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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 98
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OP
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Posts: 98 |
Hi Folks, I've been checking out the prospects of purchasing B-I-B for a few years now. I guess I never pulled the trigger before as I was never sure if it was the right software for me or not. Now, I'm ready to make my initial purchase and VERY excited to do so... I do some in-home recording - mostly cover songs, but now excited about composing and recording my own material. My interests are in classic rock, alt country, bluegrass, folk and blues styles. Guess I didn't leave all that many genres out! As a matter of fact, I have a friend who is quite a good guitar player who comes over and jams every now and then and we focus on the blues. For my recording I use a Tascam USS-144mkII as an interface and Cubase Essential as my DAW. I also use EZDrummer and Izotope Ozone4 plugins for drums and mastering software. All this is done into a gateway quad-core desktop computer with (I suppose) ample HD space and RAM. Oh yeah, the OS is Windows Vista. Just wondering if the PRO version is the right entry-level package for me...I'm assuming some of the additional modules are avaialble a la carte, but I need to balance the ol' learning curve aspects and budgetary factors on the one hand and system capabilities on the other. Any other ideas and/or thoughts as I start my journey? Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated! I hope to "see" more of you all (that's "ya'll" where I come from!) soon...Thanks for your time! 
Living in The Music City
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2008
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Hi Mike, Welcome to the forums. Be warned that it's going to take you around about a week of playing around to come to grips with how to start getting the best from the product! That being said, once over the initial learning hurdle, the software is absolutely brilliant. My advice is to spend as much as your budget will allow. You won't regret it. Most of us on here seem to settle on the UltrPlusPAK because that is the cheapest package that has all Realtracks, Realdrums and styls. I personally started with the MegaPAK years ago and at the very first opportunity to upgrade went to the UltraPlusPAK and have been regularly upgrading that package ever since. Below are some sales FAQs that you might like to have a look through if you have not done so already. http://www.pgmusic.com/salesfaq1.htmAll the best, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Mar 2004
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Great advice from Noel, so all I'll add is welcome aboard and of course get ready to get HOOKED BIG TIME!
later,
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2007
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Welcome to the forum, Mike!
From one Mike to another - let me tell ya, you'll be amazed and it will knock your socks of what you can do with BIAB!!!! OMG!!! Sky is the limit! Yep, UltraPlusPak is a good start. I like the Everything Pack .... 'coz I want it all! LOL
Cheers,
Mike
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 98
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OP
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Posts: 98 |
Thanks for all the prompt replies...
Yes - I figured it would take some time to get up to speed. Probably one reason that I didn't purchase the product earlier.
UltraPlusPak, huh? Hmmm...better catch the wifey in a good mood...perhaps I should order her some flowers..:)
Mike from Buford, GA - we just moved up here to Nashville from Atlanta a little over a year ago. As a matter of fact, my daughter and grandson live near Mall of GA - possibly near where you are.
Anyway, it sounds like this program could turn into a drug of sorts...well, we all have our vices, right?
Thanks again, I am looking forward to it!
Living in The Music City
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Welcome also, Mike. As Noel's link shows, you get some RealTracks with the minimum version, Pro. Think of this as a starter. You can see how things work. It's just that you will likely want many if not all of them before long, and the Paks are a better buy than purchasing many separately. Given that there are several genres you like, you will eventually want lots. I like this page for showing the version differences: http://www.pgmusic.com/bbwin.packages.htm
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.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 392
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 392 |
Noel wrote..."Be warned that it's going to take you around about a week of playing around to come to grips with how to start getting the best from the product!"
A WEEK???? You trying to give us all a complex?? (-:
Assuming the poster has a day job and has an IQ of less than 180...it would take a FULL week just to cruise through the manual and fiddle around with the features. Week two would be taken up trying to remember what you fiddled with at the start of week one!
To really get way down deep in the pockets of this software will take MONTHS not weeks...at least for us mortals!!!
