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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Have you purchased a Band-in-a-Box® UltraPAK, which ships on a portable USB hard drive? Once received, there are a few different options for you: Run Band-in-a-Box® directly from the USB drive only, Install Band-in-a-Box® on your computer hard drive (but leave the RealTracks and RealDrums on the USB hard drive), Install Band-in-a-Box® AND RealTracks on your computer hard drive, or choose a Custom Installation!

To summarize these options:

Option #1 - Run Band-in-a-Box® directly from the USB drive only. This allows you to use the hard drive "as is" and run the programs from it. It requires very little free disk space on your internal hard drive. Setup will install and register the PG Music notation fonts, VSC-DXi synth, VSC-VST synth, and PG Music DirectX audio plugins on your computer, but will not install Band-in-a-Box®, RealBand, RealTracks, or RealDrums on your computer's internal hard drive.

Option #2 - Install Band-in-a-Box® on your computer hard drive, but leave the RealTracks and RealDrums on the USB hard drive. This requires more hard disk space, about 2 to 4 GB. In addition to the plugins and fonts, this will install the Band-in-a-Box® and RealBand programs to your computer's hard drive, and allow you to run the programs from there, as if you had installed them from a DVD.

Option #3 - Install Band-in-a-Box® AND RealTracks on your computer hard drive. In addition to everything installed by Option 2, this will copy the RealTracks and RealDrums (Drums) folders from the USB drive to your computer's hard drive, as if you had installed the entire package from DVD. This will allow you to keep the PG Music hard drive primarily for backup, and use Band-in-a-Box® and RealBand (along with the RealTracks) directly from your computer hard drive. NOTE: This option requires a lot of free hard disk space (over 80 GB) since these folders contain many audio files, and the installation may take about an hour to complete depending on how fast your computer is.

Option #4 - Custom Installation - Choose exactly what you want to install. This option is for advanced users who want to be able to select exactly what is installed. For example, you could install RealDrums but not RealTracks, or skip the DX plugins, or install the Video Tutorials, etc.

For more detailed information, visit http://www.pgmusic.com/techfaq51.htm#163

No matter how you install and use your Band-in-a-Box® hard drive, make sure you're saving your songs (or a copy of them) to your own folder not on the hard drive - that way you'll have a back-up copy if your hard drive isn't available to you!



Callie
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This is helpful. To answer questions from new users, we frequently have to refer to these setup options. Perhaps you would consider making this a sticky.


BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
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Great idea Matt - it's sticky now smile


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For my laptop install, I used Option #1. My C:\BB only has two folders and about 2 Meg of data in it to corroborate "very little disk space" that Callie referenced.




Steve

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My upgrade UltraPak is currently in Honolulu, en route to Australia.

Given that I already have BIAB Pro installed on my C:\ drive, I think option #2 will work best for me. I assume that it will be fine to install the new BIAB over the existing one.

Will there be any problems with the existing RealTracks and RealDrums on my C:\ drive and the ones on the usb hard drive?

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No. When you install the 2018 Band-in-a-Box you're asked where RealTracks and RealDrums reside. Once you tell BiaB they are located on the external drive then BiaB will quit using the RealTracks and RealDrums located on your primary drive.

One issue you might encounter though is Windows may change the drive letter if you plug the drive into different USB ports or plug a USB memory stick into a port prior to plugging in the USB drive. You can avoid the drive letter issue by going to control center and manually assigning a drive letter to the external USB drive.


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1. I assign an unusually high drive letter to BIAB so it is not dependent on whether other devices are installed.

2. Jim is correct, it's one location or the other. You can always move your older files, but since you bought the Ultrapak, it won't matter; you will have all the files on your new USB drive.


BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
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Thanks Jim and Matt, your info is very helpful.

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I chose a high drive letter for BiaB.

I read an article that recommended to use letters between M and Z for external drives that you want to keep a stable letter.

M for Music?

Notes


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Originally Posted By: Notes Norton
M for Music?


My data is on P for Pro Tools. grin

I just got my 2018 and was surprised to see it on 7 DVDs rather than an external hard drive. Surprised but not disappointed. DVDs are fine. Wonder if a 32gb thumb drive would be even better? Though for those who opt to run it from USB the load times from a thumb drive would be close to glacial....

And with a 2017 manual with a "What's new" insert for 2018.

Last edited by eddie1261; 02/13/18 07:10 AM.

