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Good morning everyone!
I am curious how everyone discovered their passion for music. Was it the first time you ever picked up an instrument, or heard a particular song on the radio that resonated with you? Does it just run in your family? I'd love to hear all your stories about your first love with music and how it got you started down the road to becoming a musician!
Cheers,
Ember
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Part of my father's job in New York City in the 1940s was to coordinate tours to Cuba of the distributors of Philco products. He came back with many recordings. I grew up in the early 50s playing those recordings, thinking that Perez Prado was the same importance as Ten Little Indians. It gave me a life-long appreciation of Latin music and jazz, which was modified a few years later when Brazilian music hit the USA in the early 60s. By then I was playing professionally. In recent decades I write and perform Brazilian and Latin jazz, but I often cross-pollinate rhythmic genres, thanks to the ability of BIAB to do so.
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eddie1261
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I was 4 1/2, and had a "big cousin" that I just adored, 10 years older than me. He played piano, and even at 15 was a huge Scott Joplin and ragtime fan. He played amazing stride piano. So this was April of 1956. He was in his practice room playing their old upright piano. My goal at that time in life was to be wherever my big cousin John was. He was playing, I was watching. Then he finished and went upstairs to his room. I then moved over to the piano and did what I saw him do. Then, from the kitchen, I heard my mother say "Didn't John go upstairs? Who is playing?" And my aunt, who WAS Betty White with her sense of humor, said "Well, there's only 4 of us here. it has to be your son." Then I heard footsteps clomping down the steps and John came down and all 3 of them came to that little room in the front of the house and stuck their head around the corner. John came in and asked me "How did you learn to do that?" and I said, with the brutal honesty of someone not yet 5 years old, "Watching you." And he said to my mother "Get this kid into music lessons. Right now." That was 62 years ago, and I still remember that the song was "Hard-Hearted Hannah, The Vamp of Savannah". I started lessons the next week. The teacher sat me at a piano that was a mockup and did not play. It was just a keyboard with no harp in it. Above it was a blackboard with a scale on it. I sat at the mockup piano for 6 weeks while I learned enough theory to understand what key was the dot on the 2nd space, what it meant if it was solid, solid with a flag on it, hollow with a flag, hollow without a flag, what the dots behind the notes meant.... then he let me play. However, given my age, I couldn't reach a fifth on the keyboard with my little hands, so I started on this.  And yes, I obviously still have it, 62 years later. And I will never let it go. When I got a little bigger I moved to a piano, but by age 11 The Beatles were the rage and I had to play guitar. That cousin died 10 years ago from pancreatic cancer. And because I am such a hermit, nobody knew how to reach me to tell me. I didn't know until about 3 years ago when I stumbled onto the Facebook page of his youngest son and saw a post about a "memorial" golf tournament in his dad's honor. So here's to you, big cousin John. I owe you big time!! And now I am going to turn my chair around to the keyboard and play Hard-Hearted Hannah, through a few respectful tears.
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My mom played piano, as did her mom (my grandmother). As a toddler, I had a little one-octave toy piano that I plunked on (there are still old 8mm films of that, but without sound). My mom wanted me to learn piano, so I slogged through the John Thompson method books. I don't believe I had the natural talent like they had, but I worked at it. In sixth grade, I said I wanted to learn to play trumpet. My folks said, okay, as long as I kept playing piano (which I agreed to). The middle school teacher would come over to the elementary school once a week and give a half hour lesson to those that wanted to learn. I guess I did learn, because I played either 2nd or 1st chair all through middle school, high school, and in my college band (I went to a military college, so I became very close to Mr. Sousa there).  By the time I got to middle school, I didn't want to do the method books anymore, but wanted to play music I liked and heard on the radio. My mom said okay, but I had to buy my own music with my allowance, which I did. And whereas before she had to yell at me to practice for half an hour, once I started doing my own thing, I would sit down and play for hours at a time. I still had to work hard it. After college, I didn't play much trumpet, because the military took me many places. But even stationed in Germany, we bought a piano and played that. Back in the states, my mother-in-law gave us her piano, which we had restored and kept for many years. I never was much of a singer (I would be one of the pew potatoes in church that mumbled the words to the songs), but one day had an epiphany and sang out. I ended up joining the choir and helped start and lead the praise band for the new contemporary worship service we started. I consider myself an adequate singer and pianist, but I love doing it. I don't play by ear, but I can read music and most chord charts that aren't too difficult. I guess I must be doing something right, because after moving to Pensacola with no job (I had been laid off in Washington, DC, so we decided to move here to be closer to my aging parents), one of the local United Methodist Church's hired me as their