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'REALBAND USERS...HOW DO YOU USE RB AND WHY DO YOU LIKE IT.'

i started this post as i thought given the recent nice new feature additions to rb over the last couple of years that new users to PG and rb might find it usefull if existing rb users commented on how they use rb in creating songs.
ie it would give new users ideas how to use rb in creating lots of songs particularly that now 2025 rb has been issued with more neat features.

i dont want to hog this thread but suffice to say over the years ive used rb completely or partialy with other music apps to create lots of songs. at least 90 songs and so many demoes of song ideas ive lost count.
the biggie for me is that, put simply, rb has various unique features that help with my crazy passion (lol.) to create songs.


without further ado therefore...existing rb users please describe how you use rb. then i'll go into more detail later how i use rb.
as i dont want to seem to be a thread hog...lol..
(please also see my rb tips in the rb forum.)


merry xmas and happiness to all

om

I have been using RealBand since its inception. Unlike Biab (although I look up to Biab with respect), RealBand was more suitable for my work. It is easier to work with and the access to its functions is completely understandable to me. I am 74 years old and still accept challenges to learn something new. So I sometimes read the Biab manual. RealBand had the advantage (nowadays Biab can do this too) that it did not tie me down when generating RealTracks depending on the number of tracks and depending on the style. RealDrums generation allowed me to convert the track to midi and the "split midi drums" function, a function that Biab probably does not have, allows me to divide the drums into tracks for individual percussion instruments separately. I also generate RealTracks with RealCharts turned on, so I also have them in midi form. Any changes I make to the notes can also be converted to wav RealTracks using Melodyne. This is because I am better oriented in notes. I can mix midi and wav, or alternate them in my DAW - Studio One. I can add and change drums in midi and I also treat them soundly in Studio One. Fro Czech language translated Google.

I've used BIAB and Realband for many years and in my simple mind it was easiest to enter the chord progression in BIAB and pick a style that matched what I thought the song should be. Once the style is picked I open Realband to add my guitar parts and vocals and any other instruments. I spend about 10% of my time in BIAB and 90% in Realband. I don't record anything using BIAB and use very little MIDI. I have produced approximately 400 songs using this method so far.

Our songs usually start from a few people jamming until an idea hits.
Then we record the rough tracks in RB during the jam via a mixer to 18i20 to RB (or even PT).

Once we have that we just start flushing out ideas, including adding RTs/RDs .. which is as fun as the jam sessions.

Occasionally I'll just do one from scratch on my own the same way; get an idea, get the idea down and flush it out in RB.
That's when I have the most fun.
Just adding tracks from my guitars or bass or synths/softsynths along with RT/RDs ... there is only one rule.
Everything starts with a click track so any method we want to use to add tracks is easy. That few seconds at the beginning makes everything afterwards so much easier.

If I am stuck for ideas I'll turn to BiaB and tinker, but usually there is already a concept to start with.

Example: no BiaB, just RTs (mostly bass), RDs, generated acoustic intro .. and me tinkering with strat, keys and a vocal idea (forgive the couple 'French' words in there). Just an idea I've been tinkering with lately.
http://masteringmatters.com/stuff2/Caretaker.MP3

I have also use RB since inception and also had PT before that. I have used Studio one, Reaper, Multitrack Studios, and Cakewalk but I always end up back in RB. Some of the other programs are slicker and look fancy. Some have real cool Clip based tools, but none have the creative tools RB has. I hear people talk badly about it, and yes it does not do things exactly like some of the others. Many of the things people complain about are there they are just different in the way it is handled. I especially appreciate the new way you can clean up the Tool bars and hide unused tracks and FX channels. Now you can set it up so that only the tracks you use and one more are visible. This makes for a cleaner and easier to use GUI.

Just about every time i whine about something i feel is missing i find out it is not.

In the last two year alone we have gotten so may new or improved features.

