|
Log in to post
|
Print Thread |
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14
Newbie
|
OP
Newbie
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14 |
I imported an audio file into BIAB (2011) and spent hours syncing it up with some
Real Drums, changing a bunch of Chord and Bar settings, Part Markers, etc, until I had
exactly what I wanted. Sounded great so I froze the drums and saved the file.
But when I reopened the file it had changed dramatically from the settings I saved:
some bars of Real Drums missing or playing on wrong beat, audio file missing, settings
for Real Tracks changed (i.e. had muted all except drums - now all back on; had tried
deleting all RT's - now back.)
Figured it was me, so I have tried:
- Save, Save As, Save +
- rebooting
- uninstalling and reinstalling (have run with everything on the USB HD, RTs & RD's left on the
USB HD but the program loaded on my computer, and finally with everything including
the RTs & RD's loaded onto my computer)
- making sure my Soundcard driver is up to date
- turning off Anti-Virus, Wireless, and User Account Control
- creating a new folder and starting from scratch with all the files going in there.
But the problem remains - I can redo my settings until the file plays fine in BIAB,
but when I save and then reopen it, it has changed.
PG Music Tech support has tried to help figure it out, but so far no solutions, so hoping
some of the experts out there have got some ideas. Very, very frustrating and running out
of time and energy trying to solve this.
PS Another very bizarre problem:
- I have the drums muted in the first bar and this works ... sometimes. But other times
(randomly as far as I can tell) BIAB plays a snare shot on the first beat! (I've tried all the
different fixes above with this, too.) And when I render to a Wav file, even if it's NOT
playing the shot in BIAB, it's there on the Wav.
Help!
------------------------
BIAB 2011 Ultra-Pak.
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
2.1GHz Dual-Core Processor
3GB RAM
320GB HD (7200RPM)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,597
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,597 |
Hi vcp,
The song's construction process that you outline sounds like it would be much much better suited to Realband than BIAB.
Is there a reason that you need to use BIAB for this particular song? From my experience, the kind of editing you describe would be a whole heap easier to accomplish in RB. It the kind of this that RB was designed for.
Regards,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,616
Expert
|
|
Expert
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,616 |
Noel is correct that this is more suited for RealBand. Syncing an audio file can be difficult, especially if the tempo is slightly different anywhere in the song. If you work your way through all the changes again, try Rendering the song. If you want the audio included, be sure to check that option in the Render dialog. I have lost frozen tracks when changing the style.
A couple of suggestions:
- If you are using a style with RealTracks, try a similar Midi style and add RealTracks manually.
- There is a .bt1 file that is created which syncs the audio to the song. Try deleting that and re-playing song. A new .bt1 will be created.
- Your drums may be starting on the upbeat. Some RTs do this. I don't recall RDs doing it but possible. Play around with the Count-in settings.
- It is possible that the song file is corrupt. If it is easy, copy your chords/melody etc to a new song.
Hope some of this helps
R
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14
Newbie
|
|
OP
Newbie
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14 |
Thanks Noel and Rachael,
I actually did try moving over to RB instead of BIAB, but it presented
a new set of problems that sent me back to BIAB:
1. The same RTs played in RB have a distinctively different sound than when
they are played in BIAB. (I assume this is because of the FX and mix that are on
them in BIAB. It is definitely not just an issue of track volumes.) I tried to solve
this by finding the FX on the RTs in BIAB and copying them to the RB files,
but was surprised to find that the FX interfaces between the 2 programs are so
different that this task would be very tedious and time consuming. (Anyone found
a way to load the RTs into RB with the FX/mix from BIAB??)
2. The files I compose in BIAB with RTs and RDs do not play the same in RB -
e.g. I have a BIAB file with RT instruments on the Soloist track changing over
16 bars. When I open this BIAB file with RB, it does not play the instrument
changes -just one instrument. (Tech support wasn't sure if RB will play these
changes from a BIAB file. Anyone else know?)
So I've definitely hit the wall. Hoping there's a solution 'cause I really like the
potential with the RTs and RDs. But in my experience, it's always a bad omen
when I run into repeated file corruption and inconsistent results from the same
set of commands.
