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In no particular order:

1. Implement visual markers on the main chord window.


Oh the heck yeah. And I suddenly had a mad vision, one that I'm sure will never happen, but I have to say it aloud: Imagine an "arrangement tree" off to the left, with the structure:

Song
> Intro
> Verse 1
> Chorus 1
> Verse 2
> Chorus 2
> Bridge 1
> Verse 3
> Chorus 2
> Chorus 1
> Tag 1
> End

Imagine now that you can edit the chords, styles, Real Tracks, Tempo, KEY, etc., of each of these sub portions individually. Drag-and-drop to organize or copy them as you please, rename 'em, repeat or loop 'em, etc. You want to see the whole thing at once, click on Song.

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2. Interface rework, with a more modular approach, drag&drop support, simplified and reorganized menus and Style/Tracks pickers, more modern appearance...; if that’s not possible, I really would like to see a new Stylepicker window, allowing easy reorganization of the categories and styles (via D&D), user comments, style renaming, midi tracks preview...


{nods} And reorganizing the toolbars, and allowing them to be hidden, would be great. Transport, Real Tracks/Drums, MIDI, VST, Educational, Songwriting Tools (notation, Soundtrack, lyrics, etc.)....

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3. More than 256 bars.


Ahhh, an old fave. If they ever do a 64-bit version, I think this is gonna be necessary. At the very least, while importing the old file format is great, a new file format that allows more bars is vital.

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5. More versatility in Real Styles; Jazz, Rock and Country Real styles are great, but these styles are, IMO, pretty well covered in comparison with other genres like, say, reggae, funk, disco, soul, ska, tango, latin music, new age, or even live hip-hop or electronic music. Broading the spectrum of covered genres not only would increase the program’s value for existing users, but would probably attract new potential users who, right now, could see BIAB as “too much jazz/country” oriented.


Classical (I still think basing new classical styles on Garritan Instant Orchestra is a killer idea), grunge, garage, r&b, diva piano (for lack of a better phrase -- I'm thinking Alicia Keys, Alanis Morrisette, and Tori Amos), Classic Rock (Queen, Hendrix, Stones, Boston, Eagles sound-alikes), drum & bass, ambient (again, perhaps better as a MIDI style, using some basic ambient instruments and suggestions of free or cheap ones -- ask me, I've got a bunch)....

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7. Preferences finder and custom shortcuts. Having such a high number of options is one of the program’s strongest points and reveals its real power; however with so many options is often difficult (even for experienced users) finding the right one between the different menus and preferences windows. Having a built-in preferences finder in BIAB would make this tedious -and often frustrating- task much easier. In the same way, allowing the user to create his own custom shortcuts would help a lot.


A side-bar tree-based pref system would indeed help a lot.

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8. Allow navigable loops folders and subfolders.


Indeed. We're well past the point that we should have an integrated media window, preferably with Favorite files and folders and a graphic audio preview.

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9. An unique BIAB file format. MGU / SGU difference comes from the days when you only could use the Melody track for MIDI melodies; since the Realtracks days, having two different file formats not only makes no sense, but it’s annoying (at least to me): I’m the whole day trying to find and deleting SGU “versions” of my projects.


Not to mention that we're back with the possibility of 257+ bars.

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Thanks, PG Music for such a wonderful program and for considering these requests!


+1 gazillion

Best,
Tom Smith
Win10/64 • i7-8700K • 24 GB RAM
BIAB 2025 • Reaper 7 • Izotope MPS
AKG C1000S • IK iRig I/O Pro