When BIAB plays chords that are not quite what you wrote Matt Finley December 2021; edited October 2022 to include some great tips by other users; edited February 2024 for a comment on Natural Arrangement
Does BIAB play exactly the chords you wrote? If it does not, and plays tones you don't like, what can you do about it?
BIAB is designed to be an accompaniment program. If you used real in-person musicians instead of this computer software, they would introduce some variety to the playing no matter what the genre. They might play a GMaj7 instead of the G Major triad you wrote. Or a G69. A jazz player seeing G7 might well play G7(b9), G9 or G13. A folk guitarist might introduce some finger-picking that suggested other passing chords. Musicians are creative and will often do the unexpected to make the music more interesting. BIAB has ways of using artificial intelligence and/or the actual performances of their RealTrack artists to simulate this. However, what if you do not want this to happen?
Here are a few settings in BIAB that you can experiment with if BIAB is not playing what you wanted and what you think you wrote. There may be more, and I have intentionally NOT included any solutions that involve editing audio. These settings are not listed in any particular order since you may have to try several to give you the sound you want. Also, to my knowledge there is no description of the hierarchy of these commands, so I don't know what combining some of them will do.
Simpler RealTrack(s) There is often (but not always) a 'Simpler' checkbox when selecting RealTracks in the RealTracks picker (Assign RealTracks to Track dialog window). Even for my jazz songs, I often select this for the bass or piano when it sounds too 'busy', or as PG Music describes it, the playing will be 'less embellished'. Less embellished may mean that you will hear fewer non-chord tones.
Jazz down the chords. In Options, Preferences, RealTracks, find 'On Jazz RealTracks, JazzUp Triads to Sevenths. Uncheck this box if your genre isn't jazz.
Set a global 'simple' option. There are several global options at the bottom to make instruments simpler in Options, Preferences, Overrides. Also make sure neither button for Pop/Country or Jazz is clicked On (yes, both can be Off).
Force simple. In Edit, Song Form, Settings (or press Ctrl+N) there is a checkbox for Force Song to Simple Arrangement. Check the box.
Change the RealTrack artist / change the Style. Some artists tend to play the same upper extensions of a chord, so try another.
Natural Arrangement. This might be the first thing to try because it's easy and it may work. Consider turning off Natural Arrangement for the song in Options, Preferences, Arrange. You can also instruct BIAB here never to use Natural Arrangement even if an individual song has the instruction to use it. As a jazz composer, I use this adjustment perhaps more than the others, because I need to hear exactly the chord progression that I wrote. But, why? What does Natural Arrangement do? As I understand it, since we users do not know how it works, the program will take a more complex chord progression and simplify it to allow the RealTrack artist to play longer recorded phrases that are more 'standard' sounding. In my experience, the comping from a piano is less 'choppy' and has better voice leading when using Natural Arrangement, and this is often more pleasing. It may not be playing the precise upper extension the composer wanted to hear, however. So, it's a trade-off. Note that this setting does not apply to MIDI-only instruments.
EDIT: PG Music weighed in on this with advice for a forum user who was not hearing mMaj7 chords. They advised trying it with Natural Arrangement turned off.
Use a different chord. Let's say you write G7 and hear G7(b9). You do not like the sound of the flatted ninth, so you can write G9 instead. Yes, you will hear the ninth, but almost certainly not a flatted or sharped nine. Or let's say you write a G chord but hear GMaj7 when that major seven conflicts with the melody. You could write G7 forcing the program to never play the major seventh, only the dominant seventh. Or write G6 or G69. The common attribute of these examples is that the more precise you are in specifying your chord, the less likely BIAB will choose a random color tone that you don't like.
Wrapping up. If you've made any of these changes to Settings and you like the effect, consider going to Options, Save Preferences. Then you can retrieve your preferred settings if you have to do Options, Return to Factory Settings to resolve a problem.
I hope this helps address some of the questions I've seen recently on the forums. I welcome corrections and additions.
EDIT: User Dominatoruke discovered a case where the chord consistently played a note he did not want, but when he changed the BIAB song to the correct key signature, the problem went away. There are several reasons why you should set the correct key signature of a song when you begin, but this particular reason fits in this thread as one more step you can try.
This is an astounding document and so generous of you to provide. Very orienting and summarizing. All of the options contain elements of mystery and thus experimentation will be necessary. Thanks you!
An excellent and well researched article. I can see that this will be referenced and viewed many, many times. My only suggestion is that this should be 'pinned' by the moderators.
BIAB & RB2024 Win.(Audiophile), Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
An excellent and well researched article. I can see that this will be referenced and viewed many, many times. My only suggestion is that this should be 'pinned' by the moderators.
Interesting question. I don’t think my permission is the approval you need. I suspect PG Music should give permission. This is their forum and it is a sensitive topic since it involves a proprietary feature of their product. I don't even know for certain if my advice is correct.
Here's Forum Rule #1:
All material posted or uploaded to the forum remains the property of the original poster and PG Music Inc.
Last edited by Matt Finley; 01/29/2209:02 AM.
