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One advantage to mp3 over wav is upload time. Also, some sites require mp3 only. I don't think Herb meant that he uses mp3 exclusively.
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Donny, Guitarhacker, DeaconBlues09, floyd, and anyone else whom I have missed naming here,
Many, many thanks for the continued help, suggestions and links.
I will check out Joanne's stuff.
Don, if you get back in touch with Mr. Zimmerman, please ask him to make good on the wish that he expressed about four years ago to work with McCartney. I would love to hear what the two old croakers come up with.
In answer to Tangmo's question,people say that the kind of rock that I do sounds like Dylan - he is my second main influence, with The Beatles being my first. Indian Classical Music is next, although I do not seek to integrate that into my music in any way (I am a bit of a snob about keeping the purity of that music, although I love The Beatles' songs that combined rock with ICM).
I am a complete Beatles nut, actually, and at 55 years old am just a little too young to remember them and to have seen them (arrgh!).
However, I have seen both Paul and Ringo in concert (Paul many times), and - frustatingly - know, or used to know people who have worked with them or who know/knew them.
Despite the above influences, I would not say that I sound like either The Fabs or Dylan (although I have put some musical 'references' to The Beatles into a couple of songs).
Although I love playing guitar, I am not very technically adept (that is why I gave up sitar lessons), but my playing is relatively poor, but I think I am a fairly good songwriter.
Unfortunately, I stopped singing (but kept playing) for about a year and a half from mid-2016 until a few months ago, and I now cannot even sing some of my own songs properly. I am going to post separately about this, as it scares the hell out me.
Sorry if all of that was too much information.
Last edited by drutgat; 10/10/18 08:47 PM.
"If The Beatles or the 60's had a message, it was 'Learn to swim'. And once you've learned - swim!"
John Lennon
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drutgat, Here is a "critical" welcome. You will get a great great sounding realtracks and very detailed way of editing your composition with BIAB. But keep in mind: 1)Program might look good on the screen, but it is very clunky. You will feel as it was written ages ago. Developing team/owner does not communicate with customers well, so future is very unclear. 2)It is 32 bit, and not 64 bit. And might never be re-written 3) User interface is not "user friendly", not dynamic or dockable. 4)Poor VST support especially entering chords with MIDI controller. 5)slow track re-generation process, even on very fast computers. Having said that, it does allow to make great sounding backing tracks. As VideoTrack mentioned, it is better to wait till December. I might add this: Look into their "grace" period. I believe they do have 30 day money back guarantee, maybe just get the most basic version that can be downloaded and play with it for a few days. If it is for you, just ask them kindly to honor guarantee within their timeframe and then just get the best version you can afford when / if new release is announced. Overall, I feel it worth the money if you know what you are getting, but progress of modernizing the software is very slow. So if you have patience and are willing to accept that development might stop for what is called "technical death", process, where it is too expensive to rewrite software to new standards, go for it  Hi Rustyspoon, I just wanted to let you, and others here, know that I took your post as encouraging, and as a user's actual experience of BIAB. Thanks for that. Believe me, as someone who used to load computer programs (pre-DOS!) from a cassette recorder, and who has bent various early word processor and current graphics programs to my will, I am used to clunky interfaces, and to the learning curve. I even spent two stress-filled weeks a couple of years ago teaching myself the forum-management end of Phbb from scratch. I found the learning curve to be very, very steep, but it was worth it. I could not code this site, but I could do the behind-the-scenes management (setting up forums, and the like). I hate all of that, but am used to it, so the BIAB interface does not intimidate me at all - but I am sure that I will have questions! Thanks again for your post.
"If The Beatles or the 60's had a message, it was 'Learn to swim'. And once you've learned - swim!"
John Lennon
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drutgat, in that case I think every post made stands.
I'm not sure I would recommend BIAB as an easy tool for people doing any type of prog, or for some types of metal. Since I don't do those things, I can't "recommend" (or discourage either). However, I have enough experience with the program to say that it can be useful in any genre...it's just there are few "easy" style choices in odd time signatures--"pick style, get basic backing" type of thing. I'm convinced that a more "advanced" user could create a backing, but not convinced that it would be easier than other methods. I just don't know.
