Band-in-a-Box 2009 for Macintosh is here!

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Band-in-a-Box 2009 for Macintosh is here!

This is a brand-new version, for Macs with Intel processors (not the older PowerPC).
Over 50 new features, including RealTracks, RealDrums, Audio Chord Wizard, Audio Rendering and many more.

Full feature list, videos, RealTracks demos and ordering information here ... http://www.pgmusic.com/mac.htm and here http://www.pgmusic.com/macvideos.htm

Way to go, Peter and staff... I'm happy for the Mac users!!

Now then, onto BIAB 2010 for Windows! LOL!!!

there's a really nice special on this right now.

m

Great news Peter!

Can't wait to put it through its paces...but will have to as I'm away from home for at least 2 weeks!

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Way to go, Peter and staff... I'm happy for the Mac users!!

Now then, onto BIAB 2010 for Windows! LOL!!!

and 2011, and 2012, and 2013 , and 2014 and then we can talke about an other mac upgrade, and 2015, and 2016, and next quarter, and 2017...

You get the idea

Huzzah! Now I just need to figure out just how much Mac I can afford and say goodbye to PC's

Funny, I have zero issues with PC's. Got a call from a club yesterday, somehow they got every 3 minutes 4 windows doing 'security' scans. Found the program, removed it, and they gave me $200. Took about 20 mins.

Drove them nuts for about 3 days. DJ was trying to work and bang bang bang virus scanning windows.

I insist I am not that smart, but stuff like that that end up in the start up menu, and is visible, well any one with 20 minutes of experience should be able to fix.

The day I hear that the Mac version runs twice as fast, has all the features and sounds better I'll go find part time work to buy one, maybe. Until then my 2 xp and 1 vista systems have zero issues except the Vista system won't run vsc Dxi. Oh well. Runs the Ketron and Jv1010 without problems.

After all that I'd prefer to be running everything in Ubuntu. It's just elegant, cool, and very powerful.

And if I get a Mac do I have to save for a BMW and downtown Toronto condo on the waterfront with a villa in France? You can buy a good enough PC netbook runs fast with 160 meg hd and xp for just under 200 bucks canuck. Must be giving them away in the U(ndeveloped) S(outhern) A(rea).

Thanks, Peter! I've really been looking forward to this. Great job!

WOW !! Just posted in the beta test thread, and then noticed this thread.
Thanks for all the work on this ! Great to see it finally happen !
Now the excruciating wait until payday.

- Jay

Oh, and I almost forgot. Is the new version backward compatible with all my existing songs and styles ?

- Jay

I did a bit of backwards compat testing during the beta and every one of the older files I tried loaded right up and played fine.

Can also add RealTracks and RealDrums to the old creations, too. Replace the MIDI bass with a real string bass, etc.

--Mac

One thing I'd be interested in learning is if, in a year, there have been sufficient sales to economically justify the development work that went into this release.

Now, please don't all you Mac fella's get offended. I'm not trying to have a Mac vs. Windows debate here, I'm simply curious. Afterall, Mac's have now grown to something less than 10% of the market. While 10% is not to be sneezed at, is enough of that 10% concentrated in the music making market to pay for the development time PGMusic have put into this release? I sincerely hope hope so.

We'll probably never be told, but as I said, I am curious.

So as I read this my mac G5 with dual 2.GHz PowerPC processors will not run this program? Otherwise I'd order it right now. Am I correct?

Must be INTEL powered Macs.

Hi Mac,

Thanks for your speedy answer. Here's some other questions I had. My daughter has a macbook that will run the program and I could probably borrow it from time to time. My thought was to get one of the programs with the USB drive and then I could make my tracks using the macbook and then just plug the USB into my G5 to load the tracks into Digital Performer to further sequencing, recording,ect.

So one, does that sound like a workable plan. And second question, there are two USB alternatives one with 80 gig and one with 500 gig, the main difference being the wav files for real instruments. Now I already have all kinds of samples and a dedicated sample player- Machfive 2, so I'm assuming larger drive wouldn't really add anything, but am I overlooking anything that I might wish I had gotten the larger program?

