The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    PG Music - Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh

    They brought out a Mac version

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by fep
    I concur, BIAB is a great practice tool.

    However, you may want to try irealb first if you have an ipad. It's only $7.99 and you can download 1300 jazz standards from their forum. I just use it for the (transposable) chord charts to all those tunes when playing with others, it's definitely worth it just for that.. See how much you actually use backing tracks and then decide if you want to 'upgrade' to BIAB.
    I just saw this for the first time yesterday, when I walked in to my jazz guitar instructor's studio and he was blowing over Cherokee at 250 BPM. He was coming out of his ipad headphone jack, patched into a mixing board . . . then into his old VOT speakers powered through a Crown amp. He also patched his black guard tele through the board and into the mix. Old stuff to be sure . . . but, it sounded like a live ensemble up on a band stand right there in his studio. He went through a few of the features with me that irealb has. Totally awsome.

  4. #28

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    Quote Originally Posted by fep
    I concur, BIAB is a great practice tool.

    However, you may want to try irealb first if you have an ipad. It's only $7.99 and you can download 1300 jazz standards from their forum. I just use it for the (transposable) chord charts to all those tunes when playing with others, it's definitely worth it just for that.. See how much you actually use backing tracks and then decide if you want to 'upgrade' to BIAB.
    It's great even if you use it for one thing. While surfing the net if someone mentions a tune I don't know I go to BIAB instead of Youtube. For playing along I go to Youtube.

  5. #29

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    The guy who invented FL Studio said MIDI was the last time everyone agreed on something. BIAB is great.

  6. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Painter
    The only problem with BIAB is that the computer has all the fun.

    Why not get a loop pedal and make your own backing tracks? Get an octave pedal too, and play the basslines.
    I very much agree with Tom on this. Your comping and time gets stronger and your awareness of "keeping out of the way" of the soloist does too.

    I've taken a few workshops/lessons with one guy who, as I recall, recommended just playing against the metronome - outline the changes in your solo lines and self-accompany with chord stabs etc.

  7. #31

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stevebol
    The guy who invented FL Studio said MIDI was the last time everyone agreed on something. BIAB is great.
    Wha "part" of MIDI did they agree about? Really? I personaly know many different people with clashing opinions on various aspects of MIDI. No wonder I never liked FL, if it's author spills out such nonsense.

  8. #32

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    thanks for the guidance jckoto3. with your help i've got them all up and running.

  9. #33
    I ordered the mega pack. $230 to my door. Can't wait.

  10. #34

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    I use Impro-visor, the freeware band in a box. Works fine. I was wondering if anybody knows of a library of leadsheets (minus the melodies) for it? Is there such a library for BIAB? I was pissed yesterday because I lost a lead sheet that took me fifteen minutes to enter.

  11. #35

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    Quote Originally Posted by Patrick2
    I just saw this for the first time yesterday, when I walked in to my jazz guitar instructor's studio and he was blowing over Cherokee at 250 BPM. He was coming out of his ipad headphone jack, patched into a mixing board . . . then into his old VOT speakers powered through a Crown amp. He also patched his black guard tele through the board and into the mix. Old stuff to be sure . . . but, it sounded like a live ensemble up on a band stand right there in his studio. He went through a few of the features with me that irealb has. Totally awsome.
    Patrick,
    I am intrigued that you found your insturctor's set-up to be so realistic sounding.

    Now I need to know if he was using IrealB or BIAB. Both have been referenced in this thread.

    Thanks! I'll be waiting for your answer.

  12. #36

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    @AlsoRan: I believe he said irealb right at the end of that quote.

  13. #37

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    Quote Originally Posted by jster
    @AlsoRan: I believe he said irealb right at the end of that quote.
    Thanks, jster!

  14. #38

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    I got Irealb and there is no possible way I could see justifying spending 100 on biab. irealb is great.

