User Guide

Chapter 14: User Programmable Functions
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If this is confusing to you, there are two ways you can simplify this. Some audio editors allow you to designate bar
“1” at any point in a wave file. Simply go to bar 3 and designate that as bar 1. Then, any bar number you see will
directly match what needs to be entered into the text file. The other thing you can do is that while you are actually
working on the style, you can cut the 2 count-in bars, which will shift the rest of the track back by 2 bars, and any
bars you see will be the same bar numbers you need to enter into the text file. Once you have finished the text file,
you can then paste the count-in back in to the beginning of the file.
Shots Definition
In Band-in-a-Box, shots and holds are entered by putting either 2 or 3 periods after a chord (2 periods for a shot, 3
for a hold). With RealDrums, when a shot or hold is entered, the drums stop for the duration of the chord, and a
single drum hit is played in place of the drum beat. Pushes are entered by typing either 1 or 2 caret symbols (“^”)
before the chord in question (1 caret for an 8
th
-note push, and 2 carets for a 16
th
-note push). With RealDrums, when
a push is entered, the regular drum beat continues throughout, but a single drum hit is added to the mix to emphasize
the push.
Example 9: Bar 1 shows a shot, bar 3 shows a hold, bar 4 shows an 8
th
-note push, and bar 7 shows a 16
th
-note push.
The single drum hits are generally recorded at the end of the wave file, after the main drum groove, but they do not
have to be.
Like patterns, shots are also defined in the text file using lines of text containing several elements: 1) the text
“shot”, 2) type of shot (0 for shot or hold, 1 for pushes), 3) the bar number of the shot in the style wave file, 4) the
number of ticks (1 beat = 120 ticks) before or after the bar number the shot occurs, 5) the duration of the shot in
ticks, 6) weight, 7) volume of the shot
Here are some examples of defined shots:
Shot,1,82,-2,455,1,100
Shot,0,83,5,360,1,90
Shot,1,171,240,200,1,80
The six elements that come after the text “shot” are explained here in further detail:
1. Type of shot
The type of shot needs to be either 0 or 1. If 0 is entered, the shot will be used when chords are entered with two
periods (shot) or three periods (hold). If 1 is entered, the shot will be used when chords are entered with two or
three carets before them (8
th
& 16
th
note pushes).
2. Bar number in style wave file
Like with patterns, you need to remember that RealDrums styles use –1 based numbering, so you need to subtract 2
from the bar number as you see it in your audio editor. More than one shot can be played in a single bar, and you
would use the tick adjust amount to distinguish between the two.
3. Tick adjust
The shots do not necessarily have to occur at the bar lines, and the tick adjust can be used to tell Band-in-a-Box
exactly where the shot starts. Simply measure the number of ticks from the downbeat of the bar number entered to
the start of the shot, and that is the number that should be entered here. If the shot starts before the bar number that
was entered, a negative number should be entered here.
For example, if a shot is recorded at bar 82, but on closer examination it appears that the shot was played two ticks
early, it would be entered as such:
• Shot,1,82,-2,455,1,100
In another example (see example 10 below), a shot is played at the third beat of bar 171. In this case you need to use
the tick adjust to indicate that it a full two beats after bar 171. Since one beat is 120 ticks, two beats would be 240
ticks, and it would therefore be entered as such:
• Shot,1,171,240,200,1,80