Band-in-a-Box® 2020 Video: Everything you need to know in less than 6 minutes!
MAC
New Features
2020
Band-in-a-Box® 2020 Video: New Features, RealTracks, and other content.
MAC
New Features
2020
Band-in-a-Box® 2020 Video: 202 New RealTracks
MAC
202 New RealTracks
2020
Band-in-a-Box® 2020 Video: 49-PAK           
MAC
49-PAK
2020

Band-in-a-Box® 2020 for Mac® is here!

Using Catalina? Band-in-a-Box® 2020 for Mac is 64-bit and fully compatible with macOS Catalina!
It works with the latest plugins and 64-bit OS features and is also legacy compatible back to Snow Leopard 10.6.8.

We've been busy and added 50 new features and an amazing collection of new content , including 202 RealTracks (double the 101 that we've often released in the past), new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, RealDrums transcriptions, Xtra Styles PAK 8, and more!

We have a 2020 49-PAK with 40 RealTracks in addition to the 202 new RealTracks, so in total an amazing 242 new RealTracks are available! The 2020 49-PAK also include 5 new Instrumental Studies Sets with 3 sets featuring world-class country guitar licks, and two sets focusing on soloing studies for rhythm changes and jazz blues. There are also 15 new MIDI SuperTracks, 280 new RealCharts for RealDrums (transcriptions), and new "Look Ma! More MIDI!" Sets 3 and 4 with 30 new MIDI styles!

In addition, there are over 250 new RealStyles that use the new RealTracks. These include great Americana, Gospel Vocals, new Blues, Country Pollwinners, Bossa Flute/Horn sections, Jazz Blues and Rhythm Changes, British and Hazy 60s guitars, Modern Funk, Island Grooves with steel drum and marimba, Singer-Songwriter, and more! Plus, we've made a new Xtra Styles PAK 8 with 164 Xtra styles. (Xtra styles are styles based on previously released RealTracks.)

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Band-in-a-Box® 2020 Features and Additions

There are over 50 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2020! There are enhancements to RealTracks (Smoother Sounding Vocal RealTracks, RealTracks Thickening, "Find-a-Sub" RealTracks, and MultiRiffs). Most RealDrums now have RealCharts (with accurate Drum Notation). There's a new RealTracks Artist Browser to find info/bios/links/lists of RealTracks on all the artists. A new Feature Browser allows the new or "forgetful" user to easily find and use most features/hotkeys/docs from a single window. Equalize Tempo allows changing a recorded rubato song to a fixed tempo. Enhanced audio time/pitch stretching (Élastique) included. There are SongPicker enhancements, Bass/Drums or Drums only Auto-Intros, 3,400 titles added, MusicXML enhancements, "Left-Handed" and "Student View" guitar, Drag and Drop enhancements, Audio Chord Wizard Multi-Window Display, and more!

Band-in-a-Box® 2020 DAW Plugin

There are over 40 enhancements to the Band-in-a-Box® DAW Plugin, including Audio Harmonies (apply to any DAW audio track, 1-4 voices, using intelligent BIAB harmonies with passing tones). New features allow Customizing Tracks, Bar and Song settings. RealTracks and RealDrums sound improvements (gap filling, thickening), enhancements or reading/writing more data types to/from BIAB song files and much more!

More details...

Band-in-a-Box 2020

Additional New Content for Band-in-a-Box® 2020!

Along with Band-in-a-Box® 2020, we've released 202 new RealTracks, 15 new MIDI SuperTracks, 170 new Instrumental Studies, 30 new MIDI Styles, 280 RealDrums Transcriptions, the 2020 49-PAK, and new Xtra Styles PAK 8 & Loops-with-Style PAK 1!

  • 202 NEW RealTracks in Sets 329-352!

