I have a country song on which I'd like the electric bass guitar to walk chord arpeggios (aka "walking bass"). I finally found a style called HOKEY.STY (Hokey Pokey Western Swing) in set 167 that has what I want. I made sure sets 165-169 were installed.
When selected the style and applied it to my song and the mixer looks right for that instrument: (Bass, Electric, CountryBoogieArp).
But when I play the song this bass is not walking like it does in the demo.
I created this song in a different style initially to get the instruments I wanted but that bass didn't walk. What I'd like to do is just apply this bass style in a mixer track. that didn't work so I changed the style for the whole song to HOKEY.STY and I still can't get the bass to walk.
What am I missing? Thanks in advance for guidance.
I'm a bass player and I only see the demo walking about 20% of the time. All the other time the bass is simply playing the root, third, fifth and back to the third. It is listed as a country boogie bass and I would not consider that a walking bass at all. Even though the description says a "B" sub-section walks between chords, it really does not. It may have some leading tones going into the next chord but that is about all.
My choice would be RT 2287 which is listed as a true jazz swing walking bass.
BIAB2026 Windows 10 Pro (Never Windows 11!) WA6NCB
In addition to the excellent thoughts above, another possibility might be that "auto-substitution of Realtracks based on tempo" is replacing the bass RT #1847.
Do you see the symbols ~~ in front of the bass track's name in the mixer? If so, this means that it has been replaced with something more appropriate for the tempo.
I notice that the demo is set at a tempo of 165 bpm and the 1847 bass RT's recommended speed is 140 bpm. This means that if your tempo is too much further from 140 it will be substituted.
To stop this,
1. right-click on a blank space on the chordsheet
2. select "Song Settings" from the menu that appears
3. in Song Settings, disable "Allow Realtrack substitution based on tempo" (see image below).
I also tried turning off the substitution and lowering the tempo of the demo song for _HOKEY.STY to 140BPM and counted each measure for 3 choruses.
It played what sounded like lead-in measures about 10-15% of the time and the other 85-90% of the measures still were simple 1-3-5-3 notes on the bass.
It's just not a walking bass Realtrack. I suggest that if Marc needs a walking bass, that he change the bass RT and filter using "Walking" and sample each one in his song until he finds one that fits.
jcland
Last edited by jcland; 01/08/1903:54 AM.
BIAB2026 Windows 10 Pro (Never Windows 11!) WA6NCB
Hi A_R. Yes I think so, I'm using "B" for the intro and choruses and "A" for the verses. That had no impact on the way the bass guitar plays. it's still just plunking 1, ah 3, ah 1, ah 3...
There is a tilde (~) symbol in front of the bass instrument within the mixer. From the looks of things that is indication that the style is changing do to incompatibility.
My tempo is 130 and the style default is 140 so I'm not sure why that would be an issue.
Depends on direction of travel. If you go up you could have C D Eb E (first bar) then F E D F or even F G A Ab (second bar) then G G octave down A B (3rd bar) leading back to C (bar 4). There are so many different ways of walking your bass.
I tend to always play in my own bass lines as BIAB basses always produce awkward jumps and phrase leading. I think bass lines are incredibly important so I prefer to create my own. I play them in using a MIDI keyboard and edit any timing issues. I tend to use a good bass vst like Spectrasonics Trilian.
So...I have a confession to make, newby that I am. I discovered the bass track was frozen using the previous style. When I unchecked that, the Hokey bass style worked. I agree with jcland that the bass lines are simple, but at least there is some movement on all four beats of the measure. I am going to try jcland's suggestion to use RT 2287.
Thanks again for your help everyone! Much appreciated!
Thanks jcland...I did give 2287 a try but it was a bit too jazzy for this simple country tune. Love that 2287 walking upright bass though!
I am giving up some specific bass lines using Hokey.Sty...like walking up from the V (5) chord to the root (I). In the key of D, there are a few spots I'd like the bass to walk up A-B-C#-D. The Hokey style doesn't do that. Maybe that's why it's named Hokey.
I have MIDI bass instruments in my DAW and would like to export the hokey track as MIDI and edit those parts of the bass track I'd like to change, but, while all tracks are present, the only track that has any MIDI notes on it after export is the drums track and I've even deselected the option to include the drum track.
Any idea why all the other instruments' MIDI data is not exported with the drums?
lol...this is the problem with software....there is no end to it....worse than drugs.
New upgrade to BB 2019 Audiophile $299...better bass lines? who knows
Spectrasonics Trilian on sale for only $279...this is software I actually want to buy. I have been putting it off for some time. I have been making do playing live bass, problem is I am not really a bass player. So...put up with some root third fifth sort of thing or put up with my lack of skill set on the bass. I can write the bass line in standard notation and convert it to midi but the VSTs I own now don't sound that great.
To date I have not found much in the way of what I consider good walking bass in BB. Just my 2 cents. There are a ton of thing BB does well and some...not so much
One of the uncomfortable truths about electronic music is that the really good tools are not cheap. Having said that, the quality of music that can be produced today with electronics is penny's on the dollar to what real studio time cost. The last 12 tracks I cut in a studio cost us $30K!!
I may get the two mentioned software soon, Well...If I don't die...meaning if my wife don't kill me over the music addiction.LOL
Thanks jcland...I did give 2287 a try but it was a bit too jazzy for this simple country tune. Love that 2287 walking upright bass though!
I am giving up some specific bass lines using Hokey.Sty...like walking up from the V (5) chord to the root (I). In the key of D, there are a few spots I'd like the bass to walk up A-B-C#-D. The Hokey style doesn't do that. Maybe that's why it's named Hokey.
I have MIDI bass instruments in my DAW and would like to export the hokey track as MIDI and edit those parts of the bass track I'd like to change, but, while all tracks are present, the only track that has any MIDI notes on it after export is the drums track and I've even deselected the option to include the drum track.
Any idea why all the other instruments' MIDI data is not exported with the drums?
Keefmeister: Try checking the "Simpler" box when you choose RT2287 and see if that tames down the bass arrangement enough so it does not sound like too jazzy of a walking bass.
jcland
BIAB2026 Windows 10 Pro (Never Windows 11!) WA6NCB
Thanks for all of your comments, ideas, and suggestions! Great community support! I ended up programming a midi bass line and assigned it to an electric bass instrument in my DAW. There was some repetition in certain sections, so it didn't take very long and I got exactly what I wanted.
I can't expect BiaB to provide everything I need/want. It's an amazing product, though. An old band mate calls BiaB witchery. LOL. There are some amazing performances that actually sync to some vocal lines and other song parts...all by coincidence. Could be that the music and melody lines are relatively common/simple. Even so, BiaB has been one of the best investments I've made in music production software. It makes quick work of fleshing out new tunes and modernizing some of my old shabby analog recordings from 20+ years ago.
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Special Offers Extended Until May 31st!
Good news- we've extended our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® special offers until May 31, 2026!
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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!
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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.
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.
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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
Playable RealTracks Set 5
RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App
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FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
All of our XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs are on sale until May 15th, 2026!
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