Music Creator 5 or Band in a Box or neither

[dannyjofla]

First off, what a marvelous forum. I have gone looking for a forum like this over the years so this was a nice discovery.

 

Here's why I'm asking which would be better for my needs. I need to make simple blues backing tracks, especially slow blues and medium shuffles. I have very little money at the moment and I see these on craigslist for $20-$50,hence looking at these. I am a moderately talented lead player, a damn near awesome rhythm player and a very strong piano/B3/keyboard player (these are musician friends opinions). Currently I'm only doing a keyboard solo because there are so many guitar solos, so I am pushing piano blues and variety.

 

Anyways, honest opinions will be appreciated. If we have a good season in SW Florida I will get something better next year, but for now it's a bare bones budget and I don't have time to learn sequencing at the moment. I own a korg TR 76, the newer version ot the Triton LE. Works fine for me.

 

Again, what a great forum and I'm looking forward to having the time to read it all. Lots of great opinions and perspectives.

[amx13]

Yeah, this forum rocks!...on your question, I dont have any experience with the music- creator, but from what I've seen, the main difference would be that on band-in-a-box you are able to set up the chords you want on a song and create the melody from that, and on music creator you would have to find the loops on the right scale to make it work. I would say music creator is more like a DJ tool (still, thats what I get from watching Youtube videos, I might be wrong about that)

 

I used to work wit an older version of BIAB, and even though its kind of confusing, the interface is not that attractive and has way more options that you really use, you can get some really good backing tracks out of it, those wont sound exactly like the original versions but you can get some really decent ones

[EightString]

The Band in a Box UI has a lot of baggage, but that said, it is a very capable piece of software, and there is really nothing quite like it out there.

 

Yes, the first-time purchase seems a little pricey, especially if you start getting into the UltraPlusPAK and above, but I'm a songwriter, and BiaB is a FANTASTIC way to rough out chord changes and backing arrangements for songs. And, if you are a gigging solo musician, it can be invaluable for creating some custom backing tracks.

 

Personally, I normally hand-sequence my backing tracks in Reaper with a mix of MIDI and audio recording. But this process has taken years for me to build up a good library of several hundred songs.

 

So there have been times (especially with jazz arrangements) where I'm under the gun, and need to perform some new songs in short order for a gig, and I simply don't have the time to crank out my own MIDI-based arrangements. BiaB to the rescue.

 

 

Now, this may seem at odds with what I have posted in other threads here. Yes, I have seen guys "performing" in pubs sitting at a table, running BiaB through their crappy PC General MIDI, and singing along like bad karaoke. Yeah, it's as terrible as it sounds.

 

However, like amx13 said, you CAN get some good results out of the software, and if you're looking for basic blues and shuffle material, BiaB has you covered there easily.

 

To me, it's another tool in the arsenal, and although I've run into musicians who are philosophically opposed to the concept of BiaB in general, I think I only get annoyed when I see someone getting paid real money to use it lazily, as a push-button karaoke backer. But hey, it's a free market. If a venue wants to pay a guy to stare at a PC screen all night, so be it.

 

Ah, sorry to ramble... not enough coffee yet.

[dannyjofla]

The Band in a Box UI has a lot of baggage, but that said, it is a very capable piece of software, and there is really nothing quite like it out there. Yes, the first-time purchase seems a little pricey, especially if you start getting into the UltraPlusPAK and above, but I'm a songwriter, and BiaB is a FANTASTIC way to rough out chord changes and backing arrangements for songs. And, if you are a gigging solo musician, it can be invaluable for creating some custom backing tracks. Personally, I normally hand-sequence my backing tracks in Reaper with a mix of MIDI and audio recording. But this process has taken years for me to build up a good library of several hundred songs. So there have been times (especially with jazz arrangements) where I'm under the gun, and need to perform some new songs in short order for a gig, and I simply don't have the time to crank out my own MIDI-based arrangements. BiaB to the rescue. Now, this may seem at odds with what I have posted in other threads here. Yes, I have seen guys "performing" in pubs sitting at a table, running BiaB through their crappy PC General MIDI, and singing along like bad karaoke. Yeah, it's as terrible as it sounds. However, like amx13 said, you CAN get some good results out of the software, and if you're looking for basic blues and shuffle material, BiaB has you covered there easily. To me, it's another tool in the arsenal, and although I've run into musicians who are philosophically opposed to the concept of BiaB in general, I think I only get annoyed when I see someone getting paid real money to use it lazily, as a push-button karaoke backer. But hey, it's a free market. If a venue wants to pay a guy to stare at a PC screen all night, so be it. Ah, sorry to ramble... not enough coffee yet.

 

Thanks fir your reply. Has been a great help. Have alot to learn, but you saved me alot of time.

[Shaster]

If you are talking midi only, and don't mind not being able to globally change a single note velocity (only controller change 7, or individual notes) then you might look at Anvil Studio. I've been using that to sequence stuff and it's pretty handy and it's free (basic version). Plenty of Blues tracks on the web, although the drums are usually the weakest part. If I'm taking a track form the web I always redo the drums, erase all the keyboard/horn parts and then fix the bass. Often it's easier to start from scratch.

 

I play back on Winamp because it's quite stable, and I can enlarge the font size for my tired old eyes.

 

For over ten years I used the Roland MC50. I wish they had converted that to a PC format, 'cause that software had it all - except that it was proprietary to the MC500/MC50 and later the MC80. Of course there are sequencers today that do it all, but at a price and learning curve.