Band in a box 2022 sale (and some life observations…)

[msmcleod]

Eli Krantzberg has a great tutorial on using BIAB for Songwriting on Groove 3.

I loved the different methods he showed of generating ideas, and using parts from what might seem disparate styles in your existing session. To be honest, I've never been that into the middle-of-the-road styles that BIAB generally has, but it's amazing what you can do by using just one part out of context.

Here's the course overview:

Tutorial 1 - Creating a Melody (7:25)
In this first video, use the Band-in-a-Box Melodist function to create a melodic idea for a chord progression and arrangement in a DAW.

Tutorial 2 - Exploring the Melodist Maker (10:26)
Learn to use the Melodist Maker to create a custom Melodist and hear how it interacts with different styles. Three separate melodies are generated and brought into the DAW, where they're edited together to create a single, unified melody that matches the chords and arrangement.

Tutorial 3 - Using the Chord Wizard (7:31)
Next, discover the Band-in-a-Box Audio Chord Wizard and hear how it's used to generate chords and tracks supporting a melodic vocal idea for a song chorus.

Tutorial 4 - Creating Harmonies (7:15)
Explore Band-in-a-Box's ability to generate doubling and harmony parts from existing audio. Hear examples on vocals and guitar!

Tutorial 5 - Creating a Guitar Part (7:27)
Learn how the Band-in-a-Box MultiRiff feature is used to create multiple variations of a guitar part - based on your chord progression and rhythms - with custom shots and pushes.

Tutorial 6 - Creating Better Harmonies (7:40)
In this video, discover Band-in-a-Box's advanced harmonizing options, including the ability to export MIDI conversions alongside the generated audio.

Tutorial 7 - Creating a Piano Part (8:19)
Learn how to have Band-in-a-Box create a fully fleshed out piano part based on your original simple chords, in your choice of musical styles, using RealTracks.

Tutorial 8 - Creating an Arrangement (10:36)
See how the Auto Generate Chord Substitutions and Auto Generate Chord Reharmonization functions can be used to reinvigorate a simple melody, with examples in various styles.

Tutorial 9 - Creating a Solo (11:24)
Next, explore the Band-in-a-Box Soloist Maker and its ability to custom design solos and fill lines.

Tutorial 10 - Creating an Intro (8:50)
Hear the Band-in-a-Box's intro generating feature in action as it's used to create inspiring intros to match specific styles and chord progressions.

Tutorial 11 - Creating a Chorus (6:31)
In this video, see the Band-in-a-Box automatic generation feature in action, creating a chorus that harmonically and stylistically matches the preceding verses.

Tutorial 12 - Generating Random Ideas (5:47)
Finally, learn how Band-in-a-Box is used to generate random ideas based on your user input. Individual parts from multiple ideas can be used either independently or in combination as the basis for songwriting inspiration!
 

[Jim Fogle]

17 hours ago, kevin H said:

I’m intrigued. Kind of dismissed it but maybe next sale will jump in.  Is pro worth it or better to jump into one of the other packages (when discounted of course)?

@kevin H The usual advice from users in the Band-in-a-Box forum is to purchase as much as you can afford. 

My advice is to first decide how you plan to use it and why you want it, then select a package based on your plan.  If you want to learn how to use the program and what it has to offer the ProPAK or MegaPAK are good starter packages.  You'll get the same programs in the starter packages that are in the higher priced packages; the difference lies in the amount of content each package contains.

The program has a lot of features and depth to it.  It takes awhile to run through the program, learn what features are available, the terminology used and essentially, just get use to using the program.  Both the ProPAK and MegaPAK have enough of all the types of content to fully use all the available program capabilities.

One frustration many ProPAK or MegaPAK users encounter is they want to use content their package does not contain.  The program "conveniently" marks each piece of content you haven't purchased as N/A.  You'll see content that likely matches the project you're working on and it can quickly get frustrating.

If you quickly want to begin creating song projects, get the UltraPAK or Audiophile.  Both contain all package content but the UltraPAK has lossy audio files while the Audiophile has lossy and lossless.

Send me a pm if you have any questions.

Edited January 3, 2022 by Jim Fogle

[kevin H]

14 minutes ago, Jim Fogle said:

The usual advice from users in the Band-in-a-Box forum is to purchase as much as you can afford. 

Thanks Jim.  I’ll also check out Reid’s video and groove3 class before jumping in.  In 2022 I’m hoping to spend more time writing full songs haha.  I have a million songs/ideas started but then lose focus and jump onto something else. I’m hoping maybe adding structure and a different approach will help.

[Jim Fogle]

@kevin H, the Groove3 tutorial is great.  I don't think any company structures video tutorials better than Groove3 and Eli Krantzberg packs a lot of information into a small amount of time.

Also, the BiaB sale has been extended to January 15 (see my edited post above). 

Groove 3 offers free access to the Band-in-a-Box tutorial for 14 days.  Contact PG Music Marketing for the code.

[kevin H]

Just realized this is a windows only sale.   I guess will wait until they offer a Mac discount.  Better actually as it gives me time to get familiar and see if it’s something I really want. 

[Reid Rosefelt]

5 hours ago, kevin H said:

Just realized this is a windows only sale.   I guess will wait until they offer a Mac discount.  Better actually as it gives me time to get familiar and see if it’s something I really want. 

I believe the Mac sale is sometimes towards

the middle of the year.  Maybe May? 

I also thought the Groove3 course was great.  It helped me a lot.

Edited January 4, 2022 by Reid Rosefelt

[Jim Fogle]

Groove3 has two tutorials, one for Mac and one for Windows.  Both primarily deal with data entry and how to navigate around Band-in-a-Box.  There is a third video series called "Songwriting with Band-in-a-Box".