Entering Melodys into BIAB

Bill Davison · Post by **Bill Davison** » 19 Dec 2014 8:32 pm

I recently picked up some backing tracks that was done in BIAB. In several of the songs, there is a piano melody. I have been trying to figure out how to do that and how that was done. Does that have to be imported into BIAB or can that be done within the program? I was not able to find anything about it in the help files.

George Wixon · Post by **George Wixon** » 20 Dec 2014 6:58 am

HI Bill,
Chances are the the piano melody is on the melody track in the file.
You can enter a melody any time you want in BIAB on the melody or the solo track.
If you want to enter a melody you may want to have a look at this.
http://gwixon.com/melody.html
Keep in mind that my site is old and hasn't been updated in a while and these help files are for older versions of BIAB but the principles are the same.
The instructions will show you how to enter a melody and get around.
George

Bill Davison · Post by **Bill Davison** » 20 Dec 2014 12:25 pm

Wow George, that is great. That answered so many questions I had and saved many hours of trying to dig through all the info and help files to find the answers. Thank you so much.

Ya just gotta love this forum with all the help that's available from all of you that are willing to help us newbies. Between the likes of you and Rick Campbell, I might be able to really use this BIAB. Thanks again.

Sonny Jenkins · Post by **Sonny Jenkins** » 21 Dec 2014 9:51 am

George's site is the "bible" for BIAB,,,,,PG music should pay him for creating it!!!!

Bill Davison · Post by **Bill Davison** » 23 Dec 2014 9:40 am

Amen to that Sonny.. More helpful than all the videos I've watched from PG Music.

Sonny Jenkins · Post by **Sonny Jenkins** » 8 Jan 2015 3:01 pm

Yes,,,I just upgraded to the 2015 version,,,I'm sure it is much more versatile but without George's "how to" I sure get stuck,,,,wish he would upgrade his site.

John Ed Kelly · Post by **John Ed Kelly** » 16 Feb 2015 4:29 pm

Hi George,

Thanks for the screen shots of BIAB.

I have been wanting to enter melody, and, being an ear player, and a very rudimentary theorist, I wonder if I can enable the note (when being entered) to make it ''sound''. I could then enter notes and hear the result, rather than ''write'' it all up - and upon replaying - discover all the clinkers and have to erase and re-write.

There are heaps of buttons and menus in BIAB and it is rather confusing to the likes of me as I have been using it, for just a few weeks.

I have an old version of BIAB - it says Version 8 on the box - so I expect that this relevant information.

Regards,
John

George Wixon · Post by **George Wixon** » 18 Feb 2015 9:18 am

Hi John,
A couple ways to do this.
You can stay in the notation window but you need to take it out of the editable mode first.
Then just under the tool bar in the main window you can use the piano keyboard. By clicking on the keys you will hear the note.
The reason you need to be out of the editable mode is because if you click on one of the keys while in the editable mode it will enter the note in on the notation.
Another way would be to enter a few notes at a time and then click on the icon that looks like a speaker in the notation window tool bar.
Now just drag your mouse over the note and it will play that note.
In this case you do not have to take it out of the editable mode because when you click the speaker icon, it puts you into a monitoring mode. When done just click the icon again to turn off the monitoring mode.
Another thing is that if you made a mistake entering a note you don't need to delete it. Simply right click on the note and a window will come up that will allow you to change the note to whatever you want.
Hope this helps,
George

Bill Davison · Post by **Bill Davison** » 18 Feb 2015 9:27 am

Man George, you're the best. This answers a bunch of questions that I was compiling. Thanks for your help.

George Wixon · Post by **George Wixon** » 18 Feb 2015 2:41 pm

Forgot to mention that the note should play when you enter it on the staff.
For instance if I enter in an E which would be the first line of the staff, the second I press the mouse button with the cursor on the first line, I will hear an E note.
George

John Ed Kelly · Post by **John Ed Kelly** » 18 Feb 2015 4:12 pm

Thanks George...I'll experiment with this.

Rgs,

JK