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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 181
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 181 |
Having seen the link at PGMusic.com to the new Microsoft Songsmith program, and having downloaded the demo etc., I see that PGMusic has apparently provided the basic Songsmith Styles and is offering add-on Songsmith Styles. Is there a relation between Songsmith Styles and BIAB Styles such that BIAB Styles (all of which I have) could be used -- possibly following some kind of convwersion -- in Songsmith?
www.LawTunes.com: The LawTunes - The Musical Scales of Justice - Original Lawyer Rock & Roll www.SurfChords.com: The SurfChords - The Endless Summer Continues and The Wave Never Ends
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 181
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 181 |
And a follow-up question: Is there a list of what Songsmith Style corresponds to what BIAB Style, so if I create a tune with the former I can load it into BIAB and do further work with the latter? Thanks.
www.LawTunes.com: The LawTunes - The Musical Scales of Justice - Original Lawyer Rock & Roll www.SurfChords.com: The SurfChords - The Endless Summer Continues and The Wave Never Ends
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 69
Enthusiast
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Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 69 |
i am anxious to find out about these questions myself!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 404
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 404 |
I guess that Songsmith creates a "monolithic" audio file that can't be modified with BIAB.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2000
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The input to Songsmith is your voice or some instrumental lead. The output is some chord progression and an arrangement. It should be easily possible to transfer the suggested chord progression to BiaB and identify a pertinent style for the arrangement. From there you might tweak the result with modifications of this style, with RealTracks, RealDrums, Soloist stuff and whatnot.
Martin
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 181
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 181 |
Songsmith output options include MIDI, for loading into BIAB or a sequencer. Alternatively, one could just manually enter the chords created in Songsmith into BIAB. Sone of the neat features of this simple but powerful program are suggestions of alternatives to a particular chord.
www.LawTunes.com: The LawTunes - The Musical Scales of Justice - Original Lawyer Rock & Roll www.SurfChords.com: The SurfChords - The Endless Summer Continues and The Wave Never Ends
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 404
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 404 |
Thanks for clarifying. I'm really impressed by this program resulting from 'joint venture' of Microsoft Research, Garritan, Plogue and PG Music.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 177
Apprentice
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Apprentice
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 177 |
I downloaded the demo and best way I can describe it is that it's for folks who like to sing in the shower. Personally, I wouldn't bother. Just my opinion though. I'm sure there will be a market for it.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 181
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 181 |
I would recommend making sure that the water is not on. Seriously, for me (other than that my kids are getting a kick out of it), I see it as an additional way (for only $29.95) to generate the preliminary chord sequences which are one of the first steps in my creation of a new project. I particularly like the way it provides alternatives for each of the individual chords generated, including suggested chords that I would very rarely come up with on my own, if at all. I guess what I'm saying is it is a fun program that is an additional tool in the songwriter's belt. And its simple yet appealing user interface and tweaking controls may presage what future iterations of BIAB could possibly look like. How fortunate we are to have innovative and creative minds like the PG team and the Microsoft development team (I have been following the research genesis of Songsmith for some time), and devices such as the Ketron SD2, to allow at least those whose abilities and training are as limited as mine to do so much and have so much enjoyment and pleasure in the process.
www.LawTunes.com: The LawTunes - The Musical Scales of Justice - Original Lawyer Rock & Roll www.SurfChords.com: The SurfChords - The Endless Summer Continues and The Wave Never Ends
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,674
Veteran
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Posts: 12,674 |
I kind of got the impression from reading the web site and looking at the videos that it basically uses it's own algorithm to create a chord progression to match your melody, and then uses the basic BIAB engine (which of course can understand BIAB styles) to generate the audio accompaniment for that particular chord progression. So rather than putting the chord progression into BIAB first as we do, you can just sing the melody and come up with a chord progression to match it (which may or may not be what you are looking for). Once the chord progression is in place, the BIAB engine can take over and render an accompaniment.
What would be nice would be to see this technology incorporated directly into BIAB in the future. That would give those folks asking how to get an accompaniment from their melody something better to work with (and then once on the BIAB grid, you could manipulate it accordingly). I guess time will tell.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA BB2025/UMC404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/MixBus/Notion/Finale/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,831
PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,831 |
Yes, the style format is the same, so you should be able to use your existing BB styles in SongSmith, and vice versa.
Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,122
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,122 |
my interest level would be pertaining to the Garritan gm set that is included with it. If that could be used by biab, rb, ptpa as a vsc type of synth. If so, is it better than vsc, or forte? Might be worth buying just for that.
toucher
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,831
PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,831 |
Good point. I don't the answer to that, you could contact garritan.com for that question.
Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,122
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,122 |
Hi Peter,
I took your advice and contacted Garritan re: Aria and the GM soundset that they package with Songsmith. I inquired as to whether it would be applicable with BIAB/RB etc.
Their answer:
Hi
The singine is integrated into Songsmith. We are currently working with Band-in-a-box to product soundsets but right now there are only Songsmith packs. Please check back in the weeks ahead.
Are we looking at having another dxi synth or GM sound engine available to complimtne VSC-Dxi and Forte?
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1
Newbie
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Newbie
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1 |
What a great addition to the song creation community. I see a lot of users having fun with Songsmith, and with the addtion of thousands of BIAB styles, there's a ton of possibilities.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 225
Apprentice
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Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 225 |
Is song smith an off shoot of Bars and Pipes? There we go. Re invent new icons in biab that look like the tool icons on Bars & Pipes. That would be as much fun as when I put a hack workbench on my friends Amiga computer called scat. As soon as the pointer reach the program icon it ran off the screen. That was a fun computer the Amiga. Does this come out of those days at all. Is there anything missing that hasn't made it on the pc in terms of midi tricks?
What seems to be missing is the visual making languages set up to be easy to learn. Amos CanDo Hypeprcard where it was really easy to synchronize graphics and make demos to midi and music files.
Will Songsmith do this
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1
Newbie
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Newbie
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1 |
I know that this is a late response to your original post but I didn't see if your query was answered so I'll post my experience..
I've been buying updates to BB since the mid 90's and have accumulated hundreds of styles.
I've been able to import these into Songsmith successfully by copying the .sty files from my BB folder into the "styles" folder under the Songsmith installation folder. I now have access to all my Band-in-a-Box styles in Songsmith.
Hope this is useful.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,900
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,900 |
I missed this! Have any of you found this to really be useful for song-writing, as oppposed to, say, Melodyne?
Follow That Dream Sam Karaoke King -------------------- Turning that corner again - I have to keep following that dream, no matter what
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,900
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,900 |
Is it really that useful? I know PG have been involved in the development but does it really deliver? Dying to know...
Follow That Dream Sam Karaoke King -------------------- Turning that corner again - I have to keep following that dream, no matter what
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502 |
Download the free demo and find out, Sam.
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ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2025!
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
Check out all the 202 New RealTracks (in sets 456-467)
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!
The 2025 49-PAK is loaded with other great new add-ons as well. Learn more about the 2025 49-PAK!
Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Mac!
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
Learn more about the Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®!
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!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 20.
Video: Xtra Styles PAK 20 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch 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!
Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.
Video: XPro Styles PAK 9 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch 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!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 20.
Video: Xtra Styles PAK 20 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch 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!
Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.
Video: XPro Styles PAK 9 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch 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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