Band in a Box

Barney · December 2021

Does anybody use band in a box as a compositional tool to get ideas together and what do we think of it ..

Hootsmon · December 2021

Had BIAB 2012 and used as a band for noodling....great

Whistler · December 2021

I have been using it since 1993 and still do.

The positives from my experience:
1. Help with songwriting, getting my basic thoughts down quickly.
2. For making backing tracks over which I can learn and rehearse songs I need to learn.
3. PG Music has not pressured me to update more often. In 28 years I have only updated to a newer version 3 times - each time I bought a new computer and so upgraded at the same time.

The negatives from my experience:
1. It is a Windows program that has always been ported to the Mac outside of Apple Developer guidelines but it works.
2. Each update is expensive for such minor updates. The program has not improved so much as much, just more recorded sounds are added.
3. If you export your BIAB files to import into your DAW, any time signature other than 4/4 doesn't work.

Barney · December 2021

Hootsmon said:

Had BIAB 2012 and used as a band for noodling....great

Whistler said:

I have been using it since 1993 and still do.

The positives from my experience:
1. Help with songwriting, getting my basic thoughts down quickly.
2. For making backing tracks over which I can learn and rehearse songs I need to learn.
3. PG Music has not pressured me to update more often. In 28 years I have only updated to a newer version 3 times - each time I bought a new computer and so upgraded at the same time.

The negatives from my experience:
1. It is a Windows program that has always been ported to the Mac outside of Apple Developer guidelines but it works.
2. Each update is expensive for such minor updates. The program has not improved so much as much, just more recorded sounds are added.
3. If you export your BIAB files to import into your DAW, any time signature other than 4/4 doesn't work.

Thanks ...from what I read and listen to it uses real instruments now. ..or maybe me mixed up ....I remember using it briefly years ago and I think it was just midi...I do use Mac so it's got me thinking iff it will work well with that...

midiman1962 · December 2021

One thing to mention if you don’t know is that the Digitech creative trio is Band in a Box in a foot pedal- might besuited you more

Whistler · December 2021

Barney said:

Thanks ...from what I read and listen to it uses real instruments now. ..or maybe me mixed up ....I remember using it briefly years ago and I think it was just midi...I do use Mac so it's got me thinking iff it will work well with that...

You are almost completely right: it started out as (and still is) a MIDI program, then instrument recordings were added, so BIAB uses MIDI and real instruments. When you select a part it will have a marker to say whether it is a MIDI part, a Real Tracks™ part or a combination.

As a songwriter I start in BIAB and then get to the point where I want to export it into my DAW to then tweak it and add my live tracks, and that it where BIAB struggles most. If you stay wholly in BIAB then I doubt you would notice any problems.

Wazmeister · March 2023

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