Can somebody who is well familiar with BIAB answer a few questions in short form, if possible. I do not want to pollute the forum with random questions, so I figured this would be a good place to ask most of them.
1)I assume it is not possible to create more tracks in mixer, or is it? Was the option of adding track discussed before?
2)Is it possible to minimize mixer completely in full "expanded" mode of BIAB. (middle button), so it goes away? (I am aware of the full screen mode, where you can hide the mixer for good)
3) Is it possible to divide bars into 4 beats/parts (4/4 songs) for example.... or it is only done through "chord option" menu? If it is not possible, was it discussed before?
4)On the "count in" it is not possible to use fills from other drum tracks, other than the ones in mixer, correct? Or it possible to use fill ins for the "COUNT INs" from other "real drums" other then the ones on the main style? If yes, what would be simplest way to do so?
5) Is there a good reason why chords can not be entered straight from midi controller, is there a way to bypass "CTRl+Enter" when entering them from controller?
1: BiaB has always had the limitation of the number of Tracks available. (RealBand gives you 48 tracks)
2: You can change the transparency of the mixer and tuck it into a corner with the 'A' button. Otherwise you just have to hide it manually.
3: You can have a maximum of 4 chords per bar but the bar doesn't get divided. It actually contains two cells. The left hand cell can hold chords on beats one and/or two. Enter the first two chords in the LH cell, separating them with a comma. Repeat for the RH cell e.g. Eb,Bb7 Ab,Fm7
4: There are options for count-in but they are global. Whatever you select plays for every song. Not ideal and there is a wishlist items of many years asking for it to be changed. You may wish to add your endorsement. However, I have no idea how PGM decides if the users' practical requests are worthy of delivery.
Options > Preferences > Count-In to set you preference.
Hope this helps
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.
Sad, that so many things have not improved during long life of PG.
Real band is a "no go" for me. I think it is just a fruit of poor programming. Real band + BIAB should be one program, not two
P.S. I watched your "concept" user interface video a few times... I like some of the ideas. Especially the mixer part. I think the best approach would be to have it snap / dockable as a small flat & thin button to various parts of toolbar or even on the bottom and minimized and expanded the way you imagined.
Re: Mixer, there used to be a mini-mixer which had a reduced set of features but had the benefit of taking up significantly less screen space while playing. It's not available in the latest couple of releases. No idea why.
Thanks for the feedback on the Concept Video. Many people had been requesting that the UI needed significant updating. I like to this that this assisted the company to take some steps.
IMHO, compared to other modern interfaces, there is still a lot that could be improved.
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.
1)I assume it is not possible to create more tracks in mixer, or is it? Was the option of adding track discussed before?
While you can't have additional tracks you can change instrument patches or RealTrack choices as many times as you need using the F5 Bar Settings screen. One unsung advantage of using the F5 Bar Settings screen to change the instruments assigned to a track is the program takes care of all the background work (crossfades, etc.) needed to make a smooth instrument change. Using multiple instrument selections on one track is similar to how many people use a hardware based digital recorder that has a fixed number of tracks. For instance if you have a track that is designated for a vocal, when there is no singing you may want to add a guitar, piano or tambourine. I believe the program limit for instrument changes is ten instruments per track.
Q: 1) I assume it is not possible to create more tracks in mixer?
A: 1) BiaB has always had the limitation of the number of Tracks available.
A: 1) BIAB only has 8 tracks but those tracks can be used over and over to create new digital tracks by taking advantage of BIAB features that allow up to ten instruments per track and also by using the Audio Track and Performance Track export channel mixes as WAV files and importing this mix into the Audio Track, convert the imported audio file to a Performance Track and move this Performance Track to another Track. This is called Bouncing and the mixing is done digitally so there is no degradation of the audio. Every export is a first generation export. Then continue to add additional instruments and Bounce Mixes until your song is complete.
DEMO of the process being done on a Tascam 4 track recorder:
Excellent and very impressive and well worth taking notice of.