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
MacMini M1 - BIAB2021 - Logic Pro X - iZotope Music Production Suite - Scaler 2 - far too many Waves plugins and Line 6 Guitars and boards + a fantastic Yamaha THR10ll mini Amp - Avid MBOX Studio
Peters' Garage is available on all major streaming services
Matt, Just discovered this. Very useful and important. Thank you! This should be revised to add Noel's post and made into a sticky, as suggested or some kind of tutorial that can be easily accessible. You reminded me how little I know
Matt, Just discovered this. Very useful and important. Thank you! This should be revised to add Noel's post and made into a sticky, as suggested or some kind of tutorial that can be easily accessible. You reminded me how little I know
Misha, thanks, and I just did update the original post. FYI, I had asked Andrew if it were possible for the original poster to edit the first post of a thread in this Tips & Tricks Forum, and he made it so! This is the second such edit I've made to include some great tips by users who read the thread.
It's up to PG Music to decide if this should be sticky. There is a lot I still don't understand about a few of these commands, especially how they might interact with each other, so it would be best if the whole post were reviewed by the company first.
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
Generate Lyrics for your Band-in-a-Box songs with LyricLab!
Need some lyrics to complete your Band-in-a-Box song? LyricLab is here to help!
LyricLab (by Joanne Cooper) is an AI-powered tool designed to quickly create lyrics and chords to fit your music. Just enter a rough idea of your lyrics, and let the AI bring them to life. Once you're happy with the results, simply import the LyricLab file into Band-in-a-Box® 2024 or newer. From there, you can pick your style and generate melodies to match your song’s chords!
Ci siamo dati da fare e abbiamo aggiunto oltre 50 nuove funzionalità e una straordinaria raccolta di nuovi contenuti, tra cui 222 RealTracks, nuovi RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, "Songs with Vocals" Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 3, Playable RealDrums Set 2, due nuovi set di "RealDrums Stems", XPro Styles PAK 6, Xtra Styles PAK 17 e altro ancora!
Wir waren fleißig und haben über 50 neue Funktionen und eine erstaunliche Sammlung neuer Inhalte hinzugefügt, darunter 222 RealTracks, neue RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, "Songs with Vocals" Artist Performance Sets, abspielbare RealTracks Set 3, abspielbare RealDrums Set 2, zwei neue Sets von "RealDrums Stems", XPro Styles PAK & 7, Xtra Styles PAK 17 & 18, und mehr!
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 apporte plus de 50 fonctions nouvelles ainsi qu'une importante de contenus nouveaux à savoir : 222 RealTracks, des RealStyles nouveaux, des SuperTracks MIDI, des Etudes d'Instruments, des Prestations d'Artistes, des "Morceaux avec Choeurs", un Set 3 de Tracks Jouables, un Set 2 de RealDrums Jouables, deux nouveaux Sets de "RealDrums Stems", des Styles XPro PAK 6 & 7, des Xtra Styles PAK 17 & 18, et bien plus encore!
New! XPro Styles PAK 7 for Band-in-a-Box 2024 for Mac!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 7 with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 50 RealTracks and RealDrums that are sure to delight!
With XPro Styles PAK 7 you can expect 25 rock & pop, 25 jazz, and 25 country styles, as well as 25 of this year's wildcard genre: Celtic!
Here's a small sampling of what XPro Styles PAK 7 has to offer: energetic rock jigs, New Orleans funk, lilting jazz waltzes, fast Celtic punk, uptempo train beats, gritty grunge, intense jazz rock, groovy EDM, soulful R&B, soft singer-songwriter pop, country blues rock, and many more!
Special Pricing! Until September 30, 2024, all the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 7 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea)! Supercharge your Band-in-a-Box 2024® with XPro Styles PAK 7! Order now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2024 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
New! Xtra Styles PAK 18 for Band-in-a-Box 2024 for Mac!
Xtra Styles PAK 18 for Band-in-a-Box version 2024 is here with 200 brand new styles to take for a spin!
Along with 50 new styles each for the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, we’ve put together a collection of styles using sounds from the SynthMaster plugin!
In this PAK you'll find: dubby reggae grooves, rootsy Americana, LA jazz pop, driving pop rock, mellow electronica, modern jazz fusion, spacey country ballads, Motown shuffles, energetic EDM, and plenty of synth heavy grooves! Xtra Style PAK 18 features these styles and many, many more!
Special Pricing! Until September 30, 2024, all the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 18 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea)! Expand your Band-in-a-Box 2024® library with Xtra Styles PAK 18! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 18 here.
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 18 requires the 2024 UltraPAK/UltraPAK+/Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
New! Xtra Styles PAK 18 for Band-in-a-Box 2024 for Windows!
Xtra Styles PAK 18 for Band-in-a-Box version 2024 is here with 200 brand new styles to take for a spin!
Along with 50 new styles each for the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, we’ve put together a collection of styles using sounds from the SynthMaster plugin!
In this PAK you'll find: dubby reggae grooves, rootsy Americana, LA jazz pop, driving pop rock, mellow electronica, modern jazz fusion, spacey country ballads, Motown shuffles, energetic EDM, and plenty of synth heavy grooves! Xtra Style PAK 18 features these styles and many, many more!
Special Pricing! Until September 30, 2024, all the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 18 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea)! Expand your Band-in-a-Box 2024® library with Xtra Styles PAK 18! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 18 here.
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 18 requires the 2024 UltraPAK/UltraPAK+/Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you over the phone. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday, and 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST Saturday. We are closed Sunday. You can also send us your questions via email.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you on our Live Chat or by email. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST (GMT -8) Saturday; Closed Sunday.
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean