Otherwise I just wanted to see if BIAB would make sense as a tool for some musical goals I'm trying to accomplish.
One thing I love is how you give BIAB a number of 1 measure phrases and then it sort of randomizes them. This is especially useful for percussion. I have some different drum machines, groove boxes, and an electronic drum kit. Would it be feasible to create or edit a style where I record a whole ton of phrases myself via midi from these different devices? Would it capture the sounds or just the midi information? Or is BIAB the wrong tool for this kind of job?
If it is possible for me to build a song this way, would it be easy to then experiment swapping out different midi instruments while the track is playing to find the sounds that I like the best?
Sorry if either of these questions are too basic, I have been reading the tutorials and watching videos, I'm trying to figure out if my goals are even possible before I spend all this time trying to figure it out.
You are essentially describing creating loops and samples with your question. Biab can do the things you are wanting to do but any DAW will do it faster, easier and better in most conceivable aspects than Biab. DAWs are designed to do that type task whereas Biab is not. Biab can use loops and samples, contains loops and samples and is a great place to construct your song. There is simply little reason to do so unless you wish to use additional features of Biab such as RealTracks, Supermidi, midi or RealDrums. Or, perhaps use Biab to scratch out ideas.
Some DAWs are better suited by design to work with loops and samples than others such as Logic, Ableton Live and FL Studio. However, most every commercial DAW will be more than competent. It is better to work with a DAW you understand and are familiar with than change to another DAW because it recommended for loops and samples.
Thanks for the reply! I guess the only thing I wonder about is how easy is it to structure a song in another DAW? BIAB has been very intuitive so far, since I think in terms of traditional musicianship. Everything is bars, and choruses, repeat signs, bla bla. I've not seen that in any DAWs I've looked at. Also, are there DAWs that do what BAIB does in terms of randomizing phases within a style? Like, if I create some percussion within a DAW I have to create every second of it, then if I don't like the way it sounds I have to do it all over again and again. Wouldn't BAIB allow me to save some time in that regard if I used it to create percussion?
Sorry if I'm not explaining myself very well. Basically I like the "robot drummer with some degree of autonomy" that BAIB provides. But maybe stuff like FL studio and Ableton do that too?
Yes, to your question of randomizing phrases. That's actually a unique feature of Biab/RealBand. Each time you regenerate a track, it changes from the previous version. You can also force these variations to occur and somewhat control them using various means such as part markers, pushes rests and stops, as well as slash chords. I made some additional suggestions over in your other post also.
I'm particularly enjoying following your posts because you are working within a genre that's not featured very much here in the BIAB forum but is a genre certainly within the programming capabilities of BIAB. Your work may inspire others to try this genre too.
I urge you to post some of your ongoing projects onto the BIAB Users Showcase to get other Biab users feedback and recommendations. They are very respectful even if they may not follow your particular genre of music, but for you, it as a wonderful way to fast track your learning how to work with BIAB all the while letting the world hear your original music. Covers can't be posted to the Users Forum and a PGMusic produce must be used in creating the finished work in some manner.
Cool, thanks for all of your help so far. Next time I sit down my plan is going to be to pick an existing style and see how far I can take editing that style, and play with how far I can push that style from what it started out as. I'd REALLY like to have more control of the types and amounts of rhythm phrases that BIAB will randomize, that's kinda how I approach percussion.
I'll also play around with mixing and matching from different styles to see what happens. So, one more thing if you don't mind: I can only edit things in Style Maker that are pure MIDI right? I cannot edit real tracks, real drums, or live drums (pre recorded phrases?), correct? Can I edit midi styles than later assign real tracks and real drums to the phrases I edited?
I'll figure it out eventually I'm sure, and yes I will certainly be sharing stuff here once I start making some progress.
In style maker, you can only edit MIDI events. You can include RealTracks in a style; however, it's just a matter of picking an existing RealTrack for that particular track in the style and it will play according to how the RealTrack engine processes it. You can't edit it.
But for MIDI tracks, you have the flexibility to edit as much as you wish.
For a drum track, each pattern is up to one 4-beat bar in length, broken down into 16th notes (if you use the grid); however, you can also import "live" played drums for each bar as well. You get 14 slots (or 14 bars worth of content) for the "A" substyle and 14 slots for the "B" substyle. You also get 14 slots for drum fills (which will play when transitioning between the "A" and "B" substyles. And you get 14 slots for the 2-bar song ending.