I might have missed the target of the original question. I didn't interpret that the O/P was looking for a way to bounce and mix-down multiple tracks instead of introducing more than 8 tracks. I answered on the basis is not currently possible to create more than 8 tracks in BiaB.
Other workarounds are available to record, mix-down and repeat. But in BiaB there are currently 8 only tracks.
(Incidentally, my own feeling is that more would be better)
However, credit must be given that resolving such limitations can be attained by other means. Maybe not ideal, but doable.
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.
1)I assume it is not possible to create more tracks in mixer, or is it? Was the option of adding track discussed before?
4)On the "count in" it is not possible to use fills from other drum tracks, other than the ones in mixer, correct? Or it possible to use fill ins for the "COUNT INs" from other "real drums" other then the ones on the main style? If yes, what would be simplest way to do so?
BB is limited to a few tracks. However, if you save the project and reopen it in Real Band, you now have the original tracks created in BB and the ability to generate a whole bunch of real tracks to fill out the band. The cool thing is in BB, it always selects from tracks that fit the style. For example.... Hard Rock LA style will give you guitars, bass, and drums. But suppose you want fiddle and steel guitar? In BB, you can replace something with something else, but in Real Band (RB) you can simply add those to the project, and they play exceptionally well. I do this all the time.
Next.... if you regen the project, on occasion, it will pick up some lead in notes. However, you can always use your imagination and add some measures to let certain instruments play "before the song starts" to give you lead in on one or more instruments. Note of caution: If you regen and it does give you some lead in notes that you really like..... BE SURE TO FREEZE that track. Because the next time you regen the project, it will regen the lead in and it will be gone and you'll probably never get it back again. Freezing is the only way to save it..... well, you can also export it..... and probably a few other ways..... but you get my meaning.
I go a step further, and move the tracks into Sonar where I can use all sorts of editing techniques to get lead ins, fills, and solos where I want them. I find it easier to work in this manner. Some others do too, and of course other folks don't. Use your imagination and think out of the box when you want to do something that doesn't appear to be a built in feature. If you can imagine it, there's a way to do it.
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 09/16/1805:49 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.
Excellent and very impressive and well worth taking notice of.
I might have missed the target of the original question. I didn't interpret that the O/P was looking for a way to bounce and mix-down multiple tracks instead of introducing more than 8 tracks. I answered on the basis is not currently possible to create more than 8 tracks in BiaB.
Other workarounds are available to record, mix-down and repeat. But in BiaB there are currently 8 only tracks.
(Incidentally, my own feeling is that more would be better)
However, credit must be given that resolving such limitations can be attained by other means. Maybe not ideal, but doable.
I think you accurately answered the OP's question. But if you think of the 8 mixer tracks as Channels, there are 8 physical Channels but each Channel can be used multiple times both by bouncing two or more Channels to an exported mono or stereo WAV file and by recording multiple instruments onto a single channel. Think of a TV channel having multiple different programs throughout a broadcast day and having commercials inserted into various places throughout the programming while also having multiple channels available on your TV set. Each Channel having it's own unique programming.
By the OP using the word create rather than add, it can't be determined from the question alone what he was asking. If he meant create to be the same as add, you are correct but using create with it's traditional meaning, using bounce techniques, you can create dozens of tracks using the 8 physical channels of the BiAB Mixer. The computer hard drive becomes BIAB Mixer Virtual Tracks.
Here is a video deconstructing "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" recorded on a four track recorder in 1967 by the Beatles. There are a lot of different instruments and vocals arranged and recorded throughout the song.
Charlie, I am familiar with bouncing, but I prefer doing everything like that in Cakewalk, just like Guitarhacker mentioned. I do not even bother with doing mixing in BIAB. As soon as I get composition to the point where I want it to be, I export it as individual WAV files and feed them to amazing Cakewalk
Jim, you are right for the most part, but sometimes I do not want to sacrifice one for the other (change at the bar) I might want a couple of other things happen at the same time musically. Maybe I am greedy, but read below.
