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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,944
PG Music Staff
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OP
PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,944 |
Many people have requested GUI changes to the program. We would appreciate hearing any specific suggestions that you have - the more specific the better. This topic is for suggestions for **other than the main screen**. There is a different thread for the main screen here... http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=382577&an=0&page=0#Post382577
Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 67
Enthusiast
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Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 67 |
Hello, - I'll appreciate to have a custom toolbar or a dropdown menu to launch external apps (more than one and fast access in the gui). - Maybe the PgLink system could be extended to access more fonctionalities ? - The song picker could be replaced by something more modern, based on a treeview to look like the explorer (I wrote mine that you can find here but an internal one would be better). Thanks... and good luck !
Free tools for Biab: Biab Scales and BIArpeggio to practice scales/arpeggio Biab Explorer: the other song picker
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Dec 2000
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I would like to see all pick lists have a common interface. Right now, the RealDrums and RealTracks pickers look similar, but are different. Songpicker works much differently, as does style picker. Selecting items should be easy. For selecting and filtering items, I suggest using a filter system similar to that of the Thunderbird email client. A graphic is below:  All picklists should have the common look and feel. This should also include resizing columns and selecting only the columns you want displayed.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 3,926
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It would be really nice if the mouse scroll wheel worked in the picklists, too.
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 1,353
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 1,353 |
Well,
maybe, due commercial reasons, that ugly Drums interface (a low resolution image of the drums/percussion set playing)could be redone.
Is it possible to be a more elaborated or realistic image? Use as reference the Drum softwares that are at the market. I know this will not change/improve the program, but people like fancy interfaces today.
my 2 cents
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,594
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,594 |
Quote:
All picklists should have the common look and feel. This should also include resizing columns and selecting only the columns you want displayed.
I completely agree. Alowing custom organization of elements (ex: reorganizing -via drag&drop- the "Style tree" and renaming styles on the stylepicker window) would be great as well.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,594
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,594 |
Also, unifying Realdrums, Realtracks, MIDI supertracks, and MIDI tracks on one main window, would greatly simplify the program usability, specially for new users. This is one of the most difficult points to understand for newcomers, at least in my experience.
Latest BIAB version, latest build.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,395
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Posts: 27,395 |
One small thing that hinders me is not being able to see all the options on one screen, when space should have been sufficient to do so. This could involve things such as MORE or OPTIONS in dialog boxes. In other words, I like to be able to see all my alternatives. Over the years, I've had to periodically visit every dialog and try out all the buttons, only to discover something I didn't know was there or rediscover something I had forgotten about because it was always out of sight.
Examples:
Options, Preferences, Notation, MORE
.MID button, OPTIONS/SET RANGE
Soloist, MORE (and finding that button requires some hunting)
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,395
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Pet peeve:
To activate MIDI Chord Detection requires several operations. When you are working on a transcription, you want to be able to get to this fantastic tool quickly.
Window, MIDI Chord Detection, MIDI Chord Detection
Why twice?
I would like a hot key combo for this, too, and/or a button.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 426
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 426 |
Please do not forget the up/down key volume control and left/right panning request in another thread
I'm doing allright for Country Trash ....
I used to care, but things have changed (Bob Dylan)
BIAB 2025W + RB
M-Audio FastTrack C600, Rode NT2-A
Digitech VoiceLive 4
Epiphone Sheraton, Ibanez 12str, Washburn 6str, Cort 6Str Nylon
Yanagisawa Tenor Sax
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 17
Enthusiast
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Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 17 |
This may be a bit radical but in my opinion the name Band In A Box makes it sound like a child's toy. Not only that, the interface also looks a bit that way too.
As a new user I find the options all very confusing and hard to find. I would also like to see more consistency between BiaB and RB, especially regarding the options and layout.
Ideally the two programs should be combined into one. They must share a lot of functionality already? That would be a great excuse for renaming!
I also agree with a comment on the other thread about looking at other DAWs (Cubase, Sonar, etc.) and bringing the interfaces a more cool, modern look.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 826
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 826 |
BiaB does nearly everything I need or might need in the future so there's very little I'd like to see changed. However, there is one thing that would potentially make BiaB more flexible to users and that is the ability to launch unlimited apps from within the UI. Not only that but launch them with command line parameters that the user can select from a list. Examples would be the current song title, tempo, style, key etc. This way programmers, like me for example, would be able to write useful tools to work with BiaB. Larger amounts of data could be transfered via the clipboard. Examples like the song memo. Here's what Delphi uses to configure a 3rd party apps launcher.   Note: the params edit should have a dropdown list of params available to the developer and some clipboard options would be useful too. If adopted this web site could use a place to host 3rd party tools for others to download.
