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Yes, the loss in PR is greater than words can express. Back in the 1980s I gigged on cruise ships for 3 years and San Juan was our long port. I met a lot of very nice people there, some musicians, some merchants, and I feel really badly for them. Luis Angel taught me how to properly play Salsa music, and in return I gave him tips on North American music. Junior Laredo could play two keyboards, kick bass pedals, manipulate two drum machines at the same time, and sing so well he sounded like a Salsa/Merengue orquesta. I didn't have enough Spanish in my mouth nor did he have enough English for us to get very far in conversation, but we had a nice talk anyway. Ronnie, who worked a kiosk at the cruise port and was born in New York but didn't learn English until he moved to PR one day closed his shop for a while to drive us to a Salsa Festival in Bayamon where a dozen of the top Salsa and Merangue bands were playing, headlined by the Gilberto Santa Rosa Orquestra, and told us to call him if we couldn't get a ride back. Edwino took us to El Bosque Nacional El Yunque (rain forest) where we saw exotic vegetation, clouds forming as the wind blew through a mountain pass only to disappear at the other end of the pass, and when nightfall came, the chorus of the coqui frogs was overwhelming and delightful. I suppose El Morro still stands, I hope the Pablo Cassals museum didn't lose it's collection, and I hope the coqui come back, but most of all, I hope the transitions of lives of the survivors is a quick and efficient as possible on their way back to normal. As we know Irma set records on high wind speed duration making it the second most powerful storm ever, exceeded to only one typhoon in the Pacific. And the typhoons are generally a lot more powerful than the Atlantic storms because the Pacific is bigger and they have more time to grow. It was also the most powerful Atlantic storm on record and the first time we had two storms of that magnitude in the Atlantic at the same time. Followed again by Maria and I've never seen a hurricane season like this one. I know that isn't proof of climate change, but it certainly makes one think the scientists are right about it, since more powerful storms are one of the predictions they made as far back as the 1950s when they first started studying the long-term effects of this. And now that we are one of only two nations that haven't agreed to the Paris agreement, we are no longer the leaders in this respect - and in the eyes of the rest of the world, we are no longer those "Nice Americans" but instead a scourge on the planet. I saw an interview with a resident of one of those Pacific islands that are no longer habitable due to ocean rise, and when the reporter asked her who is to blame for this, her immediate response was "America". Perhaps because I live in a hurricane zone and have survived over a dozen so far, or because I've seen the Indian River Lagoon rise, or because I've seen the over 90% decrease in wildlife in the Everglades National Park, I'm easier convinced than others about the human contribution to climate change. It's not a Chinese hoax or a liberal one either (even Rush Limbaugh fled the hurricane after trashing it as a liberal plot - they shouldn't have let him leave after that). There is an overwhelming amount of good science that points to this, and yes, science can be wrong, but science is self correcting and moves towards better understanding of the world. My clean up is almost done, the battery lanterns put away, the emergency radio recharged and put away, the storm awnings up, the storm panels down, most of the plant debris is in huge piles waiting for the socialist trash pickup to come and take them away (they're working as hard as they can), the extra generator gas slowly going into the car's gas tank, and for me, life is returning to normal. We even have non-cancelled gigs this weekend  For those in the Antilles and Houston, it won't be so easy. Please think about global warming, do what you can to limit your pollution, and don't vote for climate change deniers from any political party. And that's as political as I intend to get here. Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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"San Juan just got slammed so hard it makes Irma look like a summer breeze because Irma wasn't a direct hit like Maria was." Say What? Irma's eye came directly over my house with winds clocked at the airport at 142 mph. It couldn't have been more direct and definitely not a summer breeze. I agree Puerto Rico is a dire situation and I have been there and wish them well. Power out for 11 days but just came on. Many still without and many more lost everything and are homeless. SW Florida is in shambles but in time we will recover. Tom
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"San Juan just got slammed so hard it makes Irma look like a summer breeze because Irma wasn't a direct hit like Maria was." Say What? Irma's eye came directly over my house with winds clocked at the airport at 142 mph. It couldn't have been more direct and definitely not a summer breeze. I agree Puerto Rico is a dire situation and I have been there and wish them well. Power out for 11 days but just came on. Many still without and many more lost everything and are homeless. SW Florida is in shambles but in time we will recover. Tom Amen brother. I’m not a denier but hair splitting re causality and severity doesn’t help somebody standing in line for a bottle of water and sleeping in a shelter. There are a zillion sites to debate climate issues but only one site to express best wishes to and hear from our forum members who have been through a very tough time. Per the original intent of this thread I’ll say it again. We are thinking about you and others on a daily basis and will help anyway possible. Hang in. Janice and Bud
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos
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"San Juan just got slammed so hard it makes Irma look like a summer breeze because Irma wasn't a direct hit like Maria was." Say What? Irma's eye came directly over my house with winds clocked at the airport at 142 mph. Tommy, how can you misread something as crystal clear as what I wrote? Do you live in San Juan? I was talking about Puerto Rico not Florida. Damn. Sorry man but this is just too much and is how so many things get completely misunderstood in our modern world. People simply glance at a written page, do not really read it or understand it, just glance at it while they're doing something else and then think they know what is written. If that's not it then how did you think I was talking about Florida? Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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"San Juan just got slammed so hard it makes Irma look like a summer breeze because Irma wasn't a direct hit like Maria was." Say What? Irma's eye came directly over my house with winds clocked at the airport at 142 mph. Tommy, how can you misread something as crystal clear as what I wrote? Do you live in San Juan? I was talking about Puerto Rico not Florida. Damn. Sorry man but this is just too much and is how so many things get completely misunderstood in our modern world. People simply glance at a written page, do not really read it or understand it, just glance at it while they're doing something else and then think they know what is written. If that's not it then how did you think I was talking about Florida? Bob Bob, Thanks for the insights on reading comprehension. You are correct. I misunderstood. I may be experiencing post traumatic hurricane stress syndrome. My apologies sir, Tom
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I understand and if you're having a rough time I apologize. I was a little edgy this morning myself but nothing like getting hit by a hurricane...
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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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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XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac Videos
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
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Along with version 2026, we've released an incredible lineup of new content! There's 202 new RealTracks, brand-new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two new RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
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Wishing you an egg-cellent weekend!
— Team PG
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