Peter, thanks again for the new Mac version!

PeteG,

Don't you already have the PC version on a PC?

--Mac

I have the Mac version 12 for OS10. I do have an older PC version on an emachines T1090, with the celeron processor. It's a pain to transfer files from one format to the other and all my music software is on the mac.

Quote:

I did a bit of backwards compat testing during the beta and every one of the older files I tried loaded right up and played fine.

Can also add RealTracks and RealDrums to the old creations, too. Replace the MIDI bass with a real string bass, etc.

--Mac

Thanks Mac ! Wow, that sounds like it opens up a lot more possibilities than the antiquated v. 12. Can't wait to try it !

- Jay

Okay . You've got my order and that's a great intro price for the upgrade . Thanks to Nancy on the phone and I'm looking forward to some real tracks.

Is there a discount for existing PC 2009 Users to move to Mac platform?
I didn't notice an offer?

Quote:

Is there a discount for existing PC 2009 Users to move to Mac platform?
I didn't notice an offer?

Yes. Click on this sentence to view the Crossgrade pricing list (scroll down).

--Mac

Glad you pointed that out Mac!
Thank you.
You still da man!

Thank forum user Blake, who passed that info onto me.

Glad you got it sorted,

--Mac

Thank you Peter for this new Mac Version. I have been using it for the last few days and it runs really well on my dual mac. The real tracks are fantastic and provides great inspiration for creativity.

I can recommend this new version to all those out there who have Macs. YOu can import the audio tracks into Garageband and Logic for further mastering and also adding other parts. It gives a really professional mix.

Thanks again
enjfb

My goodness it's nice to finally get this! The program sounds so much better with real drum tracks. I'm waiting for my hard disk to get all the files.

Has anybody run the entire program from the PG Music external hard disk?

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Funny, I have zero issues with PC's...The day I hear that the Mac version runs twice as fast, has all the features and sounds better I'll go find part time work to buy one, maybe. Until then my 2 xp and 1 vista systems have zero issues except the Vista system won't run vsc Dxi. Oh well. Runs the Ketron and Jv1010 without problems...And if I get a Mac do I have to save for a BMW and downtown Toronto condo on the waterfront with a villa in France? You can buy a good enough PC netbook runs fast with 160 meg hd and xp for just under 200 bucks canuck. Must be giving them away in the U(ndeveloped) S(outhern) A(rea).

Ha! I used to say the same thing - that PC's were fine and I had no issues....well, except for "x" which happened once, but wasn't so bad, and "y" which happened twice, but then I figured out how to avoid it, and "z"...you get the idea.

I would say that the differences between Mac computers and PC's are over-hyped, perhaps greatly so. The PC's I've owned have accomplished the vast majority of tasks I've assigned them without serious problems, and the quality of audio, visual, software, etc., vis-a-vis the price equates to a tremendous value. And it ain't like Macs don't have problems - my brand new iMac I bought 15 months ago had a bad hard disk and crashed about a month into ownership, and I lost some stuff in the process. But having owned 2 Macs now for almost 2 years, I can say categorically they are better computers.

They are more stable; there are noticeably fewer slow downs and breakdowns of the operating system. Installed software works better - again, judging by the smoothness of operation, the number of spontaneous crashes, etc. As for security, I am sure the day will come when the hacker guys start attacking Macs, but for now, in this department, it ain't even close. In my office, a large corporation in New Jersey with a large IT department and a first class firewall and security set up, I and a coworker have had to have our PCs sanitized multiple times for spyware/malware issues. This has never happened on my home iMac computers, which I believe are probably less firewall protected.

Apple Computer gets a bit carried away with their marketing pitches, their retail store staff tend to be rather condescending (although terminally hip, that's for sure), and they are over-priced, but there is no doubt in my mind they have the better product.

