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You must be careful when playing a variety of music that you don't go too hard-core in any one direction. There is a fine line between everybody's music and nobody's music. When playing for a 40+ crowd, you are playing memories as much as you are playing music. Stick mostly to the popular stuff. Of course, you can sneak in songs for yourself once in a while, as long as they are not too drastic of a departure. When playing for a retirement crowd, I wouldn't sneak in any Jay-Z, even if I wanted to. Also I don't expect every market to be like South Florida. When I toured the country in my younger years I noticed a lot more hard rock in the Midwest and a lot more country in the Southeast. Little pockets of others exist like "Beach Music" of Virginia to Georgia's Atlantic coast. You also have to remember, although you are friendly and cooperative with other similar acts in your area, you are also in competition. Your job is to do a better job than the competition. I make my own backing tracks, sometimes with BiaB, sometimes from scratch. Here is how I make backing tracks and how I use them on stage. http://www.nortonmusic.com/backing_tracks.html Feel free to take what you want and ignore what doesn't apply to your personal situation. And always remember, you are not having a monologue, but a dialogue with the audience. You must react to them as much as they react to you. Plus, look like you are enjoying yourself. Fun is contagious. You can't expect the audience to have a good time if you aren't having a good time. One of the first booking agents I ever worked with said this in his gruff voice, "Nobody wants to see a sober-faced musician." Parting words and the best advice I've ever gotten: You can play for yourself, you can play for other musicians, or you can play for the general public. If you are good enough, you will get the audience you asked for. Insights and incites by 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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Quote:
You must be careful when playing a variety of music that you don't go too hard-core in any one direction. There is a fine line between everybody's music and nobody's music.
When playing for a 40+ crowd, you are playing memories as much as you are playing music. Stick mostly to the popular stuff. Of course, you can sneak in songs for yourself once in a while, as long as they are not too drastic of a departure. When playing for a retirement crowd, I wouldn't sneak in any Jay-Z, even if I wanted to.
Also I don't expect every market to be like South Florida. When I toured the country in my younger years I noticed a lot more hard rock in the Midwest and a lot more country in the Southeast. Little pockets of others exist like "Beach Music" of Virginia to Georgia's Atlantic coast.
You also have to remember, although you are friendly and cooperative with other similar acts in your area, you are also in competition. Your job is to do a better job than the competition.
I make my own backing tracks, sometimes with BiaB, sometimes from scratch. Here is how I make backing tracks and how I use them on stage. http://www.nortonmusic.com/backing_tracks.html
Feel free to take what you want and ignore what doesn't apply to your personal situation.
And always remember, you are not having a monologue, but a dialogue with the audience. You must react to them as much as they react to you. Plus, look like you are enjoying yourself. Fun is contagious. You can't expect the audience to have a good time if you aren't having a good time. One of the first booking agents I ever worked with said this in his gruff voice, "Nobody wants to see a sober-faced musician."
Parting words and the best advice I've ever gotten:
You can play for yourself, you can play for other musicians, or you can play for the general public. If you are good enough, you will get the audience you asked for.
Insights and incites by Notes ♫
Major DITTO! Wonderful advice, most musicians spend years in smokey bars before they learn (the hard way I might add) what Notes has offered here for free.
Later,
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Cool cover Mike good job !
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Thanks, Tommy! Didn't mean to hijack the thread, though. If you like to PM me your comments, that's great. If not, that's cool too.  Moving right along .... 
Cheers, Mike My Music * Asus ROG Strix G15CF 32 GB DDR4 4TB HDD + 1 TB SSD NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8GB Win 11 AKAI EIE PRO Sound Interface. BIAB/RB 2024 UltraPak Build - Latest
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Quote:
Pat,
Just one thing I'll throw in here for consideration is playing some cover songs in styles that are totally different from the originals. They can then be surprising, even while playing a cover, and you can make them your own. The audience will recognize it after 20 or 30 seconds and will hopefully applaud your originality while playing a cover.
Pick a style and make the song yours. 
This is a great way to use BIAB/RB because of the myriad of styles available to experiment with doing covers differently. One of my favorite examples of this is what Daryl Hall does with this Ruby & The Romantics song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkuQnE72irI
Terry
BIAB/RB 2018 PlusPak. Dell Inspiron23 running Win10, 12GB RAM, 2.5GHz i7, Presonus AudioBox USB interface.
