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Styles and RealTracks Wishlist
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 15
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 15 |
Hey, Pilgrim: Personally, I think my idea for multi-pass style sets seems fairly clever and pregnant with potential. Although I haven’t read any similar Wishlist requests, if I am repeating an idea someone has offered previously, I apologize for the repetition now. However, if my idea is original but its application would not be practical for technical reasons and/or of no use to the typical Band-In-A-Box user, well, I anticipate that some of you who read this will cordially explain why realization of my particular “wish” is unfeasible or undesirable. In the wee hours of a recent workday morning, I awoke a few hours before the alarm-clock was set to buzz. Instead of immediately drifting back into cozy slumber, I experienced a “waking dream” in which I was using special multi-part style sets in BiaB to easily make audio tracks for really full, lush, and articulate mixes. Cool, huh?If I wanted a 12-piece band with a horn section, for example, on the first pass of generating instrument tracks to accompany my melody and chord structure, I might load a hypothetical HornDawgs1A style — the first part of a 2-part style set — and then generate the bass, keyboard, drums, guitar, strings, melody, and soloist tracks. For my way of working (Your mileage may vary.), I would then output each of those instrument tracks as its own separate audio (.wav) file for subsequent mixing in RealBand. Before any mixing, however, I would next load hypothetical style HornDawgs1B — the second part of a 2-part style set — to generate the horn section for my song. Where typical BiaB single-pass styles would usually have to limit the horns to a single brass ensemble track in order to also accommodate all the other aforementioned (minus one or two) instruments, this second pass could generate separately, say, trumpet 1, trumpet 2, trombone, sax, and flute. After I output the individual audio tracks for each horn, then I can begin mixing all 12 tracks in RealBand. And how about orchestral multi-pass style sets? For example, an entire 48-piece chamber orchestra could be recreated by a single 8-part style set, in which individual passes of 6-instruments-at-a-time might include OrchStrings1, OrchStrings2, OrchStrings3, OrchBrass1, OrchBrass2, OrchWoodwinds1, OrchWoodwinds2, and OrchPercussion1 (including keyboard). Oy! Yeah, that would be a lot of stuff to work with — 48 individual instrument tracks, all generated according to one master style! But, hey, this is just an example to suggest to what level a “multi-pass style set” approach could be expanded. (If, of course, passes must be limited to 5-instruments-at-a-time, then a 10-part style set could still handle the project outlined above.)And that's just two examples. You, no doubt, can easily imagine how this concept could apply to various other kinds of music, some of which may be much closer to your heart and more suited to your own personal tastes and needs. And blah, de-blah, blah, blah... Well, I finally faded from semi-consciousness that morning and drifted back into slumber, to dream some regular old-fashioned REM-state non-waking dreams. So, hey, what do ya think of my concept of multi-pass style sets? No changes need to be made to either Band-In-A-Box or RealBand to accommodate this method of significantly increasing the number of instruments available in a style. It's just a matter of some new style sets being written by PG Music and/or after-market vendors, for something more than single-pass output. Hey, I'm just sayin'.... Be well, be happy. And, oh yeah, pleasant dreams. Sincerely, Bro. Dave Lister "There once was a hermit named Dave...."http://www.brodavelister.com/
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Styles and RealTracks Wishlist
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,149
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,149 |
That's sort of like my initial approach to cooking: if a couple spices are good, then throwing in a whole bunch of spices must make something that tastes terrific! It didn't take many experiments to prove that approach wrong. Similarly, my first attempts at orchestral writing consisted of trying to get every instrument to do something different. The result was as predictably bad as my attempts at randomly combining foodstuff: a huge mess. For the most part, BiaB arrangements work because the various instruments (drums, bass, guitar) play supporting roles. As long as they follow the same beat and feel, they'll mesh together well. Put a lead instrument on top of that, and it'll generally sit pretty well. But add another instrument, and you won't end up with a duet. Sure, it might mesh nicely at points, but that's purely chance. Adding more instruments to the mix will only ensure that things get worse, not better. Listen to some orchestral music, and - despite the initial complexity - you'll find that most music can be broken down into the following general functions: melody, counter-melody, harmony, and bass. More than one instrument will often be assigned to a particular part - for example, you might have the strings taking the melody in octaves, or the brass playing the counter-melody in block chords, and so on. But that's homophony - a thickened line, with all the instruments are playing the same rhythm, moving in similar directions. (BiaB's harmony function is an excellent example of this). So there may be 52 instruments playing, but they aren't all playing something different - even if they aren't all playing the same note. And often, many of these instruments aren't doing anything at all. Good orchestration is based on variety. So the woodwinds will have the melody for a few bars, and then it'll be handed off to the strings, and so on. And that's ignoring the problem of coordinating all these parts. Consider, for example, what it takes to create a counter-melody. You'll want the counter-melody to: - Use chordal notes, but not notes already selected by the melody;
- Generally move in the opposite direction of the melody;
- Avoid dissonant intervals;
- Avoid parallel fifths and octaves;
- Be sparse when the melody is busy, and busy when the melody is sparse
If you don't follow those rules, your counter-melody is going to sound pretty stupid. This sort of capability is beyond RealTracks at the moment, and it ignores another huge constraint: - Make the choice from the pre-recorded options
 Anyway, the short(er) answer is that although it may seem that an orchestra is a lot of instruments playing different things, when you break it down, it's a lot of instruments playing similar things, following lots of complex rules that if you don't follow, you'll end up with a mess.
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows Special Offers End Tomorrow (January 15th, 2026) at 11:59 PM PST!
Time really is running out! Save up to 50% on Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® upgrades and receive a FREE Bonus PAK—only when you order by 11:59 PM PST on Thursday, January 15, 2026!
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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 new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. You can view the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to process an entire track or focus on specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
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, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
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Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® Special Offers Extended Until January 15, 2026!
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We've packed Band-in-a-Box® 2026 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 process 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, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
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Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® today! Check out the Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all the purchase options available.
Happy New Year!
Thank you for being part of the Band-in-a-Box® community.
Wishing you and yours a very happy 2026—Happy New Year from all of us at PG Music!
Season's Greetings!
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy holiday season—thanks for being part of our community!
The office will be closed for Christmas Day, but we will be back on Boxing Day (Dec 26th) at 6:00am PST.
Team PG
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: The Newly Designed Piano Roll Window
In this video, we explore the updated Piano Roll, complete with a modernized look and exciting new features. You’ll see new filtering options that make it easy to focus on specific note groups, smoother and more intuitive note entry and editing, and enhanced options for zooming, looping, and more.
Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
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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-For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
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-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 12 new RealStyles.
- 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)
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- 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
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- Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
- Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
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Learn more about the Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®!
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