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Started a BIAB melody, right now I have 2 guitars finger picking and a bass guitar. It's going to take a while LOL I want to add fills, but they seem to show up in all the bars. Why are some bars blue and others green? I was trying to make verses and a chorus and some movement on the chorus. Anyways BIAB users what has helped you the most, The manual? You-Tube? Trial and error? Time? any helpful links would be appreciated.
Big help Marty, thanks. Hardest part so far is I use a capo so much and transposing the C shape on any given fret to something I can plug into BIAB. I used to know how, had to take a refresher course.
Big help Marty, thanks. Hardest part so far is I use a capo so much and transposing the C shape on any given fret to something I can plug into BIAB. I used to know how, had to take a refresher course.
Glad it helped Chester.
At the moment, I'm just using BIAB to generate piano and organ accompaniment tracks. It does a pretty good job on many things but I have to do a lot of cutting & pasting. For Drums and Bass, I've found that EZBASS & EZDRUMMER are more direct and to the point than BIAB.
On May 16th, EZKEYS#2 for piano is coming out and it looks like it is going to be a marvel. I suggest taking a look at all of the EZ instruments.
The main part that interests me is the abilty to customize the performance. That was something that was missing on the first one, and any other program really, including BIAB.
In general boxed arrangements work for practicing, if you wanna learn how to be a good solosit on guitar say, playing with BIABs arrangements will help you a great deal. I just have always not liked it for composing music. Cause the software doesnt know your song, or even know you are recording one. Most good arrangements support the melody of the song, generic arrangements can only decently do it.
But im hoping Tonntrack doesnt sucker me and make me buy this, and then i get pissed off again. I wasnt happy with ez keys1 or ez bass, mostly because the playing patterns are so generic and maybe if you bought EVERY single add on they have, spending hundreds if not thousands, you might be able to find the perfect performance or close enough.
Thats where they really piss me off, the makret the software as the do all be all product, but you quickly realize thats just the program, you need tons of add ons to get a variety of playihng possibilities.
Ez drummer in my opinion is THE bvest drum prpogram out there. Never had to settle on close enough, and really, if i bought mor add ons i could probably hear exactly what i want them to play.
Harmonic instruments like piano and guitar are much harder to master through software, drums are much easier cause they do their own thing, they are not part of the chord progressions and melodies.
EZ bass SOUNDS good, and you can play it yourself on keyboard, and get a solid sounding bass line. I was hoping i could get it to play what i heard in my head...not so much.
This is mind boggling too... all native instruments stuff are really good, but even more so if you play piano decent, i suck on piano.
But i may end up going with some of NAtive instruments Electric guitars just because the sound, you cant get sounds like that on cheaper gear, you need great guitars and amps. and conveneince, who wants to do all that micing and who has room for all that gear. In some aspects its better, the one major flaw is it's not really playing to your song.
but this [naughty word removed] is really cool. I think it may actually be easier playing guitar on a keyboard, all u need to do is play the chords
The main part that interests me is the abilty to customize the performance. That was something that was missing on the first one, and any other program really, including BIAB.
EZ KEYS and BIAB to some extent export to MIDI. I start with whatever I can generate using the programs alone. When I get something close in EZKEYS,BASS,DRUMMER...I go into the piano roll in my DAW and start moving things around to suit the song that I am doing. EZBASS has several effects that can be manipulated. eg slide-up-slide-down.
With practice, I'm getting better and better at it. I'm able to compose simple accompanyments (backgrounds) without having the dexterity necessary to actually play a keyboard. I often go on YT looking for videos that break down how various fills and arpeggios are constructed. Right hand-left hand instruction and so forth.
EZKEYS2 looks like it is going to take all of that forward dramatically.
