Ok. I give up! I have been sitting here for 3 hours regenerating a track to try and find the riff I had originally, but I think I will need another 10 years maybe.
Heres my problem if you can help me. I "made"a song in biab, a Texas Shuffle blues, opened in rb and saved as a SEQ file. I decided to add 16 bars. I tried, but only ended up stuffing up the turn around chord somehow. It is now wrong. I tried to wrong chord, in the chords section but it wont change. So the 2 things are wrong. The song is 16 bars too short, and the turnaround chord is wrong. I "made" the song again. Cant find the riff. Any ideas? Cheers.
Try going into your BB folder/Real Tracks and find the exact real track you used. Then simply double click it, let WMP play it and see if you can hear your riff.
When you get down to it all RT's are is good ole wav files that any audio program can play. But they're just the original files before Biab does it's magic with them.
You may also have access to that particular track in the Biab sgu file. Especially if you froze the track before you saved it in Biab.
IF.... you do have original track available in your Biab song, and, the riff is in that audio file, export that file and then import that track into RB.
IN RB.... The original track containing that riff can be extended 16 bars and the riff remain as long as the section you need to insert the 16 bars does not involve the particular bar or bars that contain the riff. In RB, you can cut an audio track, insert bars and generate just the 16 new bars and they will merge into the existing audio between the cut you placed. You will have to place the chords into the new 16 bars. If you are using pre-recorded audio, you will not hear any of that audio in the 16 bars, just the RB generated tracks.
If the original track containing the riff and the riff is in the new 16 bar section, you can possibly cut and paste just the riff and insert it into the correct bar. Success here depends on the particular song.
If there's a certain lick or riff in a RB track that you really like.... you need to freeze it or export it before you edit the project because it will regenerate and that lick may be totally lost.
That's the nature of Real Band...and one of it's good points. If you and I use the same style and chord pattern, the 2 songs we compose would be different because of that feature.
Regarding the "add 16 bars"..... when I want to make edits to a song, I always go back to BiaB to do the edits and then reopen the edited song in RB.
I was writing a song yesterday and needed to add more measures. SO I clicked to add 20 and something went wrong.... the screen showed all sorts of things I didn't want.... in BB I simply used EDIT>UNDO and waa laa, I was back to the add point and the second time I did it more carefully and that time it did what I expected. I rarely, if ever try to edit in RB, in fact I can't remember ever editing in RB.
Going back to the lost riff.... On my website there's a song called The Best Christmas. Even though I play guitar fairly well, there's times when I just want to be lazy and get a different take on the part. So I wanted to use a RB solo. I tried to get a real band track solo guitar to play a convincing solo. Nothing seemed to work. So I let RB generate the same solo track 5 different times. I used my DAW and volume envelopes to pick the parts from those 5 different solo's so that it sounded like one, smoking hot solo. Oh yeah, there have been numerous times when I "lost" a really sweet lick but I never worry. My thought is that if it did it once, it can do it again. Perhaps not exact but in many cases, even better. And I can always piece something together. BTW: the piano fills in that song are also the result of several piano tracks properly spliced... uhhhh..... edited.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add 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.
Look in "open special" and open up the backup file that Realband automatically makes of your seq files - unless you've changed the default settings, the last 5 versions of your seq file should be there. Once you find the file with that track on it, you can simply work on the project within the backup file, keep and change whatever you want and then save as another project name when you're done. Or you could always export the file to a wav from the backup and bring it in to another project.
I like Sundance's method. File-Open Special (or Open Backup, depending on your version)
You likely could get back to where you goofed pretty easily as long as you don't save too many times (and thus push desired backup out of reach). Don't save it anymore and start checking backups.
Look at the dates of the files in the RBBackup folder, select the one with the date where you think it was right. May even want to just try the oldest first and see what you have. As shown below, these settings are in the Prefs-File tab area in case you want to change them. The second image is meant to show that 'where' you ran RB from for these sessions makes a difference. If RB was run from C: then check C:\Realband\RBBackup If it was run from another drive then it may be E:\Realband\RBBackup (or whatever)
It's important to know which drive you ran the RB program from when you saved (possibly the external drive). Then you know which backup folder to check. I have RBBackup folders on multiple drives/folders and have learned to look for this.
Last edited by rharv; 03/07/1601:53 PM.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
If there's a certain lick or riff in a RB track that you really like.... you need to freeze it or export it before you edit the project because it will regenerate and that lick may be totally lost.
That's the nature of Real Band..
This is not true, in my opinion. This is a big difference between BiaB and RB. RB only generates what you tell it to. BiaB generates everything. I don't even know of a Freeze function in RB. All tracks are 'froze' by nature unless you select it and then generate over it intentionally (which it sounds like OP did since he made chord/structure changes to the song).