VST3, improved Comping, cleaned up GUI, Now lyric and chord help, super fast generation times. RB is a great place to create music.

great stuff folks...

the idea being to detail for new rb and pg users the many many ways rb can be used.

keep em coming.

i'm sure it will help new rb users explore the large number of features in rb.
and the methods of working youve detailed give new users ideas to build on for their own work methods.
as we all know rb is very deep and can be used in many different ways.
this is what i like about it.
like rob i always end up back in rb cos of its deep feature set.

rharv your song sounds very nice and funky on my monitors.

2025 has me stoked with the stem split feature particularly.

kudos to all and merry xmas.
as i said keep em coning.

om

The new stem splitter is a breeze in RB. No syncing issues and the RB ACW can work with the existing song unlike having to use multiple sessions in BIAB.

+1, worked as expected

Charlie.

wow...great tip. kudos.

i hope lots of users see this. please could you post your details in the tips forum. this is big for song creators. superb charlie.

this will be very VERY useful for people wanting to update old stereo masters with new pg content/new session musician tracks.


merry xmas.

om

Thanks OM. I gave some details in another Stems discussion in the Forum this morning that should help spread the news.

I agree with many of the observations above. I was brought up on BIAB and PT and found the PT interface easier to use for editing and polishing so stuck with RB when it came along. Multitrack recording was also dead easy - click and sing! I could see all the tracks at the same time long before BIAB had a tracks window. Maybe with the new features I'll do more in BIAB before I move to RB but all I need to do is recreate the kind of small bands i used to play with so I doubt it.

Extra functionality in RB is welcome - especially vst3.

I've been a fan of Realband since it was first introduced. In the beginning, it had a number of features that I liked that were not available in BIAB. These days, some of these things are available in BIAB but I find it easier to work with the tracks in Realband. Both BIAB and Realband are stepping stones for me. I start a song in BIAB, add to it in Realband and finish it off in Reaper.

Noel what does Reaper do that RB does not? I have Reaper and i have done projects in it using SThe BB plugin, but i find RB to be faster and very complete? I do love to hear what others use to complete projects.

Rob,

Two of my main reasons for using Reaper are: (a) the ability to create tracks through copy and paste; (b) control over the types of envelopes. A third reason would be that it is a program I feel comfortable with (although I barely scratch the surface of what it can do).

Even though partial regeneration has always been possible in Realband, sometimes I want to replace some particular chord or bass note in a generation with a chord or note from somewhere else in the track. Using snap features and different types of envelopes (e.g. slow start and end, fast start, fast end, etc.) in Reaper makes it much easier for me to create seamless joins in Reaper than in Realband. I'm not sure if that's true of today's Realband, though, because my techniques began developing years ago when Reaper was more streamlined in this regard than Realband. Over the years, I have also developed some strategies using routing techniques envelope-control techniques in Reaper. Like many things in the music field, it often boils down to feeling comfortable with the software you use. I like all three products equally. Creating vocal harmony in Realband is still one of the great strengths of the product. Now that it supports VST3, I will be playing around with Realband's harmonies and Synth V as I attempt to find out what's possible.

If you are curious, below is my latest musical creation. I forged the track by using Synth V (standalone) with a rendered backing from BIAB. When I was happy with the vocal line, I then rendered it to wav and sent it to Reaper for dressing up and mixing with the guitar tracks. I also used a MIDI chord track (exported from BIAB to Reaper) to play the MIDI guitar (a Kontakt instrument). My final two guitar tracks, one Realtrack and one rendered MIDI track, were assembled by a reasonable amount of cutting/copying and pasting to create the overall comp'd track. In this particular instance, I didn't use Realband. Had I wanted vocal harmony, though, Realband would have featured in the production chain.

--Noel

★ my latest song: How Do I Love Thee? (vocals by Synth V’s vocaloid, Natalie)

All.

there are so many many features i like in rb, and in order not to hog the thread...
i will post in 3 seperate posts over next couple of weeks.
because its a very long list that i hope new potential users might find interesting as to rb's great value for someone creating songs.
(many of the features either are not in bb and/or not in the bb plugin and/or not in other music apps ive tried and/or are unique to rb.)

heres a few of many many reasons in no particular order why i like rb over other song creation apps.
(part two and three will follow as i think of things.)

