Another BIAB

John Roche · Post by **John Roche** » 21 Mar 2008 11:16 am

I'm having trouble with the steel on BIAB, I can find the steel demos but not the =c_geo_p.sty and =c_geo_p.sgu
I done a search on PG site and other people are having the same thing happen to them.. but they are no solutions given other then reinstall, I reinstalled 3 times but with any luck...
Could someone email them to me if possible... thank JR

Richard Damron · Post by **Richard Damron** » 21 Mar 2008 7:30 pm

John -

A hearty hello from this side of the pond.

Since you have the PSG demos then I assume that BIAB is installed correctly.

Forget the "geo....." stuff and follow along with me. There is a misunderstanding among many that "Real Steel" can only be applied to one or two preselected styles. Not so. Do the following: Select any 4/4 style with limited instrumentation which is generic in nature - only for illustrative purposes. Tempo should be moderate - 100 - 120 or so. Type in a sequence of chord changes for several bars. THEN: Go to "Soloist". In the center of the page and toward the top there is a blank box with a blinking cursor. "Go to #" right next to it. TYPE IN 363.
Then set your parameters in the "Solo Mode" and "Solo which choruses" boxes. Click OK. Before BIAB plays your "composition", it will generate a "solo" using pedal steel guitar. It will then play the generated "solo" within your chord sequence. If you don't like what BIAB has generated, open up the "Soloist" again and repeat the drill. BIAB will generate a different PSG "solo" for you.

I've used this on many styles and the only hangup is within a style where another instrument is playing "busy" figures. The two may clash a tad. Other than that, I find that - if used prudently - the canned PSG "soloist" will add something new to the arrangement.

Oh. You may have to play with the parameters in the "Solo Mode" area so it doesn't become overbearing. Experiment. It works.

Respectfully,

Richard

John Roche · Post by **John Roche** » 22 Mar 2008 12:11 am

Richard, thanks I'll give it a go and see what happens, JR

Howard Tate · Post by **Howard Tate** » 22 Mar 2008 3:55 am

I can't actually find =geo styles either, I don't believe they should be labeled like that. The only place to find them is in the soloist menu, as Richard said.

Richard Damron · Post by **Richard Damron** » 22 Mar 2008 9:07 am

John and Howard -

I'd be interested in knowing of your success with different styles and also of your opinion concerning the BIAB generated fills and solos.

Thanks much,

Richard

John Roche · Post by **John Roche** » 22 Mar 2008 9:27 am

Richard, I don't think you can do single note solo's with the steel.
It's more chord like , pretty boring after a while.
But I' not gone to it too much yet..

Richard Damron · Post by **Richard Damron** » 22 Mar 2008 11:05 am

John -

Precisely!

That's why I asked for input. In my experience, there's a fair degree of "sameness" from one generated solo to another. I, too, was hoping for a mix between chords and single notes and never got it. Didn't want to tip my hand in my original post so I didn't say anything. It would appear that, even though "Real Steel" was highly touted, it tends to be somewhat bland and limited in the application.

Sorry, my friend, but my purpose in the original post was to get you into the technique and not to inject my personal bias into the discussion. Others have felt the same way as we. Too bad - we sure could use some "real life" steel guitar in BIAB.

I gather from other posts that you are quite the recording and audio specialist. Looks like you'll have to crank up your technique and do an overdub or two - or three.............

Respectfully

Richard

John Roche · Post by **John Roche** » 22 Mar 2008 11:14 am

Richard, the only use I can see for the real steel in BIAB is to use it to hear how some odd chords would sound on a real steel guitar.

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 22 Mar 2008 12:40 pm

John-Agree with you on that.....al.

:)

Bob Martin · Post by **Bob Martin** » 22 Mar 2008 3:27 pm

Hey guys good news I just talked to one of the developers on line in a chat forum and the chording fill style is just the tip of whats to come. Just as the real drums started out with 3 different packs the first time around and also the real sax the real steel is being developed to more of a useful instrument with many new styles with soloing capability. I can't say when but I'd keep an eye on www.pgmusic.com and be looking for an update.

I don't know how far they will go for the steel but he did say that as with all new developments in biab it depends on how well it goes over. So far it seems to be going over pretty well according to the forum.

They now have over 10 real drum styles covering just about every niche in music. I just upgraded to the ultra pack and have so many more choices with drums. So as with all biab upgrades you'll have to pay extra for the extended steel styles when they are available.

Bob