Marty what version of EZ-Keys are you getting? They have up-right piano, deluxe etc. I found some cool stuff out today with real band, you can import a .wav and hit the chord Analyzer and it will tell you what you are playing. Check out the link, this is an old song I wrote for a friend where I have capo on the 6th fret and ad lib finger picking. How much music training would you have to have to fill in the bars? So this solves 2 of my problems, (1) not having a generic sound and (2) not worrying about transposing for the capo. The program will do it for you. So I'm hoping I can lay down basic guitar and vocal tracks and add other instruments in real band. Ignore if you already know this.
I'm getting EZ KEYS2 when it releases on 05/16/23. It is going to have a function called "BAND MATE." Take a look at the video below. I think...that you will be able to hum a melody into a mic and create a wav file that you can drop into band-mate, which in turn will generate a piano accompaniment. Beyond that you can affect stylistic changes.
Unbelieveable. The bad news is that humans wont be necessary at all much longer.
I'll be looking into this, probably have to clear some more room on my hard drive. Must have burnt 500 CD's to I tunes. Still have to have someone to hum! But this is cool.
I'm getting EZ KEYS2 when it releases on 05/16/23. It is going to have a function called "BAND MATE." Take a look at the video below. I think...that you will be able to hum a melody into a mic and create a wav file that you can drop into band-mate, which in turn will generate a piano accompaniment. Beyond that you can affect stylistic changes.
Unbelieveable. The bad news is that humans wont be necessary at all much longer.
Im not sure that feature will be all its cracked up to be, it already exist in EZ bass. If you listen to the example the piano just does what the guitar is doing. Piano and guitar dont do the same thing usually. So what you dont want is all instruments playing the same thing, same rhythm, same harmony,.
Toontrack is very good at making you think "this next one is a game changer"
Im leaning towards using Native instruments stuff, but still using ex drums and playing ez bass myself on keys.
Thats far from replacing people though Marty!. but lets hope we all start getting good recordings to post soon.
I still use EZkeys 1. I like it because you can create your own piano "pattern", then drop it into the program just like any of their pre-sets. Then, export the midi info and apply it to other instruments. Works great if you're not really a piano player
Of course, their "generic pre-sets" are very editable as well...
I still use EZkeys 1. I like it because you can create your own piano "pattern", then drop it into the program just like any of their pre-sets. Then, export the midi info and apply it to other instruments. Works great if you're not really a piano player
all of this stuff would be a Godsend if we WERE piano players. It's all designed to help keyboard players play other instruments. I suppose its easier playing bass on a keyboard, if you dont play guitar, but i think a real piano player gets the most benefit from this stuff.
I still use EZkeys 1. I like it because you can create your own piano "pattern", then drop it into the program just like any of their pre-sets. Then, export the midi info and apply it to other instruments. Works great if you're not really a piano player
Of course, their "generic pre-sets" are very editable as well...
you and marty have mentioned editing, how much eiditing can you do? You mena like going into piano roll and changing the notes?
If you're proficient with a keyboard then you don't need EZkeys... and, personally, I find it much easier to just play a real bass.
What I would like is a keyboard with a bunch of very "realistic" sampled sounds. Sax with breath and key noises for example, that sounds "natural" across the entire keyboard.
If you can download that onto your computer then you should be able to find a keyboard "pre-loaded". Everything "Internet" based has become such a rip-off... They engineer "incompatibility" and "expiration" into their products just to keep you buying more and more crap.
If you're proficient with a keyboard then you don't need EZkeys... and, personally, I find it much easier to just play a real bass.
What I would like is a keyboard with a bunch of very "realistic" sampled sounds. Sax with breath and key noises for example, that sounds "natural" across the entire keyboard.
If you can download that onto your computer then you should be able to find a keyboard "pre-loaded". Everything "Internet" based has become such a rip-off... They engineer "incompatibility" and "expiration" into their products just to keep you buying more and more crap.
Oh theres no doubt, Toontrack has sucked me into to so many "new" things, they know how to fin make money. Realstically you could buy everything they have and not need to do much editing, but who wants to buy all that fin sofware.
