When trying to pick out a bass line when trying to learn to play it I find SongMaster Pro especially useful for analyzing Bass lines.
Although it can be done in various DAWs (eg Studio One Pro), I find SongMaster Pro really simplifies the process with its clarity and straight on work flow.
When playing the Bass stem solo in isolation from the Midi view it shows the bass line very clearly with timing and all the note names for all notes, quite helpful since the screen is adjustable for large midi notes and names etc (can cover the whole screen if necessary).
If some notes are missing in the midi it can be extracted from the pitch view and included in the midi view by adjustment of the midi sensitivity controls.
And the spectrogram view shows were it all sits in the spectrogram.
It is a very clear view, easy to follow and play along with or to write down in music notation.
BIAB 2026, Studio Pro 8, Song Master Pro, Win11 Home. i7-9700K CPU, 32GB, ESI MAYA44eX, ZOOM UAC-2, Guitar Pro 8, Transcribe, (EZKeys2, EZD3, SD3, EZBass, EZMix3) Amateur: fiddle, guitar, vocal, beginner on bass.
I am a big SMP fan! The developer just started a FB page which is interesting to see. https://www.facebook.com/groups/songmastercommunity They just put up a video on this exact topic of Bass Midi Extraction. It is a bit older. I can only say it gets better with the newer version since they added Midi Chord block extraction.
When ever I hear a new Youtube audio I download it with free "4K youtube to MP3" and open it in SMP. There I immediately see tempo, time signature, tempo map, stems, chord sequence, block midi chords, song sections, midi, audio... printed charts, xml export, ... even the abily to export all the chords into BIAB with a cut and paste.
This is the starting point for may of the covers I like to sing over.
Been using SMP for about a year now with positive results. Just joined the group. Thanks
Brian Cadoret BIAB 2025 Pro build 1125e with BIAB2023 UltraPAK . Samplitude Pro X4 Suite. Mixcraft 10.5 Pro Studio Focusrite 2i2 Scarlett Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3470 CPU @ 3.20GHz 3.20 GHz Installed RAM 8.00 GB
I am a big SMP fan! The developer just started a FB page which is interesting to see. https://www.facebook.com/groups/songmastercommunity They just put up a video on this exact topic of Bass Midi Extraction. It is a bit older. I can only say it gets better with the newer version since they added Midi Chord block extraction.
When ever I hear a new Youtube audio I download it with free "4K youtube to MP3" and open it in SMP. There I immediately see tempo, time signature, tempo map, stems, chord sequence, block midi chords, song sections, midi, audio... printed charts, xml export, ... even the abily to export all the chords into BIAB with a cut and paste.
This is the starting point for may of the covers I like to sing over.
Just sayin
Thanks for the heads-up on this app. The Personal permanent license fee of 18 € gets you a bunch of additional features, but I went with the Pro permanent license because it supports the higher quality audio (if it exists) I get with my YouTube Premium subscription. The Pro license is on a 25% sale for the next 4 days (from Sunday 27 July). I paid 43,20 €. 4K YouTube to MP3 licenses (Lite, Personal, Pro) I've been using SMP for years. This will be a nice addition to it.
Last edited by TheMaartian; 07/27/2507:58 AM.
ThinkPad i9 32GB RAM 7TB SSD; Win11 Pro; RME Fireface UCX II; BiaB 2026 Ultra Studio Pro 8; Tonalic Studio 1; Reaper v7; Bitwig Studio 6; Melodyne Studio 5 Gig Performer 5; NI S61 MK3; Focal Shape 65; Beyerdynamic DT 880 & 770
Glad to point folks in this direction. I stumbled upon this 4K Youtube, a year or two back. I had used several other options prior to this but it just seamed these would stop working or just became too complicated to keep working. Of couse you can use your DAW to record what you hear - but that is really not always very simple and I hate messing with my configurations for routine work to do something like this. I would be glad to spend a few bucks on this capability but the fact is the free version just does everything I have wanted to do with it. It tells me it will expire, but it never has. But I will go and take another look. And yes this is a perfect combo for SMP.
I've been using the free version for years and find it works quite well. I then open the videos in QuickTime to extract the audio in the lossless m4a format that I prefer to mp3 unless emailing files.
BIAB 2026 Audiophile Mac 24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia/Tahoe, M1 & M5 MBAir, 2012 MBP Digital Performer11, Logic, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScore/Notion/Overture
It sometimes might be worth checking different stem generation engines to see which one gives the best result.
I mostly doing my stem separation in SMP especially when trying to analyze and learn a bass line (see post above).
I am generally very happy with the stem quality produced with SMP but sometimes especially when trying to analyze some old recordings in compressed mp3 from YouTube I find that BIAB and SO7 give a better Bass stem.
The good thing is that it is very easy to line them up in SMP and audit them one by one to compare them as well as for the corresponding produced midi. In addition to generate stems one can also load up external stems into SMP and handle them as any of the other stems (to take advantage of the pure and clear GUI).
In this example I have loaded up 2 external stems of the same song produced by Studio One Pro 7 and BIAB and 2 internal stems produced by SMP, the 4 stem version and the 6 stem version all into SMP. So I have 4 differently generated BASS stems of the same song in SMP
The example is the song “You Better Move On – Arthur Alexander” on YT.
When comparing the different Bass lines it is easy to see that the SMP versions both have several gaps in the audio but the BIAB and SO7 have no gaps (continuous audio)
For this song it seems that BIAB and SO7 are very similar but when listening, I think BIAB comes out slightly on top for the bass stem for this particular song.
