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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Hello,
I have a very old (like version 10 old!) BBiaB which I inherited and played with a bit a few years ago. Recently I dusted it off to create a drum track, but found I couldn't turn off any of the other instruments. It was all or nothing.
Would a newer version of BBiaB allow me to JUST have a drum track? Or to solo out any other instrument for exporting?
I'd try myself but I did not see a demo version anywhere.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Hi dsbw. Welcome to the forums. To answer your questions, "Yes, instruments (including drums) can be soloed in BIAB 2015 and can be individually exported." I don't know BIAB 10 but it seems unusual that it's not possible to mute the instruments you don't want to hear. That being said, the changes since BIAB 10 are mind-blowing. These days, in addition to midi (which is what you'd have on BIAB 10), we have Realtracks and Realdrums. These are live recordings of some of the world's top class musicians and they're available to us to use to create backings. It is so very easy to create musical backings that sound outstanding! Just like in the old days, all a user needs to do is to type in a chord progression, generate the song and BIAB creates a backing. If you have a listen to some of the songs on Soundcloud (the link is in my signature), I think you'll be impressed with what BIAB can do these days. Also, the below link will take you to a webpage that has demos of all the different Realtracks so that you can listen to what's available. http://www.pgmusic.com/bbwin.realtracks.htmLastly, PG Music does not have a demo of the latest version of the program because it is so big. If you purchase a copy, though, there is a 30-day money back guarantee should you decide that you'd like to return it. (If I remember correctly, all you need do is to cover the freight. It would pay to check this with PG Music.) Hope this helps, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thank you, Noel, that was quite helpful! And, yeah, I'd imagine there'd be some changes in the past 15 years.  I had one particular small project in mind, is why I was trying to use the old one. I'll need the new one soon enough, I s'pose. Thanks again!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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This may be of interest to you too. Videos of BIAB. http://www.pgmusic.com/videos.bbwin.htmDE
Win 10, 64 bit, love my Lenovo T420, BIAB 2019 (613), RB 2019 (2)
Short term memory is getting shorter.
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You can also do what I do.
Compose the song/tune in BB and then open it in Real Band.
In Real Band, the tracks are displayed and you can select any of them for a quick and easy export. You can also change multiple aspects of a given track easily or render it again. You can also add other instruments that are NOT in the basic BB style. For example, if you are doing a rock style in BB and decide you want a fiddle, mandolin, and a dobro, Real Band lets you add them in a snap.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Did version 10 include RealBand?
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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I do not think so. I see nothing called "RealBand" or "Real Band" anywhere.
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Version 10 of BIAB dates back to 2001. RealBand was certainly not included (it was released first in 2008).
Version 2010 of BIAB, if that's what you have, is from 2010 and DID have RealBand.
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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Heh. Version 10. The 2001 version. The not-sure-if-this-XP-thing-is-gonna-last version.
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In version 10, one thing you can do is just right click on each of the instrument radio buttons listed at the top to mute that instrument (basically mute everything except the drums, and you will only hear the drums).
Another thing you can do is set the volume of each non-drum track to zero.
Another thing you can do is to select "File, Save with Patches" and in the dialog box that comes up, uncheck all the tracks except Drums under the "On?" checkbox. Save your file and only the drums will play.
Hope that helps.
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 for Windows
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You could also update to the newest version to get Real Band and the new stuff that has been added since your version was new. I like the option of upgrading since that gives you Real Band and that's where you can create some really interesting tracks like steel guitar, fiddle, dobro, strings, cello, piano's, basses, guitars, well beyond what BB will give you.
Or.... get a simple DAW like Cakewalk's Music Creator and import the tracks from BB & RB to it and then add as many more live tracks as you need.
Haha... don't knock XP.... my studio DAW runs XP pro. I'm kinda backed into a corner now as fewer and fewer companies are no longer making things in 32 bit. But my DAW and the software it runs are rock solid....
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 09/11/15 12:55 AM.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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XP was probably MS's best OS. I mean, out of the box, it was stable. I had Win7 lock up my hardware due to Flash of all things.
I did find a way to mute the tracks in BB10, thanks, but I went ahead and got BB2015 anyway.
What I want to do is use BB to generate tracks, then replace those tracks with me playing. I have not figured this out yet. (I'd say I'm disappointed but I know it's my ignorance, not the program's capability, which is pretty impressive.)
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What I want to do is use BB to generate tracks, then replace those tracks with me playing. I have not figured this out yet. (I'd say I'm disappointed but I know it's my ignorance, not the program's capability, which is pretty impressive.)
