Tutorials & How-To's
New tutorials are added to the top of the list. We also have an extensive Frequently Asked Questions section.
- Band-in-a-Box Hard Drive Troubleshooting Tips - You should be able to plug your Band-in-a-Box hard drive into any available USB port and start using Band-in-a-Box. If you are having trouble, we hope that these tips will get you up and running quickly and easily.
- Downloading and installing RealTracks (Windows) - This tutorial is mainly intended for Windows customers who purchased the UltraPlus or EverythingPAK using the download-only option.
- RealBand Setup (paths for BBW, RealTracks, RealDrums) - This describes how to select the correct Band-in-a-Box, RealTracks, and RealDrums folders so that Song Generation works in RealBand.
- RealTracks style list - Shows which RealTracks instruments are included in each of the RealTracks sets, and also explains how to tell which ones you have installed.
- RealDrums style list - Shows which RealDrums styles are included in each of the RealDrums sets, and also explains how to tell which ones you have installed.
- Band-in-a-Box for Windows - No Sound / MIDI Driver Setup - This tutorial explains what to do if you have no sound in Band-in-a-Box for Windows.
- Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh - No Sound / MIDI Driver Setup - This tutorial explains how to get sound in Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh, and describes CoreMIDI setup.
- RealBand for Windows - No Sound / MIDI Driver Setup - This tutorial explains what to do if you have no sound in RealBand for Windows.
- PowerTracks Pro Audio for Windows - No Sound / MIDI Driver Setup - This tutorial explains what to do if you have no sound in PowerTracks Pro Audio for Windows.
- Making RealDrums Styles with Band-in-a-Box - This tutorial explains how you can make your own custom RealDrums styles, using templates provided by us. You can make RealDrums with either the PC or Mac version of Band-in-a-Box.
- Band-in-a-Box LS3 files - This tutorial explains how to use LS3 files to add custom styles to the StylePicker list. This is technical information mainly intended for third party stylemakers.
- Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh & GarageBand - Band-in-a-Box (Macintosh) songs can be imported into GarageBand or other music editing applications. You can save any Band-in-a-Box song as a standard MIDI or audio file and import it into GarageBand in a few simple steps.
- Using RealDrums in PowerTracks Pro Audio - RealDrums can be used with PowerTracks Pro Audio version 12 (and higher). RealDrums are actual recordings of studio drummers, which are pieced together by PowerTracks to create a unique "real" drum track that is played along with other audio and MIDI tracks in perfect time.
- How to install a DXi synth. - General information and tips about DXi synths, and how to install the VSC-DXi on Windows Vista.
- Rendering Band-in-a-Box (for Windows) songs to wave and burning an audio CD - The process of converting a Band-in-a-Box song to wave is referred to as "Rendering". This tutorial walks you through how to render your Band-in-a-Box songs to wave/MP3/WMA and burn an audio CD that you can play in any CD player.
- Rendering MIDI to wave with RealBand or PowerTracks Pro Audio - This tutorial will walk you through the process of converting MIDI to wave and burning a CD with RealBand or PowerTracks Pro Audio.
- Making a custom Patch Map for Band-in-a-Box (Windows) - Explains how to re-map patches for a non-General MIDI synth, and use higher bank patches on any synth.
- Making a custom Patch Map for Band-in-a-Box (Macintosh) - Explains how to re-map patches for a non-General MIDI synth, and use higher bank patches on any synth.
- Editing the patches.ini file and creating a patch map for RealBand or PowerTracks Pro Audio - Explains how to create a patch map so you can select any patch on any bank of your synth by name.
- Running Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh as a non-administrator (Standard) user. - What to do if you have permissions problems when running Band-in-a-Box.
- Using Native Instruments Bandstand with PG Music software. - Bandstand is a General MIDI compatible synth, however because the samples are so large, there are some extra steps that might be necessary to use it successfully with Band-in-a-Box. The concepts apply to some other synths with large samples.
- How to use repeats, 1st/2nd endings, DS/DC al coda, and DS/DC al fine in Band-in-a-Box. Includes quick tips on solving the most common problems.
- Using the Garritan Jazz & Big Band and Garritan Personal Orchestra with Band-in-a-Box and PowerTracks Pro Audio.
- Understanding Band-in-a-Box (Windows) latency settings - This in-depth tutorial explains how latency works, and how to use the latency settings in Band-in-a-Box 2006 for Windows and higher.
- Introduction to Digital Audio - New to computer music? Unsure what digital audio is all about? This tutorial starts at the beginning and explains digital audio, waveform diagrams, and more...
- BeBop Bass Solo with Band-in-a-Box - Are you a Bass player who is feeling left out? Do you wish that you could have Band-in-a-Box create a bass solo that is as diverse and creative as the solos it creates for all of the other instruments? There is a way!
- MIDI Basics - To help you better understand some of the basic ideas associated with MIDI, we've prepared this short article on the MIDI standard and General MIDI.
- MIDI in a Nutshell - You've heard lots about MIDI, but don't fully understand what it is. No worries. MIDI is a potentially complicated subject, but the principles behind it are actually very simple.
- General MIDI Instrument list and Drum Kit map
- List of chords recognized by Band-in-a-Box and PowerTracks Pro Audio.
Show older archived tutorials >>
- Running Band-in-a-Box 11 and earlier on OSX - Band-in-a-Box versions 7, 8, and 11 run under Mac OS 8 and 9. They will also run under OS X in "Classic mode", which is the OS X emulation of the OS 9 environment.
- Using TC Helicon Audio Harmonies - Solo vocal or instrumental audio tracks come alive with the TC-Helicon Audio Harmonies feature, included in both Band-in-a-Box and PowerTracks Pro Audio. Here are some tips on how to use this amazing feature.
- Compressors and Mastering - Your recorded music isn't as loud, as full or as rich sounding as the music you hear on professional albums. Chances are you aren't using 'compression' - one of the most powerful (and misunderstood) mastering tools in an audio engineer's arsenal.
- Taking Out the Thwack - The issue of "Thwack", or pushing your sound card into digital overdrive/overload, has been discussed in many forums over the last few years. The problem is that when transistors are pushed or overloaded with voltage/sound output they produce a square wave. The result of a square wave to our ear is a brittle sound.
- Using the Band-in-a-Box Stylemaker Part 1 - In this tutorial, we will endeavor to give you an overview of how Band-in-a-Box uses styles to generate Songs.
- Using the Band-in-a-Box Stylemaker Part 2 - A continuation of part 1, including some more advanced topics.
- Making Custom Audio Loops With Band-in-a-Box - If you are looking for unique new loops why not turn to Band-in-a-Box for some creative assistance? One of the great benefits of Band-in-a-Box is that it comes packed with the genuine licks, riffs and patterns that are played by top musicians of all kinds. The huge repertoire of styles includes Rock, Pop, Techno, Jazz, Fusion, Blues, Country, Bluegrass, Gospel, Classical, Ethnic, Praise and Worship - the list goes on and on.
- Band-in-a-Box vs. PowerTracks Pro Audio - The Peanuts, or the Raisins? Learn about the key differences between Band-in-a-Box and PowerTracks Pro Audio here.
- Using SBLive! SoundFonts - The SoundBlaster Live uses a sample format known as 'SoundFonts.' The card itself only comes with a few General MIDI (GM) SoundFont Banks. However, SoundFonts are user definable. This means that you can create new SoundFonts to dramatically enhance the quality of your MIDI sounds.
- IRQ's and Windows 95/98/NT - IRQ conflicts occur when more than one device tries to access the IRQ controller at the same time, using the same IRQ number.
- Using Multiple MIDI Output Devices on Windows 95/98 - Many of our Windows users have questions regarding MIDI driver setup: "How do I get the drums to play out of my Alesis drum machine?" "I like the upper bank sounds from my Awe32, but I prefer the piano patch from the Roland SCC1. How can I get them to play back at the same time?" The answers to these problems lies in the elusive MIDI MAPPER.
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News and Notes
January 26, 2012
Dare to Compare!
We've prepared some audio demos comparing various MIDI software and hardware synths with each other, and with RealTracks. Listen to them here...
Jan 19, 2012
PG Music is at NAMM!
PG Music is at the 2012 NAMM show, taking place at the Anaheim Convention Center January 19-22. Come check out our booth 6820 in Hall A!