As time goes by, the difference becomes more evident, and the more you realize it's nice to have a computer that you don't have to "debug" every few weeks for some mysterious problem. You only notice this after owning the Mac. Whether it's worth the difference in price is a question we all must answer for ourselves, but just as my brother of modest income spends more for Toyota and Honda autos in order to get the reliability advantage, so do I think Macs are definitely "worth it."

I say the same thing about PCs that you do about Macs: when the day comes when I can get a PC that is as powerful, functional, and worry free as my Mac, I'll switch back.

First of all, let me say it's wonderful to finally have this in hand! Kudos to the Mac team at PG Music for finally making it happen!

A couple of things make me wonder if they pushed a little too fast, however.

The Audio Chord Wizard doesn't work: can't launch from within BIAB and the stand-alone version, while it recognises chords fine, will not export them to BIAB. A patch is due in a couple of weeks, but I thought the most basic beta testing would have caught this.

The style picker is much improved in terms of layout, but has the same bug that the 2006 version had (odd, if this is a "complete rewrite"). After previewing a number of styles without exiting the dialog, the font suddenly switches to 9-point Geneva (Arial?). Cosmetic, true, but it shouldn't do this. Also the Cancel button still does not restore the original style - it effectively works the same as the OK button. Not helpful.

The manual I got with my upgrade order is essentially an extensive addendum to the original 2006 manual. The program is now big and complex enough that a whole new manual is in order, so that all the information I need is in one place.

Finally, while I was moving all my zillions of styles over from 2006, I inadvertently renamed a few of the style database files as .LS3, with the result that BIAB tried to read them and update its style DB. Being unable to parse them (they weren't really .LS3 files) it simply crashed. Some error-checking and a message would be nice.

Hi Stephanie,

>>> Kudos to PG Music for making it happen

Thanks!

Audio Chord Wizard is a standalone version, and will be updated to the version that sends the chords to Band-in-a-Box within 1-2 weeks.

Stylepicker - we can't duplicate an issue like that (font changing after a buch of previews), please let me know a way to duplicate it. For example, I previewed 10 styles, and didn't see it.

Manual- yes, it is a 70 page 2009 upgrade manual that describes the new features, on top of the previous manual which describes the full (previous) version. We are working on an integrated manual, but aren't holding up the program for that.

Huzzah! Been waiting for this for a long time!

Bummer about the Intel requirement, though I totally understand it. But it does mean that the upgrade will have to wait a while for me to get the money to replace my Powerbook as well as upgrade the software..... :-(

Geoff

A couple of issues.

First off, the Space bar doesn't always stop a song. I found that I had to quit the program a couple of times because the space bar and mouse didn't stop stuff.

Second, the installer puts the Real Drums into /Drums, but the program is looking for it in /drums.......which is a problem.

Third, are we going to get real VST/AU support in the program?

Fourth.....how come the great ear trainer isn't in the Mac version. That is a great teaching tool......and it seems like it would be easy to include.

Other than that, this version is great......I can now ditch my Boot Camp partition and Parallels and finally run Band in a Box properly. I hope this sells well for you guys!

Oh, one more thing. How come the "Open Song by Title" doesn't thread through subdirectories? I saw that the limit has been bumped to like 25K items, but all in ONE folder and no subdirectories???

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Audio Chord Wizard is a standalone version, and will be updated to the version that sends the chords to Band-in-a-Box within 1-2 weeks.

Hi Peter!

My initial impression is that this 2009 for Mac, with RealTracks & RealDrums for Mac is a SERIOUS step, make that, 'leap' forward from your original program. I've stayed with you and upgraded the software pretty regularly since its release. What year was that?

I remember calling tech support many years ago, and you were it!

I've only tried it for a couple hours, and have noticed a couple small problems, one with a RealDrum track disappearing, and this other one, with ACW not exporting to Biab. I'm sure you're working on all the issues, and I will post in separate topics about the RealDrum problem, or any others I encounter if I can't work them out for myself.

