NAMM show this year sounded better than what we could do back then. The program is a lot smarter than it used to be, but you need to be a lot smarter about music than I am in order to get the most out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff Leites Posted March 18, 2017 Members Share Posted March 18, 2017 I have a pretty old version of it that I use for my very humble solo recordings that I put on my web page, usually for a drum and bass tracks. Nothing professional here:This is one where I'm playing a flute that I made made, and all the guitar parts (I assembled the guitars too), anything else you hear comes from Band in a Box: http://www.jeffreyleites.com/Tunes01...FluteTune1.mp3 Here's another where I used Band in a Box for the drums and bass, to back up my guitar tracks: http://www.jeffreyleites.com/Tunes01...Spyin'.mp3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted March 19, 2017 Members Share Posted March 19, 2017 First of all I need to qualify - I've been using BiaB since it was a DOS/Atari/Motorola Mac program, and in 1992 I started writing and selling aftermarket style disks and fake disks for BiaB at http://www.nortonmusic.com -- I still do, except they aren't on disk anymore. They are direct download. When I started they were either on 3.5 or 5.25 inch floppies so the word disk stuck. I've also done contract work for other auto-accompaniment software platforms (non-disclosure so I can't say which) IMO BiaB is the best "Music Minus One" software or hardware app currently on the market. It is excellent for practicing because you can input virtually any popular song (Rock, Jazz, Salsa, Reggae, Country, Folk, etc.) change it to any key, any tempo and play it with the choice of hundreds of different styles from PG Music (BiaB), Norton Music (me), Sherry Mayrent, and Roy Hawkesford. Do you want "Night In Tunisia" as a Heavy Metal song? Country Song? Reggae? Merengue? whatever you've got it. Do you want "Sweet Child O' Mine" as a jazz waltz? Cha-cha? 60 beats per minute? 300bpm? You've got that too. And you can practice this in the privacy of your own home, hear how your improvisations will work with a band, and if they don't work, your secret is safe with BiaB. You can change the style of a chord progression that isn't copyrighted (I'm not a lawyer, but I've read you can't copyright a chord progression), add a new melody, and create a new song. Depending on the style chosen, the output is equivalent to a decent but not topnotch band. I know people who gig with BiaB, straight out of the box. Me? I think it needs a little tweaking in a DAW to use on a gig though. With a little work in a DAW you can take the very good output of BiaB and turn it into something excellent for use on the gig. Here is how I do it http://www.nortonmusic.com/backing_tracks.html Like any auto-accompaniment app, it does have it's limitations, but they can be fixed in your DAW. And sometimes when BiaB is playing, you can easily be delightfully surprised by what it plays and when it plays it. BiaB has a number of other functions, but I think its real strength is in its original function, auto-accompaniment, and it does it better than the other hardware/software platforms that I have heard. Feel free to ask me any questions about it, and I'll do my best to answer. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KindredDuo Posted March 21, 2017 Members Share Posted March 21, 2017 I purchased BIAB around Christmas after a fair bit of soul searching and research. I had a brief encounter with the program about 15 years ago when it came bundled with Cakewalk. Back then it was only midi, and I was a snob about the concept. Awhile ago, one of the forum members (Steve Mac) posted a recording he had done with the new version that has what they call RealTracks, and I was very impressed. Steve was kind enough to respond to my questions regarding the program. Of course Notes Norton is an active user, and I followed many of his comments here, and on the BIAB user forum. I spent A LOT of time watching videos, and listening to user demos on the SoundCloud site. Some are OK, but some were REALLY impressive to me. I'm primarily a folk/Celtic musician, and the tracks related to the genre also attracted me. The purpose of the program for me are; 1. To generate scratch tracks for our next recording. We are embarrassingly overdue on our next CD. I am hoping that getting something other than a click track to play along to will help inspire us to get busy. I have no idea if any of the scratch tracks from BIAB would ever make it to a finished product (which is allowed), but getting our performances started by playing along to a more fully formed scratch track might be helpful. Experimenting with keys and tempos is also easier. 2. We also play senior facilities, playing American Songbook type stuff. Often it's just guitar and vocals. I'm not sure how heavy I'd like to go with backing tracks, but sometimes I wonder if a simple Bass and Drums track might help fill out the sound. I know there are Karaoke tracks too, but BIAB has more flexibility with arrangements, etc. 3. Practice help. I don't practice enough. I hope this will inspire me with some new ideas along those lines. So far I really like it. It takes some work to figure out the terms, and how they make things work. The forum is civil, supportive, and helpful. Tons of YouTube videos. The owner seems very involved with things. The tracks sometimes feel a LITTLE tame as far as expression goes, but I think it's the nature of the beast. How would you expect something like this to know the complexities of a specific tune? BTW, I went with one of the larger versions of the program so as not to be limited by something that might be missing from a lite version. Good luck, hope it helps, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark L Posted March 22, 2017 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2017 Thanks very much for your replies. I now have a much better idea of what it's all about. I was thinking of going down the lazy man's route of using already-created backing tracks and my own vocals for any forthcoming songs I might write and record, but that's just too lazy. I think that if I ever do write another song, I'd rather use the hard slog* method I've been employing for many years now No doubt that BiaB is a good music-creation tool, though * ie doing everything myself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Great to see you Mark! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark L Posted March 22, 2017 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2017 Great to see you Mark! Thanks, Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlamoJoe Posted March 23, 2017 Members Share Posted March 23, 2017 The 'Hard Slog' method has served your music well Mark...If it ain't broke,why fix it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Luke17 Posted March 24, 2017 Members Share Posted March 24, 2017 Mark, as Alamo Joe said..check out Dinks use of 'band in a box' ... a song called 'Magpie' you know where to find it...nudge, nudge..wink wink. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark L Posted March 24, 2017 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2017 Mark, as Alamo Joe said..check out Dinks use of 'band in a box' ... a song called 'Magpie' you know where to find it...nudge, nudge..wink wink. :-) Yeah, I've just had a couple of listens to it on his Soundcloud page. It's a jaunty little tune Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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