Another channel-swap and remix from last year. The only difference in the rhythm section mix to "Zuzu" is that I've swapped channels on 2 of the 6 rhythm guitars; but replacing the tin whistle, tenor saxophone and dizi flute solos with harmonica, organ and guitar solos respectively makes this version a very different sounding instrumental.
1st & 2nd rhythm guitars: Jovian Divine Alt Rock Soloing ~ Mike Durham Organ: Country Rock Guitar Solo, Pop Ba ~ Gene Rabbai Enya & Sirius Warm Pads & Strings hybrid mix Drums: Nashville Radio Power Bal Solo ~ Miles McPherson Bass Guitar: Bricks Indie Rock w Guitar Solo ~ Tobin Frank Harmonica solo: Wounded Ev Fiery Harmonica Blues ~ L. D. Miller Organ solo: King Fast Blues Rock Organ ~ Charles Treadway 3rd rhythm guitar: Country Rock Guitar Solo, Pop Ba ~ Darin Favorite 4th rhythm guitar: Centaur Gtr Solo Hard Rock Bal ~ Darin Favorite 5th & 6th rhythm guitars: Nashville Radio Power Bal Solo ~ Danny Rader Guitar solo: Outback Country Ballad Soloist ~ Johnny Hiland
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
I actually had to increase the volume on this after listening to several other showcase tunes, so maybe the master volume is low? I'm out of breath just listening to that harmonica! Loved that organ middle.
Chay, another outstanding song That blues harp player has a great set of lungs Super B3 and guitar leads AS always a fantastic mix I really enjoyed this one.
I got banned from Weight Watchers for dropping a bag of M&Ms on the floor. It was the best game of Hungry Hippos I've ever seen!
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
Man, that harmonica is fast, like nothing less than 1/32nd notes. Love the organ take. Cool guitar, too. The soloists have such a nice bed to lay down their tracks. As Beth mentioned, it seems a little low in volume. YT won't raise the volume if it's lower than normal, but they will lower it when it is too high. https://www.loudnesspenalty.com/ is a good place to check it before uploading.
Crazy and very well tune like all your creations. Thanks1 Mike B.
Thanks, Mike! Appreciated.
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
Hi Chay, I actually had to increase the volume on this after listening to several other showcase tunes, so maybe the master volume is low? I'm out of breath just listening to that harmonica! Loved that organ middle.
Thanks, Beth. I'm surprised that you mentioned the volume because each time I do a channel-swap and remix I increase the volume of every stem file by 1db, so everything I'm now posting is louder than the original posts and no-one ever mentioned volume before. Also, there are a lot of lower volume recordings in YT and other sites, plus also on CDs. That said, there appears to be a trend towards making recordings super-loud, which I'm not pro. Here's a note from a PDF on common mistakes made in recordings from a guy who runs a local studio, which is alas just too far away for me to use. ======= Guidelines for a successful Studio Session (common mistakes to avoid) MISTAKE 1: MIXING TOO LOUDLY Mixing too loudly will actually just ruin your mix…. It feels great when you get a great sounding track and you crank up the volume. It can sound big and exciting. A lot of things sound exciting when you blast them but there are good reasons to mix at lower volumes. Working at a lower volume will ensure that your mix doesn’t sound too mid-range and enables you to hear the finer details in your mix and adjust them accordingly. Plus, one of the most important reasons is to protect your ears and those of others!! Exposure to any sounds at high volume are detrimental to your hearing and once you lose it, it never comes back
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
Chay, another outstanding song That blues harp player has a great set of lungs Super B3 and guitar leads AS always a fantastic mix I really enjoyed this one.
Yep, L.D. Miller is a superb and very unique harmonica player! I love his style.
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
Man, that harmonica is fast, like nothing less than 1/32nd notes. Love the organ take. Cool guitar, too. The soloists have such a nice bed to lay down their tracks. As Beth mentioned, it seems a little low in volume. YT won't raise the volume if it's lower than normal, but they will lower it when it is too high. https://www.loudnesspenalty.com/ is a good place to check it before uploading.
Thanks, Marty. Re the volume I'll quote my reaply to Beth:
Thanks, Beth. I'm surprised that you mentioned the volume because each time I do a channel-swap and remix I increase the volume of every stem file by 1db, so everything I'm now posting is louder than the original posts and no-one ever mentioned volume before. Also, there are a lot of lower volume recordings in YT and other sites, plus also on CDs. That said, there appears to be a trend towards making recordings super-loud, which I'm not pro. Here's a note from a PDF on common mistakes made in recordings from a guy who runs a local studio, which is alas just too far away for me to use.