That is exactly what I do. I usually only keep the BiaB drum track and replace everything else with either myself and/or others playing. You may want to check out my songs in the user showcase forum. But that is impossible to do with BiaB, you need a DAW. If you do not have a DAW not to worry as BiaB comes with Realband and that is a very good DAW. I do not use Realband however there are many Realband experts here that will gladly help you if you need it. Remember the only stupid question is one not asked.
Love is grand.
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64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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What I want to do is use BB to generate tracks, then replace those tracks with me playing. I have not figured this out yet. (I'd say I'm disappointed but I know it's my ignorance, not the program's capability, which is pretty impressive.)
This is how I use the program. Of course, it's only one way out of many.... chose what works for you. 1. I write the song in Band in a Box. All verses, choruses, etc are put into the proper structure, tempo and key are selected and finally the style....rock, country, etc. When it's right I save it. 2. I open the project in Real Band. RB populates the tracks with the BB tracks according to the style from BB. I select the longest track in RB and then use the track generator to add new tracks for instruments not in that style. I normally write in a rock style but RB lets me add fiddle and steel as well as anything else I want. I save that file. 3. I open Sonar (by Cakewalk) and import the tracks I created and rendered in Real Band into the new Sonar project. I do mixing, EQ, reverb, and add vocals as well as my live guitar and keyboard parts in this stage. When I am finished, the project is ready to be exported as an almost finished song. I export the wave. 4. I open my Wave editor and load the "finished wave" from Sonar. I trim the start and end, and add final touches to what is now the finished song. And that's how I do it.
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 09/12/15 04:18 AM.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Oh, that is cool. Very good to know, MarioD. Thank you!
Last edited by dsbw; 09/12/15 01:44 PM.
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GuitarHacker--
That's also good to know! That's sort of what I was hoping for. A lot to learn!
Thanks everyone! The fact that there's a friendly community makes a HUGE difference.
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MarioD Quote: "That is exactly what I do. I usually only keep the BiaB drum track and replace everything else with either myself and/or others playing. But that is impossible to do with BiaB, you need a DAW. "
Not relevant to the discussion, but a fun trivia fact. It is possible to record multiple audio tracks within BIAB and not have to use a DAW or RealBand. (At least in 2015 version)
It's crude and has a minimum of mixing capabilities and any of the other methods mentioned in this discussion will yield far better results but if for some reason BIAB is the only software available for recording, multiple audio tracks can be recorded and never leave BIAB.
Once you have recorded your initial audio track, open the audio menu and select "overdub existing audio". Record another take of audio and it will be merged with the original take. This process can be repeated numerous times.
I use this method as a scratch track to try out different harmonies and backing vocals when I'm creating a song in BIAB and don't want to take time to leave the program and export files into a DAW.
BIAB 2025:RB 2025, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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That's funny. That was the very first thing I did: Record a vocal then overdub it. It was terrible (I mean, I did a terrible job). And I could not figure out how to delete it. And even though there was a Mixer Entry for audio, I could not use the mute. It just merrily pegged the meters and ignored me. (I think I see part of the problem in that the pop-up for the mixer doesn't necessarily reflect the instrument you're hovering over.) Anyway, I found the WAV file and deleted that.
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Over dub or Punch?
Overdub ......merges the two into the one track in a sort of layering but not into unique tracks.... that's a recipe for disaster except as used for a scratch pad to try things quickly.
Punch, on the other hand, lets you "fix" certain specific places in a track with a mistake in it. Usually available in a DAW
Mutli-tracking..... the best option, is available in a true DAW and lets you do as many tracks as you want, punching the mistakes in the tracks, and all in their own unique track and mixable into the final sound.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Over dub or Punch?
Overdub ......merges the two into the one track in a sort of layering but not into unique tracks.... that's a recipe for disaster except as used for a scratch pad to try things quickly.
Punch, on the other hand, lets you "fix" certain specific places in a track with a mistake in it. Usually available in a DAW
Mutli-tracking..... the best option, is available in a true DAW and lets you do as many tracks as you want, punching the mistakes in the tracks, and all in their own unique track and mixable into the final sound. BIAB will overdub and punch in and Herb is correct it is more effective as a scratch track feature than an actual track to use on a final recording. I took a look at the BR1600 manual from the Sweetwater site and it indicates that files can be transferred back and forth between the computer and Br1600 as I recalled I could do when I owned the similar BR1200 a few years ago. To me, this is preferable rather than capturing audio from the interface output and eliminates the need for the interface if you want it to. The quality of the BR1600 preamps is similar to both the interface model preamps of your two interfaces. Simply record up to 8 tracks (or more using v-tracks) into the BR1600 and import the wav or aaif files into your DAW via USB for further processing if needed. Conversely, you can also export BIAB saved audio files to the BR1600 for mixing it if you prefer that workflow.
BIAB 2025:RB 2025, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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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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