... with quite a few things here. Putting in a basic song is easy, but I find the Style Picker confusing e.g. for easiness I've just typed in Roll Over Beethoven, which it found - Chuck Berry, Lite Pop ... but most of the 18 items on the list... 5 R, 2 RM, 11 M ... are nothing like it! Cuban Son Montuno Quintet? Rock Samba?? Pop Rock Bossa?
Also, I'm struggling to check whether all the RealTracks are in there, though I'm sure I dowloaded and installed them all... in Style Picker, without any filters (I think), I'm counting about 90 R tracks and 90 RM tracks, but there are supposed to be 202. There are 756 items in total on the list.
Another puzzle, part of what lead me to buy BIAB was a recent review I found online in Sound on Sound, and it mentioned two features - SoundTrack and Song Picker, but I can't find either of these things.
This is my fist contribution to this Forum so I'll be interested to see what responses I get...
Hello Everyone...
Nick
BiaB Pro for Mac download only - no other add -ons or gizmos... Yet.
Singer / guitarist / mandolin / piano .... making music in the North of England.
1: Which BiaB Package did you purchase? That might limit what Styles you have available.
Roll Over Beethoven comes up with 3 suggestions for me, as seen in the first image below.
The number of Real Tracks will depend on the package you purchased. Do let us know so we can explore further.
2: Shortcut function key <Shift><F3> launches the Song Picker for songs you have recently opened.
Function key <F3> opens the directory for you to load songs from.
3: From the Help: "The SoundTrack feature allows you to generate music in the style you choose for any length of time you specify. As the "producer," you select the genre, length of time, instruments, and fade-in/fade-out options."
"To use the SoundTrack feature, choose the Melody | Generate SoundTrack menu item. You will then see the Generate SoundTrack window."
Hope these responses help in some way.
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.
And thanks VideoTrack for the prompt and helpful reply. 1: Which BiaB Package did you purchase? That might limit what Styles you have available.
I've bought (downloaded) the basic BIAB Pro version for starters to find out what it's all about ... and it's the Mac version, which makes some of the shortcuts etc a bit different.
Roll Over Beethoven comes up with 3 suggestions for me, as seen in the first image below.
Ha! Roll over Chuck Berry - Hip Hop?
2: Shortcut function key <Shift><F3> launches the Song Picker for songs you have recently opened.
Function key <F3> opens the directory for you to load songs from.
They work fine thanks - not obvious though, is it? There's a huge amount of stuff I now discover but not that easy to navigate.
3: From the Help: "The SoundTrack feature allows you to generate music in the style you choose for any length of time you specify. As the "producer," you select the genre, length of time, instruments, and fade-in/fade-out options."
"To use the SoundTrack feature, choose the Melody | Generate SoundTrack menu item. You will then see the Generate SoundTrack window."
When I search for SoundTrack in Help, nothing comes up... I DID eventually find the feature where you suggested, but it's actually called "Generate Chords & Melody" which is why I didn't spot it. Again, it looks all very complicated so I'm going to leave that for now.
I do appreciate your advice and I think I might become a regular here for a while ... just don't want to have to spend too long learning the ins-and-outs of the software - time that should be spent actually making music!
Best regards, Nick
PS I'm not sure I've done this quoting business in the best possible way either?
BiaB Pro for Mac download only - no other add -ons or gizmos... Yet.
Singer / guitarist / mandolin / piano .... making music in the North of England.
For item 3, the naming convention might be different on the Mac version. I'll report it to the developers.
To insert a quote within your post, start with left square bracket the word 'quote' and a right square bracket. Then insert the text you wish to quote, and close the quote with the following string: [/quote]
It would look like this, without spaces:
[ quote ]this is the text you wish to quote [ /quote ]
Does a search for 'Roll Over Beethoven' come up with Hip Hop on the Mac version? I don't understand your comment. Can you explain more what you found? You asked for 'Roll Over Beethoven' then you stated "Roll Over Chuck Berry - Hip Hop?" Is that the exact result you found?
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.
Nick, welcome. Until you feel comfortable moving out of the Beginners forum into the BIAB for Mac forum, keep adding the info that you use the Mac version. Sometimes it makes a difference to us.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
And of course, the suggested styles are not going to be "the song". The styles are not meant to be cover versions of the songs, but a suggestion as to the feel, tempo, etc of the song.
The good news is that PGMusic has been working to update the style-based-on-song suggestion database, but it is still their interpretation of which styles go with which songs. I'm hoping in the future that we can do our own "user" database to match styles to the songs we do (and then maybe have a facility for sharing with the rest of the world).
As Videotrack mentioned, it would be good to know which version of BIAB your purchased, as that determines the number of styles you have available to you. The program itself is the same in all the versions (ProPak, MegaPak, UltraPlusPak, EverythingPak, Audiophile); but the styles, RealTracks, RealDrums, Super MIDI tracks, etc differ in quantity (and in the case of the Audiophile edition, quality). Obviously the higher priced Paks contain more content.
