Mike,

Thanks for chiming in here . . . in my limited experience with BIAB, I'd agree with what you've written. Having visited and posted on the BIAB forum, I can add that MIDI is pretty much (for lack of a better word) frowned upon there . . . and in the songs I've done in BIAB I've only used a single MIDI track. Everything else has been a "Real Track," which is as you described.

Sure, there are a few song styles that clearly are intended to mirror certain artists . . . but I find that more the exception than the rule (sometimes to my frustration) . . . at least with regard to BIAB in its current form. I can't speak to how it was prior to a year or so ago. I don't expect to input chords and choose what artist it's going to sound like . . . it's a bit more involved than that, in my experience. It's less confined than that, for better or worse . . . with a lot more choice.

Just sharing my impressions and experience . . . I'm not looking to debate (as has been done above) the merits of using BIAB to produce songs. It's got its positives and negatives (more that former than the latter, IMHO, but I'll leave it at that).

Regards,

Deej