BIAB is much the same, they "suddenly" have a new feature, that you cant live without.
I will say EZ drummer 2 was worth the money upgrading from 1, but, there comes a point where u have to say enough already and just use what you have.
I still use EZkeys 1. I like it because you can create your own piano "pattern", then drop it into the program just like any of their pre-sets. Then, export the midi info and apply it to other instruments. Works great if you're not really a piano player
Of course, their "generic pre-sets" are very editable as well...
you and marty have mentioned editing, how much eiditing can you do? You mena like going into piano roll and changing the notes?
MIDI!!! It's not nearly as mechanical as you may think. You can turn quantization off and it just records what you play, the way you play it, on a simple graph; Including note lengths.
Editing; You don't have to use a complete "generic pre-set" pattern. If you have a 4bar pre-set but you only like the movement from the last quarter of bar2 to bar3, then isolate that section... delete the rest... edit as needed... and create your own pattern that way.
You can chop, copy, paste Midi patterns endlessly.
I still use EZkeys 1. I like it because you can create your own piano "pattern", then drop it into the program just like any of their pre-sets. Then, export the midi info and apply it to other instruments. Works great if you're not really a piano player
Of course, their "generic pre-sets" are very editable as well...
you and marty have mentioned editing, how much eiditing can you do? You mena like going into piano roll and changing the notes?
MIDI!!! It's not nearly as mechanical as you may think. You can turn quantization off and it just records what you play, the way you play it, on a simple graph; Including note lengths.
Editing; You don't have to use a complete "generic pre-set" pattern. If you have a 4bar pre-set but you only like the movement from the last quarter of bar2 to bar3, then isolate that section... delete the rest... edit as needed... and create your own pattern that way.
i do it with drums often, but with harmony instruments, like Piano? I mena i stil own ez keys 1, i just dont have it downloaded cause i felt it stucked, sounded good but was unuseable, but can editing midi really change it that much>
Absolutely. I never bought an upgrade for EZkeys 1. You actually get plenty to play with included with the basic program. And, like I said, you can create and save your own pre-sets.
you and marty have mentioned editing, how much eiditing can you do? You mena like going into piano roll and changing the notes?
Yes. It's tedious but fun. I'm still learning how to edit piano on midi, so I look at videos about piano instruction, chord voicing, arpeggios, right-hand-left-hand articulations. It definitely helps to be a competent guitar player with a basic knowledge of chords and scales.
I'm getting close enough for my purposes with EZK as it stands, but it looks like I will be able to get piano accompaniments that are more integrated with specific beats of the songs using EZK2. And faster and easier.
At the moment I am getting more usable piano from BIAB, but I think that EZK2 will change that.
I'd like to talk about computers and interfaces, and which programs work best with which Operating Systems.
1- Why interface? What's the point if your computer has a sound card? The best DAW I've found is LogicX, but Apple's new computers don't have a "line in" any more... Isn't an interface just an external sound card with gain controls and input options? My mixer does that and my old sound card works just fine. So, aren't interfaces just a "gimmick" to sell more hardware? Separate stereo line-in and mic inputs used to be standard on any computer.
2- LogicX comes with absolutely everything you need, including a very easy to use drum program for only $200; If you can afford the computer lol. So, are there any comparable Windows based programs that won't keep "nickel-n-dime'ing" me for annual account and upgrade fees?
Wish I could answer this Tony, I had my computer built for work which uses graphics and ram. My sound card was an afterthought. I'm getting error messages on the input and output not matching. I'll have to write down the codes and research some. But I'm looking for a computer that will now be used for music. I tried to install BIAB on my laptop but it's in S-mode and if I take it out of S-mode I lose all the security features. Windows wants to sell you things from their store so if it's not windows certified you can't install. So I'm in the market for a new computer also.
