Every time I hit "play", the program regenerates the RealTracks ... even if I haven't changed anything. Anyone know why or how to keep this from happening?
I have the UltraPlusPAK Hard Drive "Audiophile" Edition Band-in-a-Box.
Yes, you can Replay instead, which doesn't regenerate. Or just hit the Spacebar, which plays from the current position, without regenerating (assuming Edit-Prefs-Spacebar is set to do that)
Another tip: right click on the Combo button, and if "song has changed, needs regeneration" is checked, you should un-check that, and it will force a replay without regeneration. That would apply if you made a small change in a chord, but didn't want a regeneration of tracks.
Just to add a bit to Peter's answer, Biab regenerates the tracks every time you hit play unless you tell it not to. You're question implies you think this is some kind of problem but it's actually by design. A real band will not play the same tune exactly the same way twice. Similar yes, but not exactly the same. That's one of the neat things about the program, it gives you some variation to play along with just like real band members will.
For example you start playing and the bass player is still talking up the chick in the torn black leather jacket and straggly hair who hinted she has a bag of BC bud and bought him a Black Jack and coke and the bass part is kinda missing and now he's running and he ...never mind. I couldn't resist...
I use replay when I'm not playing at home contemplating....
Actually I meant to suggest another feature which would be 'GET THIS SONG READY", and it would generate all the tracks and superimpose a big play button that could be sort of activated by hitting any key. Why didn't I think of that..before? Guys are always talking about playing live and if you use all Realtracks and the song generated when chosen from the juke box..well.it would just wait for you, while the windmills of your mind turn...
If that bass player manages to score that bag of BC bud from the chick in the torn black leather jacket, the windmills of his mind will definitely be turning after that Black Jack and Coke!
I like the fact that the tracks get re-generated in a slightly different way each time
Quote: Actually I meant to suggest another feature which would be 'GET THIS SONG READY", and it would generate all the tracks and superimpose a big play button that could be sort of activated by hitting any key. Why didn't I think of that..before? Guys are always talking about playing live and if you use all Realtracks and the song generated when chosen from the juke box..well.it would just wait for you, while the windmills of your mind turn...
Isn't that already possible using "Pause Play until MIDI received"?
Quote: Biab regenerates the tracks every time you hit play unless you tell it not to. You're question implies you think this is some kind of problem but it's actually by design.
No, it is a problem. Or at least an annoyance. The RTs (which is what the O/P was asking about) play the same thing, regardless how many times regenerated.
Perhaps the amount of regeneration depends on the instrument - I have found that RT Country stuff like Pedal Steel, Resonator, Fiddle and other soloists etc tend to regenerate to a degree if you right click on the green name and hit regenerate.
Yes, the RealTrack chosen, plus the Tempo, plus the chords in the progression, plus the style, all can work together to either regenerate something a little different -- or not.
Understand that BIAB does not "keep" the resultant audio files for each song. Think about how much hard drive space you would need then. Instead, it generates the arrangement every time you need it. The replay command works, because that particular song is already in memory and has already been generated. But if you load another song, hitting replay (versus play) is just going to regenerate that new song, because it hadn't been generated in the first place. BIAB basically just stores the instructions for how to create the song, which results in small files, and then generates the songs in real-time (although, you might say "slow-time"). That's how it was designed.
John
Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA
What's going on when you hit play (for the first time) with real tracks, and one of the tracks fails to load and play? That happens to me a lot. The song begins to play with one of the parts missing. I hit play again, wait a few seconds until it's ready, then it usually plays just fine. It's a sporadic kind of thing.
Quote: What's going on when you hit play (for the first time) with real tracks, and one of the tracks fails to load and play? That happens to me a lot. The song begins to play with one of the parts missing. I hit play again, wait a few seconds until it's ready, then it usually plays just fine. It's a sporadic kind of thing.
You may need to defrag your hard drive. I'm taling the C: drive here, regardless of whether or not the BB program resides there or on a USB drive. The RealTracks/Realdrums load to a Temp directory on C: drive.
Don't accept Windows' report on that, the algo they use was designed around "standard" PC use and not audio streaming. Just go ahead and invoke the Disk Check followed by a Defrag.
With today's large drives, this will take some time, I recommend starting the defrag at night after setting the thing to shut down when done, then go to sleep and let it work for you.
I am using a very old CPU Intel Core T8100 produced in 2010 I guess, it takes 6-10s to generate a sample realtrack song(4-5 real tracks), but the CPU usage is only around 50%.
So the time consumed by BIAB loading a song is for what? Seems not only for decoding wma files to wav, otherwise it will take more of CPU usage( maybe upto 100%?).
And it is not consumed by Disk, wma size is so small, it might be the wav file generated in the realtime? But I also tried with SSD as my C drive(since someone mentioned the cache is on C drive), it didn't speed up either.
By the way, when someone said, there is cache on C drive when generating real tracks, I did not observe any change in number on C drive free space. Could the wav files that have been decoded from realtracks-wma only in RAM(and there is no cache on disk)? Thanks.
Many programs don't use 100% CPU to perform tasks, nor all cores of a processor. Some time is spent performing disk I/O, some time may be spent waiting for CPU to become available, some time may be spent collecting information, etc.
How long are the songs you mentioned? 4-5 seconds to completely generate a 32 bar 3-chorus song sounds reasonable.
Also, after you have generated, you can freeze the tracks, and they don't need to be regenerated for future plays. They are then virtually instant.
To freeze tracks, click the asterisk on each track in the mixer. Frozen tracks are blue.
Trevor
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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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.
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
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
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)
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