BiaB 2013 b366, RB 2013 b4, WinXP Pro SP3, Toshiba M70, 1.8GHz 2GB RAM 100GB HD. Focusrite Saffire 6 USB, Ketron SD2. BiaB Wiki
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,697
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Just a OT comment I'm going to throw in here. I can't help having the feeling that all these ideas are merely rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Most of us here are over 50 and a lot are over 60. I will occasionally spend a Saturday surfing youtube and watching demos of other software. Absolutely NONE of those demos involve anything that any of us here would call real music. The stuff I hear has no traditional structure to it, no verse, bridge, solo section, tag ending, etc. It's all dubstep, techno, hiphop and beats, loops, beats, loops and more beats and loops. It's all done by twenty somethings. A lot of it is very creative and I would even call some of it "good" but I can't relate to it at all and neither can any of us here I suspect. Example, I must have watched parts of 50 demo's for Ableton Live. Amazing software especially when used with the Akai controller that costs $600. Not one of those involved a real song we're used to and it's not even close. What these kids can do is really impressive but again with all my musical experience if someone gave me that setup and asked me to create something I would have no clue where to begin. My musical taste and experience won't tell me if what I did is hip to the young crowd or not. I strongly suspect they would say go back to your jazz grandpa. Exactly what we said or thought when our parents would talk about how the big bands are the real deal and this new stuff is crap.
10-15 years from now none or few of us are going to be doing this any more and what's the future of PG Music then? For Biab to have any relevance to the kinds of stuff these twenty somethings are doing now would require such a radical change of direction we would not recognize it and certainly are not qualified to even comment on it much less offer suggestions.
What we're talking about now is fine for the next year or so but what about later? I sincerely hope Peter has brought in a few young folks who know this stuff and they're already running some experiments with it.
You want to talk about having several versions of Biab? This would be exactly it. One setup for us old farts and a completely different one for young people if that's even possible without infringing on other software.
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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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 8,109
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multiple chord sheets arranged on tabs, as in EXCEL see thread: http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=356412&an=0&page=0#Post356412This idea would be best suited to ReaLBand, but it could also be used in BIAB if each instrument could be directed to its own chord sheet. That way, all instruments could use the same chords, as it is now... or some of them could be driven by sparser or busier chords
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 3,856
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Quote:
Most of us here are over 50 and a lot are over 60.
Hey Bob, how do you know this? I'm just curious if there is a way to see from the forum stats what the age demographic is of the users here. I have noticed more posts with "at my age..." in this forum than most! Also, I agree with your point. I suggested something similar in a recent post. I think this product could be greatly improved by targeting a younger demographic in addition to what they target now. The only thing I disagree with is that most/all of the youth are into that new-fangled techno/hiphop/whatever stuff! I know lots of young singer-songwriters who are doing lots of folk and country along with what we would have called pop in the 70s.
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Nov 2005
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Expert
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Expert
Joined: Nov 2005
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Quote:
Most of us here are over 50 and a lot are over 60. I will occasionally spend a Saturday surfing youtube and watching demos of other software. Absolutely NONE of those demos involve anything that any of us here would call real music. The stuff I hear has no traditional structure to it, no verse, bridge, solo section, tag ending, etc. It's all dubstep, techno, hiphop and beats, loops, beats, loops and more beats and loops. It's all done by twenty somethings
Ummmm.... Too many assumptions here...
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 24,134
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This is for both the main and the other screens. I would like to either have the fonts changed or the ability to change fonts on the various messages and menus. For example the font for category in the style menu is one of them that is almost impossible to read on a high-resolution monitor. As are some of the message windows on the main screen.  They are actually a little smaller than these.
I'm in a fitness protection program. I'm been hiding from exercise.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 6,714
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Posts: 6,714 |
I simple way to just copy and paste lyrics into the large scrolling window. For us with hundreds of songs who play live gigs it is just too cumbersome to add note lyrics for all of these tunes.