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I've given up in trying to reconnect with Bob Z. I even emailed his brother David who obviously mistook me for yet another autograph or memorabilia collector which I am not.
His hometown, Hibbing, Minnesota, is currently working on a big bash for Bob but he didn't show up for many earlier attempts. I think that his privacy has become more precious to him in the Autumn of his life.
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I've given up in trying to reconnect with Bob Z. I even emailed his brother David who obviously mistook me for yet another autograph or memorabilia collector which I am not.
His hometown, Hibbing, Minnesota, is currently working on a big bash for Bob but he didn't show up for many earlier attempts. I think that his privacy has become more precious to him in the Autumn of his life. I am sorry to hear that. It's a real shame that Dylan is so hard to contact. You could always try writing via that boxing gym / club that he owns (if he still owns it). Or, his agent - although maybe you have already tried methods like that. I read last year that he and David had bought a place in Scotland, outside Inverness somewhere. I think that the article I read had a more precise location for it. Where there's a will, there's a way.
"If The Beatles or the 60's had a message, it was 'Learn to swim'. And once you've learned - swim!"
John Lennon
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Our forum friend "Furry" lives in Inverness, maybe he can confirm Bob's whereabouts.
Furry, it would be a great segue to meet Bob if you would mention me from Keewatin, Minnesota. I'm the guy who taught Bob that long, descending intro run by Luther Perkins in Johnny Cash' "Home Of The Blues."
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Drutgat, everybody has given you lots of Biab info but I want to make one point and that is generation times. The time it takes to generate is completely dependent on the horsepower under the hood of your PC. Somebody mentioned the generation times for 4 or 5 Real Tracks as 20-30 seconds. That is very slow, he must be using either an older system or a weak new one. A $400 laptop can run Biab just fine but not very quickly while a $1,500 i7 desktop will singe your eyebrows off. Look at my sig, that system will generate 7 RT's in maybe 8 seconds max and mine is mid level to low high end I guess. I bought it used off Ebay for $625. A hot system will cut that time in half.
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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Look at my sig, that system will generate 7 RT's in maybe 8 seconds max and mine is mid level to low high end I guess. Hi Bob. Very interested to know how you achieve these speeds... After your post, I went and timed regeneration times on my computer. For me, each re-generation takes 12-15 seconds. And I have an i7-7600U CPU / fast SSD and computer cleaned of all bloatware. Realtracks are on internal SSD, not external HD. Nothing heavy running on background, no VSTs. Very roughly, my computer is 20% faster than yours, what am I doing wrong to have nearly 40% speed drop in RT processing? Did you tune something in Windows like HD access or memory allocation? Sorry to jam in this thread like this, but I honestly think this might be very important for some users. Thanks.
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Hmmm, I don't know Mike. When I got it it had Win 7 and that summer was when MS had their free upgrade to Win 10 which I did by doing the complete installation not just the upgrade. It never had any bloatware to clean.
My stuff tends to be AABA jazz tunes with 3 choruses and those go quick. If I were to change to say 7 choruses with a full soloist RT that would take a bit longer. The soloists RT's seem to make a significant difference and since I'm usually the soloist I don't do a whole lot with those at least not in Biab. RB is different, I'm known to go pretty crazy there...
Alanah has been a regular here for many years but she doesn't post much in the regular forums any more but she's been a beta tester forever. A few years ago during testing she had just bought what sounded to me like a $2,500 system. I remember she set up a very complex song with all RT's and she had style changes and RT changes every few bars just to do a total stress test. She said her generation time was 6 seconds! I had my old system then and my usual time with my much simpler songs was in the 20-30 sec range and that's what prompted me to upgrade.
Just so I know I'm not smoking my socks here, I just opened Biab, set up a 3 chorus jazz ballad and selected the Trepid Jazz ballad multi style, this has Bass, Strings, Drums, Guitar and Horn Section RT's along with a midi melody track. Exactly 8 seconds to the first drum stick countin. I just created another one, 16 bars for 12 choruses 5 RT's and I added a Medley soloist making 6 for the entire song. That's 192 bars and it took 21 seconds. Not surprising when I think about it. From what you've been writing about you're doing these big complex things so 15-20 seconds sounds about right then. Now that I'm getting into this I just did a further test. I nuked the soloist track and it took exactly 10 seconds to generate 5 RT's for 192 bars. One RT soloist track doubled the time. I think it's because the soloists have many more individual licks and phrases for Biab to apply it's smarts to.