And welcome to the forum. Try not to get too frustrated, as there are lots of folks willing to help you out here with not judgment as to your skill level.
John
Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA
Just a quickie to say thanks for the friendly welcome everyone - I woke up this morning to find comments from around the world! Will follow them up later on today. Encouragement much appreciated.
BiaB Pro for Mac download only - no other add -ons or gizmos... Yet.
Singer / guitarist / mandolin / piano .... making music in the North of England.
Does a search for 'Roll Over Beethoven' come up with Hip Hop on the Mac version? I don't understand your comment. Can you explain more what you found? You asked for 'Roll Over Beethoven' then you stated "Roll Over Chuck Berry - Hip Hop?" Is that the exact result you found?
Sorry, I was just making a bit of a joke... I thought it was funny it came up with Hip Hop in answer to the "Beethoven" search ... not sure what Chuck Berry would make of that.
I've just done the search again and it came up with the same results as yours - there are just some very odd matches to it, but I also take on board what jford says earlier, the styles are to do with feel, tempo etc.
I'll continue exploring ... with a very open mind.
BiaB Pro for Mac download only - no other add -ons or gizmos... Yet.
Singer / guitarist / mandolin / piano .... making music in the North of England.
BIAB has a pretty strong learning curve but the more you work with it, the ore familiar you'll become with it's various attributes.
As far as all the "other" styles you get in the style picker, one way to eliminate some of the unwanted styles is near the center-top of the page. You'll see a box labeled "Include Similar". Uncheck that box ... that will narrow the results somewhat. But you'll always get more than the specific style you want. Just look through them and find the one you specifically want.
You can preview each style by double clicking on it. A few seconds later, you'll hear a sample song using the style you clicked on. I often have to click through a number of them to get exactly what I want.
What I described above is for a PC. Not sure if a MAC is the same. Hope that helps a little bit. Hang in there! You'll be surprised how much easier it becomes as you work with it. Hope you have success with it and enjoy it as much as we do! best to you.
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202 New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2026!
With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Funk & World (Sets 468-475):
Our new jazz, funk & blues RealTracks include a groovin’ collection of RealTracks and RealDrums! These include more requested “soul jazz” RealTracks featuring artists Neil Swainson (bass), Charles Treadway (organ), Brent Mason (guitar), and Wes Little (drums). There are new “smooth jazz” styles (4), which include a RealTracks first: muted trumpet, as well as slick new smooth jazz brushes options for drums. Blues lovers will be thrilled—there are more “classic acoustic blues” styles, including guitar (5), bass (4), and drums (10) with blues master Colin Linden, featuring understated and tasty background acoustic soloing, plus brushes drums and acoustic bass. There are also new electric blues RealTracks, including electric blues with PG favorite Johnny Hiland (3) and soulful electric slide guitar from Colin Linden (4). If you love funk & gospel, there are great new options this year, including gospel organ (3) from Charles Treadway, as well as new funk, tango, and rock ’n’ roll drums (3) and bass (1). And for big, bold arrangements, we have uptempo soul horns (4) featuring a three-part hip horn section with options for a full mix or stems of each individual horn — plus an accompanying rhythm section (4) of drums, bass, guitar, and electric piano!
Rock & Pop (Sets 476–482):
Our new rock & pop RealTracks bring a powerful mix of requested favorites, fresh genres, and modern chart-inspired styles! We have more of our popular “Producer Layered Acoustic Guitars (15)” featuring Band-in-a-Box favorite Brent Mason. We’ve continued our much-requested disco styles (10), and added new Celtic guitar (5) with a more basic, accessible approach than our previous Drop-D or DADGAD offerings. There are also highly requested yacht rock styles (17), inspired by the smooth, polished soft-rock sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s — laid-back grooves, silky electric pianos, warm textures, elegant harmonic movement, and pristine production aesthetics. Fans of heavier styles will love our new glam metal (13), capturing the flashy, high-energy sound of ’80s arena-ready guitar rock. We also have a set of rootsy modern-folk rock (18), with a warm, organic sound combining contemporary folk textures and driving acoustic strumming. And we’ve added lots of new modern pop styles (16) — the kinds of sounds you’re hearing on the radio today, featuring exciting new drums, synths, and cutting-edge RealTracks arrangements.
Country, & Americana (Sets 483–488):
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And, if you are looking for more, the 2026 49-PAK (for $49) includes an impressive collection of 20 bonus RealTracks, featuring exciting and inspiring additions to add to your RealTracks library. You'll get new country-rhythm guitar styles from PG Music favorites Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason, along with modern-pop grooves that capture today’s radio-ready sound! There are also new indie-folk styles with guitar, bass, 6-string bass used as a high-chording instrument, acoustic guitar, and banjo. Plus, dedicated "cymbal fills" RealDrums provide an added layer that work very well with low-key folky styles with other percussion.
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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)
iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App
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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)
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