A project to refresh an old tune, recorded in 2002 using Soundtrek Jammer Pro version 4 and a Yamaha MU-50 sound module. To render new backing tracks, I used PGMusic Band-in-a-Box Ultra with RealTracks, set the BPM and key the same as in Jammer, and entered the chord symbols in BIAB. I spent more time auditioning styles than entering chords and key information. Once rendered to WAV in BIAB, I simply loaded up the WAV files in a DAW, aligned them, muted the original tracks from Jammer, and re-rendered.
I am fairly proficient at Jammer, though it’s been a few years. A lot of time went into rendering the Jammer tracks, locking in the measures I liked, and re-rendering those that needed a tweak. BIAB on the other hand, I simply selected the verse and chorus, and rendered. In time, I’m sure I’ll make changes to improve the tracks – what I did here was based on watching a few “how to” videos for BIAB, and all without reading the manual. There’s a lot of similarity between the old Jammer and new BIAB.
No opinions are offered concerning which is better. This video is simply to explain briefly how I went about rendering new accompaniment tracks in BIAB while retaining the vocal and acoustic guitar solo from the original 20+ year old recording.
Note that I have been reluctant to take on a project like this, because “back in the day” I had all manner of difficulty trying to sync up MIDI parts from different programs and artists – especially when someone rendered a WAV file from MIDI and sent it to me. You’d think setting a MIDI instrument to the same BPM as the project master, would render a WAV file that would sync up with the other parts. That was not my experience – 20 years ago at least. It certainly taught me to appreciate my high school math teacher when I had to compute the amount of ‘stretch’ or ‘shrink’ needed to fit a track in the mix.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well the new instrument tracks from BIAB sync’d up with the 20+ year old tracks from Jammer. No maths (giggle) were required. Sorry Mr. Ulrich.
Software tools used: Soundtrek Jammer Pro v6, PGMusic Band-in-a-Box 2024 Ultra, Roland BR8 to WAV converter, Reaper, Audacity. The video was produced with Photodex ProShow Producer (discontinued), and Krita for putzing with still photos. Oh, and Canva for the thumbnail.
WACOCA: People, Life, Style.