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So, I remember Mac talking about his little brother Marshall fairly often on the forums. I found Marshall's website (he is still playing sax professionally) and it had a "contact me" form. So, I wrote the following: Greetings! My name is John Ford and you don't know me from Adam. I am a longtime participant in the PGMusic Band-in-a-Box online forum for which your brother Clark (who went by the moniker "Mac") many years ago, your brother Clark just kind of disappeared. There have been folks (including myself) worried about him for many years now. I've tried calling the number at which I previously spoke with him, but it just rings (###-###-####). I remember him posting about his brother Marshall and your accomplishments, so I am reaching out on your web site. While I never met him in person, I spoke with him on the phone several times and we had multiple interchanges about music on the forum and on the phone. Myself, and others, would just like to know he's alright, still playing keyboards and trumpet (hopefully), and doing what he loves. He was a treasure of knowledge on the forum, and we have long been concerned about him. I remember he went through a bout of some health issues. I look forward to hearing from you. I received the following reply (lightly edited to respect privacy): Hi John,
Thanks for reaching out, I remember well his work at BIAB and I still use the program to practice although I have not updated in some time! Music is a challenging career. To say the least and has gotten even worse.
Yes Actually, he did go through some very serious health issues, maybe we will tell you about them but he is still with us and his brilliant mind, may be getting older, is still brilliant.
Since he sometimes remains private I will forward your email onto him and I hope he reaches out to you.
Let me know how it goes.
Thanks for your kind note.
______________
Marshall McDonald
I hope I hear from him.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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That's really good to hear John.
Thanks for chasing Mac up. I often wonder about him. He's STILL the top poster with 38,502 posts even though he was last online in April 2014 (04/09/14).
And he's member #11 -- that means he was here right from the start! By comparison, my member number is 12,038 and I joined in 2008. By the way, Peter Gannon is #12!
There's no two ways about it, Mac is a legend's legend!
What a great way to start 2020,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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So glad to hear that Mac is still around. If he started posting again, what a welcome back he would get, and rightly so.
I was just thinking about other users, Finetuned who did biab third party styles as well, they simply disappeared off the forum as well, many years ago and no one heard any more from them either.
Even though its an internet forum it can be sad to see members disappear from it.
Come to think of it has anyone heard from 90Db (Bob) in a while or even Seeker (Frank) who did a lot of user tracks?
Last edited by musiclover; 01/08/20 01:45 AM.
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John, Mac was very influential in my journey. I “met” him at the old N-trackstudio forum, as well as the audiominds forum he was the one who convinced me to use BiaB and also a program called Multitrackstudios. I had many questions and he answered them with patience and kindness. He truly was a gem around here I wish he was still with us. I am sure he had his reasons for fading away, I certainly did as well for about 2 1/2 years. John if you get in contact please give him our greeting and best wishes. He would have known me as Robomusic.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96
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John if you get in contact please give him our greeting and best wishes. He would have known me as Robomusic. I certainly will, Rob!
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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John, thanks for taking the initiative. It’s great to know Mac is still with us. He would be so welcomed back.
Noel, I noticed in your post that you said Mac was here from the beginning, based on his forum registration. The first part is true; the reason is not. In the summer of 2000, PG Music changed their forum software!
The number of posts and the actual date we had first registered was lost - we all lost years of material and started over in 2000. So Mac has even more posts that what you see in the user list. So do I, but I’m not in the same league. Yes, some of us must be older than dirt by this point.
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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Thank you so much John. I've often wondered about Mac myself.
In the early days when he disappeared, he didn't answer my e-mails. He was beta-testing some of my new styles for BiaB at the time and not returning e-mails was unusual.
I read he was going through some health issues so I let it drop. The last thing someone facing a serious health challenge needed was something like, "Hey buddy, how is the evaluation of those styles coming?"
It's good to hear he is still alive, and I hope completely healed. If he responds, please send him a "Hello" from me.
Thanks,
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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I'm also glad that Mac is still with us. For those who didn't know Mac, during the day he was what Noel is to us now, a man with tremendous knowledge about BiaB and music in general whom gladly shared this with the rest of us.
John, tell Mac I said hello.
OK, a random thought;
Why does toilet paper need a commercial? Who's not buying it?
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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If I hear from him, I will be sure to share everyone's well wishes.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Me too John. The last contact I had was also shortly before he disappeared. I had an Emu 1820M PCi interface that died because I spilled coffee all over my computer. I PM him asking if he thought he could repair it I would just give it to him. He said yes so I put it in a box and mailed it out. He did reply he received it and thanked me and that's the last thing I've heard.
I've often wondered what he would have to say about all these discussions about making fairly radical changes to the program. He's the only one I know who could go toe to toe with some of the very technical folks who've joined the forum in the last few years. The big difference between him and most of us is he's brilliant and has a 30 year perspective with PGM. I often thought he had more to do with the company than he ever let on publicly.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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John & Bob,
I really miss that old phart Mac!
