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Re: how do i make my strings swell like real strings do? Pat Marr #145533 01/08/12 07:07 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 24,255 Hamlin NY MarioD Veteran
MarioD Veteran Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 24,255 Hamlin NY	Quote: MIDI is found everywhere in the music world. I don't understand why you would would say that people using loops and real tracks don't use midi, because the loops and real tracks don't REPLACE MIDI, they are used in conjunction with it to add new options. I did imply the inclusive RT/RB users as I get the impression that some, not all, RT/RB users use them exclusively and do not use midi at all. I was thinking of the people using ACID as many of them only use loops. Of course you are right that many people use both and/or all three at once, RT/RB, MIDI and loops. Sorry for the confusion. Checkout person "Did you find everything OK"? Me "Why do you ask? Are you guys hiding stuff"? 64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware

Re: how do i make my strings swell like real strings do? MarioD #145534 01/08/12 08:37 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jan 2006 Posts: 2,446 Ann Arbor, MI filkertom Veteran
filkertom Veteran Joined: Jan 2006 Posts: 2,446 Ann Arbor, MI	Hey, I'm pushing to have entire style disks based on using BIAB with Garritan Instant Orchestra. Kinda need MIDI for that. Not to mention the absolute joy of doubling up RealDrums with MIDI drums sent through BFD Eco or Addictive Drums. Seriously, it's unreal. Or too real. Or somethin'. Best, Tom Smith Win10/64 • i7-8700K • 24 GB RAM BIAB 2026 • Reaper 7.57 • Izotope MPS AKG C1000S • IK iRig I/O Pro

Re: how do i make my strings swell like real strings do? MarioD #145535 01/08/12 09:00 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Sep 2003 Posts: 8,333 London, Ontario, Canada John Conley Veteran
John Conley Veteran Joined: Sep 2003 Posts: 8,333 London, Ontario, Canada	I'm on no side, but be pragmatic. Everything has it's day. The real reason right now is...financially to get rid of all the extra people at shows. The business end is heavily weighted towards this. Click track you say? Well to run the light show you need either 30 people and controllers or ...a click track and a programmer. I have done the manual lighting thing. 12 guys in a small room with over 100 big butt sliders, each one about 3 feet long with a twist know. You sheet followed the script and at this point you moved 1 to position 8 and 3 to position 4 bla blah blah. Loads of fun. Boat loads. Those par cans got mounted, pointed, gels stuck in the (sheets of hig temp plastic, I have 2 of these in my home studio. Each can is so hot you can feel it 10 feet away, like a heat lamp.) Now all those lights can be led, midi driven, motorized and run off a pc running midi. The average Joe can spend 800 bucks and get 4 par cans on a pole and light your show, right from Band in a Box. Which of us will use this? I have that gear, sort of. But setting up and running a show for $150 bucks, you are joking me. So, the promise is the new version of midi will take the old commands in some string, run it on ethernet, or wireless, and the whole emphasis will shift. Of course parts of the show may be done in the old midi and rendered to audio and messed with in a DAW, but that audio has to sync with a midi track. I see the current version of midi too confusing for the new user, and it takes quite a while to learn it from scratch. It is after all a version of programming especially before there is sound, and then you become a sound engineer. Most people just want to make music. RealTracks does that, and takes away complexity. Map the future, follow the trends. But the purpose of Band in a Box was not to spend hours messing with CC comannds to make a string track swell. You could spend a career on messing with strings tracks and make no music. ASIO, MME, patch maps, chose you midi in, midi out, fix my usb, I can't hear the melody, I don't like the cowbell, wah WAH. Way too much time and effort to figure out joe's pc which he got from fred that is real good, and my wire is blue and goes there, and I have a 20 year old keyboard I got, (at a garage sale for 14$), and it doesn't work with the stupid software so I'm sending it back. I just want to make music. If you remove the midi from the equation and market that as a separate program, and take away all the midi discussion, maybe you could sell 10,000 copies to 20 year olds who never heard of midi, all for $99 bucks. Almost no support. Sell add-ons. John Conley Musica est vita

Re: how do i make my strings swell like real strings do? John Conley #145536 01/08/12 09:02 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2000 Posts: 38,502 Chesapeake, Virginia USA M Mac Veteran
Mac Veteran M Joined: May 2000 Posts: 38,502 Chesapeake, Virginia USA	Meanwhile, MIDI is used in some aspect or other every day in studios all over the world, on stages and also in the creation of soundtracks for both television and motion picture. --Mac PGmusic FAQs, Tutorials and Updates! click here You must be Audiominds. www.audiominds.com

