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Styles and RealTracks Wishlist
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 44
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 44 |
I am a veteran BIAB user and have upgraded many times over the years. I really appreciate the program and the work that has gone into developing and improving it (especially appreciated the recent GUI upgrade).
I am becoming increasingly frustrated, however. Although the program is improving in many areas and the REAL instruments are truly excellent, I still can't get it to do exactly what I need.
As a singer-songwriter, I find that BIAB arrangements are not good enough for a full broadcast-quality production, as they're just not flexible enough to provide song development and interest from intro to end of song (unless you put a lot of extra effort into it, outside of BIAB). But I am OK with that and have come to understand that BIAB and REAL BAND cannot be substitutes for true musicians and a recording studio.
But I would like to be able to put out a decent, simple demo with just vocal and minimal instrumentation. However, I have 2 main difficulties with this:
(1) The arrangements are mostly way too busy and overworked for a simple song demo.
(2) The existing tracks generally sound far too genre-specific for my needs: the country is VERY country, the blues "screams" blues, etc. Whereas, I am looking for arrangements that are a more SUBTLE blend of rock/jazz/blues/country ("Americana", for want of a better label), and less likely to be immediately identified and labelled as distinctly one or the other.
So, what I am wishing for is:
(1) A selection of very spare/simple/minimal accompaniment tracks and/or band arrangements (e.g., bass + drums or percussion + piano or guitar), mostly down- to mid-tempo, that *leave a lot of room for the vocal*. A lot less flash, a lot less NOTES played, but with several levels of dynamics and intensity, that can carry a song through from beginning to end (intro, verses, choruses, bridge, outro).
(2) Tracks that are less genre-specific and provide a more subtle and sophisticated blend of current American musical styles.
Many thanks for considering this!
Mark
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Styles and RealTracks Wishlist
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 8,893
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Joined: Apr 2013
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I imagine there are many singer-songwriters that are in total agreement with you and share your frustration on this. I know I've been frustrated in the past trying to get that 'just right' sound from out of my head and into an audio file using BIAB and RB. You make some credible and relevant points in your wish and although unsolicited, I'd like to respond and share how I overcame some of my frustrations in hopes it will help you and others who suffer the same frustrations.
First, I realized that BIAB/RB the songwriting tool and BIAB/RB the broadcast quality demo tool are two different modes housed in the same box.
For the singer-songwriter to forge out ideas and preserve them in audio, one can easily find an acceptable style from the thousands available in BIAB, enter the chords and have music to listen to as the lyrics, chords, bridges are added/removed, verses and structure experimented with until you are satisfied with your song. Your time is spent on the song and not on the technicalities of software.
BIAB is absolutely capable of producing professional, broadcast quality audio. But to do so, does require more time, technical knowledge of music, mixing, producing and the technical features available within BIAB/RB. I should also note that many project tracks created in BIAB/RB are moved to other DAW's for processing and mastering but professional, broadcast quality is achievable using PGMusic software.
Mixing Realtracks, midi/super midi and live user instruments can create music nuanced to any mixed genre, custom riff sound that an artist can imagine.
Some writer/arrangers use BIAB to create their arrangements and print the arrangements then go into a studio and record using studio musicians.
I also participate in the PGMusic User Forum where forum members post their original songs created using PGMusic software. This is a good place to share your original work and receive constructive critiques, mixing and production advice and sometimes having a more experienced BIAB user collaborate with your production. It is also a good place to listen to the varied BIAB styles and instruments that you may not have taken the opportunity to audition yourself. You will hear some songs that are broadcast quality productions on the user forum. It is also a place that you can use to audition styles and instruments to create your own custom styles that become your default style to use for your song creations.
In conclusion, all of the tools, styles and instruments are already in BIAB to do what you wish for but unfortunately, there is no possible way that PGMusic can create a style that is perfect for every singer/songwriter that uses BIAB. But you as an individual can easily create a style for your songwriting from the vast array of available styles and instruments.
Then, if you wish to get into producing your own demo's, BIAB is there for you too. Just a lot more time and work.
BIAB 2026:RB 2026, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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Styles and RealTracks Wishlist
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 11,092
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 11,092 |
+1
I thought of the campfire styles when I saw this request. With those styles in mind the addition of acoustic guitar Realtracks playing barre chords, pedal steel playing whole note swells and half step slides would be nice additions.