I just feel BIAB is shy of 1-2 more tracks, for those accent instruments / filaments. It would be nice if they had possibility to add 2 more tracks
And also an integrated way to use drum "fill ins" from other(not selected) tracks as lead ins, or other places in song.
So that is probably where my winning of two extra tracks is coming from. To use a separate track for drum "fill ins" and the other for accent items.
Sad, that so many things have not improved during long life of PG.
Real band is a "no go" for me. I think it is just a fruit of poor programming. Real band + BIAB should be one program, not two
Rusty,
I totally don't understand this. I am saying this in a friendly way because you identify as a "newbie", but I really think you may want to give BIAB and Real Band a little more time and spend more time studying what they do as separate tools, and how to use them, before you say things like "It's so sad..." Study is the operative term. It takes a while to get the hang of it all because there is so much there. But that's what I like about it. Music itself requires study.
Band-In-a-Box and Real Band improve every year. Those PG folks are working hard and they ALREADY deliver the best producer's tool on the planet. The difference between the sound quality of a "Real Track" and most sampled stuff generated by other programs is like the difference between a 1957 Les Paul and a garbage can.
BIAB and Real Band are two different things and focus on two different objectives. Band-in-a-Box is an electronic lead sheet that lets you enter in a song form and then pick a basic style with Real Musicians. For that alone, I am surprised it has not won the Nobel prize.
Real Band is an associated tool that allow you to open those basic tracks and then gives you 40 slots where you can pick from at least 2,5000 other parts, fragments, sections, or entire tracks of every imaginable studio instrument plus additional drums (minus the bagpipe but that may be coming) by pressing one blue button.
And these aren't samples--they are performances. Where else on God's Green Earth will you go to find that?????
A choice of drums by real drummers performing at your fingertips? A real horn section? Real backing vox? What else does that?
One click export and you are ready to import to your DAW.
I also find Real Band to be the BEST and most reliable place to record all audio, and it is so much easier to edit audio there than in Cakewalk, which I know like the back of my hand. Real Band is great for track generating and recording, Cakewalk is great for mixing: that's the way I look at it and work (but to each his own.)
I simply cannot understand when people say Real Band is a "no go."
No go what?
Sure it has some glitches from time to time but the work arounds take 3 seconds. Better than waiting two weeks for the drummer to show up.
I am a die-hard Real Band fan and I think it is a goldmine.
I have never once looked at PG Products and gone "It is so sad."
I go:
"Thank you God, Praise Jesus and Hallelujah."
But maybe that is just me.
David Snyder Songwriter/Renaissance Man Studio + Fingers
David: "you identify as a "newbie"" Yes, to PG, but not newbie to recording with computer and trying out many different software titles for the past 20 years RealBand... well... in the nice way... Maybe a spectacular program for 2003-2005, but not for for 2018 (almost 2019). That expressing it in the nice way. You are only using both programs because one does not have things that the other has. Not because you would not use it if it was a single, well written software.
Of course I tried it, and if I really (REALLY) do not need it, I will not touch it for the life of it. BIAB and Realband are not two different things. They have more similarities than differences. PG wants users to believe they are, but they are not. I am all in for two programs to get merged into something stable and user friendly (about that time), instead of hypnotising me into believing that jumping like a monkey from one program to another is a good thing when you are working with same clay.
"And these aren't samples--they are performances. Where else on God's Green Earth will you go to find that?????"
I never questioned that. Performances are spectacular indeed. But both programs are wayyy outdated. Not in terms of functionality, function wise they are very detailed, but user experience. From a scale 1-10 I put it close to 5. I am VERY hopeful that that will change.
P.S. I would not even go the route of comparing Cakewalk to Realband
I agree with everything you have said except merging BiaB and RB. I do not want BiaB to look or be like RB. Take some of the features from RB like regenerating just a measure or two fine but I do not want BiaB to be a RB like DAW. Keep BiaB just as a backing track generator.