  15. #39

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    Quote Originally Posted by Toat
    I got Irealb and there is no possible way I could see justifying spending 100 on biab. irealb is great.
    I've got both - Irealb considering the price and what it does is fantastic. BIAB real tracks sound so much better though, it's amazing to think that for the rest of my life I'll have real double bass and drums to practice over at home - very cool.

  16. #40

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    Quote Originally Posted by jster
    I use Impro-visor, the freeware band in a box. Works fine. I was wondering if anybody knows of a library of leadsheets (minus the melodies) for it? Is there such a library for BIAB? I was pissed yesterday because I lost a lead sheet that took me fifteen minutes to enter.
    For Impro-Visor there is something called the Imaginary book with a load of leadsheets of classic tunes.
    Imaginary Book

    Impro-Visor uses standard midi renditions which sound, well like midi usually does. You can export the midi and import it in other programs, such as your DAW. I can get better sounding leadsheets this way in Garageband.

    I have no experience with BIAB so I can't compare the two.

    Impro-Visor homepage
    Welcome to Impro-Visor

    You need Java on your computer, which is a free download also if you don't have it already.
    Last edited by krueger; 04-10-2013 at 09:49 AM.

  17. #41

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    Imaginary book page is not accessable. Any other source?

  18. #42

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    Vladan, I think you need to join the Yahoo group to gain access to the Imaginary Book. You can do so at the following link:

    impro-visor : Impro-Visor

  19. #43

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    I did, but still nothing ..., maybe after restart, or something, I'll chime if I succeede.

  20. #44

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    No, I'm registered member and all, but I stil get 404 error.

  21. #45

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    New information from an Amazon Review:

    I bought Band in a box, after reading about it on both ebay, and amazon, and their home page. I bought band in a Box 2012, Mega Pak, for about $205. I read the 300 pg owners manual at least 3 times, underlining, highlighting. Finally I set out to compose some tunes, and I had some very surprisingly good results. From all appearances, this is one product that seemed to be over-delivered, and by that, I mean despite its hokey name whoi9ch put me off to almost not buying it, I thought the makers of BB had actually done a good job at the software, and the owners manual.
    Now, here is the Dark cloud that goes with that silver lining:
    If you get this version, with mega pac, about 1/2 of the "Styles" will not be available. Also, many of the drum track are likewise, unavailable. WHY? Doesn't MEGA PAK mean anything? Well, not when you compare it to ULTRA PAK, which has ALMOST everything, and for about what I figure to be only about $35. More. But, here is the rub. You buy BB with mega pak, decide you really7 would like to NOT keep having those pop up windows, stating, "File not found... style not found..." or "Drum track not available for this style...", and you then come to the conclusion that you SHOULD have bought the most complete STYLE collection (ULTRA PLUS PAK), they will sell you not just the additional styles, but you also have to BUY the BB software all over again! Well, thats fine for their bottom line: MONEY, but what do you now do with TWO BB softwares? To UPGRADE, they require you to buy the second BB software, which, you ALREADY HAVE, and to buy a second one, is redundant, not useful at all, and just more money.
    The best thing you can do, is buy BB WITH the Ultra Plus Pak, containing almost ALL of the styles. When i was on their website, thanks to a link they gave me, I listened to a huge list of styles. I wrote down all the ones I was interested in, went back into the software, onoly to find, I did NOT HAVE almost ALL of the best choices, because I "should have bought ultra pak!" And since the company does not allow for you to only upgrade the styles, but FORCES you to buy an additional copy of the software, (WHICH I ALREADY HAD IN THE FIRST PLACE), I can only say you will be very limited if you do not buy at least the ultra pak of styles. In addition, the package I got, also comes with "REAL BAND" which looks like a cut down version of Band in a Box user interface, but I found no documentation for it, to tell you what is is useful for.
    I got a good deal, price wise, from The Midi Store, in the LA area. But they do NOT give you the same kind of customer support as the Home company. But even contacting BOTH of them, neither one would sell me the Upgrade to the ultra pak, without me HAVING TO BUY YET A SECOND copy of band in a box, so, if I did that, what use is it to HAVE two copies of the SAME SOFTWARE???? Why should they make you buy that second copy, knowing it is useless? They made no effort to comfort me on that issue!!!!! So, that act alone made me STOP recommending this software to many of my musical friends. It just didn't make any sense at all, to be forced to buy something over and beyond what I needed. So, if you want to buy band in a box, do yourself a big favor and make sure you at least get the ultra pak 2012 version, or else, half of what you probably will want to do, will be unavailable, as I found out only AFTER my purchase/installation/ and actual trial and error. I do like what i did buy, but now that I see how it really is, I am pretty disappointed that I did not have this clear of an idea BEFORE I bought this product, and if I were to do it again, I'd get the Ultra Plus Pak, MINIMUM. Nothing less than that. I have had great fun, with my LIMITED edition, but I have to say, even though they do deliver a great deal of fun even in the version I bought, their customer support comes up quite short of what the rest of the product actually is.