I smashed the hell out of my car today. When the cops came I told him "Officer, that guy was BOTH texting and drinking a beer." The cop said "Sir, he has every right to do that. I mean, it's HIS living room..."
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Originally Posted By: eddie1261
Originally Posted By: Notes Norton
M for Music?


My data is on P for Pro Tools.

I just got mt 2018 and was surprised to see it on 7 DVDs rather than an external hard drive. Surprised but not disappointed. DVDs are fine. Wonder if a 32gb thumb drive would be even better?

And with a 2017 manual with a "What's new" insert for 2018.


If you look at our packages, http://www.pgmusic.com/bbwin.packages.htm, it shows that the UltraPAK and Audiophile ship on a portable hard drive - the Pro, MegaPAK, and PlusPAK ship on DVD or Flash Drive (chosen by the customer during the order process).

If you had chosen the flash drive, note that it would have been loaded with installation files - the program does not run from the flash drive.


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PG Music News
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 Review: 4.75 out of 5 Stars!

If you're looking for a in-depth review of the newest Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows version, you'll definitely find it with Sound-Guy's latest review, Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows Review: Incredible new capabilities to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs.

A few excerpts:
"The Tracks view is possibly the single most powerful addition in 2024 and opens up a new way to edit and generate accompaniments. Combined with the new MultiPicker Library Window, it makes BIAB nearly perfect as an 'intelligent' composer/arranger program."

"MIDI SuperTracks partial generation showing six variations – each time the section is generated it can be instantly auditioned, re-generated or backed out to a previous generation – and you can do this with any track type. This is MAJOR! This takes musical experimentation and honing an arrangement to a new level, and faster than ever."

"Band in a Box continues to be an expansive musical tool-set for both novice and experienced musicians to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs, as well as an extensive educational resource. It is huge, with hundreds of functions, more than any one person is likely to ever use. Yet, so is any DAW that I have used. BIAB can do some things that no DAW does, and this year BIAB has more DAW-like functions than ever."

Happy Easter! Holiday Hours...

2024 is well underway - it's already Easter Weekend!

Our Customer Service hours this weekend are:

Friday, March 29: 8-4
Saturday, March 30: 8-4
Sunday, March 31: closed

Regular hours resume Monday, April 1st - no joke!

Convenient Ways to Listen to Band-in-a-Box® Songs Created by Program Users!

The User Showcase Forum is an excellent place to share your Band-in-a-Box® songs and listen to songs other program users are creating!

There are other places you can listen to these songs too! Visit our User Showcase page to sort by genre, artist (forum name), song title, and date - each listing will direct you to the forum post for that song.

If you'd rather listen to these songs in one place, head to our Band-in-a-Box® Radio, where you'll have the option to select the genre playlist for your listening pleasure. This page has SoundCloud built in, so it won't redirect you. We've also added the link to the Artists SoundCloud page here, and a link to their forum post.

We hope you find some inspiration from this amazing collection of User Showcase Songs!

Congratulations to the 2023 User Showcase Award Winners!

We've just announced the 2023 User Showcase Award Winners!

There are 45 winners, each receiving a Band-in-a-Box 2024 UltraPAK! Read the official announcement to see if you've won.

Our User Showcase Forum receives more than 50 posts per day, with people sharing their Band-in-a-Box songs and providing feedback for other songs posted.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed!

Video: Volume Automation in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®

We've created a video to help you learn more about the Volume Automation options in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows.

Band-in-a-Box® 2024: Volume Automation

www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024full/chapter11.htm#volume-automation

Video: Audio Input Monitoring with Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®

We've created this short video to explain Audio Input Monitoring within Band-in-a-Box® 2024, and included some tips & troubleshooting details too!

Band-in-a-Box® 2024: Audio Input Monitoring

3:17: Tips
5:10: Troubleshooting

www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024full/chapter11.htm#audio-input-monitoring

Video: Enhanced Melodists in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®!

We've enhanced the Melodists feature included in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows!

Access the Melodist feature by pressing F7 in the program to open the new MultiPicker Library and locate the [Melodist] tab.

You can now generate a melody on any track in the program - very handy! Plus, you select how much of the melody you want generated - specify a range, or apply it to the whole track.

See the Melodist in action with our video, Band-in-a-Box® 2024: The Melodist Window.

Learn even more about the enhancements to the Melodist feature in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows at www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024upgrade/chapter3.htm#enhanced-melodist

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