geordiebluesman
98 posts
Oct 26, 2008
3:07 AM
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someone mentioned Band in a box on a recent thread,have any of you guys used this product and if so how do you rate it? Is it easy to use without being a musical or computer litterate person?
Last Edited by on Oct 26, 2008 3:08 AM
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eharp
112 posts
Oct 26, 2008
4:53 AM
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good thread. i have a macbook. comes with "garageband" which i think is similar to BIB. i cant get it to do very much at all.
i think it would be fun to try to make some of my own backing trax.
Last Edited by on Oct 26, 2008 5:08 AM
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oldwailer
280 posts
Oct 26, 2008
1:43 PM
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I just got BIB a couple of days ago. I haven't really figured out what to do with it yet--but it is fun to play with. The music I have gotten out of it is (to me) what we used to call "elevator music"--i.e. dull as watching paint dry.
I think the idea is to jam along with it--but I haven't gotten that far yet. I'll let you know if I discover great uses for it.
I think the computer expertise level is at about 5 or 6--(out of 10) which is a bit more work than I usually like to do--but a good music assistance tool would be worth it to me.
My "Luddite level" is about 7--which means that several years ago I was actually trained as a computer programmer and I knew quite a lot about this stuff--but a lot has happened since then--and now I'm just a class 7 Luddite who struggles with it a lot.
I think Chris Michalek was the guy who recommended getting this program--and I have a great respect for anything he recommends--so I think it might get to be worth it.
If anybody can offer up any tips on how to make this work or where I could get some training on it, that would be really cool and much appreciated. . .
Last Edited by on Oct 26, 2008 1:44 PM
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Chris Michalek
Guest
Oct 26, 2008
9:52 PM
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Yo old wailer,
look in yahoo groups for biab file sharing. There are thousands of scales and songs that can be down loaded for free.
It IS a little like playing with elevator music but it get much better if you have a midi module. I have my Yamaha 700 keyboard hooked up to it and it sounds so much better.
I use the program to write songs. I can take a chord progression and add styles, stops and whatever... it allows me to change the progression on the fly and hear what it sounds like.
I also use it for practicing. Perhaps there is a song I'm learning or a progression I want to figure out how to play over. The youtube I did on modes uses a backing track from band in the box. I changed chords and styles of music for each mode.
If you have the mega set go into the BB folder and you'll see a blues folder full of solos that you can slow way way down to learn note for note if you like.
All in all, its a super useful tool and its something that will make you a better musician.
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oldwailer
281 posts
Oct 27, 2008
2:46 PM
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Thanks for the tips, Chris--I'll keep on working with it. . .
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walterharp
1219 posts
Nov 19, 2013
2:32 PM
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Hey guys,
Resurrecting this thread.
At the last SPAH, Jens Bunge had a workshop on Jazz Improvisation for the Chromatic Harmonica and demonstrated it. I purchased a copy and have been using it.
Basically you feed in chords and pick some styles and it will play a song for you.
The patches for piano, bass and drums are best, many of the other instruments sound heavily synthesized and very unreal.
The learning curve is steep.
It is really helping me with my song writing. I have ideas in my head but am not able to communicate them well, it allows me to figure out what chord changes go with melodies, where the beats fall.
It is also helping me re-learn some music theory and terminology that I had way back but went away in my head long ago.
You can also use it as a recording interface.. so for example if you plug in a 12 bar blues and then play over it, you can go right back and listen to what you did.
1 button you can speed up or slow tempo, 1 button transpose, 1 button changes the arrangement a little, several clicks and you can pick "real instruments", some pre-recorded notes from pros that the program puts into your song.
It is glitchy and freezy, but if you really get into it you can control huge amounts.
For example you can completely set up the drum parts for every beat and come up with different beats for different parts. People that are really good with this program can make stuff that it is difficult to tell is not played by real musicians.
It will print out chord sheets as well as fully annotated musical scores.
There are tons of videos on it online and very active user groups.
Anybody else using this actively? Have you figured out a way to get guitar parts that sound ok in blues?
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LSC
536 posts
Nov 19, 2013
4:34 PM
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Anybody know a real drum program that can play a Texas shuffle correctly?
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LSC
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Komuso
215 posts
Nov 19, 2013
5:05 PM
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@LSC Jamstix is a fantastic AI drummer you can use as a VST. Some great shuffle styles included in the base version.
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Paul Cohen aka Komuso Tokugawa
HarpNinja - Your harmonica Mojo Dojo
Bringing the Boogie to the Bitstream
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Komuso
216 posts
Nov 19, 2013
5:08 PM
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@Walterharp
Here's a few lightweight less costly alternatives to BIAB that you can use
Chordbot
Chordpulse
Chordpad
BIAB looks great, but just looking at their website makes my brain hurt.
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Paul Cohen aka Komuso Tokugawa
HarpNinja - Your harmonica Mojo Dojo
Bringing the Boogie to the Bitstream
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walterharp
1220 posts
Nov 19, 2013
7:25 PM
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well, i have it already...
@lsc
if you go here
http://www.pgmusic.com/realtracks.all.php
and do a quick search for texas shuffle, you can get demo of what BIB can do there... of course they hit you for $30 for every set of special sounds that they produce
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Michael Rubin
828 posts
Nov 19, 2013
8:47 PM
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You can plug in a chord progression and change keys or tempo in a second. It can create a written music bass line or melody line that is great for sight reading training. It has video games that are fun and good for ear training. If you take skype lessons it allows you to play a backing track to play with. (Your teacher playing guitar on skype will not work because of the time lag and two competing sounds cause trouble on skype). I'm all for it. $129 for the basic system. I can give a skype lesson on it if anyone wants to get started.
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slaphappy
1 post
Nov 19, 2013
10:13 PM
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another quick and cheap alternative/companion to BIAB is iRealB for iOS. It's pretty convenient for playing back a chart from your phone and there's a pretty big fake book you can download.
BIAB is still pretty amazing at what it does despite the clunky interface that's perpetually stuck in the early 90s. :D
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Komuso
217 posts
Nov 19, 2013
10:37 PM
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oh, yeah! Forgot iRealB, I have it on Mac. It's like the Chord* ones I linked above. Cool *cheap* tool.
There's also this freebie jazz improvisor that works more or less the same
Impro-Visor
This is a good recent review of BIAB that gets into the pro/cons of it
Looking at Band-in-a-Box in 2013 on Mac OS X
I'd probably buy it if they redeveloped it (I actually check it about once a year to see if they have), but the -ve's are enough to put me off.
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Paul Cohen aka Komuso Tokugawa
HarpNinja - Your harmonica Mojo Dojo
Bringing the Boogie to the Bitstream
Last Edited by Komuso on Nov 19, 2013 10:40 PM
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walterharp
1223 posts
Nov 20, 2013
7:20 AM
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I picked it up on discount for $85 and do not regret it at that price... but yeah it is somewhat clunky
oh yeah, another trick Jens suggested is when he got a tricky fast song to do for a concert or studio, he would program it in and play it at a slow tempo first and then gradually, say a beat per minute each day or two increase tempo with the target rate being a few days before the session. gets around that bit if you make mistakes while practicing fast, then you are just practicing mistakes...
Last Edited by walterharp on Nov 20, 2013 8:44 AM
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