Band in a Box

[JonnyB]

I've been considering getting band in a box - to speed up the songwriting process; you know, get some chords together, input them into biab to hear approximately how it sounds in various different styles, then polish it up with further, posher, software.

Amazon are selling the 2007 version for £70, but they're also selling the 2010 'megapak' version with 'real tracks' and 'real drums' or something for £199.

If there's anyone out there who has biab or is aquainted with it, could you advise me? -

Would it be worth getting the 'megapak' one or are all the add-ones not worth it? (would the megapak one be so 'all singing and dancing' as to make all my other music software redundant?)

How much of an improvement on the 2007 one is the 2010 one (or even the 2009 one)?

Cheers!

[Eight]

I have it, and the only time I use it is for quickly generating something to improvise to.

As a songwriting tool... I personally don't rate it.

But that doesn't mean it wouldn't suit you - personal tastes and all that. Doesn't look like they offer a downloadable trial anymore... so I certainly wouldn't advise getting the £200 version. Maybe the basic edition is worth a punt... and I believe you can add the Real Sounds packs later if you decided you like the program enough to justify spending money on some better sounds.

[Eight]

In fact, with Ableton Live 8 (including the Essential Instrument Collection) available at around £299 - there's no way I'd ever recommend spending £200 on Band In A Box (either in one shot, or by buying different sound packs later).

[thunderbird13]

I agree with eight- its quite good for improvising to but not so sure about songwriting. I bought the 2008 version and it included real drums for about 70 quid. I think the version you would want would be the pro one its better to go to their website and compare all their products . Real drums is quite good as its a sample of a real drummer playng rather than just midi so it sounds more realistic

[url="http://www.pgmusic.com/bandbox.htm"]http://www.pgmusic.com/bandbox.htm[/url]

[Mottlefeeder]

[quote name='JonnyB' post='752710' date='Feb 21 2010, 12:21 PM']I've been considering getting band in a box - to speed up the songwriting process; you know, get some chords together, input them into biab to hear approximately how it sounds in various different styles, then polish it up with further, posher, software.

Amazon are selling the 2007 version for £70, but they're also selling the 2010 'megapak' version with 'real tracks' and 'real drums' or something for £199.

If there's anyone out there who has biab or is aquainted with it, could you advise me? -

Would it be worth getting the 'megapak' one or are all the add-ones not worth it? (would the megapak one be so 'all singing and dancing' as to make all my other music software redundant?)

How much of an improvement on the 2007 one is the 2010 one (or even the 2009 one)?

Cheers![/quote]
I have the 2007 version, which still uses midi files, although you can download realdrums to use with it. For home use, I would not bother - midi drums are good enough.

I find it useful to be able to type in a chord pattern, select a style, and have biab put together a rehearsal band for me. I also find it useful that it can take a wav or mp3 file and work out a chord sequence for it. It means I can spend more time playing to a chord chart, and less time trying to work out what I should be playing.

I'd class it as a rehearsal aid rather than the hub of your music making system. What it won't do is enable you to set up your own drum pattern - the drum pattern comes with the band style. Also, you can define the boundaries of what your 'band members' play, e.g what kinds of chords, or what kind of chord progressions, but they will improvise within those boundaries, so your control is limited.

So, if you work from chord sheets, it is useful to have: if you work things out by ear from MP3s, a Tascam bass trainer might be a better way to go. As other posters have implied, it does what it does very well, but it is limited in what it does.

Hope that helps

David

[JonnyB]

Thanks for the replies everyone, I might look into ableton, seeing as it's going for a couple of hundred, I don't know much about it - but it seems highly rated.