Starter info on BIAB

Tony Palmer · Post by **Tony Palmer** » 7 Jul 2001 5:37 am

I'd like to get set up with Band in a Box for the purpose of making backing tracks to accompany steel lead.
I would then use the tracks for practice, home recording and some live performance.
I figure I'll get a laptop for this purpose and I understand I'll need a sound module (and of course need to purchase BIAB).
Questions:
Any recommendations for the lowest priced laptop that will do the job?
Any suggestions for a good module? (I don't want to skimp on this, though)
Anything else I need? (Cakewalk?)
Finally, my learning curve with this stuff is not what it used to be!, so am I getting in over my head with this endeavor?

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 7 Jul 2001 7:08 am

Whatever laptop you buy, make sure it has the "consumer" WindowsME not the commercial Windows 2000. Many of the laptops come with Win2K but it does not support much of the multimedia (e.g. sound) that the consumer versions do.

You need a "decent" duplex sound module, not the minimal they usually build into a laptop. Not sure on how that would work out or if you can even get something like that in a laptop.

BIAB uses MIDI to generate it's songs, and you would have to "record" them to MIDI. A wav file cannot be modified (e.g. take out the drum track or change the volume on the bass track, etc) and you need a MIDI program, such as Cakewalk to do the modifications.

This is just some general stuff, nothing specific. I don't have a laptop (and don't like them) so I can't comment on specific brands/models.

Fred Murphy · Post by **Fred Murphy** » 7 Jul 2001 8:07 am

You might check with Billy Phelps, who works at Carter Guitars. He uses a laptop for his rhythm tracks for demonstrations and sounds really good. Of course he is a great player too. He will probably have all your answers.

Don Sulesky · Post by **Don Sulesky** » 8 Jul 2001 1:20 pm

Why not just burn the tracks to a CD.
If you don't need to change keys that is all you will need.
I put my tracks on tape at the moment but will be putting them to a CD as the pitch will be more consitant.
In fact I just played a 4 hour jam with 4 other steelers and that's what we used as backup.
Don

Steve Benzian · Post by **Steve Benzian** » 8 Jul 2001 9:26 pm

Tony,

BIAB will do the job for you. To get it to sound real good you will need to invest in a sound module that connects to your computer. The advantage of a laptop is that you can take it with you to jam with others. The sound modules are small(about like a cigar box). You also need a midi interface to connect the computer to the sound module.

Of course you could use your desktop computer with a decent sound card and that would work pretty well and save you quite a bit of money.

The latest version of BIAB will allow you to burn a CD if you have a CD burner.

I would suggest you contact Jim Baron who knows a lot about this subject. He can recommend a sound module and probably a computer as well. He sells the BIAB software and has a lot of song files and some custom styles that are useful. His email is:

bigjim4b@madnet.net

Of course you can record the output of the sound module in either digital or analog format and them add a steel track to it.

I don't think you are getting in over your head but you may have to struggle to get everything going the first time. Once you get it working I think you will have a lot of fun with BIAB!![This message was edited by Steve Benzian on 10 July 2001 at 09:09 PM.]

Tony Palmer · Post by **Tony Palmer** » 9 Jul 2001 5:23 am

Thanks for the info, guys.
Billy Phelps and Jim Baron are good references. I know of both of them and hadn't thought of contacting them.
Any more suggestions about what laptop might be good for this?
(I do wish to be able to change keys and I need a laptop anyway for business purposes)

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 9 Jul 2001 5:37 am

Correction: Big Jim Baron's email is bigjim4b@madnet.net not ".com".

Fred Murphy · Post by **Fred Murphy** » 9 Jul 2001 7:12 am

I think a laptop would be nice to use because you could have a brief description of the song you call up to play. I have a very poor memory, and I can't remember a lot of times how many verses or chorus's I play and whether or not I tag it and sometimes what key I play it in, or maybe if it has a modulation in it, if I haven't played it for a while.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 20 Jul 2001 8:17 pm

I just bought a Toshiba laptop, model 1805-S253. At my former job, Our service technicians used laptops for diagnostics on CNC machinery. We used Compac, Toshiba and some brand I never heard of that started with an I. The Toshiba's were the only ones that never broke so I felt safe buying one. It cost me $1500. The sound through the tiny speakers is not the quality for playing back BIAB or MIDI files. I also bought a pair of Labtech speakers (model ???-1070) that have a pretty good sound (without a subwoofer) that I can carry with me if I travel. Cost $40.

The reason I bought the laptop is only for music and email (while travelling) so the 15GB hard drive is fine. My main computer is in my family room, so it is hard for me to practice at my computer. Now I can practice in my bedroom where my steel is set up.

Larry R · Post by **Larry R** » 23 Jul 2001 10:45 am

How much does BIAB cost?

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 23 Jul 2001 11:23 am

Larry, the cost depends on which package you buy. Go to www.pgmusic.com and they have the prices listed.

Larry R · Post by **Larry R** » 24 Jul 2001 10:28 am

Jack, thanks for the info.

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 25 Jul 2001 7:55 am

I've been pleased with the sounds from Virtual Sound Canvas (VSC) on my laptop. It's available from PG Music and it eliminates the need for an external sound module.

One nice thing about playing with BIAB is that you have the chord chart in front of you with the current bar highlighted. When playing with a CD, you have to either memorize the arrangement or have a paper chart.

Many laptops don't have a "game port", which is typically where you connect MIDI devices. Watch out for that if you're planning to use an external sound module.

------------------
<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (E9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6)[This message was edited by Bobby Lee on 25 July 2001 at 11:36 AM.]