    • 69 Jazz, Blues, Funk & Latin RealTracks (Sets 329-336): The Jazz, Blues, Funk & Latin collection this year features a vast assortment of new RealTracks. We've added more amazing funk and fusion styles from legendary favorites Alex Acuna, Jeff Lorber, "Sput" Searight, and more (33). We have "RealTracks firsts" such as marimba and steel drum, playing over Latin "island" grooves (3). We've added a smokin' rhythm section of jazz & Latin drummer Wes Little and bassist Brian Allen playing over these and other Latin grooves such as Soca & Merengue (13). On the blues front, we've added blues from long-time RealTracks artist Sol Philcox (3), among others. And, a special treat for jazz students, or any musician who wants to improve their jazz chops, we have two special sets of RealTracks which were specifically designed to work great over "rhythm changes" and jazz blues, respectively (16). These sets feature superb musicians such of PJ Perry on sax, Oliver Gannon on guitar, Neil Swainson on bass, and Miles Black on piano. And, we also have sophisticated new bossa horn section styles (8) with options for a simple, elegant trio, or a melodic "lounge" horn section style.
    • 66 Pop, Rock and World RealTracks (Sets 337-344): We have some amazing new pop, rock, and world styles with Band-in-a-Box® 2020. Our users have been requesting "Classic" rock guitar styles, both soloing and rhythm, and we've provided with three distinct sets, including blues-infused classic rock (8), "hazy" 60s hard rock (6), and psychedelic 70s & 80s guitar styles (9). Our "cinematic" guitar styles from last year were so popular, we've added a new set, this time a "cinematic metal" set (4) with both rhythm styles and a soloist. We've also added to our collection of vocal RealTracks with exciting gospel vocals (7). With these vocals, we have a 6-voice choir, with an improvised gospel part singing over the whole thing! That set also includes new RealDrums and piano RealTracks to go along with the choir. Our users have been requesting ska styles, and we've provided! We now have a set of ska styles (10) with drums, percussion, bass & electric playing over a variety of ska tempos and feels. For the singer-songwriters out there, we have a singer-songwriter set with lots of contemplative acoustic guitar and mellow banjo from Quinn Bachand (10) as well as mandola, 5-string fiddle and drums (3). And, we have some down-and-dirty blues-inspired baritone guitar from RealTracks favorite Brent Mason (8).
    • 67 Country, Americana & Celtic RealTracks (Sets 345-352):The Country, Americana, and Celtic collection this year has added a beautiful variety of RealTracks. We have two sets of "Country Pollwinner" RealTracks, featuring musicians who have been awarded some of the most prestigious awards in the industry, such as the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards. This includes RealTracks from guitarists Danny Rader (2) and Brent Mason (4) who have both won the CMA guitarist of the year, drummers Miles McPherson (1) and Fred Eltrington (3) who have won CMA drummers of the year, as well as renown bassists Steve Mackey (3) and Jimmy Carter (1) who are some of the busiest first-call bassists in Nashville! And we have new Country soloist RealTracks from Nashville greats (2). On the Celtic side of things, we have a RealTracks first: Jaw harp! (3) These styles provide a colorful addition to our previous Celtic styles, and also work equally well with Bluegrass and folk styles! Played by Canadian Celtic master guitarist Quinn Bachand, we also have some excellent new guitar and bodhran styles from him (12) which include 12-string guitars and nylon guitars. And we have several sets of "Old Time" Americana RealTracks, with mandolin, fiddle, and another RealTracks first: Banjo Guitar, or "Ganjo". This instrument is built like a banjo, but has 6 strings and is tuned like a guitar, and it also has a softer, more mellow tone, which gives you great versatility in Band-in-a-Box®! These "Old Time" styles were created with Nashville fiddle/banjo/mandolin great Andy Leftwich (22), Quinn Bachand on guitar (4), and Neil Swainson on bass (4).

  • Xtra Styles PAK 8

    Xtra Styles PAK 8 is here! We've added 164 fantastic new RealStyles in Xtra Styles PAK 8! These are imaginative new combinations of our existing RealTracks library that fall into four categories: Rock/Pop 8, Jazz 8, Country 8, and Celtic 1.
    These inventive new styles include fretless-bass indie rock, stormy electric-piano blues, an outer-space rock waltz, Hawaiian crooner jazz pop, a rumba flamenca big band, several simplified jazz practice styles, a bowed-bass 12/8 jazz ballad, dreamy fingerstyle-guitar country, an atmospheric pedal-steel soundtrack, chicken pickin' western, Irish folk rock, a romantic Celtic air ballad, many new Celtic jigs and reels, and much much more! We've also included two new MultiStyles that use up to eight substyles each. Give these new styles a listen and I'm sure you'll agree that they belong in your collection! Learn more...

  • Loops-with-Style PAK 1

    Loops-with-Style PAK 1 gives you the chance to expand your loops collection with 100 new loops! We took RealDrums and RealTracks source audio and remixed, remastered, and combined it to create these original loops. We have all of your favorite genres covered, like jazz, funk, rock, pop, electronic, hip-hop, and more! To show them in action, we created 50 new RealStyles that each include two of the loops. And, if you use the loops in Band-in-a-Box®, we’ve included intelligent versions of the loops that automatically switch at A and B part markers. Each loop has a matching sister loop that works perfectly for another substyle! Learn more...