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Hi Mike,
you're not HiJacking the thread at all... it's about stirring up interest in people who want to make music with PG products... and your song fits perfectly
I think that you adaptation is familiar enough to stir memories, yet different enough to sound fresh and interesting all over again. I like it a lot... its another good example of what Bob was talking about.
Very well done... you must be very happy with it!
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Terry,
thanks for posting another great example of a well-known song, reworked to sound new and artistically rendered. Lots of food for thought in this thread. Thanks, everybody!
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Quote:
You must be careful when playing a variety of music that you don't go too hard-core in any one direction. There is a fine line between everybody's music and nobody's music.
I can tell this is great advice, but I'm not sure of exactly what you mean by it.
Quote:
When playing for a 40+ crowd, you are playing memories as much as you are playing music. Stick mostly to the popular stuff. ---snip--- Also I don't expect every market to be like South Florida. When I toured the country in my younger years I noticed a lot more hard rock in the Midwest and a lot more country in the Southeast. Little pockets of others exist like "Beach Music" of Virginia to Georgia's Atlantic coast.
my thinking is that the oldies are the common denominator... but there are definitely special interest groups in this area... and I thought that the idea of taking the same basic set of boomer songs that pretty much everybody likes, and making a set of remakes that that appeals to each crowd is a good one. That way it won't be "one size fits all.." the bluegrass crowd may still hear some Beatles tunes, but there will be banjo and fiddle in some (not all) of them...
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You also have to remember, although you are friendly and cooperative with other similar acts in your area, you are also in competition. Your job is to do a better job than the competition.
I've been to your site and I see what you mean about being the best. You are clearly at the top of your game. But that goal is out of my reach for now. I just want to overcome the obstacles that are currently keeping me out of the competition altogether.
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I make my own backing tracks, sometimes with BiaB, sometimes from scratch. Here is how I make backing tracks and how I use them on stage. http://www.nortonmusic.com/backing_tracks.html
Feel free to take what you want and ignore what doesn't apply to your personal situation.
Good information.. it gives me a track to run on...
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And always remember, you are not having a monologue, but a dialogue with the audience. You must react to them as much as they react to you. Plus, look like you are enjoying yourself. Fun is contagious. You can't expect the audience to have a good time if you aren't having a good time. One of the first booking agents I ever worked with said this in his gruff voice, "Nobody wants to see a sober-faced musician."
Notes, you're a true pro. I'm not easily impressed by people, but I hold you in high esteem for all that you have accomplished... in more than one field. You're a natural communicator... you do it in words, ideas, music, products and by example. I know very few people who add the kind of value you add to the world around you. Thanks for taking time to share your thoughts on this thread.
Last edited by Pat Marr; 09/01/11 07:00 PM.
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Go for it! Before you do, give a LOT of thought to your stage gear - PA, mics, media for backing tracks, etc. If you need any help with any of these things, PM me or email me through our website.
Good luck!
Regards,
Bob
Or, not.
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Quote:
Quote:
Go for it! Before you do, give a LOT of thought to your stage gear - PA, mics, media for backing tracks, etc. If you need any help with any of these things, PM me or email me through our website.
Good luck!
Regards,
Bob
Or, not.
I think I did PM you, but it was through the PGMusic web site...
I'll try again via your personal email
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here's another boomer related question, coming from the other direction:
In addition to gearing up for a solo act, I recently joined a band that specializes in weddings. I was surprised that their song list is mostly older beach music. If the average bride is 20 years old, then the average bride's parent is now 40ish... that means this band's song list appeals to neither the bride's generation, nor the bride's parents generation. This set speaks to the bride's grandparents!
We're kicking around the idea of offering a hybrid musical set that we hope will appeal to more people:
1) when we show up, the PA gets set up first, and we start off with a DJ set of songs that appeal to the young 'uns. We figure the young people have more energy to burn, and the adults are most likely socializing at the beginning of the reception and less focused on the music.
2) During this set, the other band members will set up the rest of the gear in the background, behind a screen. This immediately cuts an hour of unpaid setup time off the gig!
3) middle set(s) will be the whole band playing variety music that we hope will appeal more to the adults, who by this time have done their socializing and are now ready to play a little.
