KVR Audio

jjensson33 · Post by **jjensson33** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 9:53 pm

Hello folks,

Maybe some of you know this program. It was initially a software for accompanying your solo playing, and most musicians used it for improving their improvisation skills. Nowadays it's full of thousands of functions i will never need and i'm not willing to shell out this amount of money (ca. 115 Euros) for such a program.

So my question is if there is some alternative software with basic accompanying functions: you input the chords and style, and the program generates the drums, keys and basslines (for my guitar improvising). That's all i need, because i own Cubase 4 for composing etc. and that has cost me enough money already.

Any input is greatly appreciated
jj

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:39 pm

U can try JAMMER PRO.

Jono-60 · Post by **Jono-60** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 11:05 pm

FREE - http://www.musicmachines.net/faqsj.htm

jjensson33 · Post by **jjensson33** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 5:55 am

WOW! Thanks a bunch, guys! I was pessimistic because i searched in Google and found nothing. But apparently i was to dumb to find this stuff.

jj

Davros UK · Post by **Davros UK** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 12:41 pm

Wow! I too was going to buy BIAB, purely to generate and MIDI export automatically arranged parts!

And SJam does this for free! How cool, you just saved me fifty quid !!

silenthill2006 · Post by **silenthill2006** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 5:34 pm

Darn, I own BIAB and I love it, but this is free. I must try this out

silenthill2006 · Post by **silenthill2006** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 5:53 pm

Does anybody know if can import midi files and create an accompanyment around them using the midi files chord structure. This is a crucial function for me because i like to compose melodies by hand and then create an arrangement around them. That is what I primarily use BIAB for.

EDIT: I found out that you can import a midi file in and create an arrangement around it.

silenthill2006 · Post by **silenthill2006** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 4:57 am

I really like SuperJAM, which is on musicmachines.net site (the software that I was previously talking about). I have completed a composition with it,and ran it through Project 5 (probably run it through Reason later). It's called funky (use funk style), and I should be posting it on my soundclick site soon for those who want to hear it.

Jono-60 · Post by **Jono-60** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 9:49 am

Cool. Can't wait to hear it.

I have installed Sjam but havent got round to learning it yet. How does it compare to BIAB?

silenthill2006 · Post by **silenthill2006** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 2:27 pm

Jono-60 wrote:Cool. Can't wait to hear it.

I have installed Sjam but havent got round to learning it yet. How does it compare to BIAB?

It's not as featured filled as BIAB. Also, it's not as flexible when it comes to inputting chords (i could only input regular chords, not dissonant, 7ths, etc I think there is a way to get around that creating your unique chord progressions, but biab is much easier when it comes to that). SuperJAM also doesn't detect a chord structure from a melody so you really have to go through and input them yourself. However, i love that you can make your music in sections with superjam. It helps the music to be more organized. Also, you can chose one style or key, and tempo per section instead of the whole song like biab. Embellishments work differently in superjam than in biab. If you want to modify your melody with embellishment, biab is the way to go. However, if you want to specify fills abd breaks, superjam is better suited. I recommend using both. Also, if you want to preview styles before you create anything, Superjam is better suited for that. I hope this helps.

I have posted funky on my soundclick site. To save time, I had SuperJAM automatically create the melody based of my chord progression, instead of me importing one in, which I would have done usually. At least it gives you a better idea what type of melodies it could create. I then exported the melody track and ran it through biab to add some embellishment to make it sound less static since I duplicated verse and chorus sections, but for the most part it was all composed in SuperJAM, then voiced and mixed in Project5. The piece changes time signitures slighty, which wasn't exactly intentional. Well, I hope you like it. Here's a link to my songs page. Funky is up at top.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemus ... dID=649856

chardin · Post by **chardin** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 4:24 pm

silenthill2006 wrote:Also, you can chose one style or key, and tempo per section instead of the whole song like biab.

Band in a Box can do this too. Press F5 (Edit Settings for Current Bar) to change style, instruments, tempo, and more at any bar. Hmm, I'm not sure about changing key though.

silenthill2006 · Post by **silenthill2006** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:28 pm

chardin wrote:
silenthill2006 wrote:Also, you can chose one style or key, and tempo per section instead of the whole song like biab.
Band in a Box can do this too. Press F5 (Edit Settings for Current Bar) to change style, instruments, tempo, and more at any bar. Hmm, I'm not sure about changing key though.

Thanks, I didn't know that. Learn something new everyday.

Davros UK · Post by **Davros UK** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 2:51 pm

Tried downloading SJam from MusicMachines and had lot's of troubles with the "Disc Emulator", nature of the set-up. Got it installed eventually but the programme would not recognise my Audio Interface and so wouldn't play any sounds. Then there's the awful user interface! ...and finally CTDs!

Worth a look for those that want to try something like this for free, and it clearly works for some people but I'm strict on protecting my DAW environment and don't like the idea of running something that appears to be 'legally cracked' (and based on a very old core program) in my DAW, so it's Band-in-a-box for me!

stereomax · Post by **stereomax** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 3:28 pm

There are other (free) alternatives, for example

http://www.mellowood.ca/mma/index.html

It seems to be relatively "new" and actively maintained. I've never tried it, and it seems to have a steeper learning curve than BIAB (never tried that one either

), but it looks promising and it's free!

silenthill2006 · Post by **silenthill2006** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:17 pm

stereomax wrote:There are other (free) alternatives, for example

http://www.mellowood.ca/mma/index.html

It seems to be relatively "new" and actively maintained. I've never tried it, and it seems to have a steeper learning curve than BIAB (never tried that one either ), but it looks promising and it's free!

I'm going to be checking this out as well when I get home.