  • 40 Unreleased RealTracks (Included in the 2020 49-PAK)

    There are 40 amazing bonus RealTracks available with our 2020 49-PAK! This includes more great “OldTime” mandolin, banjo-guitar, and fiddle from Nashville great Andy Leftwich (8). There are more baritone and standard guitar styles from Brent Mason (4). We have, for the first time in Band-in-a-Box®, "jaw harp" styles (5), great for use with existing Celtic and Bluegrass styles, with options for playing just the root or 5th of the key throughout an entire song (which is what a jaw harp would typically do), or options that actually follow the progression. There are "Classic Rock" acoustic guitarstyles (2) as well as more Celtic and Folk styles (7) from favorite Quinn Bachand. We also have some great bass and drum styles from "pollwinner" artists such as drummer Miles McPherson (5), drummer Fred Eltringham (7), and bassist Steve Mackey (2). Learn more...

  • MIDI SuperTracks Set 30: Jazz, Funk, and Gospel Keyboards (Included in the 2020 49-PAK)

    MIDI SuperTracks Set 30 adds 9 new keyboard MIDI SuperTracks to our collection. The set focuses on Jazz, Funk & Gospel, and includes both rhythm "comping" styles as well as soloists. Included are styles that were specifically designed for use with jazz blues and "rhythm changes" progressions, with both comping and soloist options for those. There is a "cool swing16" gospel piano style, with great bluesy gospel licks. There are rhythm funk styles, playing a variety of funk grooves and tempos, as well as a soloist that was intended to be used with an analogue synth sound. But of course, as with all of these MIDI Supertracks, you can pick whatever instrument patch you like, since it’s all MIDI!Learn more...

  • MIDI SuperTracks Set 31: All Bass (Included in the 2020 49-PAK)

    Our Pop Bass MIDI Supertracks set last year was so popular we added more basses to the MIDI Supertracks library! The set features new Americana & pop country basses, along with new funk styles and a cool fast ska style. And, there are also Band-in-a-Box® styles and demos to go along with these MIDI Supertracks, and you can pick whatever bass patch you like, acoustic, electric, or even synth bass sounds! Learn more...

  • Instrumental Studies 9: Western Swing Guitar Licks (Included in the 2020 49-PAK)

    This new set of Instrumental Studies features 50 licks, each looping multiple times for you to play along and learn with! Not only do you get the chance to learn these licks from a master, you’ll get to see how they would work over a variety of chord changes, as each time it loops, the backing tracks play variations on the progression. And, you can view these licks in notation, TAB, and on the on-screen guitar fretboard, so there are lots of ways to learn! You can slow them down to learn them, and gradually bring the tempo up until you’ve got them down! Learn more...

  • Instrumental Studies 10: Train-Beat Guitar Licks (Included in the 2020 49-PAK)

    Get ready for more amazing Country Train Beat licks with Instrumental Studies 10! This set features 50 licks that are presented in a way that is great for learning! The idea is that each of these 50 licks is presented in a separate Band-in-a-Box® file, with the same lick repeated over a variety of chord changes. This gives you great insight into different ways these licks can be used. You can slow them down to learn, and speed them up as you get better at them! And, you can view these licks in notation, TAB, and on the on-screen guitar fretboard, so there are lots of ways to learn! Learn more...

  • Instrumental Studies 11: Workin' Guitar Licks (Included in the 2020 49-PAK)

    This set features 50 individual files, each examining a different lick, repeating it over a variety of chord changes, so the student can practice along with the licks looping, and they'll also get a sense of the various ways these loops could be used in a real musical situation. You can slow them down to learn, and speed them up as you get better at them! And, you can view these licks in notation, TAB, and on the on-screen guitar fretboard, so there are lots of ways to learn! Learn more...

  • Instrumental Studies 12: Rhythm Changes Guitar Soloing (Included in the 2020 49-PAK)

    For anyone learning to play jazz, "rhythm changes" is the most essential progression to get under your fingers. This set features Jazz soloing in the keys of Bb, C, Eb, F, and Ab with multi-chorus guitar solos. Since Bb is the most common key for rhythm changes, that key has the most number of choruses. Slow them down, loop bars to learn specific loops, and gradually speed them up as you improve! And, you can view these licks in notation, TAB, and on the on-screen guitar fretboard, so there are lots of ways to learn! Learn more...