PART 1...
..as has been said the one view tracks view lets me do lots of song creation work
without going to use other views. i dont like flitting around like a bee...lol.
..ease of editing in tracks view and loading up plugins.
..large number of tracks and session musician generation options both midi and audio.
..lots of flexibility in moving around bits of generated tracks i like.
..i can monitor global cpu use of course....usefull for plugins/monitoring.
..the huge number of midi features and tricks ive developed with them.
(eg genning random drum solos !...see my tips in pg tips forum.)
..awhile back i forced myself to get into odd time sigs in rb (OTS).
and the more i generated tracks in rb the more impressed i became..
IMPORTANT >>> and was highly impressed that in tracks view i saw the OTS bar divisions in each bar....eg 5/4 i see five numerator divisions in the bar. there is a usefull drop down menu in rb re setting OTS.
..the drum grid feature is very usefull for many uses as is the generating quickie drum track feature ie fill track with drum pattern. many uses includeing keeping live drummers on the ball...lol.
..NOW HERE IS A STRANGE ONE !! for some reason i prefer the rb mp3 creator to other ones ive tried. maybe i'm daft but i use it always now.
theres just 'something' i like sound quality wise i cant put my finger on.
..i like the fact that now chords show in the tracks view timeline.
as well as others have said the new 'comping' feature.
very usefull for creating a final vocal track from various takes.
..of course the fractional tempo support.

parts 2 and 3 to come of my likes as i dont want to be a hog.

bottom line i test various music apps occasionally and there are very good ones out there but 1 keep on coming back to rb. sure there are lots of music apps that look on the surface 'flashy' but rb's deep plethora of features are where it shines imho and keep me coming back like a likkle puppy...lol.


as Rob said awhile back its often lack of 'familiarity' with rb that is the issue for new users....once one becomes more familiar and developes one own work methods with rb one realises its benefits.

as to reaps....been a user since it first came out v0.99.
useing it less these days as rb has had more features implemented.
i tend to use reaps when i need to do extremely intricate audio editing.
reason being its special cursors for editing it has for mouse control of fade ins/outs//volume//and shortening or makeing a clip longer and shorter etc.
i used to use it for vocal comping but now rb has such i use rb.

as i said more of my rb likes to come.

merry xmas.

om

Thanks, Noel, for the in-depth explanation. Yes Reaper has some unique and powerful routing, and envelope features. I keep it close by if needed. It does have better comping but RB has come a long way recently in that area so i use it a bit more. I believe each should use whatever works best in their personal workflow. There is no wrong answer, just choices. The purpose behind this thread is not to argue or change people's choice just to help those who have not actually given RB a fair shot. I am sad about how many put it down and most likely never really dug in deep enough to find out how rich it really is. You on the other hand have a solid and deep understanding of both programs. Thanks again.

All.

i'm working on posting more rb likes..(i also have to do xmas family stuff...)
but i have a question.

i'm aware that rb will do more than 255 bars viz bb.....but my songs never go over just about half that. please can someone verify that they have found this to be true.
has someone actually tested this ?

also if there are any mac users here that also have a pc has anyone tested rb working on mac under of course win emulation mode. if one did were things copacetic ?? if it works great this could be very interesting imho.


merry xmas to all.
and keep your mittens off my turkey...lol.

om

Has anyone made videos of the new 2025 RealBand ? Now that the BB Plugin\Plugin Standalone plays direct from disk I wonder if non destructive editing will be added to RealBand ? so it will play the new FLAC format direct also without decompressing to wav. This will be a lot faster generating without the need to render to wav.
It would be quicker now to use one or more BB Plugins in RealBand.

Yes, created a 30 minute CD with 12 songs that segued together,no problem years ago

yep i just wanted confirmation.
dont want egg nog on my face...lol.

i wonder how many users realise this rb advantage...sigh.

merry x and respect rharv.

om