I am trying to understand what is meant by "utility tracks" and I suspect that already answers my question but I still wanted to ask it.
Can the new editable utility tracks handle RealTracks or are they only for audio and MIDI?
I read somewhere that you could move audio from a RealTrack to one of these tracks. How does that work?
Can I generate and then copy certain bars from a RealTrack to a utility track? If yes, will it automatically place it in the right position of the song or do I have to figure out where to move it to?
Once I have done this if I then regenerate what happens to the editable utility tracks? Does anything on there regenerate or are they always just static containers for audio and MIDI?
<< I read somewhere that you could move audio from a RealTrack to one of these tracks. How does that work? >> The Copy/Move command has been enhanced to handle audio as well as MIDI. Edit\Copy Special\Copy/Move Tracks...
Further.. with the new Utility tracks you simply highlight a section you like in the Audio Edit of the selected RealTrack/Drum/Midi and paste it in a Utility track, just have Snap checked !
These are just extra audio/midi tracks that are selected in the Audio Edit and Piano Roll. You will be able to generate directly in the Utility track in a future release, this will be audio or midi.
I am trying to understand what is meant by "utility tracks" and I suspect that already answers my question but I still wanted to ask it.
Can the new editable utility tracks handle RealTracks or are they only for audio and MIDI?
My understanding is that yes, but by a process of copying all or part of a generated RealTrack from an existing RealTrack track. But not natively, meaning you cannot select a RealTrack to be placed directly onto a Utility Track and then generate it.
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.
Thanks everyone! In answer to my question about putting RealTracks on new Editable Utility Tracks I got two qualified "yes" answers. Based on what I am learning I think the more accurate answer is "no", you cannot put RealTracks on these new tracks. They are for audio and MIDI only and will not regenerate anything when you regen nor can you assign a RealTrack to them. After you have generated a RealTrack you can copy/paste that generated audio but that is actually no longer a RealTrack.
I am not sure what you mean by that last sentence, "but it is no longer a RealTrack". As I said, you can copy a RealTrack to a Utility Track, you can edit it there, and it is not regenerated. So is that, or is that not, still a RealTrack? If you know what you can do, what is the purpose of trying to puzzle over the definition?
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
When you copy a RealTrack to the Audio track it takes it out of RAM and is now a wav file Utility #1.wav Utility #2.wav or whatever name you name the track My Life #4.wav But if you only want your tracks saved inside the SGU as data and have no audio files attached to the song.SGU then it won't.
This way it will all be instant and play direct from the source files, and all the track information is saved as data with a small file size like an SGU.
I am not sure what you mean by that last sentence, "but it is no longer a RealTrack". As I said, you can copy a RealTrack to a Utility Track, you can edit it there, and it is not regenerated. So is that, or is that not, still a RealTrack? If you know what you can do, what is the purpose of trying to puzzle over the definition?
Because it is a misrepresentation to call it a RealTrack once it has been generated as audio and moved to a utility track. It will no longer regenerate like a RealTrack. And, I am guessing, it would not change key or tempo or song length or anything else I can do with a RealTrack. Am I wrong about this? (I hope so!)
One of the amazing benefits of RealTracks is I can always come in and change major parameters and still get a new audio track generated. If these new tracks worked with RealTracks that would be a lot better in my opinion. Because they do not does not mean they are not useful but what they contain is audio or MIDI and not RealTracks.
and .. if you have a RT that is not Direct Input but the playing is frozen as it is what you want but you want to add another guitar FX to it, you can change it to Direct Input and do that. This is done by changing folders though it should be something Biab could do by changing the source path of the RT itself.
Because it is a misrepresentation to call it a RealTrack once it has been generated as audio and moved to a utility track. It will no longer regenerate like a RealTrack. And, I am guessing, it would not change key or tempo or song length or anything else I can do with a RealTrack. Am I wrong about this? (I hope so!)
One of the amazing benefits of RealTracks is I can always come in and change major parameters and still get a new audio track generated. If these new tracks worked with RealTracks that would be a lot better in my opinion. Because they do not does not mean they are not useful but what they contain is audio or MIDI and not RealTracks.
My experimentation showed that the tempo of the audio on the Utility Track can be changed but the key cannot without regenerating and copying the track to the Utility Track again. This was the workflow I used:
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.
Purse out, I was looking forward to 2021 but this isnt what I personally wanted. Whats the point of it for User Mrs Average?To me its another Videos thing - they were pointless too. I would have loved an extra (just a) few more RT tracks in the BB mixer that responded to changes,not this. Another triumph for the Techies? If you want to mess with an RT do it your beloved RB! Money kept in purse - for now. Wendy
BiaB2022PLUS,927. every extras pack I can find ;-),Sonar7XL,Win 10
One thing I've been doing is regenerating until I get a RealTrack I like, then moving that to a Utility Track. Then I replace the original RealTrack with another instrument.
In this way, suppose I want a jazz group with piano AND vibes AND guitar all comping. Bass also of course. I still want the string track for strings, and I've already used the melody and soloist tracks. Now I can have that added comping track easily in one song without leaving BIAB. And I can still regenerate any of the other tracks or continue to refine the melody or harmony.
The only condition I've found is that the song form, tempo and key must be finalized first, because the Utility Track will not regenerate or respond to adding or deleting measures etc.
Perhaps in the future they will expand these to function fully like RealTracks. It's still a great feature, much requested.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
Currently Band-in-a-Box will run on just about anything - pretty sure it'll run on a potato. If we program BB to render everything in realtime, then our users who are still running some very old computers will need a faster CPU, more Ram, faster hard drive, etc.
I think that is the mindset of PG, it's like sacrificing development for modern hardware users because of older hardware users ?? If you can have 2 instances of Biab running at the same time there's 14 RealTracks running in RAM.
To try it I opened 2 instances of Biab with 5 tracks each, 120bpm, 192 bars, using 480meg RAM each and 7% CPU each, with i52320 @ 3.0GHz 16GB RAM. So I don't know, whats the solution ? Biab and Biab Deluxe ???? Look Ma More RealTracks.
One thing I've been doing is regenerating until I get a RealTrack I like, then moving that to a Utility Track. Then I replace the original RealTrack with another instrument.
In this way, suppose I want a jazz group with piano AND vibes AND guitar all comping. Bass also of course. I still want the string track for strings, and I've already used the melody and soloist tracks. Now I can have that added comping track easily in one song without leaving BIAB. And I can still regenerate any of the other tracks or continue to refine the melody or harmony.
The only condition I've found is that the song form, tempo and key must be finalized first, because the Utility Track will not regenerate or respond to adding or deleting measures etc.
Perhaps in the future they will expand these to function fully like RealTracks. It's still a great feature, much requested.
Now THIS I like! I get it now. It'll train me into making sure I've finished fiddling about with the arrangement before I move anyyhing into Utility. Wendy
BiaB2022PLUS,927. every extras pack I can find ;-),Sonar7XL,Win 10
<< I think that is the mindset of PG, it's like sacrificing development for modern hardware users because of older hardware users ?? >>
And also the mindset of most hardware stand alone multi track digital recorder manufacturers. It seems to be the popular price configuration for both hardware and stable software. The most popular models settle on 8 inputs to create extremely stable units. 8 also seems to be the standard on audio interfaces for physical pre-amps. Tracks have never been the issue even back to analog 4 track recorders.
To try it I opened 2 instances of Biab with 5 tracks each, 120bpm, 192 bars, using 480meg RAM each and 7% CPU each, with i52320 @ 3.0GHz 16GB RAM. So I don't know, whats the solution ? Biab and Biab Deluxe ???? Look Ma More RealTracks.
I don't believe that inadequate resources is any reason not to have these features, because you can do most of that (more RealTracks etc) in RealBand now.
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.
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®.
When you order purchase Band-in-a-Box® 2026 before 11:59 PM PST on January 15th, you'll also receive a Free Bonus PAK packed with exciting new add-ons.
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® today! Check out the Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all the purchase options available.
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!
These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
The 2026 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 25 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)
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)
Join Tobin as he takes you on a tour of the new user interface in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®! This modern GUI redesign offers a sleek new look with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, and a smoother workflow. The brand-new side toolbar puts track selection, the MultiPicker Library, and other essential tools right at your fingertips. Plus, our upgraded Multi-View lets you layer multiple windows without overlap, giving you a highly flexible workspace. Many windows—including Tracks, Piano Roll, and more—have been redesigned for improved usability and a cleaner, more intuitive interface, and more!
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