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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 794
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 794 |
Yep iRealb is the one I have. I already knew that  It was just a way of typing it out and I didn't realise you were going to be so pedantic, you must be a REAL jazzer ...and btw I refer to my previous post 
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,510
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,510 |
Yeah Bob, it can be a bit daunting, but that's what keeps it fresh, exciting and just a bit (well a lot) scary I think what you are suggesting is the way to go (assuming the method I am using for charting at gigs) ie have all the styles. To buy all your style disks and fakebooks is a quite an expensive exercise so I really need to be sure before I jump. I am pretty much an "all or nothing" sorta guy - it's why I bought the full BIAB package. For anyone else reading this thread, I can say that the support (private, not just on this thread) has been great. And apart from minor things, these Fakebooks look the goods Cheers Dennis I understand that. I'd want to be sure before I jumped into something like that myself. I've spend money on things that didn't work for me before, they may have worked for others, but if they didn't work for me it wasn't a good investment of my hard earned cash. And thanks for the kind words about my support. I try to treat my customers the way I would want to be treated if I were the customer. <...>
Absolutely big dog!
I would never ever load up a Biab song that I hadn't already listened to and tweaked at home first. Ever.<...> I wouldn't either, but then I can see others doing it. Perhaps if I were a single instead of a duo and if I was doing background music instead of mini-concert or dance type venues. But I tend to be the type to spend a lot of time on the tunes I do before doing them. On the other hand, I've played in enough jam sessions to see where Dennis is coming from. Likely that those who wouldn't take the chance aren't doing Jazz. I tried to do jazz, but found I needed a day-gig to support my jazz habit. There just isn't enough jazz around here to support a full-time jazz cat. So I play to the local market instead. I was a regular in a weekly jazz that attracted people like Ira Sullivan, Duffy Jackson, Red Rodney and other greats (The guitarist used to work for Ira) but that was a once a week gig. Six other nights they brought in a pop music band. The jazz may have been mentally rewarding, but I had to pay the bills. When my other pop band started getting booked enough to cause conflicts, I had to quit the jazz thing. It was that or get a day gig, and to me that's the ultimate sell-out. (What? Work for someone else? Doing something other than music? -- I tried that twice and it didn't work out.) Expanded Styles???
First, I share everyone's admiration for Norton products and support. Totally great.
I have a few Norton discs (none of the fake discs as yet...and maybe there's a difference).
But a few on the tunes on the disc (or downloads) have "expanded styes". And IF I recall correctly and apologize if I don't...you MUST have the proper Norton proprietary "expanded style" or the tune won't play correctly with ANY PG style.
If that is WRONG and if there is a way to conform a BIAB style to an "expanded style" created by Norton I would love to get advice on how to do that.
Best,
Jim I invented EXPANDED styles many years ago. They solve two problems that were not addressed in BiaB - BiaB limits you to 4 chords per measure. Many of the songs in fake books have more than 4 chords in a measure.
- Many songs have a chord on a particular beat and a different chord on the eighth note before the same beat. In BiaB you cannot push a chord and have it play again the beat.
Solution: By considering each measure in BiaB a 'cell' instead of a measure, and doubling the tempo, two cells in BiaB become one measure and you can put up to 8 chords in every measure of music - that includes one on the beat and the eighth before the same beat. But to do that you need to double the tempo and use a style that was written to consider each BiaB cell a half measure. My EXPANDED styles do just that. People who purchased them have called them amazing. The problem with fake book chords is that a lot of them are wrong or not what the name players play. <...> This is true. Many list the original chords of the song not the contemporary. And the chord substitutions seem to evolve with time. But for a quick request, I'm sure the chords in most major Fake Books would do. I do want to point out one major exception - the original, illegal Real Book. It seems to me that the people who did that book had the philosophy "If the chord is good enough to play, it's good enough to substitute" and IMHO many of the substitutions detracted from the melody of the tunes. I remember reading a book by pianist Dick Hyman in the late 1960s that had the 'real' chords written over the 'standard' fake book chords. Ever since I saw that, I take most fakebooks with some skepticism. My Fake Disks number 3 and 14 go with the Dick Hyman books with the correct chords and Dick Hyman's substitutions. My Fake Disks 8 through 12 do the same thing but with Frank Mantooth's substitutions. They all include two versions of each song, one with the standard chords and another with the artist's substitutions. <...>One of my pet peeves are those who spend their time arguing over which chord is "right" -- in a jazz tune.