Guidelines for a successful Studio Session (common mistakes to avoid) MISTAKE 1: MIXING TOO LOUDLY Mixing too loudly will actually just ruin your mix…. It feels great when you get a great sounding track and you crank up the volume. It can sound big and exciting. A lot of things sound exciting when you blast them but there are good reasons to mix at lower volumes. Working at a lower volume will ensure that your mix doesn’t sound too mid-range and enables you to hear the finer details in your mix and adjust them accordingly. Plus, one of the most important reasons is to protect your ears and those of others!! Exposure to any sounds at high volume are detrimental to your hearing and once you lose it, it never comes back
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
Chay, This is an excellent piece. That harmonica is great and makes quite the impact when it comes in. Love the flow, build and mix. As always, thoroughly enjoyed! Bob
Thanks, Bob! Always appreciated.
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
Chay, really nicely done once again. Like your instrument choices and the way you build the layers and then trade them off.
Muchas gracias, don Ron. Very much appreciated.
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
Very cool tune. Excellent instrumentation choice. Loved the harp. Mixing levels are a tricky one to get a handle on. I usually mix to -20dB and then export the mix to a wav. Then master the wav separately to -14dB. Mixing loud can definitely give you ear fatigue fast.
Very cool tune. Excellent instrumentation choice. Loved the harp. Mixing levels are a tricky one to get a handle on. I usually mix to -20dB and then export the mix to a wav. Then master the wav separately to -14dB. Mixing loud can definitely give you ear fatigue fast.
Thanks for listening and responding, Scott. Besides hard work, mixing is both a discipline and an art. I don't understand re the minus-dbs you mentioned as I mix in Audacity where all BiaB sample stem files start at 0db. The individual instrument samples can range from very low to very high volumes and all have varying set channel biases, so getting tracks to balance and appear in the desired channels starts from there. In Audacity the actual dbs aren't dbs at all as 2 samples can vary vastly in volume, but they're all given a 0db start.
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
Regarding volume - what do you use to set your levels in mastering? I've taken to using a LufsM leveler so that my tracks are consistent in level up to sending them off for mastering. Nice calm backing for a frenetic harmonica. Sorry, I didn't watch - just listened - the visuals distracted me so I scroll down to type as I listened.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Nice instrumental track...you handle the BIAB components so well! I wonder if you spend alot of time re-generating parts of the RT's to get what you want, or if you use what BIAB gives you--all the phrasing, esp the solo's are just right! Thanks for posting!
Windows 11, Intel Core i5-8600T 2.3Ghz, 16 gig ram, BIAB 2025 MegaPak, SampleTank 4, Keystation49 Kybd, Neewer NW-800 mic
Regarding volume - what do you use to set your levels in mastering? I've taken to using a LufsM leveler so that my tracks are consistent in level up to sending them off for mastering. Nice calm backing for a frenetic harmonica. Sorry, I didn't watch - just listened - the visuals distracted me so I scroll down to type as I listened.
Thanks, Ray. I assume you were asking what I use to set my levels in mixing, not mastering. In short I do everything in Audacity as I was already familiar with it before I'd heard of BiaB. … No prob's re not watching the video as the music is primary. I use YouTube as I get better results on it, though I was doing videos for others music before I started using BiaB.
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
Nice instrumental track...you handle the BIAB components so well! I wonder if you spend alot of time re-generating parts of the RT's to get what you want, or if you use what BIAB gives you--all the phrasing, esp the solo's are just right! Thanks for posting!
Thanks, Tano. Re sampling I'm surprised how often I find that the first take from specific instruments is better than what follows, but I'll equally often find I have to try a few, plus fairly often I'll have to cut and paste from 2-7 samples to get exactly what I want. The first short guitar solo on my Dreaming Of" track is a hybrid of 7 segments from 5 different sample regenerations, then the 2nd shorter guitar solo is a hybrid of snippets from 6 different samples. In the above track I struck lucky and each of the 3 solos are the first samples generated. Once I've had an idea about what next I want to try I create the chord structure, then I gather as many samples as I can of all of the instruments I want to or might possibly use, and that can be anything from 20- 50 different instrument samples. Sometimes it's tricky as so many instruments work, then at other times I'm amazed at how nothing seems to fit what I want!
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
We’ve expanded the Band-in-a-Box® RealTracks library with 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 449-467) across Jazz, Blues, Funk, World, Pop, Rock, Country, Americana, and Praise & Worship—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Blues & World (Sets 449–455):
These RealTracks includes “Soul Jazz” with Neil Swainson (bass), Mike Clark (drums), Charles Treadway (organ), Miles Black (piano), and Brent Mason (guitar). Enjoy “Requested ’60s” jazz, classic acoustic blues with Colin Linden, and more of our popular 2-handed piano soloing. Plus, a RealTracks first—Tango with bandoneon, recorded in Argentina!