Thanks,
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Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,697
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Quote:
Ummmm.... Too many assumptions here...
You certainly could be right, this is just an observation I wanted to throw out there.
Back on topic.
One of the biggest things that's been written about for years is a rewrite of the Help files. Here's just one:
Midi and Audio setups. I touched on this in the other thread. Get rid of antique legacy references. Example, Setting up Midi or Sound Card. It refers to a MPU401. What? That thing is 20 years old. Sound Canvass. Yeah Roland still uses that term but it sounds old. Use Ketron SD2 or Garritan or something else that sounds new. Inside the Midi/Audio Drivers setup window get rid of all the incorrect old references like these:
In addition to the 128 general MIDI patches, newer Roland/Yamaha modules and soft-synths (eg. VSC3)...
The VSC3 is newer? It's an antique, doesn't work with 64 bit windows and was last updated 20 years ago.
Then right below that in the same window is the big button that says Audio Settings..MME.
How many times to we have to say it's not MME any more it's WDM. How old is that term, MME? Please.
In the Audio Settings window is a checkbox that says Mixer requires keystrokes to open Record Panel (Windows 95 only). What? I say again only louder WHAT??? Good grief, Win 95.
When the term "Sound Card" is used it's in the very old context of soundcards including a synth. Again, that's very old, nobody oh, ok almost nobody uses a Sounblaster that has the built in synth any more. There is not one reference in the set up window to a midi/audio digital USB interface. Interfaces are what everybody has now and NONE of those includes any kind of synth. In addition they all have their own ASIO drivers. Don't refer to ASIO4All in the ASIO window. In the modern world like the last several years, that's not needed because all the various manu's have perfectly good ASIO drivers of their own and you're much better off using them.
I could go to every window and make similar comments but you get the idea.
Bottom line here with all due respect Peter, before you spend any time thinking about how to change the GUI, menus etc you have to get the staff together and/or include the beta testers and go through each page of the manual and help files and purge these old references and do a full rewrite to bring the Biab Help files into the 21st century.
Now, Cerio if PG elects to not change these things that have been written about in the forums for years, what does that say about the targeted customer base? They're a bunch of old farts using old equipment and they're worried about losing them.
Bob
Last edited by jazzmammal; 11/04/12 09:34 AM.
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 Wishlist
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 3,926
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Quote:
Bottom line here with all due respect Peter, before you spend any time thinking about how to change the GUI, menus etc you have to get the staff together and/or include the beta testers and go through each page of the manual and help files and purge these old references and do a full rewrite to bring the Biab Help files into the 21st century.
. . . Which plays directly into my long-time, repeated suggestion to have a third-party specialist assist with or take over documentation for reasons of completeness and thoroughness (two different things). I specifically order the hard copy manual so I can write missing entries, of which there are many, in the Index, something I can't do in the online Help file. A unique program of this complexity requires comprehensive documentation.
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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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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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!
There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
When you order purchase Band-in-a-Box® 2026 before 11:59 PM PST on January 15th, you'll also receive a Free Bonus PAK packed with exciting new add-ons.
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® today! Check out the Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all the purchase options available.
Happy New Year!
Thank you for being part of the Band-in-a-Box® community.
Wishing you and yours a very happy 2026—Happy New Year from all of us at PG Music!
Season's Greetings!
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy holiday season—thanks for being part of our community!
The office will be closed for Christmas Day, but we will be back on Boxing Day (Dec 26th) at 6:00am PST.
Team PG
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.
Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
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.
Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
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These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
- The 2026 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 25 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 12 new RealStyles.
- 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
- Playable RealTracks Set 5
- RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
- SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
- Android Band-in-a-Box® App (included)
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- 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
- FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
- MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
- MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
- Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
- Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
- RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
- SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
Learn more about the Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®!
Video: New User Interface (GUI)
Join Tobin as he takes you on a tour of the new user interface in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®! This modern GUI redesign offers a sleek new look with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, and a smoother workflow. The brand-new side toolbar puts track selection, the MultiPicker Library, and other essential tools right at your fingertips. Plus, our upgraded Multi-View lets you layer multiple windows without overlap, giving you a highly flexible workspace. Many windows—including Tracks, Piano Roll, and more—have been redesigned for improved usability and a cleaner, more intuitive interface, and more!
Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
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