This ACW is a wonderful concept, and I would have upgraded even without it. I know with new releases there are going to be bugs.

Do you have a way of informing me when a fix is available?

Thank you,

jbmando

Peter, I can't tell you how happy I am... and impressed. The development is outstanding. I write software on a regular basis, in quite a few languages (C#.NET, C++.NET, ANSI C, C++, JAVA, PERL, Objective-C and even a few vendor proprietary languages) so I feel pretty justified in saying that I know the effort behind this release. For all the critics, let me remind folks that writing software is extremely akin to making music. Same thrill, same foibles. You and your company are a rare breed, both in music and in the software industry. I deal with enterprise class vendors (CA, Sun, MS, Oracle, etc.) and I know of NO software company (big or small) that puts as much effort into patches and support. Match that with your attention to the subject matter (uh... music) and I'm astounded that you can do both.

Oh, and I'm stoked that I can finally run the latest features natively in my MacBook Pro. I've been running 2008 and 2009 for Windows under a Fusion Windows XP session (actually better performance than BootCamp) and the juggling act has been an interference with the creative juices; but not as much as going back to the Mac v12. This update is very worth it for me.

A thousand times, Thank You!

Sean Onion

I was also disappointed to find that the Chord Wizard is not working properly since this was marketed as one of it's primary features. And a complete manual with video support totally dedicated to the 2009 Mac version would be great. I went through the supplied videos, but since it focuses on the PC version, it is very confusing. I also have a question about the lyric window. Is that scheduled to be improved at all? I wanted to use BIAB for live gigs using the lyric window but it is so small you can't enter all the lyrics for some songs. I seem to remember my old PC version having a huge lyric window that was really legible. I also notice that often after completing a song with RealStyles, my RealDrums drop out permanently, even though they are listed in the style. Will that be fixed in the new patch (by the way, when is that coming out?)

Great job Peter & team. Finally we get an upgrade for MAC users !!

Just a few niggles I wanted to pass on.

I upgraded via the download method.

The installer package does not allow to custom intall the real drums and tracks to a location I would prefer. Manually moving obviously works after pointing the preferences to libraries new location.
I have fully explored the real drums/tracks yet, but I did not notice any piano tracks under the listings? Did I miss them? One of the realtracks installers ( I think it was for sets 7-9) has a subject line as sets 1-3?

Questions:
When the full manual is complete, how are they going to distributed?

Is there a old/new key command listing ?

T

You can install RTs and RDs to custom locations but it was a bit confusing at first. You can to set the new path with each dmg file you install. I forgot once and had to manually move some RDs.

Yes, the RDs disappear when you open a song. For now I just load a style with RDs when I start a session and hit play. Once the drums sound I load in a song and that seems to work.

I have had my MacBook Pro freeze up completely twice since installing the program. This is highly unusual for the machine. I am not certain BiaB is causing it but it didn't appear until after the install. The mouse freezes and then I must shutdown the MacBook completely.

I look forward to the first patch and a MAC-centric manual. The Mac BiaB seems to use the Intel chip more efficiently and more powerfully than the PC version. And I am pleasantly suprised by the Apple DLS synth sounds.

Finally, I would suggest that when BiaB users of either platform post a problem on the forum that they now specifiy whether they are using a PC or a MAC. Perhaps put PC or MAC in the subject line.

Fred

Hello Tonio,

Thank you.

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The installer package does not allow to custom intall the real drums and tracks to a location I would prefer.

To do this, click the Customize button on the Installation Type screen. That will toggle you to Custom Install mode, where you can choose any location to install the RealTracks and RealDrums. But actually, if installing all the sets at once, some users may find it easier to do what you suggested - install everything to the default location then manually move the RealTracks and Drums folders afterwards.

Either way is fine, as long as you end up with all your RealTracks in the one RealTracks folder, and all your RealDrums in one Drums folder. If you seem to be missing some RealTracks when viewed in Band-in-a-Box (e.g. some show up as N/A), you might try a quick search on your HD for "RealTracks" in "filename" to check that you don't accidentally have more than one RealTracks folder.