paid pianist, and then another UMC subsequently hired me as their paid choir director (to replace the retiring director of 40 years). Congregational comments are that the choir sounds great and sings with more joy than ever under my leadership. So I'll take it. When I lived in Virginia, I collaborated with a good friend of mine (Chris Werle) and we co-wrote quite a number of mainly Christian oriented songs, but also others with a more pop or country flavor. That's when I got into BIAB and PowerTracks and ultimately RealBand and learned about the wonderful things you can do musically with a computer. (You can listen to some of our original music at my web site - see my sig below). Add to all that, that I've always had a large music collection (I currently have about 1500 vinyl record albums with a working turntable, about 800 audio cassettes, and about 2000 CDs), so I've listened to it all. I'm working on digitizing all of them to MP3, because vinyl doesn't play well in the car and it's a fun project. I like classical, country, rock, soul, pop, Broadway, alternative, anything interesting, novelty, you name it. I'll even listen to rap in small doses. Most of my musician friends can outplay and outsing me by a long shot, but that's no reason not to do it. At church, our extremely talented organist/pianist just loves my approach to music, because I give her so much freedom to be herself and we get to create some really neat sounds. I arrange a number of the choir pieces myself; I'll do interesting medleys; and always try to have fun. Music has also allowed me to meet some really cool people along the way. On the forum, my wife and I hosted Pat Marr in our home when he made his road tripo (so he knows the limitations of my playing abilities) and I got to meet and spend time with Matt Finley and his wonderful wife when we vacationed at Hyde Park, NY. Here in Pensacola, I have the honor of knowing Frank Emon, a former Navy Band member who is a Pearl Harbor survivor (they had to put down their instruments that day and pick up their rifles), who is now 99 years old, still sings in my former choir where I was pianist, tells his story on Veterans' Day, and occasionally directs the local civic band. So life is good, I have a great musical outlet at church and have so much fun creating on the computer and just playing and singing at the piano at home. I post stuff on the internet and folks can either like it or not. So far, the likes seem to win out. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Next!
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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I had a very miusical Family. My mother played guitar and sang, my dad played harmonica, my paternal grandfather played trombone, my maternal grandfather played accordian and banjo so I grew up with music all around me. I started sneaking my Mom’s guitar out of its case when I was 5 years old and began teaching myself to play from the instruction books I found while I was plundering in her cedar chest. She didn’t like me playing her good guitar so she bought me a little Roy Rogers guitar with nylon strings for Christmas.
Keith
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My father was a clever musician and played quite a number of instruments. He mainly played brass cornet and trumpet as did his father. At home we had all sorts of stuff from button accordions to zithers. We had cornets both Eb and Bb we had trumpets, euphoniums, trombones just to name some. As a kid I had to learn and played a number of instruments under my fathers guidance but no matter what I did it was never really good enough. Around 1962 or so my elder brother came home with a guitar (he never played it) which I made good use of. It was one instrument my father did not play so his constant criticism stopped. At about 15 years of age I was asked to join a band with my brother who arranged a gig in a pub. I continued to play until well in my 50s. I still supported people in country music clubs and the like. Four years ago I bought into a retirement resort and gave a lot of my gear away. First thing when I got here was great we have been waiting for you can you play next Friday. Hence the increased use of BIAB and generating my own backing tracks. I went out and purchased a small Samson PA and still do gigs for various people.
69 years of age and still behaving like a teenager (but I realise the next morning I am not)
It is hard to put a lifetime in a few paragraphs. Over the years I have played with many good and top line performers but more importantly with many people having a good time.
Tony
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My dad never played, but he loved music. He had a huge collection of classical and jazz music that he played all the time, there was always music in the house.
I first really wanted to play myself when I saw the Beatles on the Sullivan show back in '64, I was 10 at the time. Bugged my parents for a guitar, and they got me this $10 acoustic from the sears catalog for Christmas. It was unplayable but I didn't know that at the time, I spent many hours struggling with it before I came to the conclusion that I didn't have what it took to be a guitarist.
So, I got into piano instead, took classical lessons for a few years but also had no problem picking up the pop songs of the day by ear. Also played Tuba in the school band for a couple of years :P
Then when I was 15 a friend of mine got an electric guitar and showed me a few things, I was able to play the house of the rising sun arpeggios (very badly!) after a week or two.
So I got my own electric, a Silvertone, and by the time I was 16 I was in a band playing gigs. Back then (late 60s, early 70s) live music was king, quite easy to get gigs.
The rest is history I guess, been playing guitar ever since.
