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I have had a myriad of problems with my BIAB 2024 build 1109. You may remember from about a decade ago "The Blue Screen of Death" on Windows computers. I had the "Red Notes are missing or intermittent on playback." It is now working properly.

Perhaps in the repair process, some other, worse, problem was triggered. Now, on certain songs, BIAB freezes, crashes, stops. Sometimes as early as the first beat of the fourth bar - with two into bars. Sometimes further into the song. I don't have empirical data at this point, but it seems the same songs will crash BIAB every time while others will not. There seem to be more of the "good actors" than the "bad actors" at this point.

This is maddening and untenable. If anybody has experienced this, especially if you have found a cure, I surely would like some help. Please.

Natcheztoo
Jerry Krouse

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one fix that sometimes works with other programs is save the file under another name - so 'my song' becomes 'mysong1'.

not a BIAB fix but it may turn bad ones into good ones. it certainly works with microsoft office files. some of the time at least.

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Here is a new clue that I hope elicits some responses:

I was just working with a song and everything was working perfectly. I entered lyrics using note-based lyrics. When I finished, I hit SAVE and closed the song.

At that point I realized I did not like the title, renamed it and hit SAVE AS. That left me with two identical songs with two different titles. Before deleting one, I decided to ensure that it would play. When I hit PLAY, BIAB crashed immediately. I tried the other title and it crashed too. Does this "clue" help any?

I presume, and pray, that when and if this problem ever gets solved, that I will be able to play the song again. I would hate to reconstruct it from scratch.

Natcheztoo
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I don't see you following protocol which says "as soon as BIAB is doing something it should not, then hit the RTFS button". Open BIAB, not the song files, and do just that. Then open song files.


BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.

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DrDan,

Thank you. Although I have been "using" BIAB since 2016, (upgrade in 2016, 2020, and 2024) I have just basically been recording my songs, putting in the meter, a suitable style, and saving them. I tell people that BIAB is a vast program and I know about five grains of sand compared to the beaches at Orange Beach, Alabama (pick your own beach!).

I do not know what the "RTFS button" is. I asked ChatPG. It doesn't know either. You mentioned that you do not see me, "...following protocol which says 'as soon as BIAB is doing something it should not, then hit the RTFS button." This is the first I heard about this protocol and ChatPG seems not t know anything about it either. There is so much about BIAB that I do not know and that is above my ken. But this program CRASHING is seriously threatening what I am trying to do. Namely: record my songs for safe keeping and having the ability to print them when I want. I have no aspirations (or ability) to do the high-level things that so many users seem to be able to do with ease.

If you would care to try and explain what you said, I would appreciate it.

Regards,

Jerry Krouse

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Good Luck
Dan


BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.

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DrDan,

Thanks. I have used RTFS before. I just didn't think of in terms of RTFS. I have already asked one of the techs at PGmusic about this, but he hasn't replied yet.

I have heard it is best to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are stupid rather than opening it and proving you are, but here goes: do you think this will do any damage to my songs, files, or will set anything back to "zero" that will require a lot of work to bet back to where it was?

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Originally Posted by natcheztoo
...
: do you think this will do any damage to my songs, files, or will set anything back to "zero" that will require a lot of work to bet back to where it was?
No, it won't change anything. it won't delete any of your work. There are two options in Return To Factory Settings:
Most and All
Choose the 'Most' option, as that doesn't change your MIDI drivers etc.


BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Professional & Windows 11, Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors
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New news:

Andrew (A tech at PGmusic),

It is midnight here and this is just a quick partial reply. Well, the MME vs. the WAS turned out to be very interesting:

1) Changing it back to WAS appears to have completely eliminated BIAB crashing.
2) It also brought back the missing / intermittent RED NOTE problem.

Until we can get this all down to settled science, I am going to leave it set on WAS as the program crashing was much worse than not having the melody notes show in red.

More tomorrow.

Regards,

Jerry

Hi Jerry,

Sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner. First, if you can send me a song file that freezes the program, we can test it here.

On the topic of sound / Audio drivers. I changed your Audio Driver type from WAS to MME (this is in Options | MIDI/Audio Driver setup). You could change it back if you want, and see if that fixes the new problem with songs locking up. We only did that so that the orange informational message wouldn't appear.

