How I create a "Melodies" in BIAB 2021 Tutorial

[@jamescarvey2133]

Love that line," If you don't have a melody you don't have a song." Amazing comp and lyrics...WOW! great vocals Henry. You have just opened up countless options for melodies to BIAB users like me. Thanks so much for sharing your personal successes with the program. Much appreciated Sir Henry🙏🙏🙏

[@henryclarke5407]

Thanks for listening

[@lenimbery7038]

"Senorita, just wanna meet ya"....great line!

[@Gimrison]

Hello Henry, I want to sincerely thank you once again. I've been a follower of your channel for years. Your content is incredibly helpful, positive, and I thoroughly enjoy it. Today, I took the time to write because yesterday I ordered the BIAB Audiophile Upgrade 2024 thanks to your fun tutorials. It is one of the biggest investments in music software for me ever. Also, I had some trouble subscribing to Senior Musicians Unite, as at 52, I didn't quite feel like a senior citizen yet. I just want to say, you bring a youthful, intelligent, and lively perspective that sets you apart from many others out there.

[@henryclarke5407]

HAHAHA ... Welcome. There is no age limit so you're fine. I just hope we're not too old for ya !!! :-)

[@rdrugh]

Thank you, Henry. I appreciate the time that you take to carefully demonstrate and explain the different aspects of BIAB. Sometimes the BIAB documentation is a bit overwhelming and you make what is difficult much more understandable. Again, Thank you.

[@henryclarke5407]

Glad it was helpful!

[@RobbyBensoneo]

Thank you for your work! eo, robby

[@jeffreylowy3180]

I just bought BIAB and I’ve been watching as many of your videos as I can find. Interesting to learn that you’ve had minimal music training. Kudos! I’m a former professional pianist and a published songwriter, but find your tips and tricks invaluable. Who knew that this program would actually generate a melody and chord changes. I can’t wait to get started and will be back with a ton of questions!

[@henryclarke5407]

Welcome aboard! It's a cool program. I can't do everything with it but I do use it quite a bit. I may have minimal music training but I'm a singer and a product of the 70's soul era. Unfortunately most RnB singers don't study music. They just have a feel for it. Now don't get twisted. I said SINGERS ... not Musicians :-) Funny that of all the RnB singers I've personally known less that a handful could read a note but they could always sing on pitch, never off key and their background vocals were out of this world. I guess they just had music in their heart. Anyway thanks for viewing.

[@Bero70]

I do the same, except I found out that if you tell "melody" to generate only 8 bars for verse, and another 8 bars for chorus later, gives even more natural feel. I always add the Key the song is in. What gives me a great joy is to generate melody, and then work out chords from melody starting from highest note in the melody .Amazing staff starts to happening. Pay attention that Bass notes never clashes with Vocal notes and you are golden. (Rick Beato explains why is so important that Bass notes don't clash with Vocal notes) Henry, God bless you ,you are the best!!

[@henryclarke5407]

Cool. I always start out with chords and styles. It's the feel (style) of the music that I'm after. I figure I'll work out the melody and key later depending on how it fits my vocal range. I'm not really a Beato fan. I don't agree with his opinions on music of today and he's way too much rock for me. In my opinion he knows nothing about Classic Soul music and Philly Soul. Just my opinion though since he has a ton of viewers. HAAHAHAHAHA Thanks again for viewing. Maybe some of the readers will check out your comment and apply some of your techniques also. They sound like a winner !!

[@Bero70]

@@henryclarke5407 I was thinking ,more for fun and exploration when trying out chords from melody. It's a great ability when someone whistle melody to be able to pull out chords that are following the melody. I love Beato because he shares so much knowledge and it's so passionate about it. A lot of people are not fans of Mozart or Beethowen either ,and it doesn't brings they value down.

[@henryclarke5407]

@@Bero70 Never said that it wasn't valuable so hope I did not offend. I'm just more of a rhythm guy. That's all. I mean James Brown had NO MELODY but man was he funky :-) We just differ a bit in our approaches but it's all good. There's more than enough room for everyone.

[@TheStrayguitars]

Hey Henry, thanks for giving me your time and expertise. I’m in Queensland Australia sitting at a Craft Fair with my wife and now I know how to start with writing a melody for a song in BIAB. Much appreciated. Ray Peterson

[@henryclarke5407]

Thanks a lot !!

[@bobbyalessi]

Great Henry, Thanks again!

[@henryclarke5407]

You're welcome. Thanks for watching.

[@TigerRogers0660]

Thanks Henry!! Extremely helpful. The trouble i'm having with BIAB is i can't write a melody to a chord progression. I've ALWAYS written the melody first, chords next, lyrics last. I have some GREAT backing tracks done with BIAB & this will now help me with melodies. I'm a rock/pop guy exclusively - but your guidance here will help.

