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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 39
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 39 |
I just upgraded to 2010 and decided to dive back into understanding Biab. I have the program for the purpose of practicing mandolin, and among other things, Biab seems to be the worlds best metronome! That said, I have never fully understood some of the basic song entering/formatting controls in Biab. Please excuse me if this is due to my lack of understanding when it comes to musical structure. Can anyone one point to a good tutorial on repeats, codas, and endings in Biab? I can never seem to use the repeats and multiple endings functions correctly, and at a more basic level I always get extra bars in my songs (a 32 bar song always has an extra 2 bars finish at the end that I cant remove).
I am sure this is Biab 101 stuff, but I am not getting it with the manual alone. Any push towards a good source for learning this would be much appreciated. Basically my goal is to be able to manually enter songs from sheet music and notation I have, and my lack of control in doing so in Biab means I can never quite duplicate them precisely.
Thanks, Douglas
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,333
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,333 |
The videos on the website...watch them all.
Search Google for band in a box songs. Lots around.
Then if you have a new version, check for folders in the bb directory. Folksongs. Navigate there, go to Irish or whatever and pick a song. Then use the style picker, change to a key you like, and jam along.
John Conley
Musica est vita
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,608
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,608 |
The extra two bars may caused by the default 2 bar ending. Click on the "S" button to the right of the song title and uncheck the 2 bar ending. Later, Ray
Asus Q500A i7 Win 10 64 bit 8GB ram 750 HD 15.5" touch screen, BIAB 2017, Casio PX 5s, Xw P1, Center Point Stereo SS V3 and EWI 4000s.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 393
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 393 |
Here's a PG Music tutorial on the subject of repeats, etc. http://www.pgmusic.com/tutorial_repeats.htmThese tutorials and FAQ's are a great source of info, if you haven't looked at them. Bruce
Macbook Pro 2018
2.6 GHz 6-core Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM
OS Monterey
BIAB for Mac 2022
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 39
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 39 |
Thanks folks! First I did not know about the 2 bar ending; that solves one of my big issues. Second those tutorials area extremely helpful. I have gone looking for stuff like that in the site, but there is so much info to sift through, I must have been missing the ones I wanted each time.
Douglas
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 2,217
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 2,217 |
.
Are you playing BLUEGRASS mandolin? If so, look in your Band in a Box folder. Look for the "Bleugrass Fakebook" folder, or maybe its called "BG FAKE." Try out all the songs in that folder. If you dont have that folder, call PG Music and find out how to get it.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 39
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 39 |
Thanks for the tip on the Bluegrass Fakebook; I had not seen that. I dabble with a little bit of bluegrass type stuff so that is handy, but most of what I want to practice is not easily found in midi or BiaB form. To supplement the ready made files that I can find, I want to get good at transferring music from paper to Biab, and I think I am starting to head in the right direction. The funny thing is that I am extremely computer literate, but the combination of BiaBs' very complex options and my weak knowledge on some music terms makes this a bit more of a challenge than other applications I work with. Hec, the Biab website alone has a massive amount of info and can be a little confusing, but now that I have the right tutorials page I feel like I am in good shape.
Cheers, Douglas
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,616
Expert
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Expert
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,616 |
I learned that laying the song out in a single chorus can be very helpful. This includes the 1st/2nd endings, repeats, intro, tags, etc. Once that is done, you can 'clean' up the arrangement by defining those items if desired. FWIW, I only use those for obtaining lead sheets - where getting the song on a single page is important. My actual performance songs are Unfolded.
Also, if you intend to use Realband at some point, it will be easier with an Unfolded song.
R
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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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Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows Special Offers End Tomorrow (January 15th, 2026) at 11:59 PM PST!
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Happy New Year!
Thank you for being part of the Band-in-a-Box® community.
Wishing you and yours a very happy 2026—Happy New Year from all of us at PG Music!
Season's Greetings!
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy holiday season—thanks for being part of our community!
The office will be closed for Christmas Day, but we will be back on Boxing Day (Dec 26th) at 6:00am PST.
Team PG
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: The Newly Designed Piano Roll Window
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Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
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.
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You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
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- MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
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Learn more about the Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®!
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