Band in a box, Realband, ChordPulse, or something else?

[Tim Russell]

Looking for accompaniment software, not really sure what I need. I know this type of software can often be overkill with a lot of unnecessary features, and a huge learning curve...which is not what I'm looking for...

It would be nice to have a band to play along with at home, since I do not have "live" musicians available, and be able to record as well. From the limited amount of information I've provided (lol) can anyone give me recommendations.

Feel free to ask any questions if you need clarification, as I'm not even sure what I need, I'm not up to date on all of the alternatives out there, and the features. Also, do the drum tracks/other instruments typically sound "canned"? Some of the youtube vids I hear sound like that...

I cannot stand the sound of those robotic sounding loop tracks, fake sounding drums that sound like a clock ticking, etc.

Thanks in advance for any info./recommendations!

[Tony Prior]

BIAB has a very simple learning curve, for simple accompaniment. Should you decide to dive in deeper for more involved arrangements you gotta put some seat time in . But for what it does, bang for the buck, it's pretty darn good and easy to use.

But, remember, it is software and requires some peripheral knowledge to get it installed and working with your PC or MAC. They all do. There will always be a few that buy it and say it doesn't work because they can't get it installed correctly. That goes without saying.

I run mine from the Hard Drive it came installed on , I never bothered to install the executable's on my PC's. I run it on 3 PC's. No issues. But each PC has a different SOUND setup to handshake with BIAB.

[Erv Niehaus]

I've had very good luck with BIAB.

[Greg Cutshaw]

It's hard to answer your question without offering a ton of suggestions based on my experience. It's kind of like wood working. You buy a radial saw then discover you want and need a planer, router, bits, more blades, sander, jigs to do more advanced projects.

Band In A Box is a great place to start and get your feet wet just making tracks. If you want more realistic tracks you will want to upgrade to BIAB RealBand with RealTracks (more money!). The more studying and learning you commit to, the more you will get out of BIAB. For example if you want custom sounding intros, endings, drum and bass parts you might want to learn how to edit midi patterns in BIAB or add your own bass parts recorded live or perhaps just learn how to force BIAB to do certain things.

For shuffle beat type country songs I find it easier and more realistic to record my own bass parts, develop my drums in EZDrummer, piano with EZKeys or BIAB, Fiddle via BIAB or my own playing, Rhythm guitar my own live tracks or BIAB. I use whatever parts BIAB gives me with RealTracks that fills the bill and roll my own to get a more custom and real sound. I actually record my real tracks onto a Zoom R24 recorder then port those to a PC where I join them with the BIAB/EZDrummer/EZKeys tracks inside of Reaper.

Yes, you can start with BIAB and add the other stuff later. Or you can start with a DAW like Reaper and record your own bass, rhythm tracks, drums with EZDrummer (just and example) and voila you have a custom track that is totally real and can end on beat 5 or beat 7 or have real drum accents and come out sounding like a real band.

Any totally easy, no hard learning, low effort, turnkey route is NOT going to give you custom sounding tracks. BIAB with RealBand and RealTracks can come pretty close though.

Here's a link that show's most of my current process before I added BIAB:

http://www.gregcutshaw.com/Zoom%20R24%2 ... tudio.html


Here's a link with a summary recording process where I added in BIAB:

http://www.gregcutshaw.com/Walker%20Ste ... Steel.html

[Tim Russell]

Thanks for weighing in, guys.

I've toyed with this idea for several years. I have a lot of backing tracks from Bobbe, John Hughey and the like, but I've played through all of those a thousands times!

Now I resort to karaoke versions of songs on youtube...but I keep going back to the idea of Band in a box. As I had mentioned, one of my main concerns was that canned/loop sound of the drums...and even the other instruments, I guess.

I played in a band years ago, and the keyboard player had this fancy synth that included all the drum sounds, bass accompaniment, etc., and quite frankly, the canned stuff sounded horrible.

I played with them for a few months and I couldn't take it anymore.

[Erv Niehaus]

The recent editions of BIAB employ "samplings" of the different instruments. If you hear a guitar, somebody actually picked that guitar, if you hear a drum, somebody was actually playing it.
There are some tracks with steel guitar on them and guess who is playing the steel guitar? Paul Franklin!
It can't get more authentic than that.

[Jim Smerk]

BiaB for realism & TONS of different styles, Chord Pulse for quick, repeating jams with Limited styles, or Jammer Pro which falls in the middle.

I just ran across one called Ludwig that looks like it will be a decent contender when it gets smoothed out.

I have used most all of them at on point or another, and IMHO BiaB is expensive, both in initial cost and updates, AND can get pretty deep into head-scratching land, but it is the best band for home musicians & studios, again IMHO. I use to do both full tracks and to fill in my original tracks of drums-bass-guitar-*cough* lap steel *cough*.

ALL "bands" that home musicians use has a learning curve, no matter WHAT you end up with. Take it slow, set a goal of 6 months to get use to it, and remember to have FUN!

[Frederick Krubel]

Meh BIAB is a poorly designed program. The keyboard shortcuts don't make any sense. It's overkill if you want to just play along. If you have an iPad, iPhone, or Mac, download the iReal Pro app. It's basically a simpler version of BIAB. You can download chord progressions to hundreds of standards, or quickly make your own without ever reading a manual.
If you want to make your own sounds, get Pro Tools or any DAW and start a home studio, otherwise just use your iPad. BIAB or iReal Pro is going to sound like a MIDI band. One thing that's cool about BIAB is that you can export the MIDI performance to your DAW and use virtual instruments for the rhythm section. I'd spend my time learning how to get to the recording phase instead of learning how to master BIAB. If you are going to use tracks live, use Ableton Live on a laptop. Otherwise just use any of these programs to jam along with your steel, which is worth it no matter which way you go.
The other advantage of using the iReal Pro app with a Fractal Audio Systems AX8 or AxeFX2 (I have both), is connecting my iPad to stereo input 2 and being able to output both the full steel rig and iPad to a speakers (full range flat response) without a separate mixer. I use a dual mono to stereo 1/8" to connect my iPad to the AX8. I can control my jam tracks without leaving my chair. I don't even need the computer and can use headphones. This is useful for also hooking up a cellphone, when playing a song off Youtube or your favorite music app. If you use IEM's, your band will hear the song too! Technology!