Dont you run into sustain issues when you cut and paste parts? I would thinkk cutting a piano part would have to interfere with the sustain before and after the phrase. It sounds like a lot of frikon work cutting and pasting bar by bar, but i guess it can be done.
Dont you run into sustain issues when you cut and paste parts? I would thinkk cutting a piano part would have to interfere with the sustain before and after the phrase. It sounds like a lot of frikon work cutting and pasting bar by bar, but i guess it can be done.
It is a lot of work... for me. And I am very rough at it. But as you've alluded to before, some of the roughness gets obscured in the mix. For people who play at a high level and know music well, it would be quick and easy.
When working with MIDI in the DAW you have adjustments for blending things. You can adjust the "velocity" of every key strike. You can adjust the sustain. You can adjust the volume. In EZBASS you can add slides, thumps, mutes and other effects to notes or groups of notes that simulate actual playing.
You have to know where you are trying to take these things when complete. I spend a good deal of time looking at piano lessons, drum fills and so forth on YT, to understand how musical effects are made for various things.
Had a brain storm overnight, or it coukda been a brain fart, but I thought if I kept the chordal parts of set piano patterns, but deleted the melodies they were playing, especially the notes on right hand, top notes iof chords and then played new melody notes myself, how well would it work?
It would have to fit better, but I wonder if my playing and the playing already in there would vary too much?
Seems musically it could work, mechanically I don't kniw
Had a brain storm overnight, or it coukda been a brain fart, but I thought if I kept the chordal parts of set piano patterns, but deleted the melodies they were playing, especially the notes on right hand, top notes iof chords and then played new melody notes myself, how well would it work?
It would have to fit better, but I wonder if my playing and the playing already in there would vary too much?
Seems musically it could work, mechanically I don't kniw
I can't play piano. I can take a computer generated piano MIDI and insert a few notes or a run of my own here and there. Usually as accents. But if I try to "carry" 2-4 bars and then blend it back with the computer stuff...it always sounds lifeless and broken. A real piano player would know what they were doing.
On a song that I'm working on now, I am getting the sound of an extended run working fairly well. I'm using triplets (3 notes within the space of a single quarter note) It is easy, repetitive and simplistic. Not Mozart but sounding okay...more or less.
I'm getting a little better every time that I do it and I enjoy doing it.
I picked this up today and it solved a bunch of my problems. How do you guys' interface with BIAB? Started experimenting on the easiest song I know "Knocking on Heavens Door." Punched the chords in BIAB and set the tempo but right now I find it hard to sing without playing the guitar at the same time. Practice, I guess. Also picked up a AKG 120 mic that seems to do okay.
I picked this up today and it solved a bunch of my problems. How do you guys' interface with BIAB? Started experimenting on the easiest song I know "Knocking on Heavens Door." Punched the chords in BIAB and set the tempo but right now I find it hard to sing without playing the guitar at the same time. Practice, I guess. Also picked up a AKG 120 mic that seems to do okay.
In my opinion, it's a lot easier and quicker to use BIAB from your DAW as a plug in. If you are working on a song and you use it as a stand-alone, you have to export and import to your DAW. If you learn how to use it from the DAW, everything is in the DAW and some steps are cut out.
I'm not an expert. MikeZ is, but that is the way that saves me the most time.
This version of BIAB comes with the DAW plug in. What is the best DAW to get? They range in price quite a bit. Then again, I've been reading that Real Band is a DAW
This version of BIAB comes with the DAW plug in. What is the best DAW to get? They range in price quite a bit. Then again, I've been reading that Real Band is a DAW
I've used
PRO TOOLS STUDIO ONE PROFESSIONAL (now owned by Fender)
Studio One was much easier to learn for me.
I've read that FL STUDIO ranks real high because it offers a lot of stock VSTs, but personally have never used it.
I have, but never used REAL BAND. It may work fine for what you need.
Any of the major DAWS are going to get what you need done. Before you buy, check to make sure that BIAB plugs in.
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