Rock & Pop (Sets 456–461):
This collection includes Disco, slap bass ‘70s/‘80s pop, modern and ‘80s metal with Andy Wood, and a unique “Songwriter Potpourri” featuring Chinese folk instruments, piano, banjo, and more. You’ll also find a muted electric guitar style (a RealTracks first!) and “Producer Layered Guitar” styles for slick "produced" sound.
Country, Americana & Praise (Sets 462–467):
We’ve added new RealTracks across bro country, Americana, praise & worship, vintage country, and songwriter piano. Highlights include Brent Mason (electric guitar), Eddie Bayers (drums), Doug Jernigan (pedal steel), John Jarvis (piano), Glen Duncan (banjo, mandolin & fiddle), Mike Harrison (electric bass) and more—offering everything from modern sounds to heartfelt Americana styles
And, if you are looking for more, the 2025 49-PAK (for $49) includes an additional 20 RealTracks with exciting new sounds and genre-spanning styles. Enjoy RealTracks firsts like Chinese instruments (guzheng & dizi), the bandoneon in an authentic Argentine tango trio, and the classic “tic-tac” baritone guitar for vintage country.
You’ll also get slick ’80s metal guitar from Andy Wood, modern metal with guitarist Nico Santora, bass player Nick Schendzielos, and drummer Aaron Stechauner, more praise & worship, indie-folk, modern/bro country with Brent Mason, and “Songwriter Americana” with Johnny Hiland.
Plus, enjoy user-requested styles like Soul Jazz RealDrums, fast Celtic Strathspey guitar, and Chill Hop piano & drums!
With your version 2025 for Mac Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons FREE! Or upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
The 2025 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 33 new RealTracks and 65+ new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 29 new RealTracks and 45+ new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 20 new RealStyles.
Look Ma! More MIDI 13: Country & Americana
Instrumental Studies Set 22: 2-Hand Piano Soloing - Rhythm Changes
MIDI SuperTracks Set 44: Jazz Piano
Artist Performance Set 17: Songs with Vocals 7
Playable RealTracks Set 4
RealDrums Stems Set 7: Jazz with Mike Clark
SynthMaster Sounds and Styles (with audio demos)
128 GM MIDI Patch Audio Demos.
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyles,
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
Look Ma! More MIDI 14: SynthMaster,
Instrumental Studies Set 23: More '80s Hard Rock Soloing,
MIDI SuperTracks Set 45: More SynthMaster
Artist Performance Set 18: Songs with Vocals 8
RealDrums Stems Set 8: Pop, Funk & More with Jerry Roe
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Mac!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 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 and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 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.
New! XPro Styles PAK 9 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and higher for Mac!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 9 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 29 RealTracks/RealDrums!
We've been hard at it to bring you the latest and greatest in this 9th installment of our popular XPro Styles PAK series! Included are 75 styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres (25 styles each) that fans have come to expect, as well as 25 styles in this volume's wildcard genre: funk & R&B!
If you're itching to get a sneak peek at what's included in XPro Styles PAK 9, here is a small helping of what you can look forward to: Funky R&B Horns, Upbeat Celtic Rock, Jazz Fusion Salsa, Gentle Indie Folk, Cool '60s Soul, Funky '70s R&B, Smooth Jazz Hip Hop, Acoustic Rockabilly Swing, Funky Reggae Dub, Dreamy Retro Latin Jazz, Retro Soul-Rock Fusion, and much more!
Special Pricing! Until July 31, 2024, all the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 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!
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.
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Windows!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 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.
New! XPro Styles PAK 9 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and higher for Windows!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 9 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 29 RealTracks/RealDrums!
We've been hard at it to bring you the latest and greatest in this 9th installment of our popular XPro Styles PAK series! Included are 75 styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres (25 styles each) that fans have come to expect, as well as 25 styles in this volume's wildcard genre: funk & R&B!
If you're itching to get a sneak peek at what's included in XPro Styles PAK 9, here is a small helping of what you can look forward to: Funky R&B Horns, Upbeat Celtic Rock, Jazz Fusion Salsa, Gentle Indie Folk, Cool '60s Soul, Funky '70s R&B, Smooth Jazz Hip Hop, Acoustic Rockabilly Swing, Funky Reggae Dub, Dreamy Retro Latin Jazz, Retro Soul-Rock Fusion, and much more!
Special Pricing! Until July 31, 2024, all the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 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!
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.
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: VST3 Plugin Support
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® now includes support for VST3 plugins, alongside VST and AU. Use them with MIDI or audio tracks for even more creative possibilities in your music production.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Macs®: VST3 Plugin Support
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: Using VST3 Plugins
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Loved that organ middle.
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