Why do my imported song stems from BIAB change key in CbB? (SOLVED]

[Waldemar Pawlik]

I created a song in Band in a Box and rendered to individual track wav. files.

Then imported the individual tracks into CbB as I have done on previous occasions with no problems

I  had made sure that the CbB tempo matched the BIAB tracks before importing, however on playback in

CbB the key has changed to four semitones lower. 

I have done this many times before without fault. The stems from BIAB play in the correct key in  Windows  media player,

as does the song I created. 

I haven't changed any settings in CbB, so this is strange. I really don't know where to look for a solution, so turning to you guys.

Edited Thursday at 12:41 AM by Waldemar Pawlik

[Bristol_Jonesey]

Could be a sample rate mismatch, but four semitones is a bit drastic

[Waldemar Pawlik]

I have matched sample bit depth in both programs but it does not help.

I have now imported the stems into Next defaut install, and the stems play correctly.

Go figure???????

[John Vere]

Do you drag and drop the wave files? That's how I do this and never have a problem, I'll export stems from Band in a Box if the track can't be midi. Like the Steel Guitar. The pitch issue  you describe is most always caused by sample rate miss match. 

I have my entire system top to bottom using 48. I set it in Windows sound settings, My Audio interface control panel, then all Music Apps and Video software have an Audio setting which I choose 48. 

Sonar/CW will convert any audio to the projects sample rate when you drag and drop the audio onto the track pane. You'll see a busy bar in the transport telling you it's converting the audio if it was a different sample rate.  

[User 905133]

10 hours ago, Bristol_Jonesey said:

Could be a sample rate mismatch, but four semitones is a bit drastic

This sample rate difference (44.1K v. 48) was my first thought, too.  Approx. four semitones (approx. minor 3rd) sounds about right to me.

• Example:
  • C to A : 220 Hz to 256 Hz = a ratio of approx. 0.86  [ 220 / 256 ]
  • the 44.1KHz to 48 KHz ratio = approx. 0.91 [ 44.1 / 48 ]

Comparison withdrawn; see discussion below.

Edited Wednesday at 06:35 PM by User 905133
edit; changed the example back, since there are different frequencies for C according to different sources

[Bristol_Jonesey]

1 hour ago, User 905133 said:

This sample rate difference (44.1K v. 48) was my first thought, too.  Approx. four semitones (approx. minor 3rd) sounds about right to me.

• Example:
  • C to A : 220 Hz to 256 Hz = a ratio of approx. 0.86  [ 220 / 256 ]
  • the 44.1KHz to 48 KHz ratio = approx. 0.91 [ 44.1 / 48 ]

C to A or A to C?

[David Baay]

48/44.1 (a factor of ~1.09 ) is in between a semitone (~1.06) and a whole tone (~1.12). No idea how you would get a 4-semitone error.

[User 905133]

10 hours ago, Bristol_Jonesey said:

Could be a sample rate mismatch, but four semitones is a bit drastic

19 minutes ago, David Baay said:

48/44.1 (a factor of ~1.09 ) is in between a semitone (~1.06) and a whole tone (~1.12). No idea how you would get a 4-semitone error.

I stand corrected: a 4-semitone musical difference based on a 48Khz v. 44.1Khz sampling error / transposition would be drastic.

[Waldemar Pawlik]

For thos familiar with BIAB,  the culprit was in the Key selection box. The song I was creating is in the key of E, which is what I typed into the chord sheet.

I then thought to be tidy and change the key in the selection box from it's default C, to my key E.

I think the reasoning behind this box is to show correct key #'s and b's when printing a lead sheet.

However, it also changes the pitch of what CbB sees when it imports the stems.

No idea how?

I changed the key indicated in the box back to default C, and everything corrected itself.

Trap for the unwary.

Solved

 

[Glenn Stanton]

in BIAB - there are two distinct options for setting the key: one sets the key and changes the chords etc, and the other simple sets the key and leaves everything else intact. in the latter, it may influence some of a regenerated performance, in the former, it will definitely change things 🙂 basically been this way forever (measured in BIAB years)...

Edited Thursday at 03:48 PM by Glenn Stanton

[Joseph Bradley]

I wish I was measured in BIAB Years!