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I can play what I sing and sing what I can play which in no way necessarily relates to what I play and sing to be the right chords, correct pitch or the actual lyrics. Musically, I became a songwriter in order to mask these deficiencies and I'm more drawn toward the construction and repair of the electronic equipment of music than the making of music itself.
BIAB 2025:RB 2025, 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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PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
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Part of my father's job in New York City in the 1940s was to coordinate tours to Cuba of the distributors of Philco products. He came back with many recordings. I grew up in the early 50s playing those recordings, thinking that Perez Prado was the same importance as Ten Little Indians. It gave me a life-long appreciation of Latin music and jazz, which was modified a few years later when Brazilian music hit the USA in the early 60s. By then I was playing professionally. In recent decades I write and perform Brazilian and Latin jazz, but I often cross-pollinate rhythmic genres, thanks to the ability of BIAB to do so. That's really cool that your dad used to set up tours to Cuba, and that he shared the music culture with you. It's funny how the small things parents do can really foster a passion or interest in their kids. Really cool! Thanks for sharing that with the forum!
Cheers,
Ember
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PG Music Staff
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Growing up, my dad was a professional singer and my mom was a DJ, so as far back as my earliest memory I've been around music basically all the time. Both of my parents have the voices of angels and used them lots around the house, so growing up I was always singing as well. It drove babysitters and daycare workers nuts, apparently. But it worked out, because due to it I grew up with some strong natural vocal abilities.
That being said, with both my parents in the music industry - we all know it doesn't pay the best, so I never had the opportunity to learn an instrument in my youth. Music instruments and lessons for them isn't cheap. But, I did have access to computers.
I knew from around the age of 8 that making music was something I needed to do. I used to write tons of lyrics around this age, and come up with melodies and record them into a handheld tape recorder. Around this same age, my family got our first household computer. I didn't realize this could open the door to me making music until I was around 12 years old. I learned through online music forums about cheap DAWs and convinced my parents to buy a very basic one for $20 or so. And so began my journey.
Originally, it was me and my high school friend in a little music duo. It was horrendous stuff, but the start of my musical adventures. We were about 13/14 and hadn't a clue about how to produce or anything. I had my singing voice and that was about it. We'd make very simple beat loops using said DAW my parents bought me, and then record our vocals over top of them through the microphone in a webcam. It was all we had access to.
Ten plus years and several thousands of dollars later, I'm still doing it only with far, far, far superior equipment. My original partner in music has since moved to Australia and is a body builder, but we stay in touch and he is still a music enthusiast.
I have new partners in music now, and each day we continue to pretend we know what we're doing and pluck on with the dream. I love making music, I listening to music, and this will never change.
Cheers,
Deryk
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So here's to you, big cousin John. I owe you big time!! And now I am going to turn my chair around to the keyboard and play Hard-Hearted Hannah, through a few respectful tears.
That was a really touching story. It sounds like music had such a huge impact on your life in indescribable ways. Also, I am sorry to hear about your cousin. A similar thing happened with me and the person who got me in to drawing. She wasn't family -- just a girl who lived down the street who baby sat us a few times. If it weren't for her and her amazing drawings, and sitting down to let me watch her draw and then offering to teach me I am not quite sure I'd be as artsy as I am today. Thanks for sharing!
Cheers,
Ember
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So far, the likes seem to win out.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
That's a really reassuring story. It makes me really happy to hear that you went after the instrument you really wanted to play. My immediate family was not in any way musically inclined at the time, but my mom always had a passion for singing. Her step-mom had given her the whole speech about how singing would never lead you anywhere or pay the bills, so my mother just sang in school musicals growing up for fun instead. Because of that, my parents always tried to encourage me to chase whatever I was interested in, no matter how fleeting it was. All throughout school I really wanted to learn how to play the saxophone. I was so excited to finally be allowed to take music classes through my school. It wasn't something we could afford, so while my parents would have loved to support me in that, financially they couldn't. But I remember specifically taking all the classes I needed in order to be able to choose music as one of my electives as soon as I got in to grade 9. On day one I was so jazzed to finally get to pick my instrument and chose a seat near the front of the class, because I heard that kids in the front got to pick their instruments first. Except they changed the structure that year. We weren't allowed to pick our instruments and they were now assigned to us to prevent kids from squabbling, and the only two saxophones that the school had were not allowed to be played until grade 12. I was totally crushed. And got the clarinet. And proceeded to sound like a dying goose for many of the proceeding classes that followed, as my heart just wasn't in it. I got it eventually, though (much to the heckling of my school mates as we often had to solo for our music exams). I never really lost that desire to learn how to play the saxophone. I learned how to play the ukulele when I was younger, and I've been wanting to pick it up again. I've also been gravitating towards folk music as I have been getting older. I found out just recently that my mom's biological mother and her grandmother (whom she lost contact with many years ago) were folk artists. My mom finally decided to take vocal lessons a few years back (before she found this out) and was told that she had a very "folky" sound to her voice. When she learned about her mother's musical roots it all kind of clicked for her. When I think about it, my singing voice also has a kind of indie-folk sound to it as well. Funny how these things all come together in the end. I'd still one day like to take up the saxophone, I think. And your story has definitely nudged me closer towards that eventuality. So thank you for that!