  22. #46

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    Quote Originally Posted by fep
    I concur, BIAB is a great practice tool.

    However, you may want to try irealb first if you have an ipad. It's only $7.99 and you can download 1300 jazz standards from their forum. I just use it for the (transposable) chord charts to all those tunes when playing with others, it's definitely worth it just for that.. See how much you actually use backing tracks and then decide if you want to 'upgrade' to BIAB.
    I've used both of these and I think by far the irealb is better for playalong/practicing standards. BIAB is a good tool but the sound at least to me is wanting whereas irealb is actually pretty good. There is flexibility in tempo with both but the interface on irealb is much easier than BIAB and you can't beat the price. Try it out for starters, you have very little to lose!

  23. #47

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    Quote Originally Posted by Super Newbie!!
    New information from an Amazon Review:

    I bought Band in a box, after reading about it on both ebay, and amazon, and their home page. I bought band in a Box 2012, Mega Pak, for about $205. I read the 300 pg owners manual at least 3 times, underlining, highlighting. Finally I set out to compose some tunes, and I had some very surprisingly good results. From all appearances, this is one product that seemed to be over-delivered, and by that, I mean despite its hokey name whoi9ch put me off to almost not buying it, I thought the makers of BB had actually done a good job at the software, and the owners manual.
    Now, here is the Dark cloud that goes with that silver lining:
    If you get this version, with mega pac, about 1/2 of the "Styles" will not be available. Also, many of the drum track are likewise, unavailable. WHY? Doesn't MEGA PAK mean anything? Well, not when you compare it to ULTRA PAK, which has ALMOST everything, and for about what I figure to be only about $35. More. But, here is the rub. You buy BB with mega pak, decide you really7 would like to NOT keep having those pop up windows, stating, "File not found... style not found..." or "Drum track not available for this style...", and you then come to the conclusion that you SHOULD have bought the most complete STYLE collection (ULTRA PLUS PAK), they will sell you not just the additional styles, but you also have to BUY the BB software all over again! Well, thats fine for their bottom line: MONEY, but what do you now do with TWO BB softwares? To UPGRADE, they require you to buy the second BB software, which, you ALREADY HAVE, and to buy a second one, is redundant, not useful at all, and just more money.
    The best thing you can do, is buy BB WITH the Ultra Plus Pak, containing almost ALL of the styles. When i was on their website, thanks to a link they gave me, I listened to a huge list of styles. I wrote down all the ones I was interested in, went back into the software, onoly to find, I did NOT HAVE almost ALL of the best choices, because I "should have bought ultra pak!" And since the company does not allow for you to only upgrade the styles, but FORCES you to buy an additional copy of the software, (WHICH I ALREADY HAD IN THE FIRST PLACE), I can only say you will be very limited if you do not buy at least the ultra pak of styles. In addition, the package I got, also comes with "REAL BAND" which looks like a cut down version of Band in a Box user interface, but I found no documentation for it, to tell you what is is useful for.
    I got a good deal, price wise, from The Midi Store, in the LA area. But they do NOT give you the same kind of customer support as the Home company. But even contacting BOTH of them, neither one would sell me the Upgrade to the ultra pak, without me HAVING TO BUY YET A SECOND copy of band in a box, so, if I did that, what use is it to HAVE two copies of the SAME SOFTWARE???? Why should they make you buy that second copy, knowing it is useless? They made no effort to comfort me on that issue!!!!! So, that act alone made me STOP recommending this software to many of my musical friends. It just didn't make any sense at all, to be forced to buy something over and beyond what I needed. So, if you want to buy band in a box, do yourself a big favor and make sure you at least get the ultra pak 2012 version, or else, half of what you probably will want to do, will be unavailable, as I found out only AFTER my purchase/installation/ and actual trial and error. I do like what i did buy, but now that I see how it really is, I am pretty disappointed that I did not have this clear of an idea BEFORE I bought this product, and if I were to do it again, I'd get the Ultra Plus Pak, MINIMUM. Nothing less than that. I have had great fun, with my LIMITED edition, but I have to say, even though they do deliver a great deal of fun even in the version I bought, their customer support comes up quite short of what the rest of the product actually is.
    To be honest, I am very surprised at your post - this has not been my experience at all with the company. I agree with you that the multiple package choices can get confusing, but there is a table on their site which clearly shows you what you get with each package.