But among the GREAT things about learning BIAB is this forum where people with deep knowledge willingly and promptly share their information. I would also recommend using the CHAT Support. I've never waited over 10 seconds for a chat tech to join the session. Getting support on the phone is more problematic in my experience.
Best,
(-:
Jim (formerly of Nashville...now Boise ID.)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 98
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OP
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You guys are all awesome...
So, if I think I understand all the sage advice, I need to:
a) - buy wife flowers in order to get approval to purchase the more robust version
b) - be ready to invest lots of time to learn the product, all the while rying to maintain gainful employment....
You know, as daunting a task as it might be, I'm sure it is much easier and cost effective with BIAB than it would be to buy all the various instruments and learn how to master them all!
Living in The Music City
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 4,047
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Mike, If you have not, listen to some of the video demo's. This link is for the ultra-pak. http://www.pgmusic.com/bbwin.packages.ultra.htmMake sure you have good sound system connected to your PC...... BTW, if your using FireFox, some of us are having Flash problems, so use Chrome, or I.E. With you talented friend and your background, you will be blown away with what you get with the Ultra-pak. If they are have 2012.5 upgrades, normally already announced, a great price may be in the offing. Your in for and exciting roller coaster ride...
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2008
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Hi Mike! Welcome to the forum! You seem like an upbeat guy who is already fitting into the forum! That's great!
Regarding the advice to get a package that has all of the styles and real tracks that are available, here's an analogy: If you were buying a stapler, it wouldn't make sense to buy a kit that comes with 5 staples. The reason is that the stapler is simply the delivery system , while the staples do the real work of holding paper together. The more staples you have, the more work you can do.
Likewise, the core BIAB program is the delivery system for the styles. The styles provide the power to make songs that sound like what you're hearing in your mind. I think you'll find that just listening to the demo songs for each style will give you ideas for your own songs. The more styles you have, the more possibilities.
Also, it's less expensive to buy as much as possible when the prices are reduced during the rollout of a new version (hopefully within days) than it is to buy a stripped down version, then add more styles as separate purchases.
If you went to an auto parts store and built a car from parts, it would probably cost 3 times or more than it would cost as a complete car. Buying software as a complete package works the same way
I look forward to hearing you post some music on the user showcase!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 98
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OP
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Thank Pat, Frank...Jim...and everyone else..
I'll be sure to keep everyone posted on how I make out with this...I'm sure it is a BOATLOAD of fun! Might jut take a little longer to pull the trigger on the bigger investment for the UltraPlusPak, though...I'll know more tomorrow!
Living in The Music City
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,869
Expert
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Expert
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Posts: 1,869 |
I use Cubase too. The learning curve for BIAB is far shorter than that for Cubase. You can get a song off the ground in less than a minute. If you want deep tweaking, then there is lots to know, but if you understand MIDI already this will help.
Real tracks are the place to be and whats really good for you is that there is lots for you - the country and rock tracks are among the most extensively represented along with Jazz. My guess is that as soon as you realise exactly how ggood a RT is and how many excellent tracks there are, you will be as tempted as a dog in a butchers shop...
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 236
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Apprentice
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I am a relatively new user (March 2012). AWESOME software! I too record and have opened my eyes to writing and recording my own stuff as opposed to covers (but I still love to do them and always will). I use BIAB and Realband along with my TC Helicon Voiceplay Live GTX run through a mixer and PA. I have put together a great set with my BIAB arrangements.
Word to the wise...if you are married or have a significant other, if you want time to spend with this great software, buy her a bunch of good books or find her a new hobby so you can sneak away to the music room!!
Todd
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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regarding the learning curve:
one thing that's different about BIAB is that you don't have to know everything in order to make it work. Now, the more you know (and that comes with time and practice) the more musical problems you can overcome with the software... but... unlike almost every other piece of music software, with BIAB it *IS* possible to load it and start making really good sounding songs almost immediately.
