PG Music Home Forums PG Music Product Forums Band-in-a-Box for Windows Band-in-a-Box 2009 for Macintosh is here!

Is there a chart showing which features are NOT available in new Mac version that ARE available in the new PC version?

Thanks.

JB

Great idea, Tackiepro. That would safe me so much time hoovering through the programme!

Cheers

I bought the basic version of 2009 upgrade from 12 dor Mac. I have also a MEGA MEGA versions of everything PG on my Wintel. All styles and melodies play across everything. I have a iMac intel core duo 2GB RAM.

Great stuff, Peter!

Lanny

Hi lrosicky,
I have everything BIAB offers for the PC.
I also have the MAcBook Pro. No BIAB yet.
Are you saying we can purchase the basic version of MAC BIAB and copy all our files RD and RT and Styles Disks over to the Mac from the PC and all will work on the MAC?

A query -

I've got BIAB 2009 Ultrapak running quite happily via Parallels on my Macbook.

I've also got the OSX version 12 on the same mac.

If I upgrade to the Mac 2009 version, will all my addons including my realtracks and realdrums work? or will I need to get the Mac Ultrapak version?

Thanks

John

Hi John,
I didn't partition my Mac drive. Only using MAc.
I sure hope our question comes back as yes.

Can we copy PC versions RT's, RD's and Styles to the new MAC version of BIAB ???????

The RTs and RDs in the new MAC version are Apple compressed audio files (m4a), not WMA files, so you will have to get the MAC versions. Of course, if you want to try converting from WMA or Wav to m4a and see what happens....I am not sure about the BTO files.

Style files are cross-platform.

The cross-grade pricing is very fair and I was happy to put my money down.

Fred

After I don't know how long carping about the continuing lack of upgrades for the Mac, today's email announcing version 2009 came as a very welcome surprise. On several counts.

The first is that it has happened at all. I think that the first promise was for Christmas 2006. Most of us, I think, believed that PG had given up entirely on the Mac. How glad I am to be proved wrong.

The second is that the upgrade almost makes it look like a totally new programme. Albeit one that clings to the original Atari look and feel. That shows how long I've been using it.

Next, by a lucky chance I've just upgraded to a new iMac after 9 years and more on the original revolutionary design. If I hadn't I'd be grinding my teeth in impotent fury, just like all those who still have G3s, G4s and G5s, the latter two capable of continuing to give reliable service well into the next decade. A missed selling opportunity there, although I understand why the decision was made.

Hopefully PGMusic will get out there and actively advertise the product to Mac users. If they don't know about it they won't buy it and there are a lot who have only had Intel powered Macs who will never have heard of BiaB. Review copies to all the Mac publications please. I'm only sorry I don't work for any of them so can't blag a freeby.

All in all then this looks, on the surface to be a monumental improvement on what we've been used to in the Mac BiaB society. Now that the bit is well and truly between the teeth, PG shouldn't shy away from commensurate updates. I had been looking seriously at iTunes new features but I will instead upgrade before the end of the offer period but hopefully after the maintenance release mentioned elsewhere.

As I said, it appears to be a totally new programme, has it been a root and branch rewrite? If so why keep the old look and feel?

That aside, you have at last made me very happy.

Best wishes.

Which version of the OS are you on? The mouse sticking was something I was experiencing in OSX 10.5.6 but since installing 10.5.7 it is cured. Before that I would put the iMac to sleep by briefly touching the power switch and then waking it up. No problems since the patches introduced with 10.5.7 though.

I have a quick question about the Soloist feature. After assigning a Realtracks style, and then a Realtracks soloist, they sound great. The only thing is that the Realtrack soloist doesn't seem to be saved with the file. When I open it again, it loads all the Realtrack instruments within the style, but the soloist is gone, so I have to assign a soloist each time I play the file.

Also, when I access the list of Realtrack soloists and search for an appropriate one (specifically Jazz solos), it's kind of confusing because there are really only five or six jazz soloists (for the specific song tempo). All the rest seem to be additional styles, and if I click on those they change the style I originally selected. Maybe I'm not understanding it.