Edit: These comments are only for the bass stem, did not check any other stems. My main focus was to be able to hear the notes in the bass line clearly.
BIAB 2026, Studio Pro 8, Song Master Pro, Win11 Home. i7-9700K CPU, 32GB, ESI MAYA44eX, ZOOM UAC-2, Guitar Pro 8, Transcribe, (EZKeys2, EZD3, SD3, EZBass, EZMix3) Amateur: fiddle, guitar, vocal, beginner on bass.
First you need to generate the stems and export them as audio. Then collect all the stems you are interested to open with SMP into one folder (as well as the SMP stem files). In SMP you go to the upper right hand corner "side panel". In the side panel select audio and navigate down to the folder with stems but don't open the folder, right click on the folder and there will be an option "open as stems", and they will all come up as stems in SMP. There may be some more information in the help documentation.
The thing I find easy with SMP is that it aligns all stems correctly (one can do the same in a DAW but when I try it in SO they are all aligned wrongly)
BIAB 2026, Studio Pro 8, Song Master Pro, Win11 Home. i7-9700K CPU, 32GB, ESI MAYA44eX, ZOOM UAC-2, Guitar Pro 8, Transcribe, (EZKeys2, EZD3, SD3, EZBass, EZMix3) Amateur: fiddle, guitar, vocal, beginner on bass.
I agree with you, alignment is crucial expecially when their is a Midi Map being generated. AND I agree, SMP is dropping and/or not fully splitting the stems too often. Or I should say it is doing a good job, but there is room for improvement. Expecially as you have illustrated it is being done better with different apps. Have you shown this picture to Jonathan at SMP? Send him an email or drop it into their FB page to get his opinion.
Shlind, I just spent the morning following your path. I have never used BIAB to split stems. I just never needed to. I have tried other splitters and found SMP to be comparable with nothing else being superior. But you Bass track made me try BIAB since I am just off a project where the bass was a real challenge. So here is what I have concluded: 1) BIAB splitter was not as difficult to operate as I thought it would be, my bad (I found the 2025 Simon Video). But once I got the Bass Audio stem from BIAB on my current project, I did not continue on for tempo mapping and chords - this process still looks too difficult and at this time I don't need it since I have other workflows. 2) The resulting bass stem from BIAB was not good! While there were no significant drop outs, the bleed over from other stems was way to obvious. 4) Even the vocals in BIAB had bleed from the strings. Which was the same issue in SMP. 3) So I don't doubt what you showed when you compared BIAB with SMP. I am just concluding that every track has its own challenges. 4) By the way, I have not been able to "combine" the stems from BIAB into SMP as you did (Otherwise, I would have pasted the pic). I am still missing something which I may figure out in time. I must have to due with the "settings for folders". the defaults seems to be a mess using "a network drive" which I avoid. 5) I have solved the Bass problem in past projects by using the midi chords from SMP and sending the midi to EZBass where I isolated the bass notes from the chords. That worked great.
Thanks for suggesting this workflow. I am always looking for how to improve my music making.
Today's the Last Day of the Band-in-a-Box 2026® for Mac Special!
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202 New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2026!
With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
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Rock & Pop (Sets 476–482):
Our new rock & pop RealTracks bring a powerful mix of requested favorites, fresh genres, and modern chart-inspired styles! We have more of our popular “Producer Layered Acoustic Guitars (15)” featuring Band-in-a-Box favorite Brent Mason. We’ve continued our much-requested disco styles (10), and added new Celtic guitar (5) with a more basic, accessible approach than our previous Drop-D or DADGAD offerings. There are also highly requested yacht rock styles (17), inspired by the smooth, polished soft-rock sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s — laid-back grooves, silky electric pianos, warm textures, elegant harmonic movement, and pristine production aesthetics. Fans of heavier styles will love our new glam metal (13), capturing the flashy, high-energy sound of ’80s arena-ready guitar rock. We also have a set of rootsy modern-folk rock (18), with a warm, organic sound combining contemporary folk textures and driving acoustic strumming. And we’ve added lots of new modern pop styles (16) — the kinds of sounds you’re hearing on the radio today, featuring exciting new drums, synths, and cutting-edge RealTracks arrangements.
Country, & Americana (Sets 483–488):
Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
And, if you are looking for more, the 2026 49-PAK (for $49) includes an impressive collection of 20 bonus RealTracks, featuring exciting and inspiring additions to add to your RealTracks library. You'll get new country-rhythm guitar styles from PG Music favorites Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason, along with modern-pop grooves that capture today’s radio-ready sound! There are also new indie-folk styles with guitar, bass, 6-string bass used as a high-chording instrument, acoustic guitar, and banjo. Plus, dedicated "cymbal fills" RealDrums provide an added layer that work very well with low-key folky styles with other percussion.
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-For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
Playable RealTracks Set 5
RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
All of our XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs are on sale until May 15th, 2026!
It's the perfect time to expand your Band-in-a-Box® style library with XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs. These additional styles for Band-in-a-Box® offer a wide range of genres designed to fit seamlessly into your projects. Each style is professionally arranged and mixed, helping enhance your songs while saving you time.
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XPro Styles PAKs are styles that work with any version (Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition) of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). XPro Styles PAKS 1-10 includes 1,000 styles!
Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 includes 3,700 styles (and 35 MIDI styles)!
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Note: 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.
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With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
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