4) By the last set, we expect that the adults will be more tired than the kids, and the kids will have been drinking like fish for several straight hours... so the last set will be hard driving DJ dance stuff again
5) during this last set, everybody but the person DJing will tear down all the equipment but the PA and load up the truck. This cuts ANOTHER hour of unpaid load time off the gig!
We think this approach will solve a variety of problems.
1) no more need to ask "should we hire a band or a DJ?" (why not BOTH?)
2) it will put us in a unique competitive spot in the wedding market
3) it will better meet the music tastes of the diverse groups at wedding receptions
4) it will get us in and out the door a lot faster
5) by needing fewer band songs, we can recover more quickly if somebody quits the band and has to be replaced
We haven't done this yet, it's just brainstorming at this point. What are your thoughts?
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Sometimes changing cover songs can be dangerous *g*.
The audience expects one thing, the artiste comes up with something that doesn't go the way the audience expects and - that can be a problem.
Just be aware that your audience is your employer on these gigs, if you try something new and it is not going over, govern yourself accordingly...
--Mac
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Quote:
Quote:
You must be careful when playing a variety of music that you don't go too hard-core in any one direction. There is a fine line between everybody's music and nobody's music.
I can tell this is great advice, but I'm not sure of exactly what you mean by it.
I'll try to explain, Pat.
Don't pick anything too hard-core in any direction - stick to more middle of the road songs.
Say for instance, you are playing for a group of retired folks, playing mostly baby boomer music and some modern tunes. You could probably get away with playing "Hey Soul Sister" by Train but if you crank out some Jay-Z you are going to alienate a huge percentage of the audience and it will take a lot of work to get them back -- if you can.
You cross the line and turn everybody's music into nobody's music when you alienate a huge portion of your crowd.
Watch the crowds reaction to everything you do and everything you play. Experience is a great teacher. Until you gain the experience, it's best to stick to popular and middle-of-the-road material. Establish your relationship with the crowd and make sure they are "with you" before venturing away from the MOR area.
And no song is beneath your artistic pride. We play at a yacht club one weekend a month, and a regular customer asked for "Sugar Sugar" by the Archies and "Sugar Shack" by the Fireballs. She comes every week, her husband is a "flag officer" and the next week we had them both. Neither one is a song I would have picked to learn, but we do the best we can, I have a good time singing/playing them, and when the vote comes up for who they want to entertain them next season, we are assured of their vote. Plus we found that other people enjoy them as well.
We would never play any Led Z in the Yacht Club, not even "Stairway" as it is simply too hard-core for this set, and while a few would enjoy it, we would ruffle too may other feathers. But after dinner when they start dancing, "Old Time Rock And Roll" always fills the floor (I wish I had a million songs that work that well).
Quote:
Sometimes changing cover songs can be dangerous *g*.
The audience expects one thing, the artiste comes up with something that doesn't go the way the audience expects and - that can be a problem. <...>
--Mac
So true. We re-interpret some songs, but most of them are pretty close to the cover versions. As we go through time, many of them evolve away from strict covers, with especially vocal touches and instrumental solos that are our own, but they are still very recognizable.
The songs that we re-interpret are played when we think we can get away with it, and that depends on both the gig and the audience.
You may be up there to have fun, but if you forget your main job is to make the audience enjoy themselves, you won't be up there having fun for long.
If you don't dearly love your audience and if your main focus is anything but making the audience have fun, you should get another profession.
Insights and incites by 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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Pat, I would definitely defer to Mac and Notes about their advice on performing, since they both have much more experience than I do performing for diverse audiences. The exception would be “know your audience”. If you played a faithful rendition of “Fly Me To The Moon” anywhere in WV, you could probably kiss your audience goodbye. If you played a Rock & Roll, Country or Bluegrass version of the same song, they would probably like it, from college students to retirees. Maybe country folks are more open to this type of thing. Since I lived and worked in NC for a while, … it’s hard for me to believe it’s that different from WV. Another thing I will say is, ……………If you have to play stuff you don’t like, then why do it? There’s a lot of other easier ways to make money. This just makes “music” another job you may hate. Whatever happened to “being true to yourself” as a musician. So the question is, do you simply want to be a “paid performer”, or do you have music you want to play because you love it, regardless of the audience size and paycheck? Just a different opinion and a different way of looking at things. What’s your goal? Money or playing what you like? Either is okay. Both is better.
