Biab Song Endings????

[Dale Bessant]

Hi gang,
Just got the 2009 edition the other day having a blast so far but I am having a problem getting good endings that I want on the songs.... everytime I try and put a regular ol' country ending on a tune it doesnt play back right...I want to ring out the last chord and it sounds more like a shot than holding the chords like I want...any ideas ...I have read and read the manual and just keep getting screwed up and not getting the endings I am looking for...

[Richard Tipple]

Hi Dale, I have the BIAB 2000.9 with the whole nine yards of bells & whistles.
Tried everything I could to get the last chord to hold & ring out....wouldnt do it

I chatted on line with the BIAB people about this & they started in with the old hold chord thing, which dosent work.

I sure whish they would would come out with a owners manual written in understandable language instead of riddles

[Ken Lang]

I just did this about an hour ago. I got the last chord to ring out, then a shot to end it. Here is the end of the file. A D hold with all instruments playing and a D shot with all instruments.





Hmmm. I reloaded it and now it won't ring out.

[Doug Beaumier]

To get an ending chord to ring out, try this:

Type the last chord wherever you want it and then type 3 periods (C...) Then leave several bars (after the song ends) and enter the chord again.

Set the total length of the song to include the additional bars at the end and the additional chord.

For example, the song below is 32 bars. The total length of the song is set to ALL 36 bars (1 x 36 x 1). The C chord in bar 32 (beat 3) will sustain until bar 36. Unfortunately, at bar 36 the band will restart and play 4 beats and end. That’s the only way I know to get an ending chord to ring out on BIAB.

If you make a WAV file of your track, you can then “clip the tail” of the WAV in a program like Wave Lab or Audacity. That will get rid of the unwanted chord at bar 44.

Also… do the following: Edit / Settings (for this song) / and Uncheck “Generate 2 bar Ending for this song”, and click on OK

[Ken Lang]

I added one more bar after the shot. This time it works, even after I closed it and opened it up again. It stops after the first shot, not the second.

[Papa Joe Pollick]

Don't forget Guys,The BIAB forum has some sharp dudes that might be able to help..Endings are sometimes a problem for me too..I often just re-do my arrangement to fit the ending..The people that wrote BIAB are jazz guys and don't really have the right feel for country..

[Ken Metcalf]

I was told that the ending chord after the (...) has to be a different chord... where you put this is how long it will ring, and remember a reg country ending usually ends on 3 .
you can fade an end also.

[Dale Bessant]

Thanks guys all this info is super and Im happy to know that Im not the only one having a "bit" of a problem with endings......I WILL PERSIST.... thanks for the confidence building and this forum...its a great place to be.... any more ideas or experiences will be welcomed here as well...

[Doug Beaumier]

I was told that the ending chord after the (...) has to be a different chord... where you put this is how long it will ring, and remember a reg country ending usually ends on 3 .

I have heard that too, but using the same chord as an ending chord has always worked for me on BIAB.
Yes, ending on beat 3 sounds good for counrty songs. That's what I did in my example, five replies above.

[Richard Tipple]

You the man there Doug I will try your ending.

[Rick Campbell]

What's stated above will work. You have to have a chord after the ending...... do it with one dot so it won't be heard, but it's necessary to keep BIAB from stopping at the last actual chord, and allow it to sustain.... if you used three dots. Example: C... D. I don't think it makes any difference what the addition chord is, since it won't be heard anyway. It more of a time filler.

I've found the stock BIAB endings to be pretty much worthless.

[Dale Bessant]

I'm getting closer by the song guys...Doug your right there on the 3rd beat.. we are on the right track,.... use the "Hold Chord" for the last chord, then go a couple of extra empty bars and do a fade with no chord,then a few more empty bars and end with G. seems to be working for me....yes I agree they need to work on the endings for sure....but its a lot of fun anyways and the "Real Tracks" are a blast to fool around with...later then...back to the drawing board!!!!

[Louie Hallford]

Charles Tilley,a friend of mine and I had this same disscussion last week. He made my last chord of the song a 6/9 with three dots. He then placed the chord a bar or two later ,depending on how long I wanted the ending note to hold,then he gave that final hold chord three dots but without the 6/9.

Hopefully I got this right. If not, he is on the Forum and easily contacted, and is very helpful

[Wayne Franco]

BIAB will ignore the last chord if it is the same as the one you end on. If you have a G ending follow with G#. and you won't even hear it.

[Phil Halton]

Finally, I get it. Chuck's solution works for me here. I found that the chord after the last chord (the one with the 3 dots) needs to be different from the 3 dot chord, or it won't work. Also, making that last chord a rest chord eliminates the last shot after the sustain. Example,
C... D.

Like Chuck showed-- that works as well as its ever going to -- at least for me.

Man! they gotta work on that at PGMusic

[Robert Tripp]

Biab does take some time and experimenting to find a good workable solution for a particular type of music. As mentioned before, it was designed by Jazz guys, with lots of music therory.

We also need to bear in mind that is is primarily designed as a scratch pad for working out basic arrangements for songs, and over the years it's features have been increased, without changing too much of the original working program.

So lots of things have to be designed to work with certain limitations, or in ways which may not make any sense to the avg musician, such as the C... then a few free bars then a D. in order to play out a hold.

I have found that once I get the basic layout of a song using part markers etc,I then export it to midi into a daw like sonar, powertracks, cubase, etc or even Real Band, then tweak the final settings using normal midi commands and events. The may require some midi education in itself, but it is what it is.

Otherwise we learn to play about 12 different instruments well, and record everything live in our soundproof studio and invest about $50,000.00 in some nice hardware equip. and we'll all be happy as clams. lol

BIAB ain't perfect, I don't know of a program that is, but what you can acccomplish with not a whole lot of programming experience, and with a minimal cash outlay, is truely amazing.

I learn something everyday about BIAB, and I feel lost in the program half the time. A complete idots guide to BIAB is a sorely need publication. Anyone care to write one?

I'll help all I can, but its obvious that others here know more than I do already.

[Ken Lang]

I was trying to learn more about BIAB. Looking in help, which has over 500 pages in the computer. I finally called PG Music and they had a 2008.5 manual for 10 bucks +5 for shipping. There are still a lot of things left out, a more thourgh explanition of functions etc, but boy is it eaiser to look things up.

[Andy Sandoval]

Ken, check out George Wixon's site and scroll down to the BIAB help files. Some are for older versions but the info will work for later versions. Click Here