So, I am trying to write a chord which has a D in the bass and then in the right hand has a D major triad in second inversion. Slash chords won't work because I still want the D in the bass?
It should be possible using MIDI. It may also be possible using Playable RealTracks. Are those options?
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
So, I am trying to write a chord which has a D in the bass and then in the right hand has a D major triad in second inversion. Slash chords won't work because I still want the D in the bass?
Second, Dan is correct that you cannot specify chord voicing in BIAB. Having said that:
BIAB supports slash roots but not when the root (the bass note after the slash) is the same as the root of the triad. But you don’t need a slash root here anyway because your bass D is the same as the name of the triad’s root.
While you can’t control what the live musicians recorded, you can do partial regeneration on measures in the hope that one of the variations gives you the inversion you want.
You should also look into Pedal Bass in BIAB.
So what’s the melody like over this chord? There might be other ways to write it depending on the melody note, the genre, and how important it is to have the sound of the second inversion.
Finally, there is no rule that the chord must contain the melody note; it can just support it.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
So what’s the melody like over this chord? There might be other ways to write it depending on the melody note, the genre, and how important it is to have the sound of the second inversion.
Finally, there is no rule that the chord must contain the melody note; it can just support it.
Thank you I shall look into that. At the moment I am studying Carole King piano styles. She's simple but SO effective. I ma always going back to simplcity.
This bit is a turnaround.
Chords are: D in Bass, RH 2nd inv D in right C# in Bass. RH A root triad (slash chord) B in Bass. F# A D - a form of B minor (looks like 1st inv D) A in Bass. A major in 2nd inv.
Here is a good video on the style:
I am aware that I do not have to have strictly identical chords, but I would like to be close on this occasion. I want to take it around the cycles.
Z, there are only two ways to get BiaB to play the chords exactly the way you want them to sound: 1-MIDI with a good sound source. With MIDI you can easily move chord notes around to get the inversion you want. 2-The polyphonic version of Melodyne (or equivalent). You can easily move RT notes in Melodyne.
Neither of these may be a good option for you but my experience indicates that they are the only options. Note that I have used Melodyne with RTs with no artifacts.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
Thank you all. that's all I need here. Really these chords are being used ot take turnarounds around cycles that is all. I rally only use BIAB for quick impro exercises, not for elaborate work. It is excellent for this purpose, if you keep out of the weeds .
The weeds are where the real fun lurks. But some ticks, too.
It's amazing what you can learn here. Now, did you try this? Click to load a new style and type Carole King on the far right where it says Type in a Familiar Song Title. I got 13 rows. Perhaps some of the players who recorded these played in the same style as the video.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
Z, there are only two ways to get BiaB to play the chords exactly the way you want them to sound: 1-MIDI with a good sound source. With MIDI you can easily move chord notes around to get the inversion you want. 2-The polyphonic version of Melodyne (or equivalent). You can easily move RT notes in Melodyne.
Neither of these may be a good option for you but my experience indicates that they are the only options. Note that I have used Melodyne with RTs with no artifacts.
3-Playable RealTracks. Uses midi for note entry and uses audio samples from RealTrack instruments.
Z, there are only two ways to get BiaB to play the chords exactly the way you want them to sound: 1-MIDI with a good sound source. With MIDI you can easily move chord notes around to get the inversion you want. 2-The polyphonic version of Melodyne (or equivalent). You can easily move RT notes in Melodyne.
Neither of these may be a good option for you but my experience indicates that they are the only options. Note that I have used Melodyne with RTs with no artifacts.
3-Playable RealTracks. Uses midi for note entry and uses audio samples from RealTrack instruments.
Thanx Jim for adding that. I forgot about Playabe RealTracks.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
So, I am trying to write a chord which has a D in the bass and then in the right hand has a D major triad in second inversion. Slash chords won't work because I still want the D in the bass?
Is this possible please?
Z
Slash chords are ONLY about the bass. The slash specifies a note that is NOT a root. How you arrange the voices on top have nothing to do with slash chords. This is merely the 'voicing' of a chord.
Yes, as I mentioned above, BIAB does not support using a slash root that is the same note as the root of the triad. Of course by definition that shouldn’t be needed, although there are times when you might want to force a specific bass line by using slash roots instead of leaving to chance whether the bass plays the root or something else. However, BIAB seems to recognize an ascending or descending bass line in context.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
From all appearances, Zero is working with a Piano instrument. If that's the case, all of the issues listed are overcome by using a SuperMidi Piano instrument.
SuperMidi instruments are created and function like RealTracks and have editable notation and sound nearly as good as a RealTrack particularly pianos and organs. It's fairly easy to match SuperMidi with the artist and instrument used to create the SuperMidi instrument.
It sounds like you have found a solution to your question, but does Bm7/D bring about an option to solve your question, or does it not produce a D major triad in the right hand?
Tom Marvan.
Tom Marvan Dunbar7376 San Diego, CA
Band in A Box Audiophile 2025
MSI GE66 10SFS 15.6" Laptop (Model GE66048) Intel Core i7 10th Gen i7-10750H 2.6ghz 32GB DDR4 RAM 2666mhz 8GB GDDR6 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 1920x1080 Full HD LED 2x1TB NVMe SSD PCI
It's one reason why I use MIDI instead of real tracks.