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Styles and RealTracks Wishlist
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 21,140
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 21,140 |
+1
This is a good point. There are so many different ways to produce a style. Just changing the number of instruments isn't always enough to get the required feel.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Styles and RealTracks Wishlist
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 4,786
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(1) The arrangements are mostly way too busy and overworked for a simple song demo. I'm going to presume you've already tried the "Force track to simple" trick and found that still insufficient. And I know you're making a request and not really asking for advice or 'tips', but I'm going to mention one anyway, which you (and others) might not have considered: Always spend the extra minute it takes to insert the intended melody as Midi into the Melody track before you start rendering the accompanying instruments! You can then mute it, put a "Performance track" on it (vocal or any other thing), or use it for whatever you like. But if you need to free up that channel, then don't delete the underlying midi data until after you've rendered (and frozen!) the other tracks. Now, you may ask, why is this important if I'm only going to make backing tracks for a singer or something and the core reason is simply: The program obviously can't hear your vocal, but it can detect the midi - and it does make a difference in how the accompanying realtracks turn out. In other words, they do somewhat 'take into account' (for the lack of a better term) if the melody is there or not, or more importantly when it's there and when not, if the midi data is there. And this, for your singer, should be quite important, I would wager  But don't just take my word for this. Have a listen to these samples: The first is from BBox own "Artist" collection, and showcases how the accompanying piano provides this lovely flourish right after the melody. And the second sample is from a song I myself made (so the BBox crew couldn't possibly have prepared something specifically for it!), notice how the piano actually seems to be replicating the melody in part. I maintain that these cases didn't "just happen", that what you get from the Realtracks is not just arbitrary or 'random', hence my advice.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!
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BBox 2022 Audiophile, Mac Pro Intel, OSX 10.6.8, 800x600 (TV VGA)
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Styles and RealTracks Wishlist
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 11,092
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Excellent advice Eddie,
I hope you will copy your post as a new message in the recording section. I think it would create an interesting discussion.
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Styles and RealTracks Wishlist
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 4,786
Veteran
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Excellent advice Eddie,
I hope you will copy your post as a new message in the recording section. I think it would create an interesting discussion. I appreciate the sentiment, thanks, but I don't know. This was a pretty direct response to a pretty specific issue (one I had been meaning to make ever since this thread started but hadn't the opportunity 'til now), and as such I felt was a pretty 'safe' entry to make, you know. You're quite welcome to copy it or make any other references to it you see fit, if you think it should be noticed elsewhere.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!
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BBox 2022 Audiophile, Mac Pro Intel, OSX 10.6.8, 800x600 (TV VGA)
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Styles and RealTracks Wishlist
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,139
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,139 |
(1) The arrangements are mostly way too busy and overworked for a simple song demo. I'm going to presume you've already tried the "Force track to simple" trick and found that still insufficient. And I know you're making a request and not really asking for advice or 'tips', but I'm going to mention one anyway, which you (and others) might not have considered: Always spend the extra minute it takes to insert the intended melody as Midi into the Melody track before you start rendering the accompanying instruments! You can then mute it, put a "Performance track" on it (vocal or any other thing), or use it for whatever you like. But if you need to free up that channel, then don't delete the underlying midi data until after you've rendered (and frozen!) the other tracks. Now, you may ask, why is this important if I'm only going to make backing tracks for a singer or something and the core reason is simply: The program obviously can't hear your vocal, but it can detect the midi - and it does make a difference in how the accompanying realtracks turn out. In other words, they do somewhat 'take into account' (for the lack of a better term) if the melody is there or not, or more importantly when it's there and when not, if the midi data is there. And this, for your singer, should be quite important, I would wager But don't just take my word for this. Have a listen to these samples: The first is from BBox own "Artist" collection, and showcases how the accompanying piano provides this lovely flourish right after the melody. And the second sample is from a song I myself made (so the BBox crew couldn't possibly have prepared something specifically for it!), notice how the piano actually seems to be replicating the melody in part. I maintain that these cases didn't "just happen", that what you get from the Realtracks is not just arbitrary or 'random', hence my advice. That is a very cool trick, Eddie. Have to try that. Thanks. Regards, Bob
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Styles and RealTracks Wishlist
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 4,786
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Just be aware that in my experience with this it can sometimes take maybe 2-3 re-renderings for this to really start being effective (and sometimes if you do too many it actually starts to go away again), so be sure to output the good ones to audio before doing another re-render.