    I had an early Windows version of the program and a few years ago I had it upgraded to the latest Mac version. I was never required to buy a second version, although these 2 are completely different and many years apart. Their web site clearly shows that you can upgrade from one product to another. If in doubt, write to them, which is what I did for my old Windows to new Mac upgrade and cross grade. They responded quickly and clearly. I have also found their customer service to be very good, and furthermore, there is a forum on their site where they offer help and respond to users.

    You can also buy style sets separately but both the MegaPak and the UltraPlus Pak comes with all the style sets available. If you want new style sets but do not want to upgrade your BIAB, you can just buy the style sets individually. If you have Styles missing from the software you bought, you might have not gotten an official/legal copy, which would also explain that they are insisting that you buy another copy.

    I am not affiliated with them in any form, and I have my own frustrations at the products (ie Mac version lacking many good features of the Windows version, despite being sold at same price - although the gap is now closing), but your post does not tally at all with my experience with the company, nor with the information on their site.

  24. #48

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    I went ahead and checked out Ireal b.

    Very nice.

    I easily downloaded (very easily) around 1300 Jazz Standards.

    I play it through my cheap 180.00 Rogue PA system.

    Sometimes I remove the rhythm guitar to practice comping, other times I just solo with it.

    I still purchased the BIAB 2012 Megapack, and loaded it onto a second-hand laptop that I bought off Amazon.

    I am glad I loaded it on the laptop instead of a Desktop my friend rebuilt and upgraded. The reason is because you can only load it on a single device, and I can take the laptop with me.

    My first attempts to use BIAB have been pretty cool. Nice sounds, as nice as I had hoped. When I get time, I will see how well the comping is on BIAB; it is very nice on the Irealb in my humble opinion.

    Thanks for the tips, folks!

  25. #49

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    AlsoRan, while you are correct in part about the single PC usage. It is a question that has come up a few times on PGmusics forum. The answer form PGmusic is you can load BiaB onto your laptop and also your desktop. As they know guys want/need to use both one for performance and one at home putting tracks together..

  26. #50

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    Quote Originally Posted by oilywrag
    AlsoRan, while you are correct in part about the single PC usage. It is a question that has come up a few times on PGmusics forum. The answer form PGmusic is you can load BiaB onto your laptop and also your desktop. As they know guys want/need to use both one for performance and one at home putting tracks together..
    Well, well....

    What a pleasant surprise. Thanks!