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#209651 07/15/13 12:39 PM
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Hi All,

If you go to the BIAB site for 2013 the styles are listed by number the latest being
style 187. Is there a way to use the style number 187 to find that particular style once you are using BIAB.

Bob

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Hi Bob,

Do you mean "Realtracks set" when you says "Style"? In BIAB terminology, "Style" usually means a specific grouping of BIAB tracks used for a backing.

If you do mean the different Realtracks sets, it's certainly possible to find those using the Style picker.

Why were you looking to find 187? You've can give us a little insight into what you'd like to accomplish, someone on here will jump in and help.

Regards,
Noel


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I'm going to guess that this refers to RealTracks.

In the Packages page on the PG Music site, it shows that there are RealTracks 1 - 187 if you buy the UltraPlus Pak.


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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Hi Guys,

Yes I was referring to the realtracks number. If I want to locate realtracks style 161 how can I find it in the styles. Sorry for the confusion.

Regards,

Bob

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187 is the number of RealTracks Sets, and each set contains somewhere around 8-12 RealTracks. If you look at the RealTracks picker, you will see a column for the set number, as well as the actual RealTrack number (which shows the highest number as 2133).

Since we've seen questions like this pop up lately, it might be time for a tutorial on the difference between styles, midi tracks, RealTracks, and RealDrums again.

----------------------------------------

BIAB generates music based on styles. A style can contain up to five different tracks (labeled as Bass, Drums, Piano, Guitar, and Strings). The label, however, can be misleading, because each track can actually play any instrument you assign it, and should be viewed as a guide to creating a "band" sound.

Each track in the style has a MIDI instrument associated with it, historically a MIDI instrument, as well as rules and riffs for how to generate that particular MIDI part. When you (re-generate) the song, BIAB will change the part based on the different riffs, contained in the style definition, the tempo, exceptions to the rules (determined by weights and style masks), feel (straight or swing), instrument note boundaries, etc. The style understands part markers for fills, as well as how to handle shots, holds, and rests.

This is how BIAB worked for many, many years. Although you could have a recorded audio track (you singing, for example) along with your BIAB arrangement, it was all MIDI.

Then PGMusic came out with RealDrums. RealDrums are "real" in the sense that they are actual audio recordings of a drummer playing a real drum set (not a MIDI set). In order to use RealDrums, you replace the MIDI drum track with whatever selected RealDrum you choose. When you do that, for BIAB to generate the drum part, instead of using the MIDI engine to figure it out, it uses it's RealDrum engine (for lack of a better term) to slice and dice the drum parts based on rules established for that drum part. However, RealDrums don't know if the song is swing or straight, fast or slow, or anything like that. It just knows where the measure borders are, the time signature, and obeys part markers for fills, as well as obeying shots, holds, and rests.

So, essentially, the RealDrum part overlays the MIDI style drum part, but doesn't obey all the rules that the MIDI style drum would use. So if you took a swing RealDrum and applied it to a straight-feel style, you will get all the other instruments playing straight, but the drums playing swing. That's why you have to know what the other parts are playing before making a RealDrum selection (unless of course, you intend for one to be swing and the other to be straight).

The other cool part about BIAB styles and RealDrums is that you can create your own. Bob Norton (who posts often on this forum) has made a business for himself by selling 3rd party styles. There are now user-create RealDrums being offered for sale, as well.

Which brings us to RealTracks. Like RealDrums, RealTracks are pre-recorded audio (by noted session musicians) that are also sliced and diced to fit the song, but must also honor chord changes (drums don't have to do that). That's the reason RealTracks take up so much more space than RealDrums. Using the proprietary ZPlane Elastique time and pitch stretching engine, the RealTracks can respond to tempo and pitch changes.

Within RealTracks, there are both rhythm instruments and soloist instruments. Rhythm instruments tend to be chordal (where appropriate) and soloists tend to be more single line melodious. PGMusic has also transcribed many (but not all) of the RealTracks so that the part can be represented by MIDI notes, but it is not a true MIDI version of the performance. It lets you study the part, but if you played the associated MIDI transcription, you would not get the nuances of a live player, only the printed notes representing that performance.