Here's the thing when you do audio rendering in any DAW including Biab it takes time. I'm sure you know when you create a midi track in Sonar, Studio One etc it's creating an audio track while the midi track is playing. At the end if you have a bunch of midi tracks and you didn't create audio tracks as you were going, how long would it take that program to render your song to a wav? I don't know but it's certainly more than a few seconds. Biab is generating a brand new audio track from multiple RT's all at the same time. I think 8-20 seconds is pretty good given the variables.
You know enough about computers to know if someone is doing that with an old Core Duo with 2 gigs of ram, it's called good luck. It will do it all just fine but it could take a minute and a half to generate.
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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... After your post, I went and timed regeneration times on my computer. For me, each re-generation takes 12-15 seconds. And I have an i7-7600U CPU / fast SSD and computer cleaned of all bloatware. Realtracks are on internal SSD, not external HD. Nothing heavy running on background, no VSTs.
Time taken also depends on many aspects beside the processing performance. - How many tracks - What is the overall length of the song - Setting of the Disable Fast Generation option - Any frozen tracks in the song etc So it's difficult (impossible actually) to make an accurate generation time comparison just based on processing performance.
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.
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Bob, thank you for long write up. I got 7 RT, one style change in the middle. 2 RT tracks are only present for 10 bars. No soloist RT. Total 60 bars. This theme should "fly". Not sure why it takes so looong. I tried muting/freezing all RT except one... That single RT takes exactly 8 seconds to regenerate (60 bars, half time muted). There are many articles on the net how to optimize SSD performance. Not sure if these sort of things will help. The regeneration time is one of my biggest nemesis with BIAB P.S. Would be nice to have sort of "sticky" list " How to optimize your computer for BIAB" for new and possibly seasoned users. Given, that it will speed up things, even just a bit. drutgat, I am sorry to jump into your thread in such manner, it is just when I saw the regeneration time Bob posted, I got all nervous.Mike.
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Our forum friend "Furry" lives in Inverness, maybe he can confirm Bob's whereabouts.
Furry, it would be a great segue to meet Bob if you would mention me from Keewatin, Minnesota. I'm the guy who taught Bob that long, descending intro run by Luther Perkins in Johnny Cash' "Home Of The Blues." Hi Don, The Zimmermans' house is called Aultmore House, near Nethy Bridge, near Inverness. If you google it, there are quite a few articles from around 2007 when Mr. Z and David bought the house, to around 2009. The house itself has a website devoted to it, because it was the location of a TV series for a number of years, and according to the articles, the Zimmermans rented the house. If you do a google map view, you will be able to see/find the house. Here is a link to one of the results returned by a google search Dylan Buys A House in Scotland
"If The Beatles or the 60's had a message, it was 'Learn to swim'. And once you've learned - swim!"
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Bob, thank you for long write up. I got 7 RT, one style change in the middle. 2 RT tracks are only present for 10 bars. No soloist RT. Total 60 bars. This theme should "fly". Not sure why it takes so looong. I tried muting/freezing all RT except one... That single RT takes exactly 8 seconds to regenerate (60 bars, half time muted). There are many articles on the net how to optimize SSD performance. Not sure if these sort of things will help. The regeneration time is one of my biggest nemesis with BIAB P.S. Would be nice to have sort of "sticky" list " How to optimize your computer for BIAB" for new and possibly seasoned users. Given, that it will speed up things, even just a bit. drutgat, I am sorry to jump into your thread in such manner, it is just when I saw the regeneration time Bob posted, I got all nervous.Mike. Mike, Bob and Videotrack. Thanks for your posts. This is all good information for me. Part of the reason that I asked about running times is that I anticipate that I will be running BIAB from an external source, rather than from the internal SSD, when I get my new computer. This is because I will be using the SSD to run video editing software, and the fairly substantial number of music apps that I use, so - if I am correct - there will not be that much room for much else. If the higher capacity SSD's worked well, I would be less concerned about this.
