When I take a BIAB song to SONAR for some finishing touches, I keep the MIDI drum track as well as the RealDrums track. Since my stiff is usually Brazilian jazz, I strip out all the instruments of the MIDI drum kit except possibly things like a triangle or bongo. Then I add cymbal crashes at key places, assuming the RealDrums are not quite enough. Sometimes I'll add a short tom-tom fill, things like that. With not much added, you can really punch up a drum part.


BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.