Start by opening it and playing the demo songs. Once you buy it, let us know and we'll coach you throughthe process of playing the demos.
THAT alone will take a long time, as there are lots of demos! By the time you get finished playing them, you'll have aa baseline comfort level to start typing your own chords.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 612
Journeyman
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Welcome to the forum, Mike. All I can say is that You'll love Band in a Box. I've used it since 1995 and am still learning every time I use it. Well worth the investment.
Bob Coy
HP Desktop
Windows 10 Home, AMD A6-7310, 6GB Ram 1TB Hard drive. Radeon Graphics & Sound
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Quote:
I also use EZDrummer and Izotope Ozone4 plugins for drums and mastering software. All this is done into a gateway quad-core desktop computer with (I suppose) ample HD space and RAM. Oh yeah, the OS is Windows Vista.
This is good, you already know a lot about digital audio recording. If you have 4 gigs of ram or can upgrade to that much I would go to Win 7/64. I never used Vista because I kept reading about folks who had problems with it so I went from XP to Win 7. Win 7 is by far the best OS MS has come up with. And you might as well future proof yourself and go with 64 bit. All these programs run fine on it but you'll probably have to upgrade EZD and Ozone too.
A couple of thoughts to add to what everybody else has said. If you're used to using EZD to create drum grooves as opposed to just using it as a sound module then that is a problem with Real Band. It has a flaw in the VSTi implementation. That's no problem though because it's easy to create a groove in Cubase and migrate that track into RB if you need to, or as a lot of folks do, they do the basic song creation in Biab or RB and then use the very cool Drag and Drop process to move the whole song into Cubase for final mixing/processing. You can use EZD to create an exact part there. That may not be a problem anyway because Biab itself is a pretty good midi drum machine and the Real Drum tracks are really good too.
The other thing is if you want to use Biab for covers. Biab is brilliant at creating some really nice groove backing tracks but it's very tricky (but not impossible) to create certain song specific licks for covers.
The third thing is the quality of the synths you use for midi parts. You'll most likely want to use both the Real Tracks and midi parts together. That's the only way to get those specific licks and drum fills or punches. You need a good high quality synth for that. EZD is fine for drums but you'll also need something equally as good for instrument parts. A basic $50 synth won't cut it. Just from reading your posts, I get the feeling you're like a lot of us here in that you know what "good" sounds like and you won't be happy with a el cheapo synth. In addition to the stuff listed in my sig I use a Kurzweil PC3 that sounds awesome. The best synth I've ever owned and I've had a bunch of them.
Yeah, you better keep your lady happy with lots of stuff because once you get into this you won't come up for air for days. I'm sure she appreciates your music so keep her in the loop and play some of this for her. She'll probably be impressed.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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.
Hi Mike!
This thread is an example of the kind of great help you will find in these forums - and it comes at no charge. Likewise, the staff at PG music will provide terrific advice about what to buy to get started. If there is a sale coming up, they will tell you. Talk to them about what is in the different packages if you have not already.
There is some good acvice here about what you need to get started. But I am pretty sure that once you get going you will want it all!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thanks for the additional points everyone. I've been over to the User Showcase area and you guys/gals are quite talented! One additional note as far as my goals - I would obviously play "some" instruments on my songs, like others seem to do. Guitar, bass and mando, mainly. I'm not the type that would overly-saturate with layers of sounds (no Phil Specter for me!). I like my music more 'bare bones', with some 'tasteful' layers. For example, I love the sound of lap steel, and would love to introduce some decent quality lap steel riffs into songs. Same thing with harmonica and other similar instruments...I guess I would need to sing too, but I struggle with vocals; my range is limited and I'm just not fond of it. With regard to using midi, I have some of that experience, but it is not my forte...I know enough to get by and that's about it. I find it rather painstaking and detailed in Cubase, and from what I've heard Cubase is one of the EASIER programs in which to edit midi files. I know it takes time to develop and produce a high-quality song and recording, so I do understand the time you put in will have a direct bearing on the quality of what comes out, so I'm fine with that.... Well, I continue to be very excited and the wife knows I am wanting to step up to the more robust version. She is now asking what the price is (I haven't disclosed that yet)... More later - thanks again everyone! 
