Thursday, April 30, 2009

asio setup

Hi,

I wasn't entirely certain - I might have missed it - if you want to have Band-in-a-Box play through your Ensoniq synth, or if you want to play Band-in-a-Box through an internal synth on your computer.

Let's assume that you simply want to use your keyboard for input to play into Band-in-a-Box, but you want to hear everything (including what you play on your keyboard) played by an internal synth. By internal synth, I mean something like a MIDI synth built into your sound card (which you don't have; M-audio cards generally just have a MIDI interface to allow you to connect external device, they don't have a built-in MIDI synth), the Microsoft GS Wavetable (included with Windows) or the Roland VSC-DXi (the General MIDI compatible DXi synth included with Band-in-a-Box).

On your system, your options for "internal" MIDI output are the GS Wavetable or the Roland VSC-DXi. The Roland VSC3 used to be popular with Band-in-a-Box, and it acts like a "regular" MIDI Output driver, however it has become less compatible with newer computers, and it is much better and easier to use the Roland VSC-DXi instead. So the VSC-DXi is installed with Band-in-a-Box, while the VSC3 isn't. It is available if you want to install it, in the \bb\vsc\VSC_installs folder. But most people wouldn't want to install it.

Your best option is the Roland VSC-DXi - so select the "Use DXi Synth" checkbox.

There is a piece of information that you may be missing, which might be useful for you...

When you play your external MIDI keyboard, you hear the sound played by (it is routed to) either the MIDI output driver or DXi synth. That is, even if you have a DXi synth selected, when you play your keyboard, it might be routed to your MIDI output driver depending on some settings and whether song playback is happening. Here are the settings:

--
--if you are using "MME" audio drivers:

-If you have the "Route MIDI thru to MIDI driver" box checked, then it (live playing) will be routed to the MIDI driver (e.g. GS Wavetable) all the time.
-If you have the "Route MIDI thru to MIDI driver" box UNCHECKED, then it will be routed to the DXi synth while the song is playing, and to the MIDI driver (e.g. GS Wavetable) while there is no song playing.

--if you are using "ASIO" audio drivers:

-If you have the "ASIO Always On" box checked (in the ASIO Audio Drivers dialog), it is routed to the DXi (or VSTi) synth all the time whether the song is stopped or playing.

-If you have the "ASIO Always On" box unchecked, it is routed to the DXi synth while the song is playing, and through the MIDI Output Driver when the song is stopped.
--

So if you had been using MME driver, playing your keyboard and trying to determine the effect of the route MIDI thru... checkbox, you would have always been hearing it play through the GS Wavetable unless you happened to have a song playing while you were testing.

There are reasons for the way it works... the "DXi synth" usually has much more latency than the "MIDI output driver", and with that much latency it doesn't make sense to use it as your output for live playing. In your case, the GS Wavetable has alot of latency and happens to be your only available internal "MID driver".. This is common with many newer computers, but wasn't always the case. The GS Wavetable had far less latency on Windows 98 than XP, and has far less latency on XP than it does on Vista. In addition, many people have soundcards like the SoundBlaster series which have built-in MIDI synths with no latency. Other people have external synths like you do, but they're using them for output in addition to input, and that has no latency.

The latency problem of soft synths is generally solved with the use of ASIO drivers, although it is often more difficult to get ASIO drivers set up on specific computers. "ASIO4ALL" is an excellent solution and works great on most people's computers. One problem is that on some systems it can conflict with the GS Wavetable. The solution is to make sure that the GS Wavetable isn't selected anywhere in your setup.

Note that it is possible to inadvertently "select" the GS Wavetable by choosing the "MIDI Mapper" or "No MIDI Output". In general, you should ignore the MIDI Mapper, which was useful on Windows 95/98/ME, but is no longer useful/functional on newer versions of Windows, as far as I know.

Here is what I think should work for you...

1. Install ASIO4ALL

2. Reboot your computer to make sure there are no problems.

3. Run Band-in-a-Box. Select the M-Audio device for input, and ALSO select the M-Audio device for your output. The purpose of this is to just make sure that something other than the GS Wavetable is selected for output.