I'll give it a few more hours tomorrow and see what happens. Thanks for your help, folks!
vcp
PS I redid the song from scratch a couple times, Rachael - new file, new folder, etc -
and it would seem to work, but again, when I reopen the saved files, they're corrupt.
And that snare shot plays randomly on the same file - a real puzzler.
PPS A clue?? - got the song playing perfectly in BIAB so I froze the RD track and
saved the file. Hit play again, and it played completely different! Is Freeze causing problems??
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,333
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,333 |
I suspect some of the tracks were not frozen and regenerated themselves on pressing play.
What if you import the stuff, make sure play on load is not active, and then freeze each track?
John Conley
Musica est vita
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 8,021
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 8,021 |
BIAB RTs & RB RTs are exactly the same. All settings like vol, pan are saved when you import to RB.The only difference is that there is reverb available by default on the BIAB RTs but it's NOT actually part of the RT. It can be turned off if you want. It's the same PG Reverb available in RB.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 12
Newbie
|
|
Newbie
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 12 |
Quote:
I suspect some of the tracks were not frozen and regenerated themselves on pressing play.
What if you import the stuff, make sure play on load is not active, and then freeze each track?
I've discovered one possible suspect for this RealTracks corruption problem, unrelated to freezing or regeneration.
It's in this post
http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/showflat.p...SID=#Post305625
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14
Newbie
|
|
OP
Newbie
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14 |
Quote:
I've discovered one possible suspect for this RealTracks corruption problem, unrelated to freezing or regeneration.
It's in this post
http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/showflat.p...SID=#Post305625
Thanks, McSam! Very interesting. At least I know it's not just me going crazy battling some bugs ;-))
And I did try Save+ at one point, so maybe that did something to the file.
And John and Silvertones, thanks for pitching in as well! Much appreciated.
(Silvertones, have you found an easy way to recreate the BIAB reverb settings on the RTs in RB?)
Only spent half the day wrestling software today - decided I needed to recharge by actually
playing some music! ("Ahhh, that's better!" ;-))
PS Opened the BIAB problem song file in RB and checked the RD Wav file - the snare shot was
at the very end of the 2 bar intro in the Wav file. Why? No clue. Deleted it, rendered the
whole song to Wav from RB and it played without the snare shot. Now I have to figure out how
it (the snare shot) got into the BIAB song file in the first place. And more puzzling, why it
only plays randomly. (Still doing it in BIAB.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,333
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,333 |
Don't go deaf. I have a new thing where 2 drum sticks get hit together when I'm sitting by myself. I spent days going nuts before calling my audiologist and finding out that the stick (shots) and running water sounds are normal. Oh boy. I think the random running water sounds are meant to go with the random running water sensation on my feet, which goes to figure. Why have one without the other.
The only problem I used to have was a random drum sound at the end of a generated band in a box file. It was way at the end so I used Audacity to peel it out. Mind you I only really use those files to take 'upstairs' and play through a soundsystem to use on the acoustic piano. I have not used a file like that at Wembly Stadium yet.
John Conley
Musica est vita
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,836
PG Music Staff
|
|
PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,836 |
Hello vcp, Quote:
I imported an audio file into BIAB (2011) and spent hours syncing it up with some
Real Drums, changing a bunch of Chord and Bar settings, Part Markers, etc, until I had
exactly what I wanted. Sounded great so I froze the drums and saved the file.
But when I reopened the file it had changed dramatically from the settings I saved:
some bars of Real Drums missing or playing on wrong beat, audio file missing, settings
for Real Tracks changed (i.e. had muted all except drums - now all back on; had tried
deleting all RT's - now back.)
If your song has an audio track, this is simply a wave file that has the same name as the Band-in-a-Box file. So after importing your audio track and saving, you'll have "MySong.MGU" and "MySong.WAV" in the same folder. One way to lose your audio track, is to rename the MGU file in Windows Explorer, and then open it in Band-in-a-Box. In this case, to get the audio track back you could rename the wave file also and re-open the song.
Another way to lose the audio track is to use the feature "Play | Render song to audio track". This is one method of "freezing" the current arrangement (different than the actual freeze feature) by rendering it permanently to the audio track. Doing this will overwrite your audio track, although there is a warning message if an audio track exists.
