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Joined: Oct 2008
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Jim. Maybe you are referring to the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins? I saw the movie with Meryl Streep in the lead. The best line was at the end when she was dying she said something like "they may say that I couldn't sing but they will never say that I DIDN'T sing".
Excellent quote, Joanne! And I think it serves the original point very well. If somebody WANTS to write songs, they should do so for their own reasons rather than quit for other peoples' reasons. But obviously, any goal can be hard to sustain without encouragement. The easiest way to get encouragement is by posting your music here on the user showcase. There can be a wide range of criticism on some music forums, but this one is full of people who tend to speak about what they like more than about what they don't like.
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Jim. Maybe you are referring to the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins? I saw the movie with Meryl Streep in the lead. The best line was at the end when she was dying she said something like "they may say that I couldn't sing but they will never say that I DIDN'T sing".
Excellent quote, Joanne! And I think it serves the original point very well. If somebody WANTS to write songs, they should do so for their own reasons rather than quit for other peoples' reasons. But obviously, any goal can be hard to sustain without encouragement. The easiest way to get encouragement is by posting your music here on the user showcase. There can be a wide range of criticism on some music forums, but this one is full of people who tend to speak about what they like more than about what they don't like. So true. It's the incredibly fortunate person who gets encouragement from family and friends... I'm blessed to have an encouraging spouse.
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Joined: Mar 2018
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Joined: Mar 2018
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Huh. Just stumbled on this thread.
Encouragement. Whenever I do something I think sounds great. That's encouragement. And my standards keep rising.
But ... from other people, yes, we do like people to enjoy our work as well. My wife is passively discouraging while verbally in a "that's nice that you like to do that, dear" encouraging. Actually her reflexive criticisms, while they hurt at the time, made me try harder. She wasn't wrong about a lot of it. She's the person I would like to like it the most, but ... I've resigned myself to the fact that's not gonna happen. She does say I've gotten a lot better. But I never get asked to play anything. Not even the one I wrote for her.
I get some encouragement from friends who see my videos I post links to on facebook, and over the years I have gotten some nice comments from random YouTube users. Oddly the video that's gotten FAR more hits than any other by a couple orders of magnitude is an old bad recording of me covering Bob Seeger's "Beautiful Loser". No idea why. I mean, it was the best I could do at the time, and I'm flattered, but it kind of baffles me. (Ok, I lied. "The Spirit is a Movin'", from the same era, has more).
Probably the most encouragement I've gotten was an old college friend who has been my biggest cheerleader from the start and continues to do it. One might say if not for her, I wouldn't be here on this forum, and "Alive" would never have happened.
She introduced me to Brad Fitch, through whom I met Bob Buford here, who introduced me to Band in a Box and pushed me into better production. He also pushed me into concentrating more on singing, which it turns out I like doing a lot more than I thought I would.
Which all means I can make more stuff I think sounds great.
Which is encouraging.
Last edited by Phil Leith; 09/06/18 09:42 AM.
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Joined: Aug 2018
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Expert
Joined: Aug 2018
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I guess I'm just temperamentally a glass-half-full kind of guy. Since the advent of the internet-indie scene, I've had at least one track top 1000 listens. I suppose every other track taken together have garnered maybe 3000 more. If all those listens were individuals, I filled a hall.
On top of that, I've gotten hundreds of comments--quite a few of them seemed genuine. And I've also gotten to work with superior musicians on song-writing collaborations that I would have had no chance to do in the "real world".
I might trade that for the talent, chops, guts, and drive to play live. But every time I've picked up a guitar (and before that, a uke) to "practice", it has turned into at least an earnest attempt to write a song. That's what gets my mojo rising.
Me and a guitar on a small stage has worked the few times I've done it, but if I was waiting for the next stage to do the same thing--it'd be a loooong wait. Besides, they were there to be entertained and people really don't like to NOT like your act. Family and friends are not there to be entertained and they really don't want to be put in the position of having to "like" your act.
