Mix and match loops, fills, outro etc. between songs

This morning I was working with a song that had a thinly scored part and a heavier part (same tempo). None of the existing songs I could find were written with two different styles so I needed to combine loops/fills from two songs into one. I decided to use the Basic Rock Ballad from Gig Beats as the basis for the thinly scored parts and borrow loop/fill from one of the Pop tracks (#6 I think) for the heavy part.

Turns out it’s really easy to mix and match parts between two songs in BBManager. I created a new song by exporting the BRB song under a new title, then re-importing the song into the folder I wanted. I then did a copy/paste from Pop 6 to add the midi loops to my new song file - it was really easy. In my new song, I added a new line for each loop/fill I wanted to add, then did the copy/paste by hovering the mouse over the loop/fill I wanted in the Pop 6 track, pressed ctrl-C, then hovered the mouse over place in my new song where I wanted to put the loop/fill and pressed ctrl-V. Since the song ends on the heavier part, I also copied the outro from Pop 6 into my new song. No messing around with finding midi or wav files, BBManager made it incredibly easy to cut/paste sections from one song into another - took about 5 minutes total once I figured out how to do it.

Since the song has repeated verses and pre-choruses before the heavier part, I ended up creating a separate line of loop/fill/transition for each separate verse and pre-chorus, leaving the heavier (and repeated) chorus part (the Pop 6 loop/fill/outro) for the end. It will be a little tricky during the performance because I have to make sure I get all the transitions and don’t accidentally select a transition for a fill but I’m going to give it a shot.

Thanks to Singular Sound for yet another great set of features!!

Here is a little trick that I use which may be of interest. In each set of midi tracks such as Jazz, I copy all of the Intro’s, Fills, Beats, Outro’s into one file such as “All Jazz Beats & Fills” and I have them altogether. Now I do this for each set. Since I also mix and match them, I can go directly to these places to pick out a riff from “Country” and move it over to “Blues” or “Jazz”, etc. You would be surprised on how many of the different ones will fit together. It’s also easier to pick and choose one riff over another while in the same category because you have them all in one place. It saves a lot of time. When you’re working in “Beat Builder”, you can also pull a bunch of stuff together to make up new riffs, whole songs, etc. It’s easier & quicker to open these folders and have all the fills and beats to choose from when you’re building a new song. Another tip: If you can’t get the exact timing you need on certain notes in Beat Builder, you can download another free software that lets you put the timing where you want it. It’s called “Anvil”. Like anything else, you have to get used to using it but it is also a big help to get the songs built up “Exactly” to your specifications. Just thought I would mention it.
Sincerely, Fingerstylepicker.