You can mute everything else in BB or do as I do.... use volume envelopes in the DAW....
I use this quite often. In my latest song.... Tropical Sky, I used this along with copy and paste to get the light intro that builds.... volume envelopes absolutely rock.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
[The chord locations in the above examples assume each Chord is placed on the first beat and the lines delineate between bars irrelevant to the BIAB 4 beat grid for demonstration purposes of the chord programming.]
There are several other ways to achieve the same results. This is one way of many.
You can mute everything else in BB or do as I do.... use volume envelopes in the DAW....
I use this quite often. In my latest song.... Tropical Sky, I used this along with copy and paste to get the light intro that builds.... volume envelopes absolutely rock.
Thank you. I'll make a mental note of this but my DAW experience is so limited I don't know what a volume envelope is. (But I will learn!)
"If I knew where the good songs came from, I'd go there more often." Leonard Cohen
You can mute everything else in BB or do as I do.... use volume envelopes in the DAW....
I use this quite often. In my latest song.... Tropical Sky, I used this along with copy and paste to get the light intro that builds.... volume envelopes absolutely rock.
Thank you. I'll make a mental note of this but my DAW experience is so limited I don't know what a volume envelope is. (But I will learn!)
Envelopes.... volume or panning as well as other things... are essentially automated control over a specific parameter in the track.
You can automate or envelope almost anything you want. I generally use the volume and panning envelopes. With more than a few tracks in a project, adjusting volume and panning on individual tracks manually is an impossible task. Envelopes get the job done.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
Another option is to use the count-in as a drum intro. 1-click on preferences/options 2-count-in/met 3-allow lead in bars 4-select lead in type
Thank you! I think I can follow that. Although I've had BIAB for a few years now, it was mainly a practice tool for playing along to jazz standards and basic blues. Now I want to use it to record my own songs, so I have to build from the ground up! It's a learning experience but the sounds I hear other people get are so good that I want to have them to and I'll get the hang of it, however long it takes.
"If I knew where the good songs came from, I'd go there more often." Leonard Cohen
You can mute everything else in BB or do as I do.... use volume envelopes in the DAW....
I use this quite often. In my latest song.... Tropical Sky, I used this along with copy and paste to get the light intro that builds.... volume envelopes absolutely rock.
Thank you. I'll make a mental note of this but my DAW experience is so limited I don't know what a volume envelope is. (But I will learn!)
Envelopes.... volume or panning as well as other things... are essentially automated control over a specific parameter in the track.
You can automate or envelope almost anything you want. I generally use the volume and panning envelopes. With more than a few tracks in a project, adjusting volume and panning on individual tracks manually is an impossible task. Envelopes get the job done.
That sounds super useful. I'm sure I'll be using those "just as soon as I'm able" ("Rocky Raccoon")
"If I knew where the good songs came from, I'd go there more often." Leonard Cohen
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows Special Offers End Tomorrow (January 15th, 2026) at 11:59 PM PST!
Time really is running out! Save up to 50% on Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® upgrades and receive a FREE Bonus PAK—only when you order by 11:59 PM PST on Thursday, January 15, 2026!
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Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® Special Offers Extended Until January 15, 2026!
Good news! You still have time to upgrade to the latest version of Band-in-a-Box® for Windows® and save. Our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® special now runs through January 15, 2025!
We've packed Band-in-a-Box® 2026 with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can process an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: The Newly Designed Piano Roll Window
In this video, we explore the updated Piano Roll, complete with a modernized look and exciting new features. You’ll see new filtering options that make it easy to focus on specific note groups, smoother and more intuitive note entry and editing, and enhanced options for zooming, looping, and more.
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe
This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.
Bonus PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®
With your version 2026 for Windows Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons for FREE! Or upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
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-For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
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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)
Android Band-in-a-Box® App (included)
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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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