--Mac Gotta agree. There is more than one right way to do most things, and especially play music. What sounds right to one musician might sound wrong to another. Jazz is about improvisation, and that includes the chord substitutions. But one must exercise taste as you can get too far away from the tune and lose most of your audience. On the other hand, the great saxophonist Paul Desmond used to say he was a curmudgeon about playing the correct chords, and I find no fault with any of Desmond's work. I save the requests that I don't know, and if I get enough requests for a particular song, I'll evaluate it and if I think we can do a decent job with it, we'll learn it. I have always had the attitude that if you stand on stage long enough, the public will tell you what they want to hear. And if I don't know the request, I'll first compliment the requester on their taste in music, apologize for not knowing it, tell them we'll put it in our list of songs to learn, and try to get something close, either in the same style or by the same artist. It might go like this for the fictitious song Snorkel Love by the fictitious Elvis Jones: "What a great song! We know it but I'm sorry, we just don't know how to play it. Wait a sec, I'll write it on our list of songs to learn. We can do another song by Elvis Jones, Dipsy Diver, or how about Island Mama by the group Carib-bean?" Usually works (depending on the attitude and/or alcohol level of the requester). Still, the idea of packing all 32 of my fake books with all the styles is intriguing. Like I said, I'm chicken to do so but in my mind's eye, I can see an advantage to it. When I was 18 we used to go into a bar that had an organist playing (I forget his name) and his skill was that he learned a million songs. Had them all memorized. It was amazing, I've never seen him stumped by any legitimate request. And some of the patrons did try to stump him. I once asked him how he did it and he just said, "I don't know. I just can." It seemed that if he heard it anytime in his life, he could just play it. So the idea of having BiaB, all the fake books and all the charts on a laptop lets me fantasize about being a guy like that. But I'll leave that to the brave, I'm still too chicken to do it. Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 794
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 794 |
Terrific post Bob, good stuff! Thanks Dennis
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 5
Newbie
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Newbie
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 5 |
Michel this is a great piece of software. Perhaps there were some initial problems with this program in start, several people seemed to have problems. But version 5.1 works exactly as described. It is certainly legal. While the term fake book has illegal implications this software is royalty paid and legal.I just purchased realbook1,2, and 3 and hope to get more that he offers. It is not cheep and is has a little learning curve but worth it for my needs. I am a 74 year old sax player that has played mostly by ear all my life and now want to hone my reading skills. I own Sonor Producer, Band in a Box with Real Bad full hard file edition, Smart Score and I rank this program up the cause it works with band in a box and shows me the real book sheet music. Having it all together is very convenient. I love it
Glenn Dawson
Last edited by GlennDawson; 06/28/17 05:16 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 13,034
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 13,034 |
[quote=MusicStudent] Exactly, This package rears it head occasionally over the years. My experience based on the money I paid for it - don't go there!  What a blast from the past - a 4 year old thread. But my recommendation at the time is still the same today. This has to be the only software purchases that really aggravated me. I tried to work with the supplier and it only got worse. When you screw with you customers, some of them don't forget.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 13,034
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 13,034 |
... initial problems with this program in start, several people seemed to have problems. Glenn Dawson Glenn, I assume I was part of the "several" people, what at the odds? 
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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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Last Chance! The Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® Special Ends Today (May 31, 2026) at 11:59pm PDT!
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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 amazing new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. View the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to transcribe an entire track or transcribe specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®.
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, and much more!
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There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®.
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Holiday Weekend Hours
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Regular hours resume Tuesday, May 19th!
Today's the Last Day of the Band-in-a-Box 2026® for Mac Special!
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Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac - Special Offers End at 11:59pm PDT on Friday, May 15th, 2026!
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Learn more about the Free Bonus PAK and 49-PAK here.
If you have any questions about which package is the best option for you, just let us know. We're here to help!
202 New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2026!
With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Funk & World (Sets 468-475):
Our new jazz, funk & blues RealTracks include a groovin’ collection of RealTracks and RealDrums! These include more requested “soul jazz” RealTracks featuring artists Neil Swainson (bass), Charles Treadway (organ), Brent Mason (guitar), and Wes Little (drums). There are new “smooth jazz” styles (4), which include a RealTracks first: muted trumpet, as well as slick new smooth jazz brushes options for drums. Blues lovers will be thrilled—there are more “classic acoustic blues” styles, including guitar (5), bass (4), and drums (10) with blues master Colin Linden, featuring understated and tasty background acoustic soloing, plus brushes drums and acoustic bass. There are also new electric blues RealTracks, including electric blues with PG favorite Johnny Hiland (3) and soulful electric slide guitar from Colin Linden (4). If you love funk & gospel, there are great new options this year, including gospel organ (3) from Charles Treadway, as well as new funk, tango, and rock ’n’ roll drums (3) and bass (1). And for big, bold arrangements, we have uptempo soul horns (4) featuring a three-part hip horn section with options for a full mix or stems of each individual horn — plus an accompanying rhythm section (4) of drums, bass, guitar, and electric piano!
Rock & Pop (Sets 476–482):
Our new rock & pop RealTracks bring a powerful mix of requested favorites, fresh genres, and modern chart-inspired styles! We have more of our popular “Producer Layered Acoustic Guitars (15)” featuring Band-in-a-Box favorite Brent Mason. We’ve continued our much-requested disco styles (10), and added new Celtic guitar (5) with a more basic, accessible approach than our previous Drop-D or DADGAD offerings. There are also highly requested yacht rock styles (17), inspired by the smooth, polished soft-rock sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s — laid-back grooves, silky electric pianos, warm textures, elegant harmonic movement, and pristine production aesthetics. Fans of heavier styles will love our new glam metal (13), capturing the flashy, high-energy sound of ’80s arena-ready guitar rock. We also have a set of rootsy modern-folk rock (18), with a warm, organic sound combining contemporary folk textures and driving acoustic strumming. And we’ve added lots of new modern pop styles (16) — the kinds of sounds you’re hearing on the radio today, featuring exciting new drums, synths, and cutting-edge RealTracks arrangements.
Country, & Americana (Sets 483–488):
Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
Check out all the 202 new RealTracks (in sets 468-488)!
And, if you are looking for more, the 2026 49-PAK (for $49) includes an impressive collection of 20 bonus RealTracks, featuring exciting and inspiring additions to add to your RealTracks library. You'll get new country-rhythm guitar styles from PG Music favorites Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason, along with modern-pop grooves that capture today’s radio-ready sound! There are also new indie-folk styles with guitar, bass, 6-string bass used as a high-chording instrument, acoustic guitar, and banjo. Plus, dedicated "cymbal fills" RealDrums provide an added layer that work very well with low-key folky styles with other percussion.
The 2026 49-PAK is loaded with other great new add-ons as well. Learn more about the 2026 49-PAK!
2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
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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)
- iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App
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- 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 PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
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