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Quote:
Sometimes changing cover songs can be dangerous *g*.
Mac... the grin you ended with makes me wonder if this is the voice of experience...?
Quote:
Watch the crowds reaction to everything you do and everything you play. Experience is a great teacher. Until you gain the experience, it's best to stick to popular and middle-of-the-road material. Establish your relationship with the crowd and make sure they are "with you" before venturing away from the MOR area.
OK, gotcha this time. I am a people watcher who tends to test the water before getting riskier. I think Bob, Mac and you are all saying the same thing in different ways;
"tailor the music to the audience"
I agree that experience is the best teacher, (even other peoples' experience which is why I ask so many questions)
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And no song is beneath your artistic pride.
hey, thanks for assuming I have artistic pride! I'm pretty sure nobody ever thought that before! ;-)
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Another thing I will say is, ……………If you have to play stuff you don’t like, then why do it?
There are literally thousands of songs from which to choose. I'm looking for songs that meet the double test of whether I enjoy playing them and whether they appear on other peoples' tried-and-true song lists (thanks to all the BIAB forum giggers who have posted their song lists, by the way)
Later, based on my own experience at the local places, I'll naturally modify the set to add more of what works and less of what doesn't. A friend who started gigging a year ago recently told me that he started with a set of songs he liked, and he doesn't play any of them anymore. His audiences like other songs, and that's what he plays.
Thanks guys for passing along your valuable hard-earned experience! Hopefully I won't make as many re-newbie mistakes because of your collective shared wisdom.
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<...>
Another thing I will say is, ……………If you have to play stuff you don’t like, then why do it? There’s a lot of other easier ways to make money. This just makes “music” another job you may hate. Whatever happened to “being true to yourself” as a musician. <...>
At one time in my life I felt like that. After the disappointment when the Mowtown contract fizzled out over money, the band broke up and I got a day gig, working for the telephone company while playing "art music" on the weekends. I thought the music business was too uncertain and I should become a 'fine upstanding member of the working class'.
One day I climbed a telephone pole to service a customer. Climbing a telephone pole is dangerous because you are only held up by about 1/4" of spikes in the wood. Falling is no fun and one careless move will send you down to the ground before you can complete 'Oh Sh***" (the Sh is all you will get out before impact.
To add additional problems to this day were some galvanized garbage cans and 4 chain-link fences meeting at the corner where the pole was. I shudder at the thought of landing on one of those fences.
Anyway, I opened the telephone terminal and immediately discovered about 100 paper wasps had made their home in the terminal. Needless to say, they weren't happy about the intrusion.
Knowing I couldn't do anything quickly as straddling a fence after the acceleration of gravity had increased my speed would be much worse than 100 wasp stings, I slowly and carefully climbed back down the pole. Fortunately the wasps never figured out it was me who was the home wrecker. I dealt with the wasp problem and then repaired the phone.
Now, on those rare times when I feel badly about having to play a song that I either don't like or have played so often that there is nothing else to discover, I think about those wasps, and the song isn't so bad at all. Fortunately these occasions are extremely rare.
And whether I need the wasp memory or not, a funny thing happens. As soon as the music starts and I start playing, that nagging voice in my 'left brain' shuts up and no matter how corny the song is, I just get into playing the music and I enjoy myself.
Almost every musician has to play stuff he/she doesn't care for. When I was in a symphonic band, I didn't enjoy Mozart or Copeland, but I loved Moussorgsky, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak and Shostakovitch. If I didn't have to play the dull Mozart minuets, I wouldn't have gotten to play a Prokofiev concert suite. It was worth it.
But I guess I'm a little weird. I love performing to an audience. It's my second favorite thing to do (can't tell you what's first in a family forum). Instead of saying "I have to go to work today.", I say "I get to go to work today!" and truly mean it.
Two day gigs, one with the Telephone Company and another as a Field Engineer with a manufacturer of electronics to the Cable TV industry convinced me of two things:
1) Being a musician is not what I do, it's what I am.
2) A bad day playing music is better than a good day at any other job I can think of.