"If The Beatles or the 60's had a message, it was 'Learn to swim'. And once you've learned - swim!"
John Lennon
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Bob, that was probably me you were referring to with generate/regenerate speeds. I never put a stop watch to it, just a good guess, and conservative rather than bragging. I also said midi was faster, when it fact it's all but instantaneous. Mine was a good machine a few years ago, but not top o' the line. So I estimate it's a mid-range machine today. Highly rated AMD processor, quad-core with 8 gigs of ram.
Any "issues" I've had with BIAB stem from the speed of my former usage (midi only) not matching the regeneration speeds of Real Tracks. I'd have to exercise a little more patience even if regeneration speeds were 6 seconds. For me, they're not. But even if I over-estimated, I think that's a realistic ball-park and certainly not too long to wait.
Last edited by Tangmo; 10/12/18 07:16 PM.
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...
Just so I know I'm not smoking my socks here, I just opened Biab, set up a 3 chorus jazz ballad and selected the Trepid Jazz ballad multi style, this has Bass, Strings, Drums, Guitar and Horn Section RT's along with a midi melody track. Exactly 8 seconds to the first drum stick countin. I just created another one, 16 bars for 12 choruses 5 RT's and I added a Medley soloist making 6 for the entire song. That's 192 bars and it took 21 seconds. Not surprising when I think about it. From what you've been writing about you're doing these big complex things so 15-20 seconds sounds about right then. Now that I'm getting into this I just did a further test. I nuked the soloist track and it took exactly 10 seconds to generate 5 RT's for 192 bars. One RT soloist track doubled the time. I think it's because the soloists have many more individual licks and phrases for Biab to apply it's smarts to.
...
You know enough about computers to know if someone is doing that with an old Core Duo with 2 gigs of ram, it's called good luck. It will do it all just fine but it could take a minute and a half to generate.
Bob Bob, I think that the 16GB's of RAM you have is a prime factor in being able to get the results you are getting.
"If The Beatles or the 60's had a message, it was 'Learn to swim'. And once you've learned - swim!"
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Could be but I've read conflicting posts about how much ram is needed to generate RT's. All I know for 20 some years now is put in as much ram as you can afford.
A few more points to make. Years ago I found out about all the bloatware the PC makers put on their machines so I started building my own. Then I found out the guys at all the independent computer stores will take your components and build it for you pretty cheap. I'll read about different combinations of CPU/Mobo/Ram along with the case and buy what I think is the best bang for the buck from Tiger Direct or somewhere at the time. I just had a brand new machine built at Fry's 3 months ago for business. If you buy everything from them they'll put it together for you for $85. It's an AMD Ryzen with a gaming mobo and 16 gigs ram with room for 64. I also bought the enterprise version of Win 10 Pro. I'm not an enterprise but I simply asked the tech about it and he signed a paper that let me pay a discounted price. I don't have any music stuff on it but I can tell just for my business and using the internet it's quite a bit faster than the one I just tested. I should switch machines but that's a hassle and my music PC isn't exactly a dog.
The next point is both machines are clean installs of Win 10 Pro and I don't optimize anything and I mean NOTHING. Lots of folks like to mess with their systems and for me I've learned to leave them alone. When I did this little Biab test the internet was running, my AV was running, everything was running and my audio was perfect, no glitches and you read the generation times.
Is leaving it stock really necessary, I have no idea. Just as an observer (backed up by a comment from Kent a while back) it seems those with the most problems are those who are constantly messing with their systems because they read a tech article. Or, maybe it's just coincidence but my systems work well so why mess with a good thing?
My best advice to folks having these problems is wipe the hard drive, reinstall windows and make the first thing you try out Biab and see what happens. That's your baseline. Clone the HD and then CAREFULLY start reinstalling what you really, truly need and pay attention. Then, don't change a thing leave it alone.