Note: the synth/soundcard setting is mainly useful for non-GM compatible synths and specific purposes. But you can select the VSC from that list, or just select "General MIDI Instrument Misc."

4. Check the Use DXi/VSTi synth box. If already selected, click the DXi synth Settings button. Either way, this will open the DirectX/VST Window. You should have the VSC-DXi selected in the top slot (synth plugins). Don't worry about the bottom three slots, which are for audio plugins, although you may wish to select the PG Peak Limiter plugin in one of them if your volume is low. Close the DX window.

5. Click on the Audio Settings button (or Opt.-Preferences-Audio) to open the Audio Settings window. Select ASIO, or if already selected press the Audio Drivers button. This will open the ASIO Audio Drivers window. Select ASIO4ALL. For the input and output ports, normally you can leave the top ones highlighted. This would normally be your computer's built-in audio device. If that one isn't working you may need to experiment, as it isn't necessarily obvious what all the different ports are for.

6. Check the ASIO Always On box.

Note: The ASIO Driver Control panel button will open the ASIO4ALL settings. The main purpose is normally to adjust the latency ("buffer size"). Leave this at default, or around 512, until you get it working. When you have sound etc. then you can try reducing the buffer size if you're finding that there is still some latency between when you hit a key on your keyboard and when you hear it play. How low you can set the latency depends on your computer (processor, etc.).

Note: While other dialogs in BB display latency, when you are using ASIO drivers the ASIO control panel is the only dialog that you can use to change the latency.

7. Ok to exit all the dialogs. Press Play once (if you haven't yet since you started BB), just to make sure ASIO is initialized. You can stop playback now if you wish, ASIO will remain on for the rest of your session.

Now try playing your keyboard and playing a song, and see if it works. If it does, you may want to close Band-in-a-Box, open your bb folder and make a backup of the file "intrface.bbw" Then you can restore your settings at a later date if you need to (BB2009 has an option to do this under the Opt. menu).

If that doesn't work for you, describe what happens and what doesn't work about it, and hopefully there is a solution... 

--------------------
Andrew 
PG Music Inc. 

Monday, April 27, 2009

biab chord push

I'm trying to jump a chord location...shift it forward to have it strike on the upbeat (before the downbeat); 


=======================


The precise location of the sounding of your "pushed" chord impacts how you might implement a "pushed" chord. 


To sound a push on the 4th beat of a 4/4 measure, simply enter the chord you want to push and precede the letter with a "," comma. 


To push a chord on the 2nd eighth note "and" pulse of the 4th quarter note, at the end of a measure, 


right click in the next measure where the chord you want to push ahead of the 1st beat should be located, 


select the chord settings sub menu and check on the left side mid area the extent of the push you want, with options for an eighth note beat as well as some other values. 


So, depending on the groove, the pulse, it may be as easy as how you enter the chord, placing it into a quarter note slot using a "," 


or if the push location for sounding is finer than that again depending on the groove and pulse and the effect you seek, use of the right click chord setting sub menu with some experimentation, auditioning how the push option checked off actually sounds with drum kit used and other instrument that may be impacted, using that more detailed option. Best of luck... 



pgpost

Sunday, April 26, 2009

click track

pgmucis_post, -Create one measure of drum click by using event list to insert C#2 channel 10 (sidestick) on the 1-1-0, 2-1-0, 3-1-0, and 4-1-0 of the first measure. 
(I use the sidestick because it cuts thru in headphones) -
-use 127 for velocity when creating the notes
-hilight the whole bar and copy it.
-Paste it, using the 'repitions' checkbox to set the number of nars to match the song.
-Assign the VSC DXi to the track, right click the track and auto convert it to audio on a blank tarck.
-turn off the midi track and hilight the new audio track.
-go into DX FX area and put PGPeakLimit on the track so you can make it as loud as you need to by pushing one slider up.

You should have a click in perfect sync with RD and one thats loud enough to make the drummers ears bleed, which in my experience is the correct volume to get them to even notice it, let alone pay attention to it! 




your own style list

1. Create a new file in your bb folder called MyStyles.LS3, and open this file with a text editor, like notepad. (the file can have any name you want as long as it has the .LS3 file extension).