Last edited by Ember - PG Music; 04/11/18 06:34 AM.
Cheers,
Ember
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I had a very miusical Family. My mother played guitar and sang, my dad played harmonica, my paternal grandfather played trombone, my maternal grandfather played accordian and banjo so I grew up with music all around me. I started sneaking my Mom’s guitar out of its case when I was 5 years old and began teaching myself to play from the instruction books I found while I was plundering in her cedar chest. She didn’t like me playing her good guitar so she bought me a little Roy Rogers guitar with nylon strings for Christmas. That's an adorable story! I have to wonder if you guys ever played together as a family band or for special occasions. 
Cheers,
Ember
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My father was a clever musician and played quite a number of instruments. He mainly played brass cornet and trumpet as did his father. At home we had all sorts of stuff from button accordions to zithers. We had cornets both Eb and Bb we had trumpets, euphoniums, trombones just to name some. As a kid I had to learn and played a number of instruments under my fathers guidance but no matter what I did it was never really good enough. Around 1962 or so my elder brother came home with a guitar (he never played it) which I made good use of. It was one instrument my father did not play so his constant criticism stopped. At about 15 years of age I was asked to join a band with my brother who arranged a gig in a pub. I continued to play until well in my 50s. I still supported people in country music clubs and the like. Four years ago I bought into a retirement resort and gave a lot of my gear away. First thing when I got here was great we have been waiting for you can you play next Friday. Hence the increased use of BIAB and generating my own backing tracks. I went out and purchased a small Samson PA and still do gigs for various people.
69 years of age and still behaving like a teenager (but I realise the next morning I am not)
It is hard to put a lifetime in a few paragraphs. Over the years I have played with many good and top line performers but more importantly with many people having a good time.
Tony wow, I get what you mean by saying it's hard to put a lifetime in to a few paragraphs, especially if music is continuing to shape, change and evolve with you as a person -- and perhaps even impact yourself so much that it helps you grow and adapt too. Thank you for sharing your story with me!
Cheers,
Ember
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My dad never played, but he loved music. He had a huge collection of classical and jazz music that he played all the time, there was always music in the house.
I first really wanted to play myself when I saw the Beatles on the Sullivan show back in '64, I was 10 at the time. Bugged my parents for a guitar, and they got me this $10 acoustic from the sears catalog for Christmas. It was unplayable but I didn't know that at the time, I spent many hours struggling with it before I came to the conclusion that I didn't have what it took to be a guitarist.
So, I got into piano instead, took classical lessons for a few years but also had no problem picking up the pop songs of the day by ear. Also played Tuba in the school band for a couple of years :P
Then when I was 15 a friend of mine got an electric guitar and showed me a few things, I was able to play the house of the rising sun arpeggios (very badly!) after a week or two.
So I got my own electric, a Silvertone, and by the time I was 16 I was in a band playing gigs. Back then (late 60s, early 70s) live music was king, quite easy to get gigs.
The rest is history I guess, been playing guitar ever since. Your musical beginnings seem very colorful and varied! The piano, tuba, and guitar are all very different. Sounds like it was quite the adventure!
Cheers,
Ember
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I can play what I sing and sing what I can play which in no way necessarily relates to what I play and sing to be the right chords, correct pitch or the actual lyrics. Musically, I became a songwriter in order to mask these deficiencies and I'm more drawn toward the construction and repair of the electronic equipment of music than the making of music itself.
Sometimes music is less about the technical side and more about the heart. Of course, learning the theory and technical side of it can definitely strengthen the performance (if you like performing for people, that is)! And sometimes fiddling with the tools you use and learning their inner workings helps as well! Thanks for sharing your story with me.
Cheers,
Ember
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I have new partners in music now, and each day we continue to pretend we know what we're doing and pluck on with the dream. I love making music, I listening to music, and this will never change. I had no idea your mom was a DJ! The things you learn. Also, that's kind of a drastic change, huh? To go on from making at-home music to body building in Australia! Still super cool, though. I love seeing how everyone's passions develop and change as the years progress and where that leads them. I'm glad you're still making music. Even if you don't feel like you know what you're doing. 