One more thing about generation times. I tested installing everything onto my SSD system drive which of course worked great, then I deleted all the RT/RD's leaving just the Biab program itself on the system drive and running all the RT's from the external drive. Zero difference so may as well save the space on the system drive. Again, the idea is keep the system drive as clean as possible.
One thing rharv talks about and he is a guru on these forums is to point all the DAW/Biab apps to an external drive for rendering audio. He gets much deeper into live recording/mixing and all that than I do but he says it does make a difference.
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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Could be but I've read conflicting posts about how much ram is needed to generate RT's. All I know for 20 some years now is put in as much ram as you can afford.
A few more points to make. Years ago I found out about all the bloatware the PC makers put on their machines so I started building my own. Then I found out the guys at all the independent computer stores will take your components and build it for you pretty cheap. I'll read about different combinations of CPU/Mobo/Ram along with the case and buy what I think is the best bang for the buck from Tiger Direct or somewhere at the time. I just had a brand new machine built at Fry's 3 months ago for business. If you buy everything from them they'll put it together for you for $85. It's an AMD Ryzen with a gaming mobo and 16 gigs ram with room for 64. I also bought the enterprise version of Win 10 Pro. I'm not an enterprise but I simply asked the tech about it and he signed a paper that let me pay a discounted price. I don't have any music stuff on it but I can tell just for my business and using the internet it's quite a bit faster than the one I just tested. I should switch machines but that's a hassle and my music PC isn't exactly a dog.
The next point is both machines are clean installs of Win 10 Pro and I don't optimize anything and I mean NOTHING. Lots of folks like to mess with their systems and for me I've learned to leave them alone. When I did this little Biab test the internet was running, my AV was running, everything was running and my audio was perfect, no glitches and you read the generation times.
Is leaving it stock really necessary, I have no idea. Just as an observer (backed up by a comment from Kent a while back) it seems those with the most problems are those who are constantly messing with their systems because they read a tech article. Or, maybe it's just coincidence but my systems work well so why mess with a good thing?
My best advice to folks having these problems is wipe the hard drive, reinstall windows and make the first thing you try out Biab and see what happens. That's your baseline. Clone the HD and then CAREFULLY start reinstalling what you really, truly need and pay attention. Then, don't change a thing leave it alone.
One more thing about generation times. I tested installing everything onto my SSD system drive which of course worked great, then I deleted all the RT/RD's leaving just the Biab program itself on the system drive and running all the RT's from the external drive. Zero difference so may as well save the space on the system drive. Again, the idea is keep the system drive as clean as possible.
One thing rharv talks about and he is a guru on these forums is to point all the DAW/Biab apps to an external drive for rendering audio. He gets much deeper into live recording/mixing and all that than I do but he says it does make a difference.
Bob Hi Bob, Many thanks for your reply, suggestions, ideas and the energy you are putting into helping to shepherd me along as I prepare to buy BIAB. Yes, in my experience, there is a tipping point of sorts regarding the amount of RAM needed to accomplish any intensive task, such as video editing, and audio tracking/editing. After one reaches that specific point, then adding more RAM is redundant. However, the difference between having too little and just the right amount of RAM can be huge, in my experience. Great minds think alike on the having-a-computer-assembled front. I used to do this a lot - seems that was what one did all the time in the late 80s and 90s, but I do not know many people who do that nowadays. However, I am a bit of a control freak, and research things painstakingly, so dictating the contents of my own system is a must for me. There are a couple of guys where I live who have a YouTube channel on which they test all manner of computer hardware for gaming. I am quite impressed by how rigourous these fellows are, and I am going to approach them to see if I can pay them to consult a bit (even though I have a rough idea right now what I want), and put together a fairly sophisticated PC for me. The 'extra' factor in all of this is that I also require the computer to be capable of video editing. Not only does that require more system resources than audio tracking and editing, but we are now living in a time in which each of the main video editing software applications work optimally with different hardware than the others. Why can't life just be simple? Regarding optimizing on the PC, although I do not leave things alone totally in that respect, what I tend to do is to change various settings. For example, I make the computer notify me if a Windows update is trying to install itself, so that I can choose to install or not install the update. I also create System Restore Points before I install any programme or app, and that has saved my bacon on a couple of occasions. Thankfully, on the one occasion when System Restore did not help, reinstalling Win 10 was relatively painless, and I have to say, very, very quick. I completely agree with rharv about rendering audio (and video) on a separate drive - that is actually faster, and puts a lot less strain on each drive than trying to run everything from one drive. Thanks for mentioning that, though - I only discovered that a year or so ago. And yes, rest assured that I will completely wipe and reformat my HD, prior to re-installing Windows, if the need arises. Cloning the drive is a great idea. I wonder if it also makes sense to partition the System drive because it might keep the information in various partitions safer - I will ask rharv about that. Then again, it might lead to more trouble than it is worth. Thanks, too, for letting me know about the results of you testing leaving BIAB on your SSD drive and running all of the RT's and RD's from the external drive. It is very useful for me to know that there was zero difference in the regeneration time of those tracks when you did things that way. Thanks again for all of this.