2. On the first line of the text file, type the ~ symbol followed by your new category name. For example: ~ My Styles

3. Open the existing file BBW.LST in the bb folder, also with a text editor. (Disable word wrap).

4. Search for a style name (Ctrl+F). Highlight the entire line (shift+end) starting with the @ symbol, and copy it from bbw.lst to MyStyles.ls3. Repeat for each style you want to add.

5. Save the file, and press Rebuild in the StylePicker. 







pgpost

Thursday, April 23, 2009

approach to songwriting

I was asked for my approach to songwriting and wrote the following. Others might find it helpful...

Notating the Melody

If you are a singer then your dilemma re songwriting is the same as mine and probably for the same reason - we are primarily singers and think as such rather than instrumentalists and thinking as such. It is easy for us to write the lyrics and think of a good melody - arranging is our problem. To get around this, I use Melodyne. The programme does take some learning but you can also get a training video for it. This enables me to record a vocal melody and then use the programme to convert the melody into MIDI notation.

Remember to use a metronome or simple drum pattern to record the vocals against, this will help with the timing and placement of notes. Nothing fancy, just a 3 time or 4 time beat. Set it to start with at 120bpm as this is the median of the RI tempos. You can always speed it up or slow it down a little but stay, if possible, within the 100bpm to 140bpm range so that you will be able to make good use of the RIs. There is a reason why PG maps everything to 120bpm and the key of C - not only is it mid-range tempo it is also the easiest key.

Arranging

Once the notation is down, it is very easy to arrange. Import it into BIAB and this will tell you what key your notation is in. A good clue to the melody key though is usually the most common note in the series and / or the final note of the song. Next step, transpose it to the key of C (no incidentals to worry about) which makes it very easy to see the chords to arrange it to. You can cover all the notes using 3 chords (I, IV and V7) - in the key of C, these are C, F and G7. Every note in the scale is covered with these. Look for the 'key' notes, these are the longer ones or the ones that come on the beat and are most often the first and third beats in a 4/4 bar (in a 3/4 song it is even easier because you just need to look at the first note in each bar).

In C, the I will match against C, E and G, the IV will match against F, A and C, the V7 will match against G, B, D and F. The V7 will also resolve nicely back to the I. Now that gives us every note...

C - I / IV
D - V7
E - I
F - IV / V7
G - V7 / I
A - IV
B - V7

Ok. This is simply a 3 chord trick but you can spice it up by using substitution chords. In the key of C, D can be substituted with a iim and A with a vim (i.e. the IV chord can be substituted with either iim / vim). If you want fancier chords, you can always add the extensions (2, 9, 11, 13, etc) or flatten a note in the chord to cover something in the melody where the chord you really want to use (because of a progression such as I-vi-ii-V7-I) will clash, such as an augmented chord or a b5... These extra chords are just added for flavour. Remember, EVERY song can be boiled down to the simple I, IV and V7 chords. Most probably, though not always your song will start and end on the I. Remember the Beatles? They wrote an entire song using just one single chord, which was of course the same as the key (G, if I remember right). Once you have the melody, of course, you can always use the Re-Harmonist feature in BIAB to generate a chordal progression for you but if you follow my outline above, you won't go far wrong. I mainly use the Re-Harmonist if I want to find an alternative progression in a part of a song if I am trying to avoid using a certain chord (I can play every chord in the book but some of them are preferable to others for ease of playing and for sound properties). Once you have this, you can then use the Vocal Wizard to set it to the right key for your voice (and for our area, that is primarily either C, G, D, A or E). Believe me, the above may seem very simple but it really is! About 15 or so years ago, I analysed in depth note-for-note over 250 all-time hit songs from ABBA to ZZ Top to work out how they did it and created a Decision Support System that enabled me to spot the patterns and how they were arrived at. It took a couple of months and the above was the outcome. It works.

Selecting Instrumentation

Having done this, select the instruments you would like to have in your line-up and can imagine being played by real musicians in a band you put together and then use the RIs to reflect this. The rest is down to your ears and the mixing and mastering techniques as very simply outlined by Ray in his tutorial on RB. Don't go creating arrangements with different instruments each time - we may have the ability to do this with RB but would we in real life? We can't afford to tour a whole orchestra with us just because we want an alto sax solo or a bassoon for one single number in a repertoire of 20 songs or so! Use your ears and your brain / imagination!

