Band In A Box - Review and Intro
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- Опубліковано 11 вер 2024
- This is my review of and introduction to using Band In A Box - software for PC or Mac for creating VERY high quality backing tracks. I hope to have a "shootout" video soon where I compare the 3 backing track apps I have reviewed (Band in A Box, iReal Pro and JamZone).
To check out / buy Band In A Box, you can go directly to www.pgmusic.com/, but I would highly recommend checking out Joanne Cooper's website at joannecooper.c.... Joanne is a musician who is also a reseller of Band In A Box, and sometimes offers discounts but also has some great "how-to" videos and even some courses on Band In A Box.
If you enjoy this video and want to help support my channel, feel free to buy me a coffee: www.buymeacoff...
If you'd like to check out my reviews on iReal Pro or JamZone, click the links below:
iReal Pro Review: • iReal Pro Review
JamZone Review: • Jamzone Review
Online Piano Training I Recommend:
Online Rock Lessons: onlinerockless... - USE COUPON CODE "PIANOTONE" if you choose to sign up for the yearly subscription: this will let the instructor know I referred you, and she will include a free 20 minute orientation call with you!
Piano Man Approach: geni.us/PianoM...
Birds Piano Academy: geni.us/BirdsP...
Birds Piano Academy Blues Level 1: geni.us/BirdsB...
Birds Piano Academy Blues Level 2: geni.us/BirdsB...
PianoForAll: geni.us/PianoF...
Thank you for the excellent review!! I'm a songwriter, & out of the dozens of videos on YT about BIAB, this was by far the most helpful to me (as a new user).
Thanks so much, glad you liked the review! BIAB is awesome, but I found it a bit confusing at first, so thought a video like this could help others.
Thanks again and have fun songwriting! Feel free to subscribe :)
Vert well laid out explanatory video -Thanks
Thanks so much, glad you found the video helpful! Thanks for checking out the channel, feel free to subscribe
Great review!!! There's a couple of things that you pointed out that really hit close to home. One being endings. For all the years I have been using Band in a Box I have never been able to figure it out. I was so happy to see that you're doing it the same way I do. Actually, I thought I was cheating by doing it this way but after seeing you doing it I feel so much better now. 😁
The other thing that I totally agree with you is how busy the UI is. As I said, I've been a long time user and have probably not even come close to learning things that I should have learned. The manual is great - if you have time to scroll through literally hundreds of pages. I have found that I was spending a lot more time trying to figure things out than I was actually making music. I found that it was best to just learn the basics and go from there.
For the most part I do my song in Band in a Box and then bring it over to my own DAW. I can do my tweaking, add other instruments, vocals and effects. It is a great starting point.
Thanks again for the great review!!! Hope you do more on Band in a Box. You've got another sub!!!
Thanks a bunch glad you enjoyed the review! I do hope to do more BIAB videos - just need to find the time in between keyboard reviews :D. I’ve got a new keyboard with some impressive arranger features so I’m hoping to make a backing track using that, and compare it to one I make in BIAB and IReal Pro to compare them all.
Thanks for the sub!
@@PianoTone One thing I meant to point out is that the strings on any song sounds a lot better if it is added after the fact in your DAW instead of doing them in BIAB. Another good reason why I like to send my BIAB creations into my DAW. You'll get a much more realistic sound. No problem about the sub... I've actually been binge watching since discovering your channel.
Thank you. I recently started playing along with UA-cam backing tracks but I like how I can use my own chord progressions in this. This was a very helpful tutorial on getting started.
Make sure you check out IReal pro as well; not as realistic but much less $ and easier to use. I have a review on that as well.
Hi Tony … thanks very much for creating this very helpful video.
Glad you found it useful!
Great tutorial and review! Thanks a million
Thanks so much glad you found the video useful! And thanks for checking out the channel, feel free to subscribe
Excellent review and intro to BB.
I would suggest you do some more BB instruction videos as there is a lot to learn from this powerful program and you are very good at simplefying this topic.
New subscriber
Thanks so much glad you enjoyed the review! I hope to do some videos like that just need to find the time lol - I often take on too much at a time, right now working on keyboard reviews. But I will try to do some BB ones at some stage!
Thanks again for checking out the channel and thanks for subscribing!
Very cool review, Band In A Box looks like an interesting software.
I don't know if I would have the patience to create such backing tracks though 😂
Anyway you're really the king of backing tracks Tony :)
Take care,
Francois
Thanks so much Francois! Yes I probably OCCASIONALLY spend a bit too much time on backing tracks ;) I think it comes from missing the group dynamic from my old band days. If you don't want to spend too much time on them but would really like one for a song then Jamzone is a good choice - you just buy the song for $3-4 and you're playing.
@@PianoTone thanks for your tips! In any case, it's interesting to know that it's possible to make backing tracks like that 😊
@@PianoTone Can you download from BIAB to a USB stick?
@@sherriheadaccordion Once you create your backing track in BIAB you can export it to a .WAV file (so you could copy that to a USB stick). You can also do this with iReal Pro (iReal Pro is a cheaper option, the quality of BIAB tracks is better though). I reviewed iReal Pro here:
ua-cam.com/video/hXqKNKEaFCo/v-deo.html
Thanks for the video intro! BTW, it's probably because of my decades as an editor, the name of the product is "Band-in-A-box" not "Band-in-THE-box." No offense intended, but I'm also a content creator and it's important to get things right. It would be like you referring to "THE Beatles" as "A Beatles."
