I have a song with all Real Tracks and I was trying to import it into my DAW (Cubase) but the Lead in Count is just too hard to line up with the existing tracks in my DAW. Then I exported to Real Band thinking that that might help. I soloed each instrument (highlighted only from the start of the song - not the -1 measure etc.) then exported as wav and imported into my DAW and again I keep getting the pre-count. I did go through the Options>Preferences in BIAB and tried un-ticking some of the boxes there...but again to no avail.
How can I save either in BIAB or Real Band a wav file without the Lead in Count...so, I can just import into my DAW and line it up at the begining of the track?
A Quick way I'd do it is to Open the wav(s) in RB. Highlight the count-in section (what you want to get rid of).
Click Cut .. then make sure the 'Close Gap' check box is enabled. This removes the highlighted section and moves the track back in time.
If you have multiple wav files, import them all into RB, highlight the section and Cut them all at once.
Then Export the Track(s) as Wav to save them as shorter wav files without what you cut (removed). May want to backup the originals first just in case you make a bad edit. At least until you get the hang of it. First image shows highlighted section and Close Gap enabled. Second image shows track 15 moved back as far as whatever I cut.
Those From-Thru settings can really help, as can the Audio Edit screen (use the +/- keys to zoom in/out)
Last edited by rharv; 02/05/1711:03 AM.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
... the Lead in Count is just too hard to line up with the existing tracks in my DAW. Any help would be appreciated.
The little track nudge right or left to align in time should be easy to do in your DAW as along as the Tempo is set the same between BIAB and the DAW. That's how I do it in Reaper when needed.
When there is any question where the song begins, sometimes I will make the cut in my DAW. After I set the same tempo as in BIAB, the measures are clearly marked.
The problem with not doing it by ear, nudging the start left and right as needed, is that some RealTracks play a pickup (often guitar; not just drums).
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.
Audacity is another useful tool for quickly making the cuts.
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.
In case it wasn't mentioned, pro audio engineers always leave some extra room at the beginning.
When I record tracks at home to send to someone, I need to know what that gap is, and I send the whole track even if I'm only playing a solo in the middle. All tracks in a project start with the same gap before the beginning of the song, so my added track drops right into place. In a way, the extra two bars BIAB adds before each track is helpful to reinforce this concept.
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.
Paul - I have another method, that I use with great success, and seems to work regardless of DAW. Follow my train of thought, here... it looks complicated, but it's really very easy. All Common Sense.:
1. Working in BB, I arrange my song. 2. Make a note of the tempo. 3. In all my DAW's (Sonar and Ableton at the moment) I have built a "BB Template", that is basically just a blank song, with all my most-commonly-used effects and track layouts - but no audio data as yet. Open that. 4. In the DAW, I set the tempo of the Template, and then save it with the filename of my new song. 5. Back in BB, I render the song ("Save all tracks as .WAV file (with options)", saving each track from the BB song into a folder. 6. When that's done, I return to the DAW. Most every DAW I've ever seen has an option where you can set a "Snap" time division. Set that to 1 Bar. 6a. Open the song folder, and select all 7 rendered track files (you might have fewer files, remember, if not all BB instruments are being used!). Drag them en-mass into the DAW, pushing them toward Bar 0. 7. Because the Snap feature is turned on, if you drag them between Bar 0 and 1 in the timeline, they snap to zero. 8. Then, just crop out the clix!
Trust me, it takes about six times less to "do" this, versus "reading how to do this"!!
If I need to nudge and tweeze the tracks afterwards, or groove-quantize them, it's much easier to do in the DAW!
Hope this helps, man. Rock on!
Last edited by Teejay; 02/07/1703:52 PM.
We get 168 hours a week to be alive, for as many weeks as God lets us live. What shall you do with yours?
Oh, and hey, Paul - Matt Finley's comment (just before my post) is entirely true. He is Wise in the ways of the Force.
In addition to that "extra room", Pro Engineers also insert a spike of Pink Noise just before the audio starts, as a Best Practice. Why?!?