Re: how do i make my strings swell like real strings do? Fishb0bb #145537 01/08/12 03:16 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 581 MitchC Journeyman
MitchC Journeyman Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 581	Quote: i have BIAB 2012 and its on windows. i have string instruments backing my jazz song i want to make them swell with emotion. does anybody know how to do that? Even if i have to use a different program? Thank you SO... are your strings swellin' now ? Or maybe yer head after all this banter eh ? BIAB/RealBand stuff Orig. tunes (players) 'BIG HAIR' days

Re: how do i make my strings swell like real strings do? MitchC #145538 01/08/12 03:48 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Sep 2003 Posts: 8,333 London, Ontario, Canada John Conley Veteran
John Conley Veteran Joined: Sep 2003 Posts: 8,333 London, Ontario, Canada	Mitch, I have a strings section on my Korg and a volume pedal and I always play swell. I even increase and decrease volumes with it on the fly. I like it better than codes. But I've got OTHER gear. (also) John Conley Musica est vita

Re: how do i make my strings swell like real strings do? John Conley #145539 01/08/12 03:54 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 581 MitchC Journeyman
MitchC Journeyman Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 581	That's just swell John. I use a volume pedal for my lap steel swells. Just don't do so good on my MIDI string tracks. I have no hardware other than the laptop and soundcard. BIAB/RealBand stuff Orig. tunes (players) 'BIG HAIR' days

Re: how do i make my strings swell like real strings do? MitchC #145540 01/08/12 05:35 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Oct 2008 Posts: 8,109 Winston-Salem, NC Pat Marr Veteran
Pat Marr Veteran Joined: Oct 2008 Posts: 8,109 Winston-Salem, NC	Quote: But the purpose of Band in a Box was not to spend hours messing with CC comannds to make a string track swell. You could spend a career on messing with strings tracks and make no music. ah, but part of what impresses me about this system is the way it provides hooks for us to use all sorts of musical tools that aren't proprietary to PGMusic. MIDI controllers: we can tweak 'em if we want to (or not if we don't). But they provided a way to do it, and I really like and appreciate that. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ey71h8ep047758h/AAC12jNM0Hz9Q8zsh5iDeqNHa?dl=0

Re: how do i make my strings swell like real strings do? Pat Marr #145541 01/08/12 05:38 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 581 MitchC Journeyman
MitchC Journeyman Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 581	Me too ! I'm a Real Tracks guy... If I got em'. When I don't, glad there's the MIDI option. BIAB/RealBand stuff Orig. tunes (players) 'BIG HAIR' days

Re: how do i make my strings swell like real strings do? MitchC #145542 01/08/12 07:01 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Sep 2003 Posts: 8,333 London, Ontario, Canada John Conley Veteran
John Conley Veteran Joined: Sep 2003 Posts: 8,333 London, Ontario, Canada	Yea, if my aunt was a man he'd be my uncle. And I do midi, at times, I got more midi based junk that the local junk dealer has stuff. But, I try and put it behind me. LOL. It just keeps coming back. John Conley Musica est vita

Re: how do i make my strings swell like real strings do? John Conley #145543 01/08/12 07:08 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 581 MitchC Journeyman
MitchC Journeyman Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 581	See there, ya just can't quite quit MIDI yet eh ? Throw all those midi keyboards and other junk on the sidewalk and put a "FREE - take it all - quick" sign. Done. No more midi nightmares. You'll be a much happier man dontcha think ? "Hi, I'm John, and I'm MIDI free" BIAB/RealBand stuff Orig. tunes (players) 'BIG HAIR' days

