I searched here and with Duck Duck Go and got quite a few hits but it's all rather outdated. For example the "Latest News" on the LinuxBand site was posted in Feb 2012.

So, what do we think is currently the best Linux alternative for BIAB? Or would I be better off trying to run BIAB with WINE?

Thank you.

Wine don't look so good

https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManag...ation&iId=1094

https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManag...sion&iId=25284

Alternative? Maybe <I only play harmonica off the back of a motorcycle around a campfire>

https://welltemperedstudio.wordpress.com/code/lemma/

https://scratch.mit.edu/

Band-Aid in a box? don't all band aids come in a box?

@BW-userx Don't quit your day job for stand up comedy :-)

Seriously, Llewellen, I think that it's best to "satisfy your musical infatuation" ... ... with "the right, honest to goodness," hardware for whatever software you intend to use. (In my case, I don't [presently] use BIAB, but I do have Logic Pro X on my Macbook Pro.)

Music software needs to have good, reliable, and direct access to the audio hardware of the host. I personally don't think that Wine is particularly designed to do that, and that it would do it (if at all) with "unnecessary ."

I mean: "you want to make music, not around with software."

It's really not too hard to lay your hands on "a cheap computer" that is what BIAB's designers had in mind. That machine could easily be one that you dedicate to "running this particular program." (Chips are very cheap, now ...)

@sundialsvcs: There is practical wisdom in your comment that I don't dispute. However, and not wanting to sound too pure or cranium lodged in nether region, there are philosophical and practical reasons (which would bore you to tears and don't belong on this board anyway) why I will never again knowingly use a MS product or anything dependent on the MS operating system. I realize that once connected to the internet I lose control over that but I can control what happens in my own space on my own computer.

As for Apple, I found Steve Jobs to be too pretentious by half, especially for a guy whose company was bankrolled by MS so that Bill Gates could tell the US Justice Department that he really did have a viable competitor.

So, if it won't run on Linux I'll either find a work around or do without.

That's fine, but I happen to rely completely on my Macintosh. (As well as other equipment, including stuff by The Borg ...) And, I am delighted with it.

("I was Apple, when Ap-ple wasn't cool ...")

Apple has an extremely strong presence in the professional performing-arts industries, and this focus is evident in all the products that they sell. Furthermore, since they invariably develop both the hardware and the software and the (Unix ...) operating system, they know in advance exactly what environment each piece of software might be running on. Microsoft, specifically, has never been able to say that ... except in the limited domain of their gaming consoles (which they do not directly make, but do control). I find that very advantageous.

If I ever do want to run BIAB, I'll be running it: On My Mac.™

To each their own. Ain't life grand?

Some people like Apple's "walled garden". Others tolerate it. I do neither.

It looks unlikely such software will be available (or well developed) in linux. It's too niche and would likely require to comprehensive of work to do.

• If you already own the software, trial it through WINE and see if there is any documentation that can get it working or if not, figure out how and write some up. It's unlikely to work as well as when working for the OS it's designed for
• Examine this? - https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...es-4175417054/
• Contact BIAB saying you're willing to pay for it if released in Linux. By yourself you won't change anything, but if they're getting a lot of these emails it may influence future releases.
• I don't greatly know the function of BIAB, but there's DAW type software like Ardour?

Mind listing out what exactly you need? If there's some particular feature you really need, perhaps there may be a alternative to be found..

I think that you're probably right on all fronts. Probably the best option will be to try to get it to run on WINE and there are a couple of ubuntu articles I found that talk about doing that. How successfully was in doubt. There were glitches and considerable time spent with the command line apparently.

BIAB does offer a 30 day money back satisfaction guarantee so if I couldn't get it to run on Linux/WINE to an acceptable level, presumably I could get a refund. I would, of course, get that verified by the developers of BIAB before purchasing.

What I want is extremely simple for BIAB to do but I don't know about alternatives. I put together simple guitar chord-melody arrangements of songs. I want BIAB (or alternative) to produce simple rhythm accompaniment tracks based on the chord progression that I enter. Bass (upright or electric), simple drums (often just brushes) and sometimes keyboard. That's all. BIAB can do things far more complex than that. Is there a alternative that also can?

If I ever get really lucky and get a small gig in a coffee house or something, I would take along the mp3 backing tracks to play back as accompaniment. Very simple very basic.

There is software for managing audio like audacity and many, many others.
The other part of that is the chords themselves. While you won't have those come with the software, there are many sites out there with free downloads of loops of different instruments.
The important part of these is to identify the license to make sure it's ok to play in a commercial setting (eg a gig).
A couple searches led me to https://freesound.org/ which seems to drop everything into public domain.
It looks ok (not very effective search interface)

I'm willing to bet there's some subscription sites that have a much more wider range of chords at higher quality.


EDIT:
A bit of searching led me here: http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/linux/AUTO_ACCOMPANIMENT/

Thanks Sefyir. I'm familiar with many of the sites and options to which you refer. There are a gazillion backing tracks available, of various different types and formats, some are licensed for private use only and some can be used commercially.

Here's the difference. With them, I am expected to "play along" with the backing track that someone else previously created, With BIAB I create the accompaniment, with whatever genre, instrumentation, tempo, etc. that I choose and then tailor it to accompany me.

For example, I can drill down to a level where I can lead the notes played by an acoustic bass to where I want them to be in a particular bar by how I designate the chord for that bar (Cm7 vs. Cm7#11, as an example). I'm not sure because I haven't actually worked with BIAB, but I think I can also override the software to specify specific notes for specific instruments at specific beats of a bar.

It's also important to note that BIAB uses true sampled notes played by real musicians, not midi sounds.

Thanks for responding.

@BW-userx: I saw that site but it looks like it may be a dodo bird. Hasn't been updated since 2012.

sometimes you just got a buy used ..