Selecting a Style

As to Style selection, I start with something very simple and only one instrument (usually a strumming acoustic guitar), not even drums. I want people to be able to play this at home for themselves and therefore it is very important to KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). I want to walk along a beach one day or take an underground train and see a teenager playing and singing my songs on a guitar! Once I have this, I will add a second instrument (this used to be a bass but now that my g/f wants to play with me, it is an acoustic piano). These are my two main instruments - bass, rhythm and fills can be achieved with these two instruments alone (think James Blunt).

For recording purposes, I will then add drums, bass (I have an e-bass, so that is what I go for as I know I have one) and possibly, though not always, a lead guitar / sax. I will use these instruments for the backing tracks and can always have them recorded for use in live performance (still only 2 real musicians, myself and my g/f). The choice of instruments can be varied - I have an acoustic guitar, a strat clone and a jazz guitar so I have a choice of 3 different guitar sounds, a jazz e-bass and keyboards so I know I have the instruments to be able to play this line up by myself if need be.

Recording & Performance

So now we have the music, add a good quality mic for recording and we can produce great songs. Add a good PA system and you are ready for gigs.

Additional Tips

Another tip is to spend as much time as possible hanging out around the forum - on all the boards. So much can be picked up there about all sorts of things from gigs to performance techniques to tricks with the software and stored away in memory for possible future use.

HTH

--------------------
http://www.pgmusic.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=196068&an=0&page=1#Post196068

Sam

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

midi drum kit




the Standard Drum Kit. Click here a list of the drum sounds that correspond to each MIDI note in the Standard Drum Kit. The Brush Kit is usually the same as the Standard Drum Kit with the following three exceptions:
  • Note #38 is a Brush Tap instead of a Snare Drum.
  • Note #39 is a Brush Slap instead of a Hand Clap.
  • Note #40 is a Brush Swirl instead of a Snare Drum.
Some Yamaha synths use a somewhat different map for the brush sounds. On these synths:
  • Note #25 is a Brush tap.
  • Note #27 is a Brush Slap.
  • Note #26 is a Brush swirl.

midi drum kit note names

BRUSH DRUM KIT “STIR” TUTORIAL



create click track


youtube-using Audacity to generate a Click Track

axiom25 links

Enigma - Getting Started pdf

This is what I've sussed from the Engima help-file.

1) Open Enigma and select the Axiom 25 Default Bank.
2) File>New User Preset Bank (or CTRL-N)will create a writable user bank based on the Axiom 25 defaults.
3)Click the downward-pointing arrow in the top-left (with the device connected) to download your current settings from the keyboard to the computer. You will see a list of banks on the bottom-left; select the one you use while performing (just choose number 1 if you're not sure).
4) View>Control Editor (or CTRL-I) brings up the Control Editor. Click the Zone Data tab at the top.
5) See the keyboard image at the bottom of the main display. There should be three zones already drawn in, spanning the whole keyboard and greyed-out (they are switched off). Click number 1.
6) (picture 1) The details for zone number 1 will come up on the Control Editor which you opened in step 4. Edit the start and end notes so it occupies the first octave only. Edit the channel to number 2 (easiest not to use 0 or 1) and switch it on.
7) (picture 2) Repeat the process for zone 2 - set it to occupy the second octave and transmit on Channel 3.
8) Click the two sideways arrows in the top-left to transmit the changes to your device, and close Enigma. NB: I don't recommend changing any other settings in Enigma, since it can all be done (octave shifting, controller-assignment, etc) in software with things like MIDI learn and MFX.

9) In Reaper (http://www.reaper.fm/) (unlimited $40 shareware) create two tracks. Record-arm them both (the R on the bottom left of its entry in Track view). Activate input monitoring (the little speaker symbol) and deactivate recording (the little red arrow, choose disabled).
10) To choose the input port and channel, click the meter next to the monitor and record mode buttons. Choose MIDI input, and find the Axiom's input on the list. Choose channels 2 and 3 respectively.
11) Open the Track FX window on track 1. The button looks like several concentric circles, and is the third button in from the left, at the top-right of the track's entry in Track View. Choose VSTi on the left, and put Massive on track 1. Do the same on track 2, with FM8.