Also, don't forget that you can define multi-styles, which basically daisy chain individual style files together to give you "C", D" and "E", F" and "G", "H" etc. substyles for as many as you wish.
If you want to create MIDI riffs for the other instruments, you get 30 slots to work with. For the "A" substyle, you get 30 8-beat slots, 30 4-beat slots, 30 2-beat slots, and 30 1-beat slots. Likewise for the "B" substyle, and then 30 slots for the 2-bar song ending. What happens is that if a chord's duration is 8 beats or longer, BIAB will pick riffs from the 8-beat slots; if a chord's duration is 4 beats, it will pick from the 4-beat slots; likewise for 2-beat and 1-beat. And again, with multi-styles, you can have very many riffs.
John
Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA
Hey there, thanks for the response! That's what I figured out RealTracks, I'm thinking it'd be more useful for me to just acquire better MIDI samples and prioritize those over RealTracks if I'm trying to so something really specific.
Also, this is copy and pasted from a different question I had about editing in stylemaker. Basically I was trying to build something from scratch (following the tutorial mind you) and BIAB just started adding in weird rhythm tracks that showed up in the mixer, but were nowhere to be found in stylemaker editer:
""Hi, just got BIAB a few days ago and I've been messing around with it, trying to figure out how it works. I've run into some hiccups with the style maker.
First I tried editing an existing style like the tutorial suggested and that went ok, I get how it works more or less. Then I tried building a style from scratch. I went into the drum grid and put some patterns in. Then, as soon as I save it and hit play I hear all these extra drum sounds on the drum and loop channels in the mixer. They are sort of blended in with the drums I recorded. Has anyone else had this problem? What is going on?""
If you have any insights about this I'd love to hear, just so have a better gut feeling of what is going on when I work with the thing you know?
Some styles have loops defined in them; I would avoid those if you are looking to modify an existing style. I would probably start with the BLANK.STY and go from there, and then after saving the style, make sure your saved style is what is loaded in BIAB. In general, you shouldn't get weird sounds.
John
Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA
OK, I suspect my problem is that I did not start from BLANK.STY, perhaps assuming that that would happen automatically. I will check that out later, thank you!
XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs Special Extended Until August 31st!
XPro & Xtra Styles PAKs Special Extended Until August 31st!
The XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs special offers are now available until August 31st at 11:59pm PDT!
Ready to take your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 experience to the next level? Now’s the perfect time! Expand your style library with XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs—packed with a wide variety of genres to inspire your next musical creation.
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 1-9 includes 900 styles!
Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). With over 3,500 styles (and 35 MIDI styles) included in Xtra Styles PAKs 1-20, the possibilities are endless!
Get the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 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 Windows or for Mac.
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.
Get Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 19 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Listen to demos and order now! For Windows or for Mac.
Note: 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 because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Don’t miss this chance to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box setup—at a great price!
Mac 2025 Special Upgrade Offers Extended Until August 15th!
It's not too late to upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® and save! We've extended our special until August 15, 2025!
We've added many major new features to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, including advanced AI tools like the amazing BB Stem Splitter and AI Lyrics Generator, as well as VST3 plugin support, and Equalize Temp. Plus, there’s a new one-stop MIDI Patches Picker with over 1,100 MIDI patches to choose from, all neatly categorized by GM numbers. The MultiPicker Library is enhanced with tabs for the SongPicker, MIDI Patch Picker, Chord Builder, AI Lyrics Generator, and Song Titles Browser, and the tabs are organized into logical groups. The Audiophile Edition is enhanced with FLAC files , which are 60% smaller than AIFF files while maintaining identical audio quality, and now ships on a fast 1TB SSD, and much more!
Check out all the new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® here:
Purchase your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac during our special to save up to 50% off your upgrade purchase and receive a FREE BONUS PAK of amazing new Add-ons. These include the 2025 RealCombos Booster PAK, 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, and more!
Upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for just $49 and add 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and 20 RealStyles, FLAC Files for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks, Look Ma! More MIDI 14: SynthMaster, MIDI SuperTracks Set 45: More SynthMaster, Artist Performance Set 18: Songs with Vocals 8, and RealDrums Stems Set 8: Pop, Funk & More with Jerry Roe.
Learn more about the Bonus PAKs!
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
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!
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
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!
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!
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!
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.
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