I've always had questions about some of the things that BIAB does, whether it be Midi or RT. Pushes in odd places, notes that don't work, etc. I made a wise crack about it once and offended someone on the forum, which I didn't mean to do.
It would help me if I understood the concept that BIAB uses to make choices in Midi. Is there some programming by a human or does an algorithm do everything? If a human is involved, that person should be (and probably is) a musician.
It would also be helpful to know if RT's are edited before release so problems like this can be avoided. I'm not asking for any secrets, just a general idea.
Finally, it seems the easiest fix has been mentioned. Let the horns play the entire song, go to Real Band (or another DAW) and cut/paste to get an arrangement. That way you can set up themes and figures that appear more than once and tie the piece together.
Good questions, 2b. I don’t know why these reasonable questions in this form would have offended anyone (hope I wasn’t the one!).
I don’t think it matters about man versus machine because we do know that several of the programmers are also fine musicians, Dr. Gannon included.
I can’t reveal what goes on in beta testing but I think it may be ok to say that we do not review all the new RealTracks before public release. Perhaps that’s something to reconsider. However, it boils down to distribution: there are HUGE files involved, with many releases to test over a short time, and RealTracks are large files to download.
Many of the beta testers do not relax upon the public release, though. We get the full new versions when you do, but we keep testing. We report the occasional problem with a RealTrack to the developers, and PG Music issues a reasonably timely patch.
I hope that gives you your general idea.
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; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
For MIDI styles, there are settings as to how "jazzy" the arrangement should be. You can specify whether to jazz-up or jazz-down the chords. I suspect that's where some of the "off" notes come from. That being said, for standard MIDI tracks (not SuperMIDI), the arrangement you get is based on rhythmic phrase that have been normalized to a C7 chord. The other chord extensions are based on the basic C7 chord. The engine then picks on of the available rhythmic phrases based on its weighting, or in some cases whether it is flagged as a special case (every fourth bar, a jump to a fifth, whatever), is transposed accordingly with the additional notes added to complete the chord, and that's what you get. Yes, sometimes you get some bad notes, but again, the engine picks them based on how "jazzy" your setting is.
For RealTracks-based styles, you can set the song use simpler arrangements and now natural arrangements.
All these things go into determining what gets played, and sometimes it gets it right and other times it gets it wrong. But hey, so does a live band, too. Just regenerate until it's too your liking, then lock it down if it is of great concern.
I'm sure there's a lot more that goes on behind the scenes, but that's my rudimentary understanding. The best person to answer about MIDI styles, however, is probably Bob "Notes" Norton, since he has created so many of his own styles for sale that he is intimately knowledgeable about the output produced by BIAB (whether by any inside knowledge or observational intuition).
John
Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA
John correctly mentioned some of the controls a user does have, and there is always Regenerate. In RealBand, you can even regenerate part of a track.
I’m not sure any of us, even Notes, could tell you much more because the algorithms are proprietary information for PG Music. We can only make educated guesses.
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; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
That's where SFZ RealTrack Instruments would help, as you can make any hold you like and you are not restricted to just those that have been recorded in Holds_350 \bb\RealTracks\Library\Holds & \bb\RealTracks\Direct Input\Library\Holds
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: VST3 Plugin Support
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® now includes support for VST3 plugins, alongside VST and AU. Use them with MIDI or audio tracks for even more creative possibilities in your music production.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Macs®: VST3 Plugin Support
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: Using VST3 Plugins
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll also keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
From overviews of new features and walkthroughs of the 202 new RealTracks, to highlights of XPro Styles PAK 8, Xtra Styles PAKs 18, the 2025 49-PAK, and in-depth tutorials — you’ll find everything you need to explore what’s new in Band-in-a-Box® 2025.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac is here, packed with major new features and an incredible collection of available new content! This includes 202 RealTracks (in Sets 449-467), plus 20 bonus Unreleased RealTracks in the 2025 49-PAK. There are new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 4, two new sets of “RealDrums Stems,” XPro Styles PAK 8, Xtra Styles PAK 19, and more!
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Cari amici
È stata aggerate la versione in Italiano del programma più amato dagli appassionati di musica, il nostro Band-in-a-Box.
Questo è il link alla nuova versione 2025.
Di seguito i link per scaricare il pacchetti di lingua italiana aggiornati per Band-in-a-Box e RealBand, anche per chi avesse già comprato la nuova versione in inglese.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 pour Windows est disponible en Français.
Le téléchargement se fait à partir du site PG Music
Pour ceux qui auraient déjà acheté la version 2025 de Band-in-a-Box (et qui donc ont une version anglaise), il est possible de "franciser" cette version avec les patchs suivants:
Band-in-a-Box 2025 für Windows Deutsch ist verfügbar!
Die deutsche Version Band-in-a-Box® 2025 für Windows ist ab sofort verfügbar!
Alle die bereits die englische Version von Band-in-a-Box und RealBand 2024 installiert haben, finden hier die Installationsdateien für das Sprachenupdate:
Update Your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 to Build 1128 for Windows Today!
Already using Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Windows®? Download Build 1128 now from our Support Page to enjoy the latest enhancements and improvements from our team.
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