Just like RealDrums, to be used in BIAB, a RealTrack must be overlaid on one of the existing MIDI tracks (Bass, Piano, Guitar, Strings). The RealTrack does not have to have any relation to the underlying MIDI part, so again (as with RealDrums), you need to select an appropriate RealTrack that goes along with the overall feel of the "band and song".

When you overlay a RealTrack on a MIDI instrument, that MIDI instrument does NOT play any longer; you hear the RealTrack instead. You can save this configuration for future use and it is called a hybrid style (containing both MIDI parts and RealTracks parts). In the BIAB StylePicker, the convention is to start the name of Hybrid Style files with the equals (=) sign.

You can also create a style that overlays all the instruments with RealTracks and RealDrums. This is what PGMusic calls a RealStyle. The ones that PGMusic ships are RealTracks that they have determined work well together for a certain sound. Yes, once loaded into BIAB, you can remove a RealTrack and there will probably be an underlying MIDI track (or maybe it's just blank), but it will have no relevance to the style, because PGMusic has to start with some style. Some people have complained that they did that and the song sounded awful. That's because, just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD do something. BTW, RealStyles files by convention start with an underscore (_).

With RealTracks, there are no weights and masks as with MIDI styles. So, for example, in a MIDI style, you can say that if the next bar is up a fourth, then the bass should walk up to it. You can't do that with a RealTrack. It obeys its own rules based on the chord structure and tempo.

-----------------------------------------------

FYI -



  • There are 187 RealTracks sets consisting of a total of 2133 RealTracks
  • Many RealTracks that sound good together are combined into RealStyles, which is a special style consisting of only RealTracks/RealDrums.
  • There are 29 RealDrums sets consisting of a total of hundreds of available RealDrums.
  • There are 77 MIDI styles sets consisting of thousands of available styles.
  • There are many hybrid styles, consisting of a mix of MIDI and Real intruments.
  • Add to that the new MIDI Supertrack (which uses a different engine than standard MIDI tracks, and adds a whole new live feel to the part), and you have lots of options available.


I hope that made sense. Please be careful using the word "style" because it has a different meaning than RealTracks or even RealStyle.


John

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jford #209713 07/16/13 03:35 PM
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John, your post should be made a "sticky"!! Later, Ray


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raymb1 #209729 07/16/13 11:47 PM
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Originally Posted By: raymb1
John, your post should be made a "sticky"!! Later, Ray


++1 !


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Hi Bob,

Quote:
If I want to locate realtracks style 161 how can I find it in the styles.

Below is how I go about doing this.

1. Click on the "Style" button to enter the Style Picker.



2. When in the Style Picker, select "Filter" as shown below.



3. When in the "Filter" window, go to the button called "Only show Realtracks Set #", click on it and scroll down until you find 161.



4. "OK" out of that and return to the Style Picker window. Now select "All Styles" in the left column and only those styles that are from Realtrack Set #161 will show up.



Hope this helps,
Noel

P.S. Don't forget to click on "Show All" - next to the "Filter" button in the Style Picker window - when you want the display to return to normal.


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I posted my tutorial in the Tips and Tricks forum. You can find it here:

Styles, Tracks, RealDrums, RealTracks Informational Tutorial


John

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Hi Noel,

You gave me the exact info I was looking for, thanks

Bob

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XPro Styles PAK 11 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box® version 2026 (and higher) is here with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 31 RealTracks/RealDrums!

Guess who’s back again? That’s right! It’s our XPro Styles PAK’s triumphant return with the 11th edition in this series! 100 new styles are coming your way spread across the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres. And this edition's wildcard genre explores the immense and far-reaching catalogue of electronic music! The included 31 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.

Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!

All the XPro Styles PAKs 1-11 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!

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XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2026 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.

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In this PAK you can find: dulcet folk ballads, funky gospel country, Brazilian jazz fusion, upbeat 1980s pop, classic Americana, a plethora of breezy bossa novas, indie singer-songwriter, scintillating synthwave, exuberant electronica, and many, many more!

Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!

All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1-22 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 22 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!

Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 22.

Video: Xtra Styles PAK 22 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!

Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 22 requires the 2026 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.

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