I totally agree that RB is no where near the same caliper as Sonar, which I used to use, and my current DAW Studio One Pro 4 even though RB can do some things that other DAWs can not do. This is not to say that RB is total crap as some here can produce excellent results with it and its cousin Master Tracks Pro. I just can't get used to RB, but that is my problem, I don't like how it functions.
Improve both BiaB and RB but do not merge them. YMMV.
Dad, how will I know when I've become an adult.
When your day is ruined because they rearranged the grocery store.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
All I am saying is that I LIKE Real Band for generating EXTRA tracks beyond the basic 8 and it is an awesome tool for doing that.
No, I would never compare Sonar to Real Band, of course not-- and I am an expert user of both.
Real Band generates tracks and Sonar does not. Yeah, they're different all right.
Also, I record guitar all day and all night and I prefer to record into Real Band because TO ME it is easier to edit audio in Real Band. Much simpler. In Real Band it is fairly easy to edit audio down to the nanosecond, whereas Sonar is a pain in the a....for really tight edits. To me anyway.
BUT, I mix in Sonar all day long too. They are different tools for different uses.
I guess I am still so mesmerized with what Real Band CAN DO that I don't have much energy left over to worry about what it CAN'T do. I have a stack of songs on deck a mile high that I will finish using those Real Band tracks.
I just assume the geniuses who created this software that so many of us get so much mileage out of every single day are working that into their Agile workflow.
In my opinion they have done a pretty good job so far.
YMMMV....
David Snyder Songwriter/Renaissance Man Studio + Fingers
Mario, Normally I would agree with you, I am sort of in your shoes about getting used to things that do not feel right about. Not on this one.
Since you are using Cakewalk, I will give you a Cakewalk example of what I mean. Probably most of people who use it, taking advantage of 15%-20% on average of what this program is capable of (including me). I do not like amass of buttons, it makes me dizzy. I tried/bought 3 versions of Cakewalk during past years. Last one was "Home Studio". I figured, it does everything I need. It was far cleaner than Sonar X and that is where I stayed. Then Meng gave away Platinum... Free is a good price, especially for the program that I like very much. It has tons of extra items that Home Studio did not have. Is it bad? I do not feel that way as one day I might want to try something that I have not tried before. Just as with previous version, I customized exactly how I want it to be on the screen. Getting rid of all the modules, buttons and other things that I most likely will never use. Now, every time I open the program it has just the stuff I need. It smiles at me and I am smiling back. So, my thoughts about "merging" are based on that... That you can have the 2 in one option, but customize to see, what you want to see. But if you do need to do something with composition other than one program can do, it would make sense to everything in one place.
For the "diehards" and opposition, this will most likely never happen and benefit of "merging" is just my humble opinion. Please do not stone me.
Reading the responses lead me to believe the problems perceived with BIAB have more to do with personal preferences than functionality. Some things are easier tasks to complete in other software, so that becomes the workflow.
I think the 8 channel mixer limitation has to do with BIAB's foundation in MIDI. Many have wished and requested 16 channels to match the MIDI standard. That being said, that's pure speculation on my part but it makes sense to me, everyone would probably support any number of additional channels in the BIAB mixer.
While two additional channels would be nice, All the things Mike has listed as beneficial uses for two extra channels still way understates many other uses the extra channels would bring to the program. But the real issue I see is that all of the things Mike lists (and more) can already be done in BIAB with the existing number of channels we have. Maybe not to the level of one's personal preference, which will vary greatly between user to user, but the functionality is there. Some prefer not to use the functionality. (actually, many prefer not to) I'm not sure PGMusic will want to invent the wheel again or that they should even consider it when the wheel they've already invented is fully functional but not customizable to personal preferences.
A point Mike didn't make but that became obvious to me as I read through the posts; adding an additional channel that is not set up in the traditional manner of the other tracks but rather as a channel to facilitate implementing underused functions that exist. It is also obvious that if it can be done for one channel, it can be done for each channel and likely multiple times.