Since, however, I'm not a particularly good singer it takes a more specialized "audience" to appreciate what I do. Few of my family or friends are that "audience". Really ,none are consistently.
When people "get over" the vocals of a Bob Dylan, or Kristofferson, or Johnny Cash then they can appreciate what those guys do. For each of them, it took somebody else to be their "special audience" first. There aren't any music columnists writing about Farfetched Tangmo Band and why anybody should listen.
Whatever the degree of "polish" any of my songs may have, I'm still writing Demos. That's my limitation. Nobody can do it all in music (except maybe Paul McCartney).
Before music was recorded, it was all played live. And most of that in small venues or on the front porch of the cave. That's the internet indie scene, and that's cool with me.
Is that encouraging?
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Joined: Aug 2018
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If that wasn't, how 'bout this? If I could sing like you, I'd probably not to do much of anything else.
What you do, do as unto the Lord...
Last edited by Tangmo; 09/06/18 11:34 AM.
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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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Introducing XPro Styles PAK 11 – Now Available for Windows Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
XPro Styles PAK 11 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box® version 2026 (and higher) is here with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 31 RealTracks/RealDrums!
Guess who’s back again? That’s right! It’s our XPro Styles PAK’s triumphant return with the 11th edition in this series! 100 new styles are coming your way spread across the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres. And this edition's wildcard genre explores the immense and far-reaching catalogue of electronic music! The included 31 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
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Video: XPro Styles PAK 11 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2026 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 22 – Now Available for Windows Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
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Video: Xtra Styles PAK 22 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 22 requires the 2026 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Introducing XPro Styles PAK 11 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
XPro Styles PAK 11 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box® version 2026 (and higher) is here with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 31 RealTracks/RealDrums!
Guess who’s back again? That’s right! It’s our XPro Styles PAK’s triumphant return with the 11th edition in this series! 100 new styles are coming your way spread across the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres. And this edition's wildcard genre explores the immense and far-reaching catalogue of electronic music! The included 31 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1-11 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.
Video: XPro Styles PAK 11 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2026 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 22 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2026 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
It’s time to celebrate! Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Band-in-a-Box® is here, and we've got 200 brand-new styles coming your way!
No Xtra Styles PAK is complete without the classic rock & pop, jazz, and country volumes you know and love, and we’ve got plenty to share, with 150 styles spread across too many genres to list! Of course, it also wouldn’t be complete with our special wildcard volume to add a little spice and pizzazz to the mix. This year, because we loved it so much the first time, we’ve decided to make the second iteration of our SynthMaster volume, full of new sounds, interesting genres, and 50 engaging styles, all making use of the diverse SynthMaster plugin! Here you can find genres such as airy yacht rock, sultry electrotango, and even some synth soca funk. Don’t wait, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 22 today!
In this PAK you can find: dulcet folk ballads, funky gospel country, Brazilian jazz fusion, upbeat 1980s pop, classic Americana, a plethora of breezy bossa novas, indie singer-songwriter, scintillating synthwave, exuberant electronica, and many, many more!
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1-22 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 22 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 22.
Video: Xtra Styles PAK 22 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 22 requires the 2026 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Peter Gannon Talks Band-in-a-Box with zplane
zplane recently interviewed Peter Gannon, the founder and creator of Band-in-a-Box, about the software's early days, what sets it apart from AI, how zplane's audio algorithms are used in Band-in-a-Box, and more!
Special thanks to the team at zplane for their continued support.
Check out the full interview here: https://products.zplane.de/blog/peter-gannon-interview-pg-music
Last Chance! The Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® Special Ends Today (May 31, 2026) at 11:59pm PDT!
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Another exciting new addition is the amazing new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. View the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to transcribe an entire track or transcribe specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®.
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Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Special Offers Extended Until May 31st!
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Check out the Band-in-a-Box® for Mac packages page to find the best package for you.
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