Well, when the tune gets to Mastering, the Mastering Engineer is probably going to apply some compression, expansion, and/or limiting. Some mastering software just can handle a "cold-start". The Pink Noise burst let's the Compressor kick-in just before the music begins, so there are no artifacts. They then edit-out the noise.
Even if you do your own Mastering (I do, myself), it's a really helpful idea. Thanks, Matt!
We get 168 hours a week to be alive, for as many weeks as God lets us live. What shall you do with yours?
Oh, forgot to mention, with Audacity, just like a good DAW, if you cut, you can then insert silence at the start/end or just attenuate the audio etc. Yes, you still need some room at the start and end.
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.
Thanks again for all of the additional suggestions.
TeeJay...I look forward to trying your suggestion.
And Matt, I too leave some room at the beginning of my tracks as some of the tracks in my DAW are MIDI and I always like to move the MOD wheel before the start of the track.
I ought to 'fess up as to why the tracks in my DAW were out of sync with my BIAB/Real Band files...after some of the earlier suggestions I began to try them and soon realized that my DAW track was set to 80 BPM and the wave file from BIAB was set to 85 BPM.
Duh......I wonder why they wouldn't align?
Sometimes I can be so smart, but too late!
I guess as long as I can laugh at myself, I'm doing okay.
But again I sincerely thank all of you for you suggestions.
Hey TeeJay thanks for the reminder to keep an eye on the time signature. I can't help but feel that between the key signature, the time signature and the metronome speed...well let's just say I'm sure that I'll hit another pot hole again.
That's a great warning about the concussion from the constant head slapping. I may just start wearing a football helmet while I'm working at my DAW. Although, I'll probably have to wear some gloves as the constant slapping on the helmet may begin to do some serious damage to my hand.
Pipeline...I'll definitely give a good look at your tutorial. I gotta tell you it looks very interesting and full of some new ideas that I didn't know we're in BIAB.
Again...I thank all of you for your guidance and comfort.
Now let me put my helmet and gloves on and get back to work at my DAW.
I have a song with all Real Tracks and I was trying to import it into my DAW (Cubase) but the Lead in Count is just too hard to line up with the existing tracks in my DAW. Then I exported to Real Band thinking that that might help. I soloed each instrument (highlighted only from the start of the song - not the -1 measure etc.) then exported as wav and imported into my DAW and again I keep getting the pre-count. I did go through the Options>Preferences in BIAB and tried un-ticking some of the boxes there...but again to no avail.
How can I save either in BIAB or Real Band a wav file without the Lead in Count...so, I can just import into my DAW and line it up at the begining of the track?
Any help would be appreciated.
Paul
This should be a snap (non-issue) if you do it right. If you're having problems, it's likely that you trimmed the tracks in some manner before you imported them to the DAW. Don't trim the tracks at this stage of the game.
First, if you are creating the song in BB you should ignore the thought of any sort of editing other than to get the structure of the song right.
Open that same song in Real Band and the tracks will populate. Do any other adding/editing of tracks as needed but again, don't trim the starting count.
Next....to export the tracks.... SELECT THE ENTIRE TRACK including the 2 count in measures. Export them out and into your DAW Cubase in full. Do not trim your tracks to get rid of the count in. That is one of the very last things you should be doing still, at this point, much further up the road. That count in is critical for any live players so they know and can hear where the song starts.
NOTE: the count in appears only in the drum track. resist the temptation to trim the 2 blank measures in the other tracks.... just export the tracks with the 2 blank leading measures and everything will line up properly.
You can always trim the count in and the tails later from the exported wave in an editor or in the DAW at the very end of the process.
If you trim the count in, you will have a hard time lining things up. One thing I found out really fast was to be sure the folks I collaborated with across the internet also used the same count in as I did. Nothing is as frustrating as someone who thought they were doing me a favor by trimming the intro clicks by some undetermined amount and I have to then line it up. Always use 2 measures and the song starts on beat 1 measure 3... in fact that is how RB & BB export the tracks naturally. Your DAW may have snap to grid which makes it easier to sync tracks,,,,, and you should be able to set resolution on the grid to very fine increments. This lets you slide the track, but that should be a last resort. Export the tracks with the count in and this is never an issue.
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 02/08/1703:09 AM.
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