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I am a relative newbie, but impending retirement should see me being able to devote much more time to BIAB.

I have a problem regarding Real Tracks, together with their relationship to notation. I have a composition with a Real Tracks solo that I really like and wanted to repeat it for 8 bars using a variety of Real tracks instruments. I naively thought I’d just have to change the Real Tracks soloist instrument, generate and save each new track as a .wav for later importation into DAW. However, each time I do this, a completely new solo tune is produced.

I then thought as a ‘second-best’ alternative to save the track as MIDI and use MIDI instruments instead, although, of course, they sound nowhere near as good. However, a bar and a half of the notation is blank part-way through, although the Real Track solo carries on playing through these bars.

I then experimented with editing the soloist notation, but this seems to make no difference at all to what the Real Track plays.

I expect I’m making a beginner’s error with all of this, but can anyone explain please how to change a track to bring up a different Real Tracks instrument while keeping the same tune, and why changing notation on a Real Tracks track seems to make no difference to what is played?

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Ya need a crash course in BIAB 101.

Don't worry cause you are asking the right questions and the answers are easy and will open up a host of new possibilities for you.

Heading out the door to a 1 year old birthday party (Oh Joy), but someone will jump in soon to help.

Just wanted to be the first to Welcome you to the forum. grin


BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.

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Hi Allan,

Welcome to the forum.

The problem you are experiencing is one that many of us have been through. To explain what is happening, it's necessary to understand what Realtracks actually are.

Realtracks are not instructions to play instrumental sounds, they are actual live recordings by top-class studio musicians. These recordings have been created by the musicians playing many different chords in many different keys. (If you travel over to your \bb\Realtracks folder and have a listen to some of the raw Realtrack files, you'll hear the original recording.)

BIAB identifies where the different chords are located in the original Realtrack recording and then uses these chords to create a backing. In other words, the backing you hear is not created by a 'sound' (say, on a synthesiser) but it comes from the actual, live recording that has sections of it copied, transposed and pasted into a BIAB backing. This is why you cannot instruct a melody to play a Realtrack.

The notation that is associated with many Realtracks is an interpretation of what the studio musician recorded. It was added to BIAB a few years ago so that users could practise the studio musicians' riffs and accompaniments. This notation does not instruct BIAB to play the Realtrack. It is a summary of what is being played.

Hope this helps,
Noel

P.S. If you want to copy and paste a solo into different sections of the song, this is most easily accomplished in Realband.


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Many thanks for the patient and helpful response - all is clear now!

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Same lick repeated? BIAB don't like to do that. It has to do with its accompaniment origins.

Every time you "regenerate" you will get a different arrangement from your RT's. There are typically - generally - approximately 4-7 different arrangements which RT will cycle through. So you can hit regen that many times before you hear the some one come again over a specific chord sequence. If you hear something you just love, then you can freeze the track so it will no longer regenerate.

Alas you can't freeze parts of a track in BIAB, only the whole track at a time. For parts you need to go to Realband.

Don't miss the F5 option which would allow you to play different RTs within a single track. So you could have a track with multiple soloists stepping in and out each playing a different lick. But again, different each time you regen.


The best place to hear and see all the possible arrangements is in a feature in RealBand called MultiRiffs. Here you can generate all the individual "solos" and then pick which one you want to keep.


BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.

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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.

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Here’s just a small sampling of what you can look forward to in XPro Styles PAK 10: Soft indie folk worship songs, bumpin’ country boogies, gospel praise breaks, hard rockin’ pop, funky disco grooves, smooth Latin jazz pop, bossa nova fusion, western swing, alternative hip-hop, cool country funk, and much more!

Special offers until December 31st, 2025!

All the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 10 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 10 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.

Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 21 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!

Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!

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In this PAK you’ll discover: Energetic folk rock, raucous train beats, fast country boogies, acid jazz grooves, laid-back funky jams, a bevy of breezy jazz waltzes, calm electro funk, indie synth pop, industrial synth metal, and more bro country than could possibly fit in the back of a pickup truck!

Special offers until December 31st, 2025!

All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 21 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 21 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!

Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 21.

Video: Xtra Styles PAK 21 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!

Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 21 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.

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