12) Now you should have the left hand playing Massive and the right playing FM8. I suggest you save the Reaper project for future use. You can use the same principles to set up a third zone for use when you download Absynth.

I suggest you try that out when you get home and holler if you run into any problems.
Audiodude

=================

Monday, April 20, 2009

Audio and tempo sync

the audio chordwizard Besides detecting chords, it also detect tempo and irregularities within. If you import it back into your program you can bring the tempomapping in as well.

Open the file
Open the AudioChordWizard and allow it to reset the bars.

Then listen to it in the Audio Chord wizard.
If the tempo needs adjusting so that the beats line up just tap the F8 key on the '1' of each measure and the audio chord wizard will adapt, and will also adjust the tempo map so the drums and midi line up. Even realtracks will work then!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

just my styles

An better way to do it is to make the *LS3 file manually:

1. Create a new file in your bb folder called MyStyles.LS3, and open this file with a text editor, like notepad. (the file can have any name you want as long as it has the .LS3 file extension).

2. On the first line of the text file, type the ~ symbol followed by your new category name. For example: ~ My Styles

3. Open the existing file BBW.LST in the bb folder, also with a text editor. (Disable word wrap).

4. Search for a style name (Ctrl+F). Highlight the entire line (shift+end) starting with the @ symbol, and copy it from bbw.lst to MyStyles.ls3. Repeat for each style you want to add.

5. Save the file, and press Rebuild in the StylePicker.

--------------------
Andrew
PG Music Inc.

finding the right style


How to find Styles that fit your particular song.

*Start the song playing back after checking the "Loop" checkbox in the mainscreen. Doesn't matter at this point what style it is, but it is a good idea to start with all MIDI styles because they load instantly (RealTracks styles take too much time to load. RealTracks styles will be preceded by a '=' sign or an underscore "_" in their filename and will always appear at the top of the alphanumerical listing in the Stylepicker's center window. Just scroll past those for now.).

*Open the Stylepicker.

*First thing to do is find any style that has proper *timing* FEEL and METER for the target song that is playing back. You can usually narrow down the possible choices quite a lot by taking advantage of the subgroup listings over on the lefthand side of the Stylepickerwindow.

*At this point I usually like to set the dropdown selection under the "Show Styles by 'Feel' and 'Tempo' to "Show all style rhythms" -- unless the original style that is already playing is close to what I want. These are powerful filters here. So powerful that unless and until you have identified this important part of the equation, they can actually hide styles that you would want to try. More on this in a minute.

*Make sure that the "Preview on doubleclick" near the bottom center is checked. This is the power here, doubleclicking on any MIDI only style, you can almost instantly hear it playing your chords and decide right away if it is a good fit or not.

*Once you find a Style that is "near" what you want to hear, take advantage of the "Feel and Tempo" dropdown to limit the possiblities in the upper center window some more. Go with the "If feel matches prototype" first, unless you are certain of the song's BPM tempo (good idea to note that before the Stylepicker is opened). If you are certain that the song will be locked into a certain tempo, then by all means narrow down the choices further by selecting "If feel and tempo matches prototype".

*Whenever I find a style that fits at all, I make a note of that using Notepad, but I don't stop there. Maybe there's a better fit in another style somewhere further down the list. So I keep trying selections, filtering both automatically using those tips above and also by using the "filter" between my ears as I read the style name and description by single clicking down the list while the song is playing. Of course, I doubleclick on every seemingly viable candidate.

*Don't neglect use of the "Search" feature in the Stylepicker, either. You can type in a single word there and find all instances of it by clicking on the G next to it while the song plays. And if you've already selected a subfolder on the LH side, it will only search through there first instead of "All Styles". Sometimes you can type in a group's name, too, like "beatle" or the like because of the memo notes associated with each style. Or you might type in "shuffle" if you know that your song has a shuffle feel to it. Things like that work well to narrow the candidates down quite a bit. "Ballad" may be another example, or "Folk" or "Pop" or whatever you can think of that may describe the song in question. Every once in a while, even the NAME of the song may do the trick, just type in one word of the name, though, picking the most useful word for such searching.