Last edited by Mandolin Mike; 07/10/12 09:32 AM.
Living in The Music City
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Quote:
Yeah, you better keep your lady happy with lots of stuff because once you get into this you won't come up for air for days.
You could buy her a trip to Hawaii, in which case I'm sure she'd be thrilled, and you'd have a whole week alone to play music. 
But then, if you had that much money available, the question of choosing between two packages that are less than $100 different in price probably wouldn't be an issue anyway.
Ah, life. It doesn't always give us the options we want.
However, BIAB often does.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
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Quote:
You guys are all awesome...
So, if I think I understand all the sage advice, I need to:
a) - buy wife flowers in order to get approval to purchase the more robust version
b) - be ready to invest lots of time to learn the product, all the while rying to maintain gainful employment....
You probably also want to add that florist to your speed dial. The jeweler too.
Gainful employment optional.....
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
All of our XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs are on sale until May 15th, 2026!
It's the perfect time to expand your Band-in-a-Box® style library with XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs. These additional styles for Band-in-a-Box® offer a wide range of genres designed to fit seamlessly into your projects. Each style is professionally arranged and mixed, helping enhance your songs while saving you time.
What are XPro Styles and Xtra Styles PAKs?
XPro Styles PAKs are styles that work with any version (Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition) of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). XPro Styles PAKS 1-10 includes 1,000 styles!
Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 includes 3,700 styles (and 35 MIDI styles)!
The XPro & Xtra Styles PAKs are not included in any Band-in-a-Box® package.
The XPro Styles PAKs 1-10 are available 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 Mac or for Windows.
The Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the Xtra Styles PAK Bundle for only $199 (reg. $349)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
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.
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 as they require the RealTracks included in the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Supercharge your Band-in-a-Box today with XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAK Sets!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac Videos
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
Whether you're exploring new features, checking out the latest RealTracks or Style PAKs, this is your go-to guide for Band-in-a-Box® 2026.
Check out this forum post for "One Stop Shopping" of our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Videos!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac is Here!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac is here and it is packed with major new features! There’s a new modern look, a GUI redesign to all areas of the program including toolbars, windows, workflow and more. There’s a Multi-view layout for organizing multiple windows. A standout addition is the powerful AI-Notes feature, which uses AI neural-net technology to transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI—entire mixes or individual instruments—making it easy to study, view, and play parts from any song. And that’s just the beginning—there are over 100 new features in this exciting release.
Along with version 2026, we've released an incredible lineup of new content! There's 202 new RealTracks, brand-new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two new RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
Special Offers
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac and save up to 50% on most upgrade packages during our special offer—available until May 15, 2026. Visit our Band-in-a-Box® packages page to explore all available upgrade options.
2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
Our Free Bonus PAK and 49-PAK are loaded with amazing add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is included with most Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac packages, but you can unlock even more—including 20 unreleased RealTracks—by upgrading to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49.
Holiday Weekend Hours
As we hop into the Easter weekend, here are our holiday hours:
April 3 (Good Friday): 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM PDT
April 4 (Saturday): Closed
April 5 (Easter Sunday): Closed
April 6 (Easter Monday): Open regular hours
Wishing you an egg-cellent weekend!
— Team PG
Update to Build 10 of RealBand® 2026 for Windows®!
If you're already using RealBand 2026 for Windows, download build 10 to get all the latest additions and enhancements.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
If you're already using Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, make sure to grab the latest update! Build 904 is now available for download and includes the newest additions and enhancements from our team.
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® users: Build 1237 is now available!
Already a Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows user? Stay up to date and download the build 1237 to get all the latest additions and enhancements.
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