[@henryclarke5407]

Thanks. Glad it was helpfu.

[@ZappaBlues]

Interesting. Thanks. I am not a vocalist, nor are lyrics important to me, but this can definitely be applied instrumental melodies.

[@henryclarke5407]

Yes, it will work across the board.

[@tomcaine752]

Nice tutorial, thank you.

[@solmaior3605]

Helou! Brother! In Brasil! Rio de Janeiro! 👍👏👏👏👏

[@henryclarke5407]

Helou !!

[@joecool9521]

Great intro,i enjoyed this. Working on how too keep the vibes out of the music.

[@henryclarke5407]

Interesting. I actually almost forgot this song. I usually use the sounds only to create the initial melodies than I modify to something I can sing. You can always keep the vibes out my muting the track.

[@joecool9521]

@@henryclarke5407 Can you dowmload videos from youtube too b.i.b?

[@smarkham100]

Henry, Thank you for recommending this video! Another great video! Your instructions are awesome…especially for someone brand new to BIAB like me!0

[@henryclarke5407]

You're welcome.

[@zebracary]

Hey man your the best you make everything so easy to understand you keep it real and actually interesting your like that one and only teacher in school that I actually liked and learned from just want to say thanks because with out you I dont think I would have ever come as far as I have deeply indeteded to you sincerely Kary

[@henryclarke5407]

Thanks for the kind comment !!

[@billyhooks99]

Henry this is a great video thanks for the tips.

[@dshrock]

thanks Henry. Great stuff.

[@henryclarke5407]

Thanks. The melodies function is not perfect but it can definitely jumpstart the creative process.

[@solmaior3605]

Muito bom! Estou entendendo o que vc está falando, não falo inglês mais estendo o que vc está passando! Legal vc gostar do mesmo app que trabalharmos! Parabéns mais uma Vaz pelo seu trabalho! 👏👏👏👏

[@henryclarke5407]

Obrigado por ver. Fico feliz que tenha gostado de assistir. :-)

[@johnsanders3454]

Thanks for the tutorial Mr. Clarke. Helpful as always!

[@henryclarke5407]

Thanks John !!

[@jackmalone5008]

You are a great teacher. I was about to give up. I am a newbie.

[@henryclarke5407]

@@jackmalone5008 Ha. Don't give up. Take slow but steady steps and dig a bit deeper. It really is a good creative tool. It's doesn't do everything (which I think a lot of people expect), but it does do an amazing job for what it is.

[@manni62]

Thanks for this.

[@henryclarke5407]

My pleasure!

[@joecool9521]

I love blue bossa! Girl from impanema.,sounds like it.

[@amycord]

Thank you sir

[@henryclarke5407]

Thaks for watching.

[@hurleymediatv]

I love your videos, Henry, but I get no sound at all from my melody track. I've tried many different ones, and no sound at all. This is how it goes for me most of the time with BIAB. I spend way too much time trying to make things work. (I have the latest 2024 addition, by the way) You always have a video for what it is I'm trying to do though, so I thank you for that. Keep it up! UPDATE: I layout my songs using bars within one chorus. I needed to change the Melodist setting to Part of Song, and enter how many bars the song was. Cheers!

[@henryclarke5407]

Thanks for sharing!

[@Solobrass]

Hi Henry, Hope you are well. Are you still doing tutorials please.

[@henryclarke5407]

Yes, I have quite a few new ones out on the channel.

[@MDOurMD]

Good song.

[@henryclarke5407]

Thanks

[@DopamineOverload]

I'm curious-- first, thanks for all your videos, Henry. Really helpful! I've found the style of the Melodist (left side of that window)... a lot of those styles don't generate anything. I tend to use the Melodist for lesson practice for students to solo over, and I do Generate Chords and Generate Melody, too... ear training. I've noticed that sometimes, when you choose certain styles, the chords don't change at all. Is this normal? This program is so massive, it is hard to find out exactly how to do certain things in it. It's just insanely complicated. Watching PG Music's official Melodist video... it just makes no sense to me. Your video is a lot more helpful. Still, I don't understand how certain styles/"melodists" just don't change anything at all.

[@henryclarke5407]

You have a lot of content in this question. I find that getting successful melodies form me is based on no chord changes and also the actual instruments I pick. I have noticed that not all instruments play melodies that I like. I hope that at least helps with your question. I do agree that the program can get quite complicated so one has to pick what's feature is important to them and concentrate on that as you build up your knowledge.

[@DopamineOverload]

Thanks again, Henry. Did you ever notice that sometimes the Melodist creates notes that are insanely out of key or don't match the chord change? Even when I re-generate, sometimes it creates insanely useless stuff. Is there any way to constrain the Melodist to only use certain scales, or focus more on chord tones, for the melodies? The rhythms are fine but the notes are so contemporary and often just.... bad. Let me know, thanks so much!

