The Steel Guitar Forum

Looking for imput on band in a box. Are they practial for a in home musician. Send me an e-mail if you don't want your advice made public.

Tom, I use Band in a Box at home all the time. I feel it has helped me greatly. A lot of songs already on there, and if your smart enough (I'm not) you can create your own songs. I like it that you can set it for any key or tempo. You can also select it to view the chords or use the Numbers. It has also helped me with the number system, as that is how I set mine. Mine is the 2009.5 series. Good luck. Larry Baker

Absolutely!! Don't hesitate....it's one of the best practice tools there is.
With the newer versions having real tracks, it's probably the best band I've ever played with....they play what you tell them, never show up drunk or not at all, timing is perfect, always in tune & no drama!!!

How much better can it get!!

I use BIAB for practice and I've actually converted the songs files into WAV files and store them on an I Pod. I've used these as backing tracks on solo gigs.

... like they say and more...

I went onto PG Music's site, and there are several versions of BIB availablle; some, apparently(?) with real music somehow? My question is this, which version of BIAB should I get? I'm willing to pay if something is substantially better.

Buying Band-In-A-Box (BIAB) is best done during the month of December, or mid year when they come out with the .5 releases. The mid year release this year was August, so you have a few hours left to take advantage of the specials before they go back to regular prices.

I would go with the PRO version for $129 or the Megapack for $269. You can read the differences on their website at pgmusic.com

The Megapack is my advice..Anything less will probably leave you wanting more..
And yes, BIAB is a great tool for practice..There are a mess of songs available on line, already, programed for BIAB...

As has been said, BIAB is a good home tool for practice but, it was, is, and probably always will be geared more to jazz than country. There are BIAB groups on the net that have also been mentioned in this Forum but they also lean to jazz so the material offered is mostly jazz.

That all being said, read up on the different packages offered by BIAB and then, buy the one you think will do what you want it to do. There is no point in spending money for something which includes a lot of junk you will probably never use. You also do not have to upgrade if the program you eventually buy does what you want it to do. Buying upgrades is a suckers game, you'll never win it.

Like Microsoft, I believe the greed factor has hit PG Music. Used to be that when new styles were done and offered to the buying public, they were BACKWARDS compatible with older versions. Not so now, you want the new Real Tracks, buy an upgraded version of the program. The greed never stops.

I went to the above suggested online site and listened to the music advertised as "real musicians " and it sounded like canned music, not real recorded bands. Am I looking in the wrong place ?

The playback you hear is only as good as your playback equipment. If you have a cheap speaker in your computer, it's going to sound bad just like a record played through a cheap stereo.

Well,, let me put it like this.

The newer versions (2011 and above) sound so good it makes very difficult to go out and play with a live band.

If you have an older version of BIAB or files from an older version you must convert each individual song file to one of the latest patterns to take advantage of the update.

I think I have owned ever backing track machine every made. The Old Korg machine from the 80s. Then the Hot thing was the PMA5 made by Roland.

BIAB never ceases to amaze in it's lack of programming limitations and how great the darn thing sounds!

Some publishing companies in Nashville are using BIAB to do basic demos.

I am quite sure you will discover that the weakest link of BIAB is the programmer.

I just installed the 2012.5 edition on my computer over the weekend. I haven't really dug into it yet but I did notice that it came with a bunch of new country tracks. Yee-Haw!

Gentlemen,

is the mega pack still the recommendation? I plan to make backing tracks for Hawaiian, Country and Jazz.

They currently have a .5 Version.

I used to have a QY-100 sequencer, but those things are so fumbly to program. This is out of time.

Thanks.

-helmut

I have owned 3 versions of BiaB over the years, the most recent being 2005. The BiaB web community, although jazz focused is like this forum, very helpful.

The program has always been ... well not buggy but quirky; but its ease of use over ANY other SW or practice device makes it worthwhile.

To get from opening the program to playing your first 12 bar blues will take about 5 minutes, it is that intuitive. Some of the more sophisticated stuff is less intuitive and you will need to do some manual reading but for home practice, composing backing tracks, etc., it really is the most practical tool on the market.

I've also read about the new Real Band feature on the 2012 versions and it sounds exciting but I don't need that for what I do so I am happy to put up with the sounds on my cheap lap top.

I've generally gone for the basic set up but I think one previous verison was the Mega Pak which more than doubles the price. If I was buying again I would probaly just go basic again as this was all I've ever needed but that is just my preference.

\ Paul

I have the BIAB 2012.5, & I will say it is an awesome program. 2012.5 also has the new Midi Super Tracks. I find that the new version has enough Country, Blue Grass, Gospel, etc to create pretty much any Country song you want.. The Real tracks are great & can be re-generated to find the licks you want.. Plus, if you find a Style you like, but don't like a particular instrument in that Style, e.g. bass, you can change any instrument & keep the Style.. I create tracks then render them to individual wave files, import them to my Korg D3200 via USB cable, & all I have to do is add the vocalist &/or steel, etc. Incidentally I have the Mega Pak, & just did a CD for a friend with great results..
Bob Norton from Norton music, also has Numerous Styles in lots of different Genres that are compatible with BIAB.. Norton also has several Fake discs available with a lot of Country , Gospel available. The songs are already made but can be altered to meet the needs of individual users.

Danke Paul,

wie gehts?

-helmut

I have 2012. It's fantastic. My only complaint would be it can't do quarter note triplets.

I've used BIAB since 2002 when the drums were a bit "rinky dink", but now it's very professional sounding. I use it so much at home, I call it my "house band". The use you get is just endless. You'll be surprised. Geo

another thumbs up for BIAB... I still think it is one of the most user-unfriendly interfaces of programs I've used but it is getting better every version...

The "real tracks" are a must and I wish I had them all... but they are not cheap...

I literally use BIAB everyday and use it with my students very often as well... with a steel guitar they are almost a must...