I'm going to do a little research and experimenting and may soon be posting something into the Wishlist Forum.
For the "diehards" and opposition, this will most likely never happen and benefit of "merging" is just my humble opinion. Please do not stone me.
Please note that being a diehard and being a heavily experienced, knowledgeable user is not the same thing. Not mutually exclusive, but not the same thing.
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.
As a long time RB user I agree with some of your comments. What RB does for me is it allows me to create instant comp tracks of whatever instrument I want. For example, the original song style uses a particular strumming guitar and it sounds good. In RB I can scroll down to an empty track and generate a completely different guitar track just for giggles. Then go to the next track and do it again. Now I have three separate and discreet background rhythm guitars to mess with. And I may generate a couple of solo guitars too just to add a few licks here and there. The fact that complete tracks are generated does not mean you have to use them all. Maybe I'll wind up using 4 bars of a 64 bar RT generated solo track. Let the song play and use the mute buttons to audition each track. Sometimes I won't generate the whole track, just 16 bars and highlight the next 16 bars and generate a different guitar RT there. Lots of ways to do this. Also, don't forget midi. You have full access to the thousands of midi styles too and you just set up your synth on that track and start generating some midi guitar parts too.
I can generate 10 different tracks in about the same amount of time it just took me to write this. Now, expand what I just wrote to drums, percussion, keyboards, whatever.
THAT'S what Real Band can do for you and it's awesome. Once you've decided on which tracks you want to keep you're still free to export them to whatever DAW you want. So far, even though I have Sonar, Studio One and others, I don't really need them. Or, since I'm not a full time pro at this I really don't know what I'm missing. Ok, but I manage to get RB to do what I need. I recently retired so I am going to get into those other DAW's in detail and I'm sure I'll find stuff I like better than how RB does it but make no mistake, RB WILL DO everything those other DAW will do. How do I know this? From what others have posted who know those other programs. Each DAW is different, one does something one way and others do it a different way but bottom line, they all can get the job done because a digital recording is nothing but bits on a hard drive and there are a gazillion ways to manage those bits.
You sound like you're computer savvy, you've seen this in lots of other non musical programs. Office 365, vs Open Office, all the different email programs, All the different A/V programs, some like one others like another and they all work.
I don't know which version of Sonar you have but get the free Cakewalk by Bandlab if you do not already have it and look at the "Pro Channel" options on each track.
You may possibly change your mind on some of what you just said.
If you have not seen the Pro Channel and you use it for the first time I predict you will say:
"Dang I love this Pro Channel."
Tube Saturation and Tape Emulation on the same strip, just for starters.
Trust me on this one.
David Snyder Songwriter/Renaissance Man Studio + Fingers
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Note: XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 19 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version as they require the RealTracks included in the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Supercharge your Band-in-a-Box today with XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAK Sets!
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.
Whether you're exploring new features, checking out the latest RealTracks or Style PAKs, this is your go-to guide for Band-in-a-Box® 2026.
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac is here and it is packed with major new features! There’s a new modern look, a GUI redesign to all areas of the program including toolbars, windows, workflow and more. There’s a Multi-view layout for organizing multiple windows. A standout addition is the powerful AI-Notes feature, which uses AI neural-net technology to transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI—entire mixes or individual instruments—making it easy to study, view, and play parts from any song. And that’s just the beginning—there are over 100 new features in this exciting release.
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!
Special Offers
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac and save up to 50% on most upgrade packages during our special offer—available until May 15, 2026. Visit our Band-in-a-Box® packages page to explore all available upgrade options.
2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
Our Free Bonus PAK and 49-PAK are loaded with amazing add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is included with most Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac packages, but you can unlock even more—including 20 unreleased RealTracks—by upgrading to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49.
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One of our representatives will be happy to help you on our Live Chat or by email. Our hours of operation are from
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