There can be some variation with how the Mac Installer application displays the Customize button on different versions of the OS. If it doesn't seem to appear on your computer, please let us know your exact OS (10.x.x).

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One of the realtracks installers ( I think it was for sets 7-9) has a subject line as sets 1-3?

This was probably just a typo in one of the readme's. I couldn't find it (RealTracks 7-9 doesn't have that problem in my testing), so maybe it was already fixed. Please let us know if you can verify which package that was in.

kkrekeler, I haven't noticed any problem like that (realdrums sometimes dropping out, requiring regneration of the song), please let me know if you can duplicate it, ideally with one of our demo songs, so we are talking about the same file.

Hi Peter,

I'm just checking out BiaB 2009 and watching the video's. I a bit puzzled are some features not in the Mac version available? For instance, I can't get the loop function to work, can't find lead sheets like the one in de video and I can't play note by note using the control key (or any other key). Please tell me, is this: clumsiness, not in this version or just hard to find in the interface?

Cheers,
Joris

Is there a chart showing which features are NOT available in new Mac version that ARE available in the new PC version?

Thanks.

JB

Great idea, Tackiepro. That would safe me so much time hoovering through the programme!

Cheers

I bought the basic version of 2009 upgrade from 12 dor Mac. I have also a MEGA MEGA versions of everything PG on my Wintel. All styles and melodies play across everything. I have a iMac intel core duo 2GB RAM.

Great stuff, Peter!

Lanny

Hi lrosicky,
I have everything BIAB offers for the PC.
I also have the MAcBook Pro. No BIAB yet.
Are you saying we can purchase the basic version of MAC BIAB and copy all our files RD and RT and Styles Disks over to the Mac from the PC and all will work on the MAC?

A query -

I've got BIAB 2009 Ultrapak running quite happily via Parallels on my Macbook.

I've also got the OSX version 12 on the same mac.

If I upgrade to the Mac 2009 version, will all my addons including my realtracks and realdrums work? or will I need to get the Mac Ultrapak version?

Thanks

John

Hi John,
I didn't partition my Mac drive. Only using MAc.
I sure hope our question comes back as yes.

Can we copy PC versions RT's, RD's and Styles to the new MAC version of BIAB ???????

The RTs and RDs in the new MAC version are Apple compressed audio files (m4a), not WMA files, so you will have to get the MAC versions. Of course, if you want to try converting from WMA or Wav to m4a and see what happens....I am not sure about the BTO files.

Style files are cross-platform.

The cross-grade pricing is very fair and I was happy to put my money down.

Fred

After I don't know how long carping about the continuing lack of upgrades for the Mac, today's email announcing version 2009 came as a very welcome surprise. On several counts.

The first is that it has happened at all. I think that the first promise was for Christmas 2006. Most of us, I think, believed that PG had given up entirely on the Mac. How glad I am to be proved wrong.

The second is that the upgrade almost makes it look like a totally new programme. Albeit one that clings to the original Atari look and feel. That shows how long I've been using it.

Next, by a lucky chance I've just upgraded to a new iMac after 9 years and more on the original revolutionary design. If I hadn't I'd be grinding my teeth in impotent fury, just like all those who still have G3s, G4s and G5s, the latter two capable of continuing to give reliable service well into the next decade. A missed selling opportunity there, although I understand why the decision was made.

Hopefully PGMusic will get out there and actively advertise the product to Mac users. If they don't know about it they won't buy it and there are a lot who have only had Intel powered Macs who will never have heard of BiaB. Review copies to all the Mac publications please. I'm only sorry I don't work for any of them so can't blag a freeby.

All in all then this looks, on the surface to be a monumental improvement on what we've been used to in the Mac BiaB society. Now that the bit is well and truly between the teeth, PG shouldn't shy away from commensurate updates. I had been looking seriously at iTunes new features but I will instead upgrade before the end of the offer period but hopefully after the maintenance release mentioned elsewhere.

