Hi guys -

I have heard band in a box many times in other songwriters songs, and to be honest it has always sounded a bit limited because of it being Midi and not very authentic

I just purchased and downloaded BIAB 2017 and I am floored by the concept of "Realtracks" - I play many of the bluegrass type instruments (mandolin, guitar, (tenor) banjo) - but the realtracks are much stronger than the tracks I try to make with my own skills.

So my question is-

1 ) Is there a marketplace for user-made or 3rd party realtracks?
2 ) Is there a way to make my own?

Really this is an incredible product - I cannot believe I havent looked at it before!

There is a way. They are callled UserTracks. You may give them away or sell them. Look in the UserTrack forum here to see many examples.

http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=225512&gonew=1#UNREAD

You may also want to look at RealBand that is included with the PC version of BIAB where Realtracks can be regenerated of the entire track or just in specific sections. Multi riff provides seven generated tracks of a selected track or section that can be cut, pasted, copied and even cut into additional pieces for a completely unique piece of work.

On a project some time back, for the guitar solo and fills throughout the song, I used the multi riff feature on the track 18 times, cutting and pasting a combination of a few of the sections which provided 126 individual punch in's for that particular track much as if I had used a session musician for the part and kept having him redo the track section by section.

Staying in the box when using Band in a Box does yield recognizable riffs and patterns but at the same time, using the regeneration and multi riff features on each track with audio taken from the large files of a Real Track produces each track in a very unique and individual manner evolving from one's personal taste and choices and produces a project that even knowing the style and instruments chosen, the time signature, key signature and tempo, that project is practically impossible to duplicate or even come up with a reasonable replication.

There have been many forum discussions how difficult it is to create a note for note cover of a commercial song with BIAB. I offer that an original song created by top experts of BIAB users will be just as difficult to replicate. My point is that an entirely original and unique composition can be composed using BIAB. This theory is the same as for any unique band to continuously produce new and different music over and over again while using the same musicians, session players, producers and engineers. Think of all the different styles, grooves, feel and sounds by famous session players like Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, the wrecking crew, and house band-style groups of musicians like Booker T & the MG's or the Funk Brothers for Motown.

With proper planning, patience and work, the same uniqueness can be accomplished with BIAB suite of tools. It does not necessarily have to sound limited because of using Midi and not very authentic real tracks.

Charlie