Also, and this is quite important: Never attempt this with "fast rendering" enabled, make sure that's turned OFF!
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!
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BBox 2022 Audiophile, Mac Pro Intel, OSX 10.6.8, 800x600 (TV VGA)
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Styles and RealTracks Wishlist
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,139
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Just be aware that in my experience with this it can sometimes take maybe 2-3 re-renderings for this to really start being effective (and sometimes if you do too many it actually starts to go away again), so be sure to output the good ones to audio before doing another re-render.
Also, and this is quite important: Never attempt this with "fast rendering" enabled, make sure that's turned OFF! Thanks for the good info! Regards, Bob
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Styles and RealTracks Wishlist
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,666
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Never attempt this with "fast rendering" enabled, make sure that's turned OFF! Could you please elaborate on this? I'm wondering if it is from your experience, or if Dr. Gannon actually said this, or if it's in the manual someplace and I missed it? If it's from your experience, are there any circumstances (styles etc.) in which it works better or worse? Thanks.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Styles and RealTracks Wishlist
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 4,786
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Joined: Nov 2012
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Never attempt this with "fast rendering" enabled, make sure that's turned OFF! Could you please elaborate on this? I'm wondering if it is from your experience, or if Dr. Gannon actually said this, or if it's in the manual someplace and I missed it? If it's from your experience, are there any circumstances (styles etc.) in which it works better or worse? Thanks. First off, all of this is "based on my experience", just so that is clear. What I'm getting at with this particular note is that when you turn the "Fast render" on, the rendering process is still going on as you play (and this fact is straight from the video where 'Fast Render' was first introduced!), whereas if you turn it OFF, the program registers the whole song before 'deciding' which of its many playing variables it should go for per bar. The end result tends thus to be better (both technically and musically) when this feature is turned off. But again, this is my own experience, mileage may vary.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!
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BBox 2022 Audiophile, Mac Pro Intel, OSX 10.6.8, 800x600 (TV VGA)
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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.
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Peter Gannon Talks Band-in-a-Box with zplane
zplane recently interviewed Peter Gannon, the founder and creator of Band-in-a-Box, about the software's early days, what sets it apart from AI, how zplane's audio algorithms are used in Band-in-a-Box, and more!
Special thanks to the team at zplane for their continued support.
Check out the full interview here: https://products.zplane.de/blog/peter-gannon-interview-pg-music
Last Chance! The Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® Special Ends Today (May 31, 2026) at 11:59pm PDT!
Time really is running out! Save up to 50% on Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® upgrades and receive a FREE Bonus PAK—only when you order by 11:59 PM PDT today!
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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 amazing new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. View the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to transcribe an entire track or transcribe specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®.
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, and much more!
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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!
Jazz, Funk & World (Sets 468-475):
Our new jazz, funk & blues RealTracks include a groovin’ collection of RealTracks and RealDrums! These include more requested “soul jazz” RealTracks featuring artists Neil Swainson (bass), Charles Treadway (organ), Brent Mason (guitar), and Wes Little (drums). There are new “smooth jazz” styles (4), which include a RealTracks first: muted trumpet, as well as slick new smooth jazz brushes options for drums. Blues lovers will be thrilled—there are more “classic acoustic blues” styles, including guitar (5), bass (4), and drums (10) with blues master Colin Linden, featuring understated and tasty background acoustic soloing, plus brushes drums and acoustic bass. There are also new electric blues RealTracks, including electric blues with PG favorite Johnny Hiland (3) and soulful electric slide guitar from Colin Linden (4). If you love funk & gospel, there are great new options this year, including gospel organ (3) from Charles Treadway, as well as new funk, tango, and rock ’n’ roll drums (3) and bass (1). And for big, bold arrangements, we have uptempo soul horns (4) featuring a three-part hip horn section with options for a full mix or stems of each individual horn — plus an accompanying rhythm section (4) of drums, bass, guitar, and electric piano!
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.
Check out all the 202 new RealTracks (in sets 468-488)!
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.
The 2026 49-PAK is loaded with other great new add-ons as well. Learn more about the 2026 49-PAK!
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