Re: how do i make my strings swell like real strings do? John Conley #145544 01/08/12 08:44 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Sep 2003 Posts: 8,333 London, Ontario, Canada John Conley Veteran
John Conley Veteran Joined: Sep 2003 Posts: 8,333 London, Ontario, Canada	My wife, ever the s*t disturber, decides that the stool and mic for her are not enough. She wants a keyboard. This is to hide behind. I'd need a serious 88 for her, she's taken over 18 years of lessons including a Honours 4 yr degree in Piano and one in Music Ed, and then teacher's college. Geez. I can't take the upright and the Roland/Rogers and Yamaha are both 10 years old. Sigh. Maybe I won't give in. She had duets in mind, it's devious. Right after our tribute to Johnny Cash we are doing some Rachmoninoff she want's me to do for 4 hands. If she grows 2 more. I gave up classical except for fakebook style years ago. I can hear it now. "you are not doing it right" "Where?" "At the start." We didn't start yet. "That's my point" "OK" "Don't agree with me if you don't understand" "OK" "To which part" "All of it" "Moron" Note: as another poster said, he didn't say it, he heard someone else say it. This did not work for the Chief who told me one day that I called a guy an Fn A$$. I said I never saw the guy. The Platoon Chief says 'I told the guy that Conley takes no BS and he was going to tell him that when he got there.' Chief, "Is that right you were going to tell him?" ME: "Never met the man, but if he's that then maybe, but not likely..." PC: "See, Conley was going to tell him." Chief: "So you told this guy Conley would tell him he was that, but you didn't say it?" PC : "No, I wouldn't say that, but he would." Me: "So I'm on 'trial' here, on charges, because a fire happened last night, and this guy who's the most eccentric lawyer in town and famous, was careless, and I would have, had I ever really met the man, called him a profanity based thing, according to last nights duty chief." Chief: "Exactly, I don't want loose cannons like you on the street." Me: "OK so I just got to work, and I think my wife is phoning me." Chief "Why" Me: "She's going to hear what the two of you are up to, and then she's going to call me an F'n Moron for working here!" Chief "You can't say that!" YELLING Me: "I didn't but my wife would!" This ended with an actual retired cop hired to investigate, and he laughed so hard tears ran down his face at the interview with the Chief and the PC and Me and the Union Rep. Sorry, I had to tell that one it was too good to pass up. I'm on overdrive! John Conley Musica est vita

Re: how do i make my strings swell like real strings do? John Conley #145545 01/08/12 08:53 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 581 MitchC Journeyman
MitchC Journeyman Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 581	You ARE writing a book soon, right John ? Let me know the moment it's published ! BIAB/RealBand stuff Orig. tunes (players) 'BIG HAIR' days

Re: how do i make my strings swell like real strings do? MitchC #145546 01/08/12 09:09 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Sep 2003 Posts: 8,333 London, Ontario, Canada John Conley Veteran
John Conley Veteran Joined: Sep 2003 Posts: 8,333 London, Ontario, Canada	Humility and how I attained it! I was waiting for Eddie to jump in on the stings and swell so I could do the Eddie and the Beav thing with Walt standing there, and Eddie says, geez that's swell Beav.! But hey, Eddie didn't and I didn't and on that note it's 12:07 and my wife has to work int he a.m. and I usually make coffee at 6 and then tomorrow I have to. Um have to. I um don't have to, do a thing. Oh, brass band exec meeting at 7. I feel sick now. I hate meetings. John Conley Musica est vita

Re: how do i make my strings swell like real strings do? John Conley #145547 01/09/12 12:42 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 24,255 Hamlin NY MarioD Veteran
MarioD Veteran Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 24,255 Hamlin NY	Quote: I have 4 midi keyboards a JV1010 and a Ketron. I have the VSC and the Dxi and the dog and coyote show. I have a EWI that uses midi. And I see little or no development of midi that excites me. I'm not having a debate about this. It is my opinion that you won't see MIDI XML or MIDI2. No debate my friend. I do agree with you that MIDI is a mature product and that in its current form it is probably at or vary near its limit. However I do see it advancing, not with the current 5 pin plug but with USB, much like my EWI-USB MIDI wind controller, AKAI drum pads, Evolution keyboard controller and MOTU midi patch bay. The MOTU had 8 different MIDI ins and outs, all communicating with the computer via one USB port. USB holds the future for MIDI IMHO. What are your thoughts on this? Checkout person "Did you find everything OK"? Me "Why do you ask? Are you guys hiding stuff"? 64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware

Re: how do i make my strings swell like real strings do? MarioD #145548 01/09/12 06:39 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
A Anonymous Unregistered
Anonymous Unregistered A	I just use fade in and fade out. Seems to be fastest method and it gives me the most control.

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January 14, 2026

Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows Special Offers End Tomorrow (January 15th, 2026) at 11:59 PM PST!

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Version 2026 introduces a modernized GUI redesign across the program, with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, and a new Dark Mode option. There’s also a new side toolbar for quicker access to commonly used windows, and the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, making it easier to customize your workspace.

Another exciting new addition is the new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. You can view the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to process an entire track or focus on specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.

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!

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January 01, 2026

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!

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December 21, 2025

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.

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December 16, 2025

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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December 16, 2025

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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
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Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
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