I love the audience, we have a great deal of fun together, and I intend to play music for as long as I live -- no retirement for me. I couldn't imagine not wanting to play for and with an audience.
Of course, YMMV.
Insights and incites by 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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Quote:
<...>A friend who started gigging a year ago recently told me that he started with a set of songs he liked, and he doesn't play any of them anymore. His audiences like other songs, and that's what he plays. <...>
If you stand on stage long enough, the audience will tell you what they want to hear.
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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Quote:
1) Being a musician is not what I do, it's what I am.
2) A bad day playing music is better than a good day at any other job I can think of.
I love the audience, we have a great deal of fun together, and I intend to play music for as long as I live -- no retirement for me. I couldn't imagine not wanting to play for and with an audience.
Notes,
you have a lot of talents... and one of them is the ability to express your thoughts clearly and persuasively. I identify with pretty much everything you've ever said here on the various forums.
Please keep on interacting... I'm sure a lot of us benefit from your experience in the music business.
There are a lot of experienced musicians on the forum who share their wisdom.. thanks to all of you.
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Just a different opinion and a different way of looking at things. What’s your goal? Money or playing what you like? Either is okay. Both is better.
there's a famous movie scene in which Meg Ryan fakes an orgasm in a restaurant. A lady at the adjacent table tells the waitress "I want what SHE'S having"
Well, I want what Notes is doing. He's right, fun is contagious. When people see it, they naturally want to share in it. I think we often derail ourselves because we ask ourselves the wrong questions.
The carrot I'm dangling in front of myself is fun.. the same fun Peter Gannon refers to in his tag line. The same fun Notes refers to so often.
When the audience sees the performer's fun, it becomes the same as a feedback loop.
So my answer to your question is " I want to have fun by feeding off the audiences enthusiasm for the songs I'm playing"
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RE: Fun . . . the last line of my closing thank you remarks after every show is, "if you guys had half as much fun as I did we are OK".
Later,
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
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Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). With over 3,500 styles (and 35 MIDI styles) included in Xtra Styles PAKs 1-20, the possibilities are endless!
Get the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Listen to demos and order now! For Windows or for Mac.
Note: XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Get Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 19 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Listen to demos and order now! For Windows or for Mac.
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 19 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Don’t miss this chance to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box setup—at a great price!
Mac 2025 Special Upgrade Offers Extended Until August 15th!
It's not too late to upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® and save! We've extended our special until August 15, 2025!
We've added many major new features to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, including advanced AI tools like the amazing BB Stem Splitter and AI Lyrics Generator, as well as VST3 plugin support, and Equalize Temp. Plus, there’s a new one-stop MIDI Patches Picker with over 1,100 MIDI patches to choose from, all neatly categorized by GM numbers. The MultiPicker Library is enhanced with tabs for the SongPicker, MIDI Patch Picker, Chord Builder, AI Lyrics Generator, and Song Titles Browser, and the tabs are organized into logical groups. The Audiophile Edition is enhanced with FLAC files , which are 60% smaller than AIFF files while maintaining identical audio quality, and now ships on a fast 1TB SSD, and much more!
Check out all the new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® here:
Purchase your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac during our special to save up to 50% off your upgrade purchase and receive a FREE BONUS PAK of amazing new Add-ons. These include the 2025 RealCombos Booster PAK, Look Ma! More MIDI 13: Country & Americana, Instrumental Studies Set 22: 2-Hand Piano Soloing - Rhythm Changes, MIDI SuperTracks Set 44: Jazz Piano, Artist Performance Set 17: Songs with Vocals 7, Playable RealTracks Set 4, RealDrums Stems Set 7: Jazz with Mike Clark, and more!
Upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for just $49 and add 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and 20 RealStyles, FLAC Files for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks, Look Ma! More MIDI 14: SynthMaster, MIDI SuperTracks Set 45: More SynthMaster, Artist Performance Set 18: Songs with Vocals 8, and RealDrums Stems Set 8: Pop, Funk & More with Jerry Roe.
Learn more about the Bonus PAKs!
New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2025!
