BIAB - Saving Tracks

[Pete Storms]

Howdy folks;

I am using BIAB version 9 to make my own backup tracks, saves them on my hard drive. Is it possible to save these audio tracks on a floppy disc so I don't use up as much hard drive space? Would I save them as wav files, or midi files?
I go from the audio output of my laptop to the input on my mixer and don't know if it's analog or digital.
Any ideas how to do this?

Thanks;
Pete

[David Venzke]

Pete,

Midi files will be much smaller than wave (WAV). You can put dozens of them on a single floppy disk -- I've done it, and then played them back on a midi capable digital keyboard. Provided you have a midi file player on your laptop, that would be the best way to go.

-Dave

[Charlie Tryon]

I use a USB thumb that holds 4gigs and is easy to carry. The file type you want to save in will depend on how you want to play back the tracks. With a midi player...with BIAB and so on or burn to CD in wave format and play them on any CD player and on and on. Sky is the limit now.

[Gary Baker]

Howdy folks;

I am using BIAB version 9 to make my own backup tracks, saves them on my hard drive. Is it possible to save these audio tracks on a floppy disc so I don't use up as much hard drive space? Would I save them as wav files, or midi files?
I go from the audio output of my laptop to the input on my mixer and don't know if it's analog or digital.
Any ideas how to do this?

Thanks;
Pete

Hi Pete: some basic questions first.

You say "audio tracks" then ask about MIDI files.

BIAB has TWO types of files (sometimes). If you create a "standard song with no AUDIO recorded as in "Real Drums", Real Guitar or Real Pedal Steel, then you have two ways to go with "storing files to an off site.

One: save them as MIDI files to be played back on a computer's sound card using that sound card's Gereral MIDI sounds (my not be the same as original's quality) or

Two: convert the MIDI files to a true AUDIO file and then burn it to a hard drive, CD/DVD or USB type storage. You then are playing an audio files that will sound just as it did originally.

BUT: IF, and it's a BIG if, you have BOTH MIDI and AUDIO files in your song they will be separate files to BIAB that are "LINKED" TOGETHER WHEN PLAYED. The MIDI file will be somefilename.sug and the AUDIO file with be called the same thing but have an extention of .wav i.e.somefilename.wav.

To play back this song within BIAB later on, a different PC (or the same PC if not save to a device attached to the PC) you MUST have both the MIDI and the AUDIO file on the external device (see above for types of devices.)

Of course, you could convert the entire song to an audio file and save it, just burning it to a device that has enough disk space to hold both files (Audio requires more than a "floppy" - think CD or DVD or USB type file storage.


Now, since you have a mixer, you could take the main outs (or sub outs) from your mixer back into your PC's record port and simply record the song as it is being played. This will end up being a "wav" file which can be played by many types of devices.

You will most likely need some other software to record while you play but it can be done. You are creating an 'analog' sound into your mixer unless you are sending it as a digital signal into a digital mixer (like a Roland VS series). When you save any file to a PC it is converted back to digital.

Lots of info so I hope I did not ramble on.

Hope this helps . .

Blessings, bo baker

[Pete Storms]

Dave, Charlie, Gary

Howdy;

Thanks for all the info about the BIAB files and some ideas of how to use them. From what I see there is quite a bit then meets the eye. I guess I'll be chewing on this stuff for awhile untill I figure out what the best way to use it wiuld be.

Thanks;
Pete