Using the above method it does not take as long as one might think to isolate if there are any styles that can be made to work with your song.

And, of course, once the Feel, Tempo and type of style has been found, go back over the list in Notepad using the same Play on Doubleclick "auditioning" to narrow that down to one style you like.

After you find the style is the time to start trying RealInstruments or RealStyles that may work also. Using the "Fits Feel and Tempo" filter can even narrow down those RealStyle candidates in a hurry.

AND -- The above is exactly what I would have to do for you to tell you which style might work with your particular target song today, but only after I could HEAR a recorded example of that song first. And BIAB is designed so that you can do all that for yourself. So get started. The more you do this and practice it, the faster you will be able to narrow down style selections in the future.


--Mac

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other berkly blogs



Kyte iPhone Applications Framework, a turnkey solution that allows media and entertainment companies to easily and cost-effectively deliver their online Kyte channels as fully branded iPhone and iPod Touch applications.

online lessons

Learn music online from anywhere, with a schedule that fits your life. Study with Berklee faculty.

Welcome to the Berklee Shares Web site. Here you will find free music lessons that you can download, share and trade with your friends and fellow musicians.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

biab support

SUPPORT FOR PG MUSIC PRODUCTS


over 1000 BIAB files loosely categorized.

yahoo Band-in-a-Box · Band-In-A-Box Group.

Band-In-A-Box Users webRing

This list was created and is maintained by Alisdair MacRae Birch

Band-in-a-Box Jam Tunes yellow book


Allanah's Midi & Band in a Box Files


Frequently Asked Questions For PSRs, CVPs & Tyros 1 &2

PSR Producer is a powerful tool for creating or editing Step Record files that include special chord and style control commands. When Played or Expanded on the PSR, these files generate accompaniment parts.

svpworld-Style manager series


The Unofficial YAMAHA Keyboard Resource Site
.

screen magnification

Windows XP: Turn On and Use Magnifier

Magnifier is a display utility that makes the computer screen more readable. Learn how to turn on and use Magnifier in Windows XP.

Lightning Express is a completely free full screen magnifier for PC's running Windows XP and Vista. It is designed to offer an easily-accessible option for anyone needing screen magnification.

  • Aldo's Magnifier - Aldo's magnifier is a freeware clone of the Windows 98 Magnifier.
    Because of the auto-reposition feature, it is one of the best freeware screen magnifier utilities for Windows, that magnifies the area around your mouse cursor up to 4 times.
    Features: auto reposition, copy magnified view to clipboard or printer.
    File sie 14k
  • OS Windows 95/98/NT
    License FREE
    pop (Added: 16-Nov-1999 Hits: 17156 Rating: 3.95 Votes: 20) Rate It


DesktopZoom is a zoom/magnify program with lots of options
:

  • Completely portable and doesn't need admin privilege
  • Zoom an area around the mouse, zoom a fixed window or zoom the entire desktop
  • Use the mouse inside the zoomed window
  • Use the mouse wheel or arrow keys to adjust the magnification strength
  • Translation to Dutch, French, German and Czech
  • View the entire screen as a thumbnail in the right-bottom corner
  • Follow the caret & menu items
  • Change the colors to grey or invers the colors
  • Show the original screen with a transparency value between 0 en 100%
  • Show a bigger mouse and/or a crosshair
  • Use Alt-keys to change the zoomvalue and to enable/disable tracking and the crosshair
  • Save all the settings to a file for automatic loading
  • Basic speech support

Note: This program only works on "Windows XP" and "Windows 2000", because it depends heavily on "transparency", a feature that Microsoft has only supported since "Windows 2000".
It can also
work on Vista if you disable Aero.

Fatbits is one of those mind bogglingly useful utility programs for graphic artists or people designing user interfaces. It magnifies an area of the screen centered around the mouse pointer and paints the giant pixels into a small, tastefully decorated window. This can be indispensable when you want to see something right down to the last pixel.

others