Last edited by drutgat; 10/12/18 10:29 PM.
"If The Beatles or the 60's had a message, it was 'Learn to swim'. And once you've learned - swim!"
John Lennon
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Beginners Forum
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drutgat and maybe others who are interested to know.
I have a fast NVMe SSD, which is several times faster than standard SSD SATA.
For the sake of the test, I made a partition with 30 GB overhead and moved RT and RD to new partition. Made no difference at all in render times.
Within 14 second rendering time my CPU and HD did not peak over 35%. Memory used by BIAB did not exceed 310 megabytes under the stress test.
I am not too tech savvy, but from the information I gathered it has to do with how the RT/RD files are handled. From my understanding, with every rendering/change BIAB goes to original source files and does does something inside the program, not utilizing computer resources well. So I believe, you can have a rocket fast computer, but render speeds would not change much until PG changes code to optimize how RT/RD are handled.
P.S. drutgat, If you are planning to buy external SSD for BIAB, look into NVMe SSD, not a regular SATA SSD.
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Beginners Forum
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Our forum friend "Furry" lives in Inverness, maybe he can confirm Bob's whereabouts.
Furry, it would be a great segue to meet Bob if you would mention me from Keewatin, Minnesota. I'm the guy who taught Bob that long, descending intro run by Luther Perkins in Johnny Cash' "Home Of The Blues." Hi Don, The Zimmermans' house is called Aultmore House, near Nethy Bridge, near Inverness. If you google it, there are quite a few articles from around 2007 when Mr. Z and David bought the house, to around 2009. The house itself has a website devoted to it, because it was the location of a TV series for a number of years, and according to the articles, the Zimmermans rented the house. If you do a google map view, you will be able to see/find the house. Here is a link to one of the results returned by a google search Dylan Buys A House in Scotland Thanks drutgat, interesting article. Rumors abound that Bob was interested in buying Merle Haggard's ranch which is nearby. I was hoping to simply 'drop in' on Bob but Merle's death dashed all hopes.
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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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Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Special Offers Extended Until May 31st!
Good news- we've extended our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® special offers until May 31, 2026!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 is packed with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can transcribe an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. 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!
There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®.
When you order purchase Band-in-a-Box® 2026 before 11:59 PM PDT on May 31st, you'll also receive a Free Bonus PAK packed with exciting new add-ons.
Check out the Band-in-a-Box® for Mac packages page to find the best package for you.
Holiday Weekend Hours
It's Victoria Day Long Weekend in Canada. Our Customer Service hours are:
Saturday, May 16: Closed
Sunday, May 17: Closed
Monday, May 18: 8:00am - 4:00pm
Regular hours resume Tuesday, May 19th!
Today's the Last Day of the Band-in-a-Box 2026® for Mac Special!
Order before 11:59pm PDT today (May 15, 2026) to save up to 50% off your Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® upgrade and receive a FREE Bonus PAK loaded with great new Add-ons to use with this new version!
Don't wait - order today!
Check out all the new features in the redesigned Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac - Special Offers End at 11:59pm PDT on Friday, May 15th, 2026!
Order before 11:59pm PDT on Friday, May 15th and SAVE up to 50% on most Band-in-a-Box® version 2026 for Mac Upