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Your Band-in-a-Box for Windows purchase includes RealBand. You'll find the features of RealBand and Band-in-a-Box complement each other. Both are great additions to have in your musical toolbox.
Audacity is another tool many of us use but technically Audacity is not a DAW, it is an audio editor. It's not a DAW because DAWs work with both audio and MIDI. Audacity doesn't work with MIDI.
You may be able to use the Behringer USB mixer as an audio interface. If Audacity can use the Behringer USB mixer then Band-in-a-Box and RealBand will be able to use the mixer to move audio in and out of your computer.
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Fingers, I will try and make this as simple as I can. I am glad you have Audacity because that will come in handy toward the end. Everything I am saying is to help you stay within "spec" and not get kicked out. For stuff you want to play for your friends, you can do whatever you want. But if you want it to get passed on this is what I recommend. 1. Less is more. The more effects, or more tools you add to your process, the greater the risk you run of sounding thin and metallic. Same goes for tracks. Seven or eight are enough, though when you start getting fancy you may triple the vocals or double the drums, but in terms of instruments don't go over four or five. Deadly. 2.You need a simple decent DAW and an a good audio interface and a great condensor mic and good solid cables for your guitar. Everything has to be shielded. You have to spend at least $300 on the mic. Go to a music store and ask for help on buying a good condensor mic that has the different patterns, such as the cardioid pattern which you will use most frequently. 3. Get a microphone stand shield for your mic. This is critical. It will save you hours later trying to fix vocals or anything recorded with that mic. It traps the sound around the mic, short non-scientific version. Mic Shield 4. Get a good audio interface like the Focusrite. That also comes with a bunch of free Eqing software to get your started. 5. Avoid mixers. Go straight into the audio interface. Anything that has electrical power that comes before the audio interface input will add some electrical noise and alter the cleanness of your signal. That will add to the brittle metallic sound later. 6. Your condensor mic will require "phantom power." That button is on the Focusrite. Remember to turn it on when you are using the mic. Turn it off for everything else going direct (like guitars.) 7. If possible, record all your parts dry (no effects) and then add effects to them later. In the free DAW "Real Band" that comes with BIAB, you get Amplitube for free. There are some awesome Band in a Box amp and pedal presets in the free Amplitube that comes with Real Band. Check out all of them. There is some stuff in there that will make your dry electric sound like Keith Urban but it is under control and won't make you sound metallic. There are some Amplitube bass presets that will clean up the bass part well. 8. If you are using a Real Track electric that already has an effect (Not a DI or Direct Input choice) leave it alone. Adding an effect on a track that has an effect is the kiss of death in mixing for these purposes. It will sound thin and metallic. You can add an EQ to it, but you can't add an amp effect on top of an amp effect unless you really know what you're doing. The explanation on that is too long for these purposes. 9. Keep it really simple and let Band in a Box do its thing insofar as the mixes that come with Xtra styles, which I highly recommend if you are going into production work. Get all 4 packs and buy all of them that come out. Trust me on this one. They are pre-mixed. They have all of the modern sounds and modern mixes you are looking for. Again, less is more. They have done the work for you. You can flip through the demos on the web real fast to find what sound you want for a certain sound that is being asked for. 10. Use audiophile version if you can. The sounds are ready to go and you don't need to hardly touch them. If you use the regular version, export the files for each track and then use audacity to do a gain change and shape the tracks until they sound great. 11. Inside your DAW (like Real Band) record just a few really good tracks on your own but KEEP IT SIMPLE. You HAVE to invest in some EQ tools, there is no way around it. I don't use Real Band for mixing, so ask people here who do what EQing tools they use in Real band on drums, Vocals, guitars bass. Create presets you can use over and over. Spend a lot of time finding those Eqing tools and building those presets. Again, I don't use Real Band for mixing, just track generation so I can't say. I use Sonar still for mixing and have about a thousand dollars worth of VSTs I suppose (or maybe more) so I am afraid I won't be of much help in the beginning stage set up. 12. Whatever you do, keep it very very simple and only add the effects you have to to give the vocals some richness, add sparkle and thump to the drums, or tame the bass. 13. Export. 14. Go into Audacity and look at that file. I almost always do three things. A. I do a 1.5:1 compression on the file to bring it into line. Compressed based upon peaks box unchecked. B. Then I do ONE pass at compress based upon peaks. "Check" the box. C. Then I normalize to -0.9. That gives me some head room. Finally, I go into Ozone and use the simple of very gentle polishing. I use the TT_DR Meter to make sure I am not clipping, and that my dynamic range is at least 9 but preferably 12. If you can find this meter, get it. It will be your most valuable tool. If it says "over" on the TT DR meter they will kick you out. If the dynamic range is like "5" they will kick you out. Overcompressed. In audacity, if your .wav looks like a big blue brick they will kick you out. It is overcompressed and maxing out at every area of the loudness meters. Making a production ready song BIAB is very possible, but it takes a village to raise a song. Dive in and start learning and ask as many questions as you can of the pros and they will help you. You can start right away using audiophile version if you are doing just instrumentals. Just create a song in BIAB, let BIAB do its thing, export (save as .wav) go into audacity, do that compression routine, normalize, cut out the click track, give it a one sec moment of silence, a slight fade out at the end to get rid of any noise and a one sec or two sec silence at the end, print, and you are good to go. Submit. That's about it for the day. Let me know how else I can help. FYI: My song "Running from the Law" was mastered usually EXACTLY the same steps described in Audacity above with only a very mild polish in Ozone. I think it is now on about 15 internal playlists at SongTradr in addition to being forwarded. Check out the .wav form. If you ADD anything to BIAB you should not take a .wav form that looks like this and turn it into a brick or add anything that sounds harsh or metallic. You have to stay warm. The warmth of the tone is EVERYTHING. Be careful. https://www.songtradr.com/user/song/david-snyder/running-from-the-lawd120https://www.songtradr.com/user/profile/david.snyder
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Great info on your last couple of posts David!
For Fingers..... The RAM on your PC is a little low at 4 Gig. If you upgrade some of those software tools that David referred to, you may need to at least double your RAM. Some software eats a lot of resources.
 Steve BIAB/RB 2022, Pro Tools 2020, Korg N5, JBL LSR 4328 Powered Monitors, AKG/Shure Mics.
PC: Win11 PRO, 4 TB M2 SSD, 2 TB HD, 128 GB Memory
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Yeah, Steve you are right. 8 gigs of RAM is what you will need. Your computer uses 2 while it is idle. But 8 is more than plenty for what you will be doing, as long as you aren't running Google Chrome in the background. 
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Yeah, Steve you are right. 8 gigs of RAM is what you will need. Your computer uses 2 while it is idle. But 8 is more than plenty for what you will be doing, as long as you aren't running Google Chrome in the background. David brings up another good point with his Google Chrome remark. Have nothing running in the background that can interfere with your recordings. That is disable your Ethernet card and turn off you anti-stuff like anti-virus, anti-spyware etc. Just be sure to turn them back on when you are finished with your music session.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Well, I am not sure I will ever turn off my firewall while I was connected to the Internet, or EVER, or not sure you need to turn off Norton (I wouldn't ever), but definitely go into task manager stop all that other junk that gets going if it isn't a system program. Mario has a point there.
Some people don't realize that if you have 8 tabs open in Chrome you have 8 instances of Chrome running.
And you go, Gosh, why is my computer not running???? Is it something evil???
Amazon "music helper" or whatever it is called is atrocious. Yeah, suck up all my memory and CPU. Very helpful. Thanks Amazon.
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Jim Fogle - Thanks for the information and input.
Last edited by fingers55; 03/23/18 12:14 PM.
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I was under the impression that BIAB being a 32bit application it could only access up to 4gig. Even though other applications could use more. Limiting the number of plugins and/or rendering tracks can greatly reduce memory use. Having a really good sound card however is paramount.
My thoughts
Tony
Last edited by Teunis; 03/23/18 01:03 PM.
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BB 2022(912) RB 2022(2), CakeWalk, Reaper 6, Audacity, Melodyne 5 Editor, Izotope Music Production Suite 4.1
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David- I really appreciate you taking the time to give me all this information. I just met you but, in my life. I have found that people like you who are generous with their time and talents will have great blessings & positive outcomes in their endeavors. Best of luck with your submissions. If you want to hear some of my previous home studio recordings, go to this link http://www.theskynotes.com/new.htm(This is a website for a band I play in once a month.) (I am addressing your comments below in parenthesis) 1. Less is more. (I agree with this philosophy). 2. Mics & DAW (I have some great mics and will get a decent DAW.) 3. Get a microphone stand shield for your mic. (Have one of these as well). 4. Get a good audio interface like the Focusrite. (I will check this out) 5. Avoid mixers. Go straight into the audio interface. (Kind of figured this) 6. Your condensor mic will require "phantom power." (Got it - been there done that) 7. If possible, record all your parts dry (no effects) and then add effects to them later. (Always have recorded this way) 8. If you are using a Real Track electric that already has an effect (Not a DI or Direct Input choice) leave it alone. (I try to use minimal effects) 9. Keep it really simple and let Band in a Box do its thing insofar as the mixes that come with Xtra styles, which I highly recommend if you are going into production work. Get all 4 packs and buy all of them that come out. Trust me on this one. (I will check this out) 10. Use audiophile version if you can. (OK will do) 11. You HAVE to invest in some EQ tools, there is no way around it. (Got it - I have 100's VST's from my days of using Yamaha DSP FACTORY with Minnetonka MTRAX software They might be outdated but I have them somewhere) 12. Whatever you do, keep it very very simple and only add the effects you have to to give the vocals some richness, add sparkle and thump to the drums, or tame the bass. (AGREE) 13. Export. 14. Go into Audacity and look at that file. I almost always do three things. A. I do a 1.5:1 compression on the file to bring it into line. (I usually do 1:2:1) B. Then I do ONE pass at compress based upon peaks. "Check" the box. (I will try this) C. Then I normalize to -0.9. That gives me some head room. (I will try this) Finally, I go into Ozone and use the simple of very gentle polishing. (I will try this) Making a production ready song BIAB is very possible, but it takes a village to raise a song. Dive in and start learning and ask as many questions as you can of the pros and they will help you. (Thanks again for your encouragement and advice. I did submissions for NSAI reviews 4-5 years ago, entered song contests etc. Have some friends who have gotten songs on TV through TAXI and also and a friend with a connection to NEW LINE CINEMA. Right now, I am looking to make some great recordings of my originals and to be inspired to write new ones with BIAB. I do have 8-10 instrumentals to do with BIAB and may consider sending them off them to some song submission sites. Have a great weekend - FINGERS