As I said, it appears to be a totally new programme, has it been a root and branch rewrite? If so why keep the old look and feel?

That aside, you have at last made me very happy.

Best wishes.

Which version of the OS are you on? The mouse sticking was something I was experiencing in OSX 10.5.6 but since installing 10.5.7 it is cured. Before that I would put the iMac to sleep by briefly touching the power switch and then waking it up. No problems since the patches introduced with 10.5.7 though.

I have a quick question about the Soloist feature. After assigning a Realtracks style, and then a Realtracks soloist, they sound great. The only thing is that the Realtrack soloist doesn't seem to be saved with the file. When I open it again, it loads all the Realtrack instruments within the style, but the soloist is gone, so I have to assign a soloist each time I play the file.

Also, when I access the list of Realtrack soloists and search for an appropriate one (specifically Jazz solos), it's kind of confusing because there are really only five or six jazz soloists (for the specific song tempo). All the rest seem to be additional styles, and if I click on those they change the style I originally selected. Maybe I'm not understanding it.

The Realtrack soloists that I am able to find (I have all the Everything Package, by the way) are fantastic! They not only sound real (because they are), the notes they are playing follow chord progressions better than musicians I've known!

Will there by additional styles and soloists available soon?

Quote:

Hi lrosicky,
I have everything BIAB offers for the PC.
I also have the MAcBook Pro. No BIAB yet.
Are you saying we can purchase the basic version of MAC BIAB and copy all our files RD and RT and Styles Disks over to the Mac from the PC and all will work on the MAC?

I do not think you can do this for RT or RD as these are acoustic files, not PG "data files".

Yes, I am saying that thing like styles, soloists, music disks like jazz practice or riffs work form me across platforms. There is a difference in the file structures of Mac and PC versions of BIAB so moving across style disks (for example from PC to Mac) is not enough. You have to also find the style.

Long time ago I asked Peter in this forum about this and his answer seemed to indicate PG had no problem with me cross-using styles.

Lanny

kkrekeler ,

>>> I have a quick question about the Soloist feature. After assigning a Realtracks style, and then a Realtracks soloist, they sound great. The only thing is that the Realtrack soloist doesn't seem to be saved with the file. When I open it again, it loads all the Realtrack instruments within the style, but the soloist is gone, so I have to assign a soloist each time I play the file.

The solution there is to not use the Soloist button to generate the solos. Instead, open the RealTracks dialog (or dbl-click on the Melody or Soloist radio button to see the menu to launch the RealTracks dialog), and then assign the RealTracks to the Melody or Soloist track.
Then, whenever you press PLAY, you'll get a new solo generated on the Melody or Soloist track.
That assignment saves with the song, but the actual performance doesn't save with the song, because it is an audio file.
If you like the performance, the only way to save it is to Render the song (press the Audio button), and then you can render the individual tracks. BB doesn't load in the audio files that you've made, but you can then work with the audio tracks in ProTools, Logic, GarageBand etc.

>>> Also, when I access the list of Realtrack soloists and search for an appropriate one (specifically Jazz solos), it's kind of confusing because there are really only five or six jazz soloists (for the specific song tempo). All the rest seem to be additional styles, and if I click on those they change the style I originally selected. Maybe I'm not understanding it.

Yes, for a given tempo, in Jazz Swing Soloists, there are these 6 RealTracks Soloists available: Trumpet, Trombone, Alto Sax, Tenor Sax, Guitar, Piano.
You can filter the list by typing something like 'Jazz' in there, and sort by type to get Soloist up at the top.

>>> The Realtrack soloists that I am able to find (I have all the Everything Package, by the way) are fantastic! They not only sound real (because they are), the notes they are playing follow chord progressions better than musicians I've known!

Thanks!

