My uses of Band in a Box

[basilh]

The latest album of Bob Brolly features BIAB extensively, these tunes are NOT the final mixed versions but are close.

I Played Steel Guitar/Resonator (tricone)/Bass/Acoustic Guitars/ and arranged/produced/mixed it and also made the tea..

BIAB provided the foundation I built upon, and provided some of the electric guitar and fiddle work.
The main Piano is also myself. (I was asked by someone who thought it may have been BIAB .)
NO it doesn't YET have the facility to copy piano licks from a record, but I do..

http://www.waikiki-islanders.com/assets ... Higher.mp3

http://www.waikiki-islanders.com/assets ... 0Magic.mp3

http://www.waikiki-islanders.com/assets ... %20MIX.mp3

Emmons 1970 D10 Profex to Apogee Rosetta 200 (A/D) via Focusrite ISA 430 MKII Producer Pack to Mac Pro with Logic Pro. All at 96Khz 24 bit. Acoustic guitars were Martin D-41, Taylor 814Ce. AND BIAB.
The BIAB aiff samples up-convert extremely well.

[Eddie Harper]

Great Job Basilh. Did you create the styles yourself or pick them from BIAB? there's a lot of stuff you can do with the real tracks. Just learning how and searching for the right mix.

Again Great Job. Great playing yourself....Eddie

[Alan Brookes]

(Since you've made an identical posting on the European Steel Guitar Forum I have the choice of which to respond to, so I'm responding to this one as it has a bigger audience.)

Baz, When I was over at your place I was very impressed with what you're doing with BIAB. I was particularly impressed with the "canned" pedal steel, which sounded virtually indistinguishable from a real steel. Whether it's because you're using an Apple and I'm using Windows XP Pro, or not, I haven't been able to produce anything like your results from my system.

I've always thought that, at the end of the day, one of the main problems with BIAB is that you end up with just two channels to export into whatever other recording software you're using. If all the instruments could be exported into different channels it would allow more flexibility, and one could then add additional MIDI and Wave channels of live music.

After listening to the three tracks that you've presented here, the synthesizing is so good that I'm left with the question, "Just which of the instruments is live ?" I'm assuming that it's you playing steel: I have no idea whether the fiddle is real. Is it just you, Brolly and the computer ?

On the second track, I would drop the string section, or use a different MIDI setting. The strings sound very synthetic. On the third track, can that be Basil playing the banjo ?

[basilh]

Well, firstly Alan, I thank you for the extensively comprehensive reply.

To address the salient points chronologically, the Apple Mac facilities regarding music and its reproduction and synthesis have always been the 'de facto' standard that "Others" aspire to, I've been using Apple and BIAB since their inception, so you could say that I grew up using them (Provided you think I DID ever grow up)
Since 1989 I've been using BIAB so I MAY have the edge as to familiarity with the "Tricks of the Trade" so to speak.

Enough preamble, now to the Nitty Gritty, the version of BIAB I'm using is 2010 Mac Realtracks Audiophile Edition, a $700 package that has REAL players strutting their stuff.


All the players listed here were involved albeit absent in body but present in aiff form.
It was a little difficult to get the guys to play what I wanted but with the help of my friend Peter Gannon's invention I eventually persuaded them to play EXACTLY what I wanted..


The bass players are Neil Swainson + Byron House, and the acoustic guitar player is Jason Roller. Fiddle player Wanda Vick ..Mandolin Jack Pearson..Harmonica is Nashville singer/songwriter TJ Klay..Fiddle player is Andy Leftwich.. Banjo is Bluegrass banjo virtuoso Scott Vestal..

Complete bios and credits Click Here

I did add real acoustic guitars and mixed them in with the BIAB ones, but essentially 'The complete rhythm section was the BIAB Gang !' (I know, I could get jail for that plagiarised quip)

The Audiophile version has 44.1 16 bit aiff files and I actually up-converted them to 96khz 24 bit for importation into Logic Pro (My preferred audio application, having used this also since its inception and being an instructor at the Academy of Music Technology and Performing Arts, I'm somewhat "Au Fait" with its quoibles and foibles.)

BIAB now has the option to export an audio file of each individual track and also a standard midifile, so, whilst the complete rhythm section isn't the "Purple Gang", only the drums were used via midi, exported and then used as the trigger for EzDrummer in the Mac, the reason being that I needed to have more control of what they played and the INDIVIDUAL balance within the kit.,

No synthesis, just samples, are involved in all of the music, and YES 'tis I on steel.

You refer to the strings on the second track (Endless Magic) as sounding "Synthetic", well, that track being a "Cover" of the original, called for the replication of a well known ABBA ARP synth sound, I obtained it in Logic with "Collosus" and "EXS 24", believe me If I'd wanted real strings I do have the very best of the string samples available to achieve that, and the keyboard skills to emulate the "Real Men/Ladies/Persons"


To add to the Keyboard comment, I also played the piano fills on "Climb Higher" in verse 2, as BAIB doesn't YET have the ability to copy actual part played on a record.

You ask about the banjo, well that along with the bass, rhythm piano, acoustic guitars, regular electric guitar and fiddle, COULD have been me, but I chose to go the BIAB route for the individual sounds and APPROACH to the song, different players playing together sound different to one man playing the same instruments.

The ORIGINAL version of "Endless Magic" can be heard HERE You'll see that the Belltype sound and the pad are very 1980's, as was required.

Again, Alan, thanks for the insight you've given ME as to the listener's perspective. Sometime the trees are hard to see individually in the forest.

So...

Is it just you, Brolly and the computer ?

Yes it's exactly that "With a Little Help from my Friends"

[David Collins]

Alan,

I solo each "instrument", one at a time, and export each one as a wav.

Then bring each way into your recording program as an individual track. This gives you the multiple tracks that you can then mix as you wish. This even works with the midi tracks.

Takes a little time, but well worth the effort in my opinion.

Best of luck,
David

[Andy Sandoval]

Allen, if you import your BIAB song into RealBand or PowerTracks all the instruments are separate tracks.

[basilh]

My Version 2009 (MAC) now for sale as I've upgraded..

see http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... 49#1609549

[Bill Hatcher]

nice recording!