  • Instrumental Studies 13: Jazz Blues Guitar Soloing (Included in the 2020 49-PAK)

    For any jazz musician, being able to play the blues is an essential skill. This Instrumental Studies set features Jazz Blues soloing in the keys of Bb, C, Eb, F, and G. There are 5 multi-chorus guitar solos, with notation and tab allowing you to follow along. You can slow these down to really get them down, loop bars to learn specific loops, and gradually speed them up as you improve! Learn more...

  • 30 MIDI Styles - "Look Ma! More MIDI 3!" (Included in the 2020 49-PAK)

    We haven't forgot about all of you MIDI enthusiasts out there! We're back at it again with "Look Ma! More MIDI 3." This collection of all-MIDI styles fuses together traditional MIDI parts with MIDI SuperTracks, and includes Latin grooves, jazz fusion, blues, smooth jazz, R&B, and Gypsy jazz. An essential collection for anyone who loves MIDI! Learn more...

  • 30 MIDI Styles - "Look Ma! More MIDI 4!" (Included in the 2020 49-PAK)

    An assortment of old and new folk, rock, country, and rockabilly awaits you in this amazing pack of MIDI styles. "Look Ma! More MIDI 4" fuses MIDI SuperTracks with classic MIDI parts to bring you new and original arrangements. Whether you're looking for half-time reggae, Celtic jigs, or bent-note country, this collection of MIDI styles is an absolute must-have! Learn more...

  • 280 RealCharts for RealDrums (301 Total) (Included in the 2020 49-PAK)

    280 more RealDrums now have drum notation, which can be viewed by filtering "RealDrums with RealCharts" in the RealDrums Picker. Learn more...

Band-in-a-Box® 2019 Features and Additions

We’ve added over 64 new features to Band-in-a-Box® 2019, including...

Band-in-a-Box® 64-bit version for Mac®

There is a new 64-bit version of Band-in-a-Box®. This has the newest features of Band-in-a-Box® 2019 and is a modern 64-bit audio app. This means it can use the latest audio drivers and plugins that are designed for the 64-bit audio engine on your Mac® OS.

Band-in-a-Box® VST/AU/AAX DAW Plugin

The Band-in-a-Box® VST/AU/AAX DAW Plugin is separate from the Band-in-a-Box® application and works directly inside your DAW (GarageBand, Logic, Reaper, Pro Tools, Digital Performer, Ableton, PreSonus, etc.). The Plugin uses the content (RealTracks, styles, etc.) present in your Band-in-a-Box® folder to generate audio or MIDI tracks that you can drag/drop from the Plugin into your DAW. (There is a separate documentation for the plugin, including videos, on our website. www.pgmusic.com/support.bbmplugin.htm)

New! USB 3.0... Speed Thrills!

The UltraPAK and UltraPAK+ are now pre-installed and ready to use on super-speed USB 3.0 hard drives! Faster hard drive transfer rates will enhance the program operations (faster time to generate tracks, reduced audio artifacts) and offer faster transfer speeds (typically up to 3x faster). Also available as a ~120 GB download.

SongPicker Redesigned with many Great Features

  • The completely redesigned window shows information for up to 50,000 songs.
  • The song list build is much faster. Approximately 150 songs get added per second.
  • There is a progress bar. This will appear if the song list build is taking more than 3 seconds.
  • You can see the chord progression for the selected song in the list. It can be copied and pasted to a text file.
  • Many filters are available. You can filter the list by subfolders, genre, feel, time signature, style, songs with melody, soloist, lyrics, key signature, tempo range, and the year of file dates.
  • You can search songs that have similar chord progressions and/or melody fragments.

Advanced Filter to Search for RealTracks, RealDrums, and MIDI SuperTracks

A useful filter [#] button has been added in RealTracks Picker, RealDrums Picker, Best RealTracks, and MIDI SuperTracks Picker dialogs. It allows you to quickly filter the list by many elements including type (soloist/background/chording), feel (even/swing, 8th/16th), time signature, artists, and more.

StylePicker Enhancements

  • If the style list needs rebuild, it tells you that within the StylePicker instead of a message that requires a response.
  • The rebuild is faster than before by 75%. It takes 1/4 of the time now.
  • While the style list is being rebuilt, you can see the progress inside the StylePicker.
  • The style list can be filtered by a specific RealTracks/RealDrums/MIDI SuperTracks or RealTracks/MIDI SuperTracks in a certain number range.
  • Each style now has a genre "intensity" score and you can filter the style list by a certain score range.
  • You can filter the style list by a specific Xtra Styles set.
  • The dialog to select an Xtra Styles set has a button to take you to the PG Music website that shows information about Xtra Styles sets.
  • The StylePicker can list all styles (including N/A styles) in the default display.
  • The Set number display is improved, including sort by type and Xtra Styles.

Drum Notation Support

  • All the MIDI Drums have drum notation. Play the MIDI Drums and open the Notation window. Then, select the Drums track and you will see drum notation.
  • Drum notation can be entered by a user on the Melody/Soloist track.

RealDrums Transcription (RealChart)

Some RealDrums have drum notation. Currently, 21 RealDrums can show drum notation, and you can find them with the [#] filter button in the RealDrums Picker.

RealTracks Medley Enhancement

You can now control the loudness of each RealTrack in the medley.

Audio Harmonies Feature Enhancement

The feature now uses BB-Harmony engine when you select the N voices above and M voices below.

Song Titles Browser Enhancements

  • We've added 300 more song titles including requests from users, so there are now over 10,600 titles.
  • The chord density filter is available. You can also filter the list by chord complexity.
  • The memo area displays chord density and complexity for the selected title.

Melodist uses RealStyles

The Melodist uses RealTracks styles instead of MIDI styles to generate songs.

More Extreme Transpositions on some RealTracks

All the "Low Man" and "Re-amped" 12-key metal/thrash electric guitar RealTracks support this feature.

Notation Enhancements

  • Notation is much clearer, not jagged, on retina screens.
  • The right-click menu in the Editable or Staff Roll mode Notation window has an option to change the current beat resolution. Previously, the only way to do this was to right-click on the time line.
  • Clicking close to a stave line will put a note on the stave line instead of between stave lines. Previously, you had to click extremely close to a stave line to insert a note on it.
  • In the Notation Window Options dialog, the clefs split point asterisk indicates that C5* is middle C.
  • The clefs split point can be set by the spin controls.
  • You can quickly enter forced accidentals from the right-click menu.
  • A new track type (Drums) is available for the Melody and Soloist tracks.
  • Holding down the control key and pressing the zoom in/out buttons results in finest possible incremental adjustment in size.
  • There is a keystroke entry mode, which lets you enter a melody entirely using keystrokes. The keystrokes are N to enter a note, M to enter a third note, up/down cursor to change the pitch of the highlighted note, and left/right cursor to move the time line.

Hotkeys Added

  • Typing a time signature (4/4, 3/4, 2/4, or 1/4) enters it in the current bar. 0/4 clears the time signature from the current bar.
  • Style load functions - 11 hotkeys added. s1 opens the StylePicker, s3 opens the Song Titles Brower, etc.
  • Song load functions - 13 hotkeys added. ss opens the SongPicker, ss2 opens the Recently Played Songs, etc.
  • RealTracks - 6 hotkeys added. rt< return> opens the RealTracks Picker, rt2 opens the RealTracks Settings, etc.
  • RealDrums - 4 hotkeys added. rd opens the RealDrums Picker, rd2 opens the RealDrums Settings, and rd3 opens the RealDrums QuickList.
  • Loops - rl opens the Pick a Loop dialog.

Other Features

  • The latest version of Plogue Sforzando (1.952 / 64-bit) is included.
  • Fewer flash messages appear at a time.
  • The élastique engine has been improved and updated to 3.2.9 / 64-bit.
  • The Audio Harmony engine has been improved to version 1.4 / 64-bit.
  • Maj chords will play more accurate with longer phrases.

And more!

Live Help
Contact Info

PG Music Inc.
29 Cadillac Ave Victoria BC Canada V8Z 1T3

Sales: 800-268-6272, 250-475-2874,+ 800-4746-8742*
* Outside USA & Canada where International Freephone service is available. Access Codes

Tech Support: Live Chat, support@pgmusic.com

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News and Notes
August 12, 2020 Accessing Your Band-in-a-Box® Order Online If you've ordered Band-in-a-Box® on our website, you can access your download links (even if you selected a shipping option) from your Account | My... August 11, 2020 Learning with Band-in-a-Box® - Chords & Games Want to hear what a chord sounds like? Type the chord, then press SHIFT enter. The chord will play as it is entered on to...
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Q: How do I get the latest version of Band-in-a-Box?

A: We have packages for first-time or existing customers. Use the convenient chart to find the right package for you.

Q: If I purchase the UltraPAK or UltraPAK+, do I really get a free USB Hard Drive for no additional charge?

A: Yes, Band-in-a-Box is pre-installed on a USB 3.0 hard drive. You can use it directly from the hard disk, or copy it to your computer.

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