He had been a regular contributor to the N-Track Studio forums and, in fact, assisted us in its early development. He once suggested that we contact him through his brother but I have lost that email address.
Mac and a Cockney Londoner, "Limey" made that a fun place to hang out. Great memories.
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John,
I'm glad you found a way to get an update. Great piece of detective work sir.
Mac doesn't know me from a hole in the wall but he was still active in the forum when I returned to Band-in-a-Box. I greatly appreciated both his knowledge and style.
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My two cents worth: yes, I was always totally amazed with the tremendous knowledge that Mac had about BIAB (and actually so much else)!! It was so informative to read his threads/contributions and I have missed him tremendously....I was so thrilled to see you make this effort to reconnect with him, John, and I just hope, along with all of us that knew him, virtually at least, that you hear back from him and let us know if you do.
Thanks for your attempt,
Cecil
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+ on the thanks train
In addition to all Mac’s musical and real life knowledge as a fellow Pittsburgher
I also enjoyed the times he mentioned his experiences in the burg
And like everyone else wish him Well in all areas of life
Lenovo YOGA 900 Window s 10 Home 64bit M4 pro Mac mini 1tb HD 24GB mem casio wk7500 presonus audiobox i2 usb interface
casio wk-7500
biab & realband 2025 everything pk both with Current builds
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I also miss his informative posts...
Jim
†=☮&♥
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John Great news and good sleuthing, when you reconnect with him tell him that his music forum and Air Force bro says best wishes and I really miss his presence here. Mac and I only talked off-forum a few times and then only via PM’s and on LAST one he told me how he loved chilies so I told him I’d some him some world famous Hatch (New Mexico) green chilies (he was already familiar with them). He also mentioned that his call sign in flight school was..., well let Mac explain directly (from his next to last PM to me back in Feb of ’14)
...
Used to eat a lot more of 'em at one sitting than these days, though, a man's gotta know his limitations - or sit up all night in regret, it seems.
No rush, either, I've still got half of a large plastic bag fulla dried reds from the southwest here. Ever roast the dried peppers first, deveined and deseeded? I have a small spinning stainless steel blade grinder that was supposed to be for coffee, dedicated to grinding the peppers and dried garlic, etc. for my bulk spices.
BTW so you'll know whatcher dealin' with here, my callsign when back in flight school was, "Chowhound"...
'Twas an honestly earned title, sir.
--Mac
I did send him some chilies but then Mac disappeared from forum at almost exactly the same time he got the chilies, so I always feared I had somehow poisoned him (and that's not so LOL). -------------- Like Matt said this forum was reconstituted back about 20 years ago I completely forget why not even sure I ever knew. And as Matt mentioned even on that previous forum Mac was a very early member. I’m member 55 (I wish I was still 55) on THIS forum but had posts on previous forum as well along with Matt, Mac et al - only reason my member number is so low, lower than Matt’s is I beat Matt to the new registration somehow.
Last edited by Larry Kehl; 01/09/20 08:51 AM.
Win10Pro,i9,64GB,2TBSSD+20TBHDDs,1080TI,BIAB'24,Scarlett18i8,Montage7,Fusion 8HD,QS8,Integra7,XV5080,QSR,SC-8850,SPLAT,FL21&others,Komp.14,IK suite&others, just a guitar player-AXE FX III &FM9T, FishmanTP, MIDIGuitar2, GK2/3'sw/GI20
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I want to hear from him as well. Mac, rharv, silver tones and a few others got me started on PTPA (you newcomers may have to look that acronym up!).
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Wow, thanks for doing this John and bringing us up to speed. Great to know Mac is still on the grassy side. Even greater to hear he is still a brilliant man.
This post made my day, thanks again.
Danny C.
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+1 here for another fan of Mac - learned a lot from him and greatly indebted - as well as lots of the people on this thread : )
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John
...
I did send him some chilies but then Mac disappeared from forum at almost exactly the same time he got the chilies, so I always feared I had somehow poisoned him (and that's not so LOL).
--------------
...
So for once it wasn't my fault?
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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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!
It's the perfect time to expand your Band-in-a-Box® style library with XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs. These additional styles for Band-in-a-Box® offer a wide range of genres designed to fit seamlessly into your projects. Each style is professionally arranged and mixed, helping enhance your songs while saving you time.
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac Videos
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
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Check out this forum post for "One Stop Shopping" of our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Videos!
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Along with version 2026, we've released an incredible lineup of new content! There's 202 new RealTracks, brand-new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two new RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
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Holiday Weekend Hours
As we hop into the Easter weekend, here are our holiday hours:
April 3 (Good Friday): 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM PDT
April 4 (Saturday): Closed
April 5 (Easter Sunday): Closed
April 6 (Easter Monday): Open regular hours
Wishing you an egg-cellent weekend!
— Team PG
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