PG Music Home Forums PG Music Product Forums RealBand 2014 - Any Changes To Realband?

Any changes to Realband? Haven't seen anything mentioned but I might have missed something. Just curious. ???

The most interesting feature I saw is 2014 RealBand requires activation through the Help menu.

There are more features that seem more to support new features in 2014 BIAB.

The user interface (GUI) has been updated.

Node based automation is a REAL BIG DEAL.

Oh wow, did we get that?

I'm downloading as I type this....so I haven't seen it yet.

Yes we did.

Seems silly not to have an announcement in this forum.
I am sure there are some who visit RB/PT forums and not BiaB.

I think they'll be getting to it, rharv.

Here's what PG Music has posted so far:

New GUI
The user interface has been reorganized for easier and more intuitive use. The toolbar buttons are arranged in groups according to function

New UserTracks (create your own custom RealTracks) are supported.
UserTracks are an exciting new feature in Band-in-a-Box and RealBand, and allow anyone to create their own audio styles for use in PG Music's Band-in-a-Box and RealBand. With a UserTracks style, you can type in any chords into Band-in-a-Box or RealBand, and the UserTracks style you made will play that chord progression! For example, if you've made a UserTracks style by recording yourself playing a guitar groove, you can then type any chords into Band-in-a-Box or RealBand, and the result will be that it will play your guitar groove over these completely new, original chord changes! You can even change the tempo, or enter songs in ANY key, and it will still be able to play it! You can make a UserTracks style in any digital audio workstation (or "DAW"), such as RealBand, ProTools, or Reaper, and you don't need Band-in-a-Box or RealBand to make the style (though you do need one of those programs to use the finished style).
You can also download backing tracks to record along with.
There is much more choice here, including a variety of different genres of music, and a variety of different tempos. Each one, however, will conform to either the Pop, Jazz, or Blues template. You do not NEED to use these backing tracks to make your style, but they can make the process easier.

Plus these great new features!

Node-based automation is available by dragging the lower track border down to reveal the turquoise-colored line that indicates level. Click and drag on the line to make volume changes.

The Tracks window now lets you resize track heights individually by dragging the border with the mouse.

Vocal Synth support automatically generates synthetic vocal tracks from a MIDI track that contains lyrics. Go to the Notation window and right-click on the track with lyrics.

DragDrop from the RealBand Tracks window to another program now supports 3 additional file formats: MP4, M4A, and MP3 (in addition to WAV and WMA).

MP4 and M4A files can now be dragged and dropped into the RealBand Tracks window.

Audio Edit window lets you mark bar/beat offsets when creating UserTracks.

Favorites menu item added for quick generation of audio Loops from your favorite loops.

When saving a song to an MGU/SGU, several files will be saved automatically if the song exceeds 248 bars. (Since MGU/SGU format is limited to 255 bars).

When loading in an MGU/SGU, key sig changes are now read into RealBand.

When saving to an MGU/SGU, you are now prompted for an audio track, which will get saved as a wav file with a similar file name as the MGU/SGU, so that Band-in-a-Box can load it in automatically.

Import Wave dialog now supports MP4 and M4A.

If, during editing, there is currently a sustained note in the notation window, on a guitar track, in editable mode, and you click on a guitar string, the note will be assigned to that string.

Chords window font, and Notation window fonts, will likely look smoother on many systems.

Options to display full measure rests as slashes on each beat of the measure.

Product activation is required. It is found under the Help menu.

Legato Strings feature for MIDI generated tracks (or MIDI SuperTracks). If the patch is a strings patch, instead of retriggering the same note, it will play a longer single note. This results in a smoother strings part, since only notes that are changing between chords will get triggered again. For example, if the strings are playing F and Bb for a Gm7 chord, and then C7 chord comes and they play E and Bb. Now Band-in-a-Box will sustain the common Bb note since it doesn’t change, and only change the F to an E (assuming that the notes are intended to be played as a sustained notes with no gap between them).

Band button enhanced. Favorite styles and Recent styles menu added. Less menu items (new RealCombos.txt file). Load Song demo moved to the top.

Rendering of RealTracks (via any method such as Drag/Drop) is now automatically Mono or Stereo based on the original type.

Fast previews of RealTracks, RealDrums, and StylePicker by double-clicking in the list.

Loops enhanced, now support Acid Loops (for WAV and mp3 files).

Best RealTracks (and other RealTracks) dialogs now show memos.

Current Note indicator on Notation Window now shows transposed value if notation is transposed.

Nice handwritten “Real” looking Chords Font added.

Soloists can now be made to be simple variations (e.g. pedal steel parts).

Improvements made in entering and viewing guitar notation. Now able to rechannel to guitar channels (11 to 16) over a range. Easier method of guitar tab entry, click on the string (on the tab), then click on the note (on notation, or on-screen guitar) to get it entered on that string/fret.

Rechannel guitar notes to a fret position over a range.

RealBand now auto-detects the location of Band-in-a-Box, according to the last folder that ran Band-in-a-Box.

FlashMessageLog.txt feature added. Log of 'yellow and green messages', listing the message and date/time, is saved in a file called c:\bb\data\FlashMessageLog.txt. This file is saved when you exit the program. The list can be displayed inside the program at any time, by choosing menu Help- View Message Log file.

Copied from here once you press the RealBand 2014 tab just under the "Buy Now" button.

OMG! It's so cool! Different look. Gotta get used to it. Love it.

I may have to forgo some of the new features if I want to keep using the old XP machine for music. (see silvertones nodes post) Or finally make myself make the dreaded switch. I'm just sooo comfy on old faithful - what can I say....

Great new look for RB as well as BIAB.

Yea me too.

The problem may still get solved, Jo, keep checking the Updates pages.


--Mac

For us old dummies, what is node based automation please?

You are automating one of the user controls, for now the user control is volume.
Say you have a track with a constant volume level of 64 and you want the volume level to change at specific locations during playback. You create a node at each location you want the volume to change then you raise or lower the volume control to the desired volume level for each location. When you playback the track, the volume control follows the movement you programmed. Hope this helped.

Yes, thanks JIm. I must give it a whirl.

Node Based is good stuff.

Let's say you've recorded your playing or singing on a project and made 4 passes at it, from beginning to end.

And you like your performance on the first verse in the first track, but the performance of the second verse sounds a bit better on the next track, and so on.

Without the Nodes available, to manually Edit each piece you like into a new track is time consuming and also can be rather fiddly as to timing, cutting and pasting audio without annoying clicks, pops, etc.

With the Node Based Vol control, you can simply draw the Volume level of three of the tracks right down to zero while drawing the one you want to hear UP.

When you get to where you want to switch tracks for the better performance on another track, just draw the first one down to Zero and bring the one desired UP to the same level as previous.

Etc.

In the recording business, that process is called, "Comping" - Recording Engineer talk for making a "Compilation Track" out of two or more passes. (Not to be confused with the Musician term of Comping, which refers to a certain way of playing chords when accompaniment is your job.)

And - Instead of Punchins the old way, you can now do a Punchin to correct a mistake, and then use the Nodes of the Volume Envelopes to bring it in and out.

Works a treat.


--Mac

FWIW it looks like the Node feature has been fixed for XP with recent patch at top of page.

Works fine now.

One of my big wish list items