[@henryclarke5407]

I've never had that problem but I will say that the variance of what the melodist plays is somewhat dependent on the instrument you select. Some instruments just don't compliment certain chord changes.

[@jayblocksom4523]

Real nice Henry! Another great BIAB tool to help me generate melodies for my songs. Which style pack is this bossa nova style in?

[@henryclarke5407]

Hi Jay. I found this Style in Real Track Set 302 Bossa Date: 2018/11. Hope this helps.

[@reyjoe2754]

Hi Henry. I enjoyed watching your videos. I am struggling to create worship songs like the African gospel songs using melodies option from BIAB. I am more toward gospel songs and love the simple composition of African gospel worship in 3 chords only (1-4-5). Can you point me on how I can resolve this? .

[@henryclarke5407]

I don't know African gospel songs but what I since most songs worldwide share certain type of thythms I would try to find a rhythm that is close to what I'm trying to produce, write my chord progression, and see what melodies come out of the system.

[@fldrummerman]

Henry, you mentioned that you rarely write the chords....but what generated these chord progressions? Where did they come from? Also, could you do a video on how you come up with your bridge or precious ideas and chord progressions? I love that idea, but I'm stuck in the verse...chorus...rut. Thank you Sir......as you know, I'm your BIGGEST fan!

[@henryclarke5407]

I just saw this. I have to think of how best to approach that subject since there is no one way. I'll have to let you know. thanks !!

[@davebeaujon1782]

Thanks so much Henry. I've been trying to figure out something, since I started to use BIAB. I've used the program primarily to add instruments to songs that I've all written, but need to fill out. Like you, I use Sonar, or Cakewalk now, as my main work station, and as you taught me, export BIAB tracks over to it. Is there a way to get one's vocal melody onto BIAB, so that created tracks will play off it? Sorry if this is a dumb question that everyone knows, but me! Dave Beaujon

[@henryclarke5407]

I'm not aware of any way to do this except to write the melody in and I find that too much work. I'd rather just use BIAB for backing tracks and play the melody in my DAW. However, you can ask PG Music directly . They may be able to assist.

[@maryh6074]

How do you start with a clean slate in BIAB and assign preferred instruments? Is there a video for this?

[@henryclarke5407]

Respectfully that doesn't make any sense. You always start with a clean slate. You just input the chords and select the types of instruments you want to hear. I don't understand the purpose of this comment.

[@previncoin8592]

How do I choose a genre? BIAB 2022 Mac.

[@henryclarke5407]

You choose your genre's from the Styles menu.

[@jakajak1991]

​@@henryclarke5407 Melodist in BIAB MAC doesn’t have a menu for choosing genres like the Windows version does, just a limited list of styles.

[@henryclarke5407]

@@jakajak1991 Sorry. I have noticed that MAC versions are not EXACTLY the same as Windows versions.

[@danfrankum6233]

Hey Charlie. Wondering what program you use for your set list with Lyrics. Onsong?

[@henryclarke5407]

Don't use programs. I've been in bands for over 40 years and we never had anything more than a sheet of paper :-)

[@saabwemoses2217]

hello, is it possible to import Midi files to band in a box?

[@henryclarke5407]

See This kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpOuh5d3i7qcprM

[@drifterbum1]

Henry- Did you write the chord prgression, or generate it? I really enjoy your videos! Thanks so much-Ed Bentley

[@henryclarke5407]

Hi Ed. I rarely write out full chord progressions since my formal music training is minimal. I usually use pre-established chord patterns and enhance (change) them as I see fit throughout the course of the song. To write out all the chord progressions from scratch is way too much work for me :-) I also like that BIAB will sometime put together chord progressions that I never considered so it's a good learning experience Thanks for watching my videos.

[@drifterbum1]

Okay thanks Henry…

[@djba]

Thanks for another helpful video Henry. After you have generated a melody and then you go in and change the instrument that is being used for the melody, does BIAB change the melody?

[@henryclarke5407]

BIAB will change the melody everytime you re-generate unless you "freeze" the track. I do that a lot with solos. When I find a solo that I like I'll "freeze" it so it no longer changes.

[@j.r.fowlergodcountry]

I already have an original song with a melody, but I need to learn how to create an instrumental backing track with different instruments that match and go with my vocal performance. Can you help me ?

[@henryclarke5407]

Well I don't have the cycles to get into this but I would go to "Styles" and browse the styles until I find something that sounds like the song I want to do. They key is not important. You can always change the key. You just need to find a rhythm that supports your song. Hopefully you know the chords to your song. If you know that you'll get there faster. Hope this helps.