If the Band-in-a-Box is much louder or softer than other sounds on your computer, check to see what audio device it's using. It may be using the same as you have set as your default in Windows sound settings, or it may be using a different device. You should familiarize yourself and make sense of the three areas listed below:

(1) Right-click on the volume icon in the task bar and click Volume Mixer. You can adjust the system volume here (Windows also lets you adjust the relative volumes of running applications) Click on the drop down arrow under "Device" on the left - this will show you the different output devices you can choose from on your system. (Screen shots are my Windows 10 system - yours will obviously be different)

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No, it won't change anything. it won't delete any of your work. There are two options in Return To Factory Settings:
Most and All
Choose the 'Most' option, as that doesn't change your MIDI drivers etc.

Another thing you can do, which is good for troubleshooting, is to:

1. Close Band-in-a-Box.
2. Add a file called safemode.txt to the Preferences folder. (contents of the file doesn't matter)
3. Boot Band-in-a-Box, and you should see red text confirming that it is in "safe mode".
This just means it is running at factory settings. You can do a test to see if the problem happens, and then you can close Band-in-a-Box and delete the file and you won't have made any changes to your settings.


Andrew
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe

This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.

Watch the video.

You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!

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  • MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
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Video: New User Interface (GUI)

Join Tobin as he takes you on a tour of the new user interface in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®! This modern GUI redesign offers a sleek new look with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, and a smoother workflow. The brand-new side toolbar puts track selection, the MultiPicker Library, and other essential tools right at your fingertips. Plus, our upgraded Multi-View lets you layer multiple windows without overlap, giving you a highly flexible workspace. Many windows—including Tracks, Piano Roll, and more—have been redesigned for improved usability and a cleaner, more intuitive interface, and more!

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You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!

Introducing XPro Styles PAK 10 – Now Available for Windows Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!

We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!

Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a brand spankin’ new XPro Styles PAK! In this, the 10th edition of our XPro Styles PAK series, we’ve got 100 styles coming your way! We have the classic 25 styles each from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, and rounding out this volume's wildcard slot is 25 styles in the Praise & Worship genre! A wide spanning genre, you can find everything from rock, folk, country, and more underneath its umbrella. The included 28 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.

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Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!

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Video: Xtra Styles PAK 21 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!

Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 21 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.

Introducing XPro Styles PAK 10 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!

We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!

Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a brand spankin’ new XPro Styles PAK! In this, the 10th edition of our XPro Styles PAK series, we’ve got 100 styles coming your way! We have the classic 25 styles each from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, and rounding out this volume's wildcard slot is 25 styles in the Praise & Worship genre! A wide spanning genre, you can find everything from rock, folk, country, and more underneath its umbrella. The included 28 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.

Here’s just a small sampling of what you can look forward to in XPro Styles PAK 10: Soft indie folk worship songs, bumpin’ country boogies, gospel praise breaks, hard rockin’ pop, funky disco grooves, smooth Latin jazz pop, bossa nova fusion, western swing, alternative hip-hop, cool country funk, and much more!

Special offers until December 31st, 2025!

All the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 10 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!

Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.

Video: XPro Styles PAK 10 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!

XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.

Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 21 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!

Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!

We're excited to bring you our latest Xtra Styles PAK installment—the all new Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher)!

Rejoice, one and all, for Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box® is here! We’re serving up 200 brand spankin’ new styles to delight your musical taste buds! The first three courses are the classics you’ve come to know and love, including offerings from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, but, not to be outdone, this year’s fourth course is bro country! A wide ranging genre, you can find everything from hip-hop, uptempo outlaw country, hard hitting rock, funk, and even electronica, all with that familiar bro country flair. The dinner bell has been rung, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 21 today!

In this PAK you’ll discover: Energetic folk rock, raucous train beats, fast country boogies, acid jazz grooves, laid-back funky jams, a bevy of breezy jazz waltzes, calm electro funk, indie synth pop, industrial synth metal, and more bro country than could possibly fit in the back of a pickup truck!

Special offers until December 31st, 2025!

All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 21 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 21 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!

Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 21.

Video: Xtra Styles PAK 21 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!

Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 21 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.

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