The Realtrack soloists that I am able to find (I have all the Everything Package, by the way) are fantastic! They not only sound real (because they are), the notes they are playing follow chord progressions better than musicians I've known!

Will there by additional styles and soloists available soon?

kkrekeler ,

>>> I have a quick question about the Soloist feature. After assigning a Realtracks style, and then a Realtracks soloist, they sound great. The only thing is that the Realtrack soloist doesn't seem to be saved with the file. When I open it again, it loads all the Realtrack instruments within the style, but the soloist is gone, so I have to assign a soloist each time I play the file.

The solution there is to not use the Soloist button to generate the solos. Instead, open the RealTracks dialog (or dbl-click on the Melody or Soloist radio button to see the menu to launch the RealTracks dialog), and then assign the RealTracks to the Melody or Soloist track.
Then, whenever you press PLAY, you'll get a new solo generated on the Melody or Soloist track.
That assignment saves with the song, but the actual performance doesn't save with the song, because it is an audio file.
If you like the performance, the only way to save it is to Render the song (press the Audio button), and then you can render the individual tracks. BB doesn't load in the audio files that you've made, but you can then work with the audio tracks in ProTools, Logic, GarageBand etc.

>>> Also, when I access the list of Realtrack soloists and search for an appropriate one (specifically Jazz solos), it's kind of confusing because there are really only five or six jazz soloists (for the specific song tempo). All the rest seem to be additional styles, and if I click on those they change the style I originally selected. Maybe I'm not understanding it.

Yes, for a given tempo, in Jazz Swing Soloists, there are these 6 RealTracks Soloists available: Trumpet, Trombone, Alto Sax, Tenor Sax, Guitar, Piano.
You can filter the list by typing something like 'Jazz' in there, and sort by type to get Soloist up at the top.


>>> The Realtrack soloists that I am able to find (I have all the Everything Package, by the way) are fantastic! They not only sound real (because they are), the notes they are playing follow chord progressions better than musicians I've known!

Thanks!

Peter:

Let me just add my voice to those praising you for finally releasing this Mac version. I wasn't checking this site that frequently so it wasn't until I got a marketing email last night that I found out it was available. I instantly grabbed my credit card and upgraded.

I haven't even scratched the surface yet of the bits I've downloaded (I'm waiting on my 80GB hard drive) but I've already been very pleased with the BIAB upgrade.

I know some of us were starting to get pretty impatient this last year but it was well worth the wait.

Good job!

--Jim Titus

Hi Andrew.

Though I 'd share my findings in case any one else had the issue.
Actually the instal location button takes you the actual folder that can be redirected, unlike any installer I have seen. Just point to the folder and you can choose what location. Most MAC centric installers have a pop up menu to which you can redirect. Not complaining but could trip up others.


The 2nd screen capture is the text file for realtrack sets 11-12 with the typo stating sets 1-3 oops. No ones perfect

T

>>> Using this method, is there then a way to set the song so the solo is heard only during the second chorus instead of throughout the entire song? Or would you have to render the audio and edit in a program like Garageband?

Yes. You can get control over which bars or choruses that the RealTracks play, using the Bar Settings dialog. You launch this dialog via F5 key (or Edit-Bar Settings, or ctrl-click on the chord sheet).

From there, you can Mute or Un-Mute an instrument.
For example, you could have an instrument (melody) muted until the 2nd chorus bar 9, where it would play for 8 bars. You would do this as follows.
Chorus 1 Bar 1: Set to MUTE
Chorus 2 Bar 9: Set to Normal Volume
Chorus 2 Bar 17: Set to MUTE

Since there are 7 tracks available (bass,drums, piano, guitar, strings, melody, soloist), you can have a 4 piece rhythm section, and 3 more tracks to be customized in this way, so that soloists can take turns.

Thanks Tonio

Thanks for the tip! That works really well. Now I can even add one-measure solos as fillers when there's a break in the melody. This is a fantastic program.

I was wondering, what can't the mac version do that the windows version can't? If any, why and will this be rectified some time soon?

Thanks.

For Macintel users this must be good news. For those who use both platforms and have the PC BIAB, you could probably figure out how to run that on a Macintel using VM Ware Fusion 2 (not emulation, like the sluggish Parallels):

http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/