[@j.r.fowlergodcountry]

Thank you Mr. Clarke for your advice. I am a singer and songwriter, but I am not a musician. I get the whole song , lyrics, melody and arrangement, in my mind but taking these parts and creating a usable backing track kind of takes a knowledge of music. I will follow your suggestions, sir, and see how it goes!

[@henryclarke5407]

Well you're kinda correct. But I will say that if you don't get the rhythm in your arrangement you really will have a tuff time building a song. It's the rhythm that drives everything. So in my mind no rhythm no song. I would try to find songs in the genre I want to sing and demo the different styles until something catches my ear. All songs have similarities in the arrangement based on this. Doesn't matter if it's country, pop, reggae, or whatever. If there are chord progressions in the demo follow the chord progressions and if you hear chords you like change them by inserting them into the bars of your song. You will have to understand bars and timing but most popular music is in 4/4 time so that should not be too much of an issue. You can also try using a songbook and typing the chords in the bars as outlined in the book, then play the song against different styles. that may get you where you want to go faster and you will learn a lot from that approach. Just use "easy" chord books of popular songs. @@j.r.fowlergodcountry

[@j.r.fowlergodcountry]

Thank you for this additional information; I will do my best to apply the rhythm factor!

[@drifterbum1]

Hi Henry. How can I save single instruments in favorites in biab 2022? Thanks so much!

[@henryclarke5407]

Yu don't have to save single instruments but there is a tab in "Real Tracks" that shows Recently chosen favorites.

[@JesusChrist-ss4pz]

How likely is it that two people come up with the same sounding beat ?? Or same sounding sax solo etc ?

[@henryclarke5407]

Very likely. There are only 7 notes is a melody so one can only imagine that no matter what you come up with someone else has already done something similar. You can't let that stop you. Just do your best.

[@JesusChrist-ss4pz]

@@henryclarke5407 thank you man , I really appreciate your reply ❤️ , do you think it would happen more in context of biab as we are all using the same software with same samples ?

[@henryclarke5407]

@@JesusChrist-ss4pz Not really. BIAB is using stand music theory in it's algorithm so I really don't see how that could make a difference.

[@CreedeLambard]

Hey Henry, Just discovered your channel and it looks like I could spend a lot of time here. Much of what I know about BIAB I've figured out through trial and error, and if I can cut through some of the trial and error, so much the better. I do have one hurdle that sometimes gets in my way. I just upgraded to BIAB 2022 Ultra Pak, but for Mac rather than Windows. So sometimes I see different things from what a Windows user would. For instance, when I open the "Generate Chords and Melody" dialog I don't see the option for choosing a genre. Everything else seems to be there, but I am wondering whether it's just some thing they haven't implemented for Mac yet, or whether there's a setting I need to enable to see the genre drop-down. But unless you use the Mac version too it's not something I'd expect you to know.

[@henryclarke5407]

I'm sorry but I don't know what the MAC version window looks like. However, I've heard that the same capabilities lie in both products. Maybe it's a dropdown that's not on the main screen. I would search the help files and see if it shows the tool. Again sorry.

[@CreedeLambard]

@@henryclarke5407 that's fine, I wouldn't expect you to know unless you use both versions. I'll probably just contact PG Music support if I can't find it in the help menus. Sometimes the features in the Mac version lag behind the Windows version by a year or two. We only got playable RealTracks in the 2022 release, for instance.

[@chanaracaseyrichmond]

How did you bring up "my sonar?" ARGH!!!

[@henryclarke5407]

I don't understand your question. Sorry. Did I miss something?

[@felipeguerzoni]

Is it possible to create a melody from the zero by using score notation? Nice vídeo by the way.

[@henryclarke5407]

To be honest I never even considered that so I'm not sure. As primarily a Soul and Pop vocalist putting a score in front of singers in this genre is probably not useful. They wouldn't use it anyway :-) Thanks for viewing.

[@MichaelCrutcher]

Well, it's fairly easy to write a song when you start with a song that was already written. This is "The Girl From Ipanema" in a different key.

[@henryclarke5407]

I could name you a hundred songs that sound like another song. There's only 7 notes. You can always find similarities. The key is can you be inspired and move them around to create something else.

[@DanielDean-w3t]

SLOW DOWN OK

[@Roozbeh_is_cool]

The first 6 minutes are only useful!

[@henryclarke5407]

My tutorials are not for everyone. If you do not find them useful I understand. Feel free to move on. Maybe some of the PG Music videos will suit you needs better.

[@reyjoe2754]

Hi Henry, Would it be possible to create a video using the Songwriting Styles. I have them and I don't know what to do with them or how to use them to my benefit Always thanks fo all your tutorial videos.