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32gb here. I like having BiaB, Logic Pro X, Ozone 8, Nectar 2, Neutron 2, a few Waves products and Safari open simultaneously with no speed issues.  FWIW I just bought a new iMac with 8gb and upgraded it myself for < one half what Apple wanted. 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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Sounds great Fingers! I went your site. Hey, I like your songs man. If you ever want advice on NSAI give me a shout. I am a coordinator. Sounds like you are off to the races. Let me know how I can help. BTW, I see I have 64 new messages from SongTradr. Looks like 6 more songs just got forwarded and made the final cut and are being listened to by people all over the place and have been added to 8 to 10 more internal playlists. Hmmmmmmm. I'm starting to really like Band in a Box.
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You are an animal Bud.
I was just sayin' I think for what Fingers is doing, 8 is all he needs.
But since you are recording Rush in your living room and need 32 mics for the drums I can see how you need the extra horsepower.
I can't wait to hear Xanadu Redux: Return of the Steely Eyed Gargoyle and the Crimson King on Bastille Day: Part Five.
Get on with your bad self.
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Well, thanks to this thread, I joined the Songtradr site today and will be getting some of my stuff uploaded over the next few days. Although the site recommends highest quality possible - they list 48kz I usually save my files at 44.1/16 and will continue to do so and see how that flies.
I've followed a few BIAB forum members I've found on the site so far and a few have already followed me in return. Thanks for that.
BIAB 2026:RB 2026, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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David,
Congrats on your songs getting through to music supervisors. That's no easy feat to accomplish these days!
Also, thank you for taking the time to post such explicit information on software, settings and how to use. This insight into your recording and processing techniques provides very valuable information for all of us.
All the best,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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David- Congrats on your songs making it to the final cut. Glad you enjoyed my tunes. Have not had time for NSAI but if I get back into it, will hit you up for advice. Thanks again, Kevin (Fingers)
Last edited by fingers55; 03/23/18 04:04 PM.
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David, after reading your post earlier about Songtradr possibly using analizers for loudnes I took a closer look at the songs I was uploading and submitting today. After making the adjustments I ended up having 3 out of six songs shortlisted and 2 forwarded.
I look at my other songs on there and I came to the realization that I need to remix a lot of them. Luckily I just got some new VSTs that will help with this.
Thanks for sharing your tips and observations on this.
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That's great Charlie. Hey I followed you too! Hey man, you need to post a pic! Everybody else has one!!
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Thanks great Samuel. Which category was that? I am really happy for you. We all need to hang together. It's us against 100,000! Hey I see there is a Hank Williams request going on. I KNOW there are some people on here who could slam dunk that one! Yeah everyone out there selling plugins is telling you need to max it out and make it as loud as you. No---you don't. You don't need to do that at all. That trend is going backwards. Let's do this together y'all!!!!
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Thanks Noel.
I have always found that success is a team sport.
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That's great Charlie. Hey I followed you too! Hey man, you need to post a pic! Everybody else has one!! Yes I saw that you followed me. All of the BIAB Forum members I found, I followed and they reciprocated. Great fellowship. Thank you for following and thanks to the others as well. I also saw that Hank Williams posting and submitted "My Sad Story" after uploading it. I now have 3 songs uploaded with more to come. Picture? Hmmm that's a challenge but my page on that site is still a work in progress. I also agree 100% with you that BIAB is completely capable of producing top level, commercial releases. On many different levels.
Last edited by Charlie Fogle; 03/24/18 03:32 AM.
BIAB 2026:RB 2026, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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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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Last Chance! The Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® Special Ends Today (May 31, 2026) at 11:59pm PDT!
Time really is running out! Save up to 50% on Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® upgrades and receive a FREE Bonus PAK—only when you order by 11:59 PM PDT today!
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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 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®.
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, and much more!
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There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®.
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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!
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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):
Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
Check out all the 202 new RealTracks (in sets 468-488)!
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.
The 2026 49-PAK is loaded with other great new add-ons as well. Learn more about the 2026 49-PAK!
2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
With your version 2026 for Mac 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)
- iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App
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)
Learn more about the Bonus PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
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