Thanks so much!
Hi ... wanted to say the video is great ... without question one of the very best in a good understanding of BIAB ... an incredible product but often very confusing from a use standpoint ... at least for me ... I want to thank you again ... great substantive information and good production quality in your video!! ... keep them coming ... all the best for you an your channel!!
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed the review! And yes BIAB has a lot to digest but it is a great product.
Thanks for checking out the channel feel free to subscribe
Thank you for the great demo! Can I add vocals to an original song into the included daw, or would I have to load the track as a wav or mp3 onto a 3rd party daw like pro tools?
I’ve never actually used the included daw but I THINK you can add tracks etc like normal. But again; never used it.
Thanks for checking out the channel feel free to subscribe
Hi Tony - thank youthis is a great review of a product that I have had for 4-5 years. I'd hoped to compose with it or for make quality backing tracks as a solo performer or for augmenting a live band. You are correct this is a complex and busy user interface and to be honest I got frustrated trying to navigate it all. Eventually I pretty much gave up on it and tried using tracks form Karaoke Version with Ableton Live. Problem is mp3 tracks are so "lossy", and trying to get realistic sounding instruments in individual tracks for multitrack mixing /play back is not really feasible. The playback typically sounds like you're playing back from a cheap mp3 player or the radio. Your demo of BIAB has somewhat re-kindled my interest in the program at a time when I was looking at Jamzone as a possible option - multitrack player /chords/lyrics interface. I may go with Jamzone but I haven't yet been able to find out if they are also using mp3 files? Also I don't really like the "subscription only" changes they're making that causes one to lose all the tracks you paid for if you cancel the subscription. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks
Hi there! Totally understand your thoughts on BIAB; it’s an amazing program with so many features but it really can be challenging (and time consuming) to use. I’ve made a few tracks with it, but similar to your experience started looking towards things like Jamzone and more recently Karaoke Version (interesting to hear your comments on that one) so that I could spend more time practicing and less on making tracks.
Jamzone is a fabulous product, only with a couple issues. Like you, I’m not sure about the subscription model - it would work well for some people, but for me (I might go a couple months not learning a new song) not sure that model makes sense. Other thing with Jamzone is the only “click track” option they have is a metronome sound; they could really benefit from a hi-hat. For example, a piano ballad that starts with singing and piano only and other instruments come in later, if I’m singing and playing piano, I have to turn on this nasty sounding click track to nicely time when the other instruments come in.
As far as .mp3, there is no functionality for that now, but the “pro” subscription level not only includes rights to use their tracks in public but also a future .mp3 download feature. You can just play a track through on your device and record it to another app to accomplish that.
I’m currently experimenting with manually creating backing tracks on an arranger keyboard - we’ll see how that goes (might be challenging with no punch in/punch out so have to record each instrument perfectly start to finish :)
Anyhow hope that helps, thanks for checking out the channel feel free to subscribe
Why didn't you put a marker at measure 3 to indicated the beginning of the song - after the 2-bar intro?
I suppose I could have, probably didn't occur to me lol.
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thank you pianotone , great mate . all i want to do if you can help me is i have manuscripts of my own compositions over the years and i would love a program where i may just copy my notes into and try out the latest . i wrote all my instrumentals via noteworthy composer and was hoping for a more modern approach that seems to be available these days . i,m 85 years old and doing my best with my age . thank you from australia..tony lee
Hey there! To be honest I’ve only input chords with BIAB, but I THINK you can input notes as well - you should try googling that there are lots of forums out there with people that know way more than me about BIAB.
Thanks for checking out the channel feel free to subscribe
Thanks for the good review.
What is the option if i want to have the original song style included in BIAB? Can I load new versions from somewhere, like a whole original song to play along?
Thanks so much glad you enjoyed the review! BIAB has different package options on their site (more style choices for more $). They don’t have specific original song styles or complete predone original songs; they will just suggest styles for popular songs based on tempo etc and then you have to make the backing track yourself.
Hope that helps! Thanks again for visiting the channel, feel free to subscribe
Pretty sure bar 19 needs a Gm ahead of the C
A BOX
Thanks for checking out the channel
Set up instructions and spport are terrible.you,ve skipped configuring it in your pc and interface etc.
Sorry I didn't get into all of that (if I recall it was alot of work installing it in the first place), but I'm not a pc or IT expert so I'm not in a position to be very helpful with people to diagnose any of those issues (that's for the manufacturer to do). I was just concentrating on providing a basic overview of what the software can do and a quick intro to how it works.
Sorry to moan but all mine ever dos/says is sorry dave you cant do that......
Hope you can get it working!
@@PianoTone been trying ( very trying Indeed) since 2019.......I think i may have identified the issue now. Pg are,nt helpful once they have your cash. Sample rate pro lem, they sent answer about audio settings and even that's rather ambiguous to say the least. A straight Q dos,nt get you a straight answer......
@@PianoTone change tempo? Nah sorry pal ......lol