Cheers,
Ember
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,385 |
For as long as I can remember, even as a tot my favorite toys were musical ones. Those little pianos, xylophones, plastic wind instruments or whatever. I could play many songs by ear on them. This is perhaps due to my father who played Violin, Trumpet, Organ and Ukulele. When we were children, the uke and the song books would come out and we'd all sing along. I know own his violin and uke. My father was a printer by trade, and we didn't have a lot of money so music lessons were not in the picture. But when we moved to Florida due to my little sister's health problems, I wanted to join the band. Since we were new, it was the 7th grade, most started in the 6th grade, and the town was small, there were no available instruments to rent. So the new guys all got a pair of drumsticks and a practice pad. Then perhaps the best thing in my life happened to me. The Tenor sax player and her family moved. The band director asked who wanted to play the sax, and although I was in love with the sound of the Euphonium (Baritone Horn) I wanted to play anything that could make melodies so I guess I was more enthusiastic than the other drummers. I took to it well, and became first sax in the all-state band every year that I was eligible to compete. I joined a rock road band that eventually became the opening act for headliners in concert. The other musicians in the band taught me how to play bass, guitar, and keyboards to the point where could double. I eventually taught myself flute, wind synthesizer and vocals (the most difficult instrument for me). For most of my life, playing music has been my sole occupation. I did take two 'day-jobs' when I felt pressured to be "normal" and found normal is soooooo over-rated. Neither lasted all that long and I always played music as a weekend warrior during those phases. In the 1990s I started making aftermarket styles for Band-in-a-Box which was fun for me because I play the instruments required, took music arranging and theory in school, and really enjoyed the creative process. I made a small collection of styles, gave them to my friends who told me they liked them better than the PG Music "built in" styles (aren't friends wonderful!) and a friend who taught jazz guitar at the University of Miami told me that I should take out an ad and sell them. So I did. It was on Atari computer, and one day Peter Gannon called, noticed I was selling for Atari, and helped me make my styles available for PC (it was DOS back then) and Mac. Since then, Peter has always been ready to help whenever I ask. Thank you Pater. So now I find myself at retirement age. That happened very quickly. I have no plans to retire though. This life is just too much fun. I'm in a duo with the person who is now my wife (world-class vocals plus guitar and synth), I still gig from one or two nights per week in the off season to 5 or 7 nights per week in the high season. Playing music is the most fun Leilani and I can have with our clothes on so why should we want to quit and become retired people? I find that even though I've been involved in music all my life, I've only scratched the surface of what I can learn and explore. If I live to be 140 I'm sure I'll never learn it all. And I guess that's what keeps it interesting. Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Off-Topic
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 8,987
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 8,987 |
Ember,
My earliest memories are of making music as a family during the war years (the 40s ).
My eldest brother was away at war and music was a diversion from worry.
When my brother returned home, he taught me to chop rhythm on a mandolin because my hands were too small for the guitar.
I eventually moved up to guitar and, while still in HS, I was recruited into a locally popular standards band called The Arrowhead Trio as the "younger-folks" draw. My Everly, Buddy Holly and Elvis covers brought a younger following to our band ( which was actually 5 pieces ). Bookings were difficult for 5 pieces at the time but we were in great demand from Northern Minnesota to the Canadian border. We played several nights every week.
Perhaps my nearest brush with fame was my countless keggers and house parties with Bob Zimmerman ( Dylan ) in HS. I'm 2 months older than Bob.
Other than playing the logging camps and barn dances, our venues were generally first class.
Thanks for starting this topic. Some wonderful memories.
PS: I know that this will sound immodest so I seldom say anything.
During one of our house parties, and unbeknown to to Bob or myself, the personal secretary of a major talent scout, Jay Lourey ( sp? ) of Minneapolis, was in the audience.
About a week later, I received an invitation to go to Minneapolis for an interview. Bob didn't get invited.
I also remember teaching Bob that long, descending intro run by Luther Perkins in Cash' "Home Of The Blues".
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Off-Topic
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,181
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,181 |
My parents owned a music store, so I was tinkering with instruments since I was big enough to reach them. Sometimes to the dismay of my parents, when I'd get into stuff at the store.
"Put that guitar back where you got it! No wait, hand it to me .. gently" <grin>
I had to take piano first of course (at around 5 yrs old or so), along with theory soon after, then when I got old enough to go to school I started on trumpet.
The rest just got picked up along my journey .. anyway, you asked how we all got started; wasn't much of a choice for me.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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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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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!
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.
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