Peter:

Let me just add my voice to those praising you for finally releasing this Mac version. I wasn't checking this site that frequently so it wasn't until I got a marketing email last night that I found out it was available. I instantly grabbed my credit card and upgraded.

I haven't even scratched the surface yet of the bits I've downloaded (I'm waiting on my 80GB hard drive) but I've already been very pleased with the BIAB upgrade.

I know some of us were starting to get pretty impatient this last year but it was well worth the wait.

Good job!

--Jim Titus

Hi Andrew.

Though I 'd share my findings in case any one else had the issue.
Actually the instal location button takes you the actual folder that can be redirected, unlike any installer I have seen. Just point to the folder and you can choose what location. Most MAC centric installers have a pop up menu to which you can redirect. Not complaining but could trip up others.

The 2nd screen capture is the text file for realtrack sets 11-12 with the typo stating sets 1-3 oops.

No ones perfect

Quote:

kkrekeler ,

>>> I have a quick question about the Soloist feature. After assigning a Realtracks style, and then a Realtracks soloist, they sound great. The only thing is that the Realtrack soloist doesn't seem to be saved with the file. When I open it again, it loads all the Realtrack instruments within the style, but the soloist is gone, so I have to assign a soloist each time I play the file.

The solution there is to not use the Soloist button to generate the solos. Instead, open the RealTracks dialog (or dbl-click on the Melody or Soloist radio button to see the menu to launch the RealTracks dialog), and then assign the RealTracks to the Melody or Soloist track.
Then, whenever you press PLAY, you'll get a new solo generated on the Melody or Soloist track.
That assignment saves with the song, but the actual performance doesn't save with the song, because it is an audio file.
If you like the performance, the only way to save it is to Render the song (press the Audio button), and then you can render the individual tracks. BB doesn't load in the audio files that you've made, but you can then work with the audio tracks in ProTools, Logic, GarageBand etc.

Using this method, is there then a way to set the song so the solo is heard only during the second chorus instead of throughout the entire song? Or would you have to render the audio and edit in a program like Garageband?

>>> Using this method, is there then a way to set the song so the solo is heard only during the second chorus instead of throughout the entire song? Or would you have to render the audio and edit in a program like Garageband?

Yes. You can get control over which bars or choruses that the RealTracks play, using the Bar Settings dialog. You launch this dialog via F5 key (or Edit-Bar Settings, or ctrl-click on the chord sheet).

From there, you can Mute or Un-Mute an instrument.
For example, you could have an instrument (melody) muted until the 2nd chorus bar 9, where it would play for 8 bars. You would do this as follows.
Chorus 1 Bar 1: Set to MUTE
Chorus 2 Bar 9: Set to Normal Volume
Chorus 2 Bar 17: Set to MUTE

Since there are 7 tracks available (bass,drums, piano, guitar, strings, melody, soloist), you can have a 4 piece rhythm section, and 3 more tracks to be customized in this way, so that soloists can take turns.

Thanks Tonio

Thanks for the tip! That works really well. Now I can even add one-measure solos as fillers when there's a break in the melody. This is a fantastic program.

I was wondering, what can't the mac version do that the windows version can't? If any, why and will this be rectified some time soon?

Thanks.

For Macintel users this must be good news. For those who use both platforms and have the PC BIAB, you could probably figure out how to run that on a Macintel using VM Ware Fusion 2 (not emulation, like the sluggish Parallels):

http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/

Parallels does NOT do Emulation, and it is quite snappy. I was using it on my iMac with great success. It is basically the same thing as VMWare

Seems like you are just trolling for VmWare? No?

Actually, it emulates the audio and video card but runs on the cpu native.

Otherwise it would be equal to the host OS, which it isn't.

But before the native cpu virtualization, emulation was extremely slow (like with MS Virtual PC)

Actually, no. It has drivers for the video and audio cards. So, there is no "emulation" or anything. If anything it is slower because you have it ontop of OS X. But if you have Parallels or whatever running off a bootcamp partition it is quite stable and fast.