Quote:
had muted all except drums - now all back on
Depends how you muted the tracks. The way you *should* do it, is type C.d in the first bar (that is, mute all instruments except drums). Then, highlight your entire song and go to Edit | Copy Rests. If you muted instruments by simply right-clicking on the tracks in the instrument panel at the top of the screen, that will not stick - it is not a setting that is saved with songs.
Quote:
had tried deleting all RT's - now back.
There can be RealTracks assigned to the song ("Song RealTracks", or built into the style ("Style RealTracks"). In the RealTracks Picker, select the track that has RealTracks you want to remove, and press [none]. If the track has "Style RealTracks", a message will ask if you want to disable RealTracks in the style - answer Yes. Now the track will either be blank, or there will be a MIDI track in its place. So if you want to get rid of that track completely, both MIDI and RealTracks, you would want to use 'rests'.
It sounds like you are essentially:
1. Importing an audio file that doesn't have drums.
2. Selecting a RealDrums track to play along with it.
If this is correct, why not start out with a blank style (select either the 4/4 or 3/4 Blank.sty from the StylePicker. Then you can audition and add "Song RealDrums" without having to worry about getting rid of existing tracks.
A second point - as others have mentioned, RealBand would probably be easier to use in this case, unless your audio file was recorded to a click track at a specific tempo, like 120 bpm.
One last thing that I thought of - There are two main types of Band-in-a-Box song file extensions - .MGU for songs with a melody track, and .SGU for songs without. Perhaps you saved your song as an .SGU file (after removing the melody), but then you opened the .MGU file...
Andrew
PG Music Inc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14
Newbie
|
|
OP
Newbie
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14 |
Thanks, Andrew! Very clear instructions - I will try them all.
vcp
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
With your version 2026 for Mac Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons for FREE! Or upgrade to the 2026 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 2026 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 25 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-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)
- 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)
Learn more about the Bonus PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
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.
What are XPro Styles and Xtra Styles PAKs?
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)!
The XPro & Xtra Styles PAKs are not included in any Band-in-a-Box® package.
The XPro Styles PAKs 1-10 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
The Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the Xtra Styles PAK Bundle for only $199 (reg. $349)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
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.
The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 19 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version as they require the RealTracks included in the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Supercharge your Band-in-a-Box today with XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAK Sets!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac Videos
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.
Whether you're exploring new features, checking out the latest RealTracks or Style PAKs, this is your go-to guide for Band-in-a-Box® 2026.
Check out this forum post for "One Stop Shopping" of our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Videos!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac is Here!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac is here and it is packed with major new features! There’s a new modern look, a GUI redesign to all areas of the program including toolbars, windows, workflow and more. There’s a Multi-view layout for organizing multiple windows. A standout addition is the powerful AI-Notes feature, which uses AI neural-net technology to transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI—entire mixes or individual instruments—making it easy to study, view, and play parts from any song. And that’s just the beginning—there are over 100 new features in this exciting release.
Along with version 2026, we've released an incredible lineup of new content! There's 202 new RealTracks, brand-new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two new RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
Special Offers
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac and save up to 50% on most upgrade packages during our special offer—available until May 15, 2026. Visit our Band-in-a-Box® packages page to explore all available upgrade options.
2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
Our Free Bonus PAK and 49-PAK are loaded with amazing add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is included with most Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac packages, but you can unlock even more—including 20 unreleased RealTracks—by upgrading to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49.
Holiday Weekend Hours
As we hop into the Easter weekend, here are our holiday hours:
April 3 (Good Friday): 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM PDT
April 4 (Saturday): Closed
April 5 (Easter Sunday): Closed
April 6 (Easter Monday): Open regular hours
Wishing you an egg-cellent weekend!
— Team PG
Update to Build 10 of RealBand® 2026 for Windows®!
If you're already using RealBand 2026 for Windows, download build 10 to get all the latest additions and enhancements.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
If you're already using Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, make sure to grab the latest update! Build 904 is now available for download and includes the newest additions and enhancements from our team.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forums57
Topics86,246
Posts802,335
Members40,075
| |
Most Online64,515
Apr 8th, 2026
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There are no members with birthdays on this day. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean