PG Music Home Forums PG Music Wishlists Band-in-a-Box Wishlist RealTracks Contemporary Jazz

Hi guys, it’s no secret that band in a box is a near miracle, but as is human nature, once we achieve certain things, we want more.

I upgraded to 2021, but was quite disappointed in the tracks available for smooth jazz. I work at a high, professional level, so I am going to apologize upfront for being more demanding than a hobbyist.

I find the drum tracks quite good. Although I’d like a bit more variety in fills and such, they’ve taken me a long way. The same is true for Jeff Lorber‘s piano tracks. There’s enough variation there that I can avoid stepping on my own toes. More acoustic piano would certainly be nice.

My biggest complaint lies with guitar, and specifically bass. Brent Mason, Dwight Sills, and Michael Thompson are all fine players as we know. But it’s fairly limiting, and Michael’s tracks are compromised with a very thin tone to them, which can only be altered so much. Missing are certain critical rhythmic strums, which can be found in abundance in the acoustic guitar tracks, but have no corresponding electric tracks for basic strumming. As good as Mark Lettieri and Bob Lanzetti can be, I find their tracks generally unusable.

Lastly, as I mentioned, and most frustrating, the bass is a real problem. Yes Alex Al, Vernon Barberry, etc. are great players. The problem is that there are some basic feels that are missing. What’s worse, the ‘Simple’ generation feature simply doesn’t work. Many of the tracks suffer from overplaying, especially since there’s no respect for developing parts by laying low in song intros and building from there. Just too busy from the get go! Additionally, 5-6 string lead bass has become very popular in the genre (Brendan Rothwell, Julian Vaughn, etc.), and I'd love some solo parts and more slapping rhythm tracks!

Thanks for allowing me to speak my mind. You guys do great work, but I am afeared that I am reaching the wall in the program. I’d be perfectly happy if you never developed or improved a single feature, but put the time and resources into recording more quality realtracks and realdrums, both rhythm and solo. No complaints on the quality of playing, but the variety is lacking, and there are some tone choices that could’ve been better. Dry tracks are always best!

I absolutely agree with your comments Warren.
There is a RealTracks request forum, but I'm aware that you know about it. Perhaps consider repeating these detailed suggestions there also.

Warren,

I agree there is always room for more RealTracks. I also believe there is room for additional MIDI SuperTracks and MIDI styles.

Believe it or not, I want more Pop, Country, Bluegrass, Gospel and Folk tracks. Some complain there are too many of them at the expense of other genres. What I've found is what we have is great but I still find gaps.

The good news is PG Music appears to realize content is the current star and deliver more content every year.

I will mention that one way to overcome busy tracks or tone is by offering additional MIDI content, be it in the form of MIDI SuperTracks or MIDI styles. MIDI can be edited much easier than audio. MIDI also lets the user choose the instrument patch so you can change the tone to suit your taste and the song.

PG Music has issued some "Look Ma More MIDI" styles the last few years. I'd love to see more.

I would also like to see some MIDI SuperTracks based on instruments like bass, guitar and sax.

I'm sure there will be more content released in the future. We just don't know what it will be.

Oops, forgot about it Video Track- thanks, will repost!

Thanks Jim. Good idea on the MIDI!

I just checked out your SoundCloud and now I follow.
http://soundcloud.com/spontaneousgrvncombustion
Very very nice work, and finest sax and flute, to make it real
I can recognize some of the RT styles from my own YT and SoundCloud tunes.
Great inspiration to see how you do it

Thanks so very much, Stratos- I really appreciate that! You'll find Spontaneous Groovin' Combusion at Spotify, Apple, etc. We released an album in February https://ffm.to/sgcsgc.

Warren,

That is a great sounding sample you linked to.

I'm not as fond of contemporary jazz as you and Stratos so I can say with all honesty I can't tell what is from Band-in-a-Box RealTracks and what is not. I hope you will take that statement as the compliment it is meant to be.

I don't know who mixed and mastered your songs but what I've heard is very tasteful.

I wish you much success with your music!