BiaB picks the chord inversion, which might be fine, but not what I want. If I export the MIDI song, I can go to a sequencer or DAW, and make what I think is the very good output of BiaB and turn it into something that is ready for prime time, excellent.
Introducing XPro Styles PAK 11 – Now Available for Windows Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
XPro Styles PAK 11 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box® version 2026 (and higher) is here with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 31 RealTracks/RealDrums!
Guess who’s back again? That’s right! It’s our XPro Styles PAK’s triumphant return with the 11th edition in this series! 100 new styles are coming your way spread across the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres. And this edition's wildcard genre explores the immense and far-reaching catalogue of electronic music! The included 31 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1-11 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® 2026 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 22 – Now Available for Windows Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2026 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
It’s time to celebrate! Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Band-in-a-Box® is here, and we've got 200 brand-new styles coming your way!
No Xtra Styles PAK is complete without the classic rock & pop, jazz, and country volumes you know and love, and we’ve got plenty to share, with 150 styles spread across too many genres to list! Of course, it also wouldn’t be complete with our special wildcard volume to add a little spice and pizzazz to the mix. This year, because we loved it so much the first time, we’ve decided to make the second iteration of our SynthMaster volume, full of new sounds, interesting genres, and 50 engaging styles, all making use of the diverse SynthMaster plugin! Here you can find genres such as airy yacht rock, sultry electrotango, and even some synth soca funk. Don’t wait, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 22 today!
In this PAK you can find: dulcet folk ballads, funky gospel country, Brazilian jazz fusion, upbeat 1980s pop, classic Americana, a plethora of breezy bossa novas, indie singer-songwriter, scintillating synthwave, exuberant electronica, and many, many more!
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1-22 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 22 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 22 requires the 2026 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 11 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
XPro Styles PAK 11 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box® version 2026 (and higher) is here with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 31 RealTracks/RealDrums!
Guess who’s back again? That’s right! It’s our XPro Styles PAK’s triumphant return with the 11th edition in this series! 100 new styles are coming your way spread across the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres. And this edition's wildcard genre explores the immense and far-reaching catalogue of electronic music! The included 31 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1-11 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® 2026 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 22 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2026 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
It’s time to celebrate! Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Band-in-a-Box® is here, and we've got 200 brand-new styles coming your way!
No Xtra Styles PAK is complete without the classic rock & pop, jazz, and country volumes you know and love, and we’ve got plenty to share, with 150 styles spread across too many genres to list! Of course, it also wouldn’t be complete with our special wildcard volume to add a little spice and pizzazz to the mix. This year, because we loved it so much the first time, we’ve decided to make the second iteration of our SynthMaster volume, full of new sounds, interesting genres, and 50 engaging styles, all making use of the diverse SynthMaster plugin! Here you can find genres such as airy yacht rock, sultry electrotango, and even some synth soca funk. Don’t wait, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 22 today!
In this PAK you can find: dulcet folk ballads, funky gospel country, Brazilian jazz fusion, upbeat 1980s pop, classic Americana, a plethora of breezy bossa novas, indie singer-songwriter, scintillating synthwave, exuberant electronica, and many, many more!
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1-22 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 22 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 22 requires the 2026 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.
zplane recently interviewed Peter Gannon, the founder and creator of Band-in-a-Box, about the software's early days, what sets it apart from AI, how zplane's audio algorithms are used in Band-in-a-Box, and more!
Special thanks to the team at zplane for their continued support.
Last Chance! The Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® Special Ends Today (May 31, 2026) at 11:59pm PDT!
Time really is running out! Save up to 50% on Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® upgrades and receive a FREE Bonus PAK—only when you order by 11:59 PM PDT today!
We've added many major new features and new content in a redesigned Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
Version 2026 introduces a modernized GUI redesign across the program, with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, and a new Dark Mode option. There’s also a new side toolbar for quicker access to commonly used windows, and the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, making it easier to customize your workspace.
Another exciting new addition is the amazing new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. View the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to transcribe an entire track or transcribe specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®.
There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, and much more!
Upgrade your Band-in-a-Box for Mac® to save up to 50% on most Band-in-a-Box® 2026 upgrade packages!
Plus, when you order your Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac upgrade during our special, you'll receive a Free Bonus PAK of exciting new add-ons.
If you need any help deciding which package is the best option for you, just let us know. We are here to help!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Special Offers Extended Until May 31st!
Good news- we've extended our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® special offers until May 31, 2026!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 is packed with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can transcribe an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, and much more!
There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®.
When you order purchase Band-in-a-Box® 2026 before 11:59 PM PDT on May 31st, you'll also receive a Free Bonus PAK packed with exciting new add-ons.
Check out the Band-in-a-Box® for Mac packages page to find the best package for you.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you over the phone. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday, and 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST Saturday. We are closed Sunday. You can also send us your questions via email.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you on our Live Chat or by email. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST (GMT -8) Saturday; Closed Sunday.