We’ve expanded the Band-in-a-Box® RealTracks library with 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 449-467) across Jazz, Blues, Funk, World, Pop, Rock, Country, Americana, and Praise & Worship—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Blues & World (Sets 449–455):
These RealTracks includes “Soul Jazz” with Neil Swainson (bass), Mike Clark (drums), Charles Treadway (organ), Miles Black (piano), and Brent Mason (guitar). Enjoy “Requested ’60s” jazz, classic acoustic blues with Colin Linden, and more of our popular 2-handed piano soloing. Plus, a RealTracks first—Tango with bandoneon, recorded in Argentina!
Rock & Pop (Sets 456–461):
This collection includes Disco, slap bass ‘70s/‘80s pop, modern and ‘80s metal with Andy Wood, and a unique “Songwriter Potpourri” featuring Chinese folk instruments, piano, banjo, and more. You’ll also find a muted electric guitar style (a RealTracks first!) and “Producer Layered Guitar” styles for slick "produced" sound.
Country, Americana & Praise (Sets 462–467):
We’ve added new RealTracks across bro country, Americana, praise & worship, vintage country, and songwriter piano. Highlights include Brent Mason (electric guitar), Eddie Bayers (drums), Doug Jernigan (pedal steel), John Jarvis (piano), Glen Duncan (banjo, mandolin & fiddle), Mike Harrison (electric bass) and more—offering everything from modern sounds to heartfelt Americana styles
Check out all the 202 New RealTracks (in sets 456-467)
And, if you are looking for more, the 2025 49-PAK (for $49) includes an additional 20 RealTracks with exciting new sounds and genre-spanning styles. Enjoy RealTracks firsts like Chinese instruments (guzheng & dizi), the bandoneon in an authentic Argentine tango trio, and the classic “tic-tac” baritone guitar for vintage country.
You’ll also get slick ’80s metal guitar from Andy Wood, modern metal with guitarist Nico Santora, bass player Nick Schendzielos, and drummer Aaron Stechauner, more praise & worship, indie-folk, modern/bro country with Brent Mason, and “Songwriter Americana” with Johnny Hiland.
Plus, enjoy user-requested styles like Soul Jazz RealDrums, fast Celtic Strathspey guitar, and Chill Hop piano & drums!
The 2025 49-PAK is loaded with other great new add-ons as well. Learn more about the 2025 49-PAK!
Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Mac!
With your version 2025 for Mac Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons FREE! Or upgrade to the 2025 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 2025 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 33 new RealTracks and 65+ new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 29 new RealTracks and 45+ new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 20 new RealStyles.
- Look Ma! More MIDI 13: Country & Americana
- Instrumental Studies Set 22: 2-Hand Piano Soloing - Rhythm Changes
- MIDI SuperTracks Set 44: Jazz Piano
- Artist Performance Set 17: Songs with Vocals 7
- Playable RealTracks Set 4
- RealDrums Stems Set 7: Jazz with Mike Clark
- SynthMaster Sounds and Styles (with audio demos)
- 128 GM MIDI Patch Audio Demos.
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
- 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyles,
- FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
- Look Ma! More MIDI 14: SynthMaster,
- Instrumental Studies Set 23: More '80s Hard Rock Soloing,
- MIDI SuperTracks Set 45: More SynthMaster
- Artist Performance Set 18: Songs with Vocals 8
- RealDrums Stems Set 8: Pop, Funk & More with Jerry Roe
Learn more about the Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®!
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Mac!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 20.
Video: Xtra Styles PAK 20 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
New! XPro Styles PAK 9 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and higher for Mac!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 9 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 29 RealTracks/RealDrums!
We've been hard at it to bring you the latest and greatest in this 9th installment of our popular XPro Styles PAK series! Included are 75 styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres (25 styles each) that fans have come to expect, as well as 25 styles in this volume's wildcard genre: funk & R&B!
If you're itching to get a sneak peek at what's included in XPro Styles PAK 9, here is a small helping of what you can look forward to: Funky R&B Horns, Upbeat Celtic Rock, Jazz Fusion Salsa, Gentle Indie Folk, Cool '60s Soul, Funky '70s R&B, Smooth Jazz Hip Hop, Acoustic Rockabilly Swing, Funky Reggae Dub, Dreamy Retro Latin Jazz, Retro Soul-Rock Fusion, and much more!
Special Pricing! Until July 31, 2024, all the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.
Video: XPro Styles PAK 9 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Windows!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 20.
Video: Xtra Styles PAK 20 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
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