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
>>> "I don't even know of a Freeze function in RB. All tracks are 'froze' by nature unless you select it and then generate over it intentionally (which it sounds like OP did since he made chord/structure changes to the song)."<<<
The Freeze track function resides in the drop down menu in the top toolbar under GENERATE. It's third from the bottom of the list.
Charlie - I never knew RB had a freeze option either. Like rharv said - the Realtracks in reality are already "frozen" and won't regenerate unless you intentionally change them. Guess it works as a lock to protect one from changing a track later that they may have forgotten they didn't want to change.
>>>" the Realtracks in reality are already "frozen" and won't regenerate unless you intentionally change them. "<<<
Josie;
Or, perhaps unintentionally change them and be unaware you've made a mistake until after you've made other changes.
It can help if you ever been working on a multififf generation only to discover you have the wrong track selected or something along those lines.
I've had that happen to me and not discovered it until after I've made several different changes and it's a bummer to have to use the Undo feature several levels and lose correct changes to get back to the glitch.
This has been a fun thread to read because it illustrates how some users use "these" things and other users use "those" things. I learned about the freeze option very early on my RB journey when I pasted together JUST the right solo and don't want to lose it. Sometimes I actually save that track out to a wav and have it there as a safety net if I screw things up and have to import it again for a later redo. Yet here are some extremely experienced, long time users saying they didn't even know that freeze option was there.
This software does SO much that I can honestly say that I'll probably die not knowing everything it does. I don't know how long multi riff generation has been there but I JUST now saw it in 2016. Previously I had done that manually. Selected the zone, regenerated from the same sample... as many as 8 times to get enough solos to cut and paste together the solo I wanted to hear. And here the program would have done that exact thing for me.
And the notation thing which surfaced during the "set master key" discussion. I will never need to print charts from RB so I have ignored it all these years (and will continue to). And that chord wizard thing... don't need it. Never used it. never will.
So many of these discussions are really relative.... or as Baba Wawa might have said, "Weawy wewavent."
If there's a certain lick or riff in a RB track that you really like.... you need to freeze it or export it before you edit the project because it will regenerate and that lick may be totally lost.
That's the nature of Real Band..
This is not true, in my opinion. This is a big difference between BiaB and RB. RB only generates what you tell it to. BiaB generates everything. I don't even know of a Freeze function in RB. All tracks are 'froze' by nature unless you select it and then generate over it intentionally (which it sounds like OP did since he made chord/structure changes to the song).
Yep, well.... I was thinking about BB. Yes RB doesn't regen the tracks every time.... that's a good thing.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add 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.
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows Special Offers End Tomorrow (January 15th, 2026) at 11:59 PM PST!
Time really is running out! Save up to 50% on Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® upgrades and receive a FREE Bonus PAK—only when you order by 11:59 PM PST on Thursday, January 15, 2026!
We've added many major new features and new content in a redesigned Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®!
Version 2026 introduces a modernized GUI redesign across the program, with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, and a new Dark Mode option. There’s also a new side toolbar for quicker access to commonly used windows, and the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, making it easier to customize your workspace.
Another exciting new addition is the new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. You can view the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to process an entire track or focus on specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
Upgrade your Band-in-a-Box for Windows to save up to 50% on most Band-in-a-Box® 2026 upgrade packages!
Plus, when you order your Band-in-a-Box® 2026 upgrade during our special, you'll receive a Free Bonus PAK of exciting new add-ons.
If you need any help deciding which package is the best option for you, just let us know. We are here to help!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® Special Offers Extended Until January 15, 2026!
Good news! You still have time to upgrade to the latest version of Band-in-a-Box® for Windows® and save. Our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® special now runs through January 15, 2025!
We've packed Band-in-a-Box® 2026 with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can process an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
When you order purchase Band-in-a-Box® 2026 before 11:59 PM PST on January 15th, you'll also receive a Free Bonus PAK packed with exciting new add-ons.
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® today! Check out the Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all the purchase options available.
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: The Newly Designed Piano Roll Window
In this video, we explore the updated Piano Roll, complete with a modernized look and exciting new features. You’ll see new filtering options that make it easy to focus on specific note groups, smoother and more intuitive note entry and editing, and enhanced options for zooming, looping, and more.
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe
This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.
Bonus PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®
With your version 2026 for Windows Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons for FREE! Or upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
The 2026 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 25 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 12 new RealStyles.
MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
Playable RealTracks Set 5
RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
Android Band-in-a-Box® App (included)
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
One of our representatives will be happy to help you over the phone. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday, and 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST Saturday. We are closed Sunday. You can also send us your questions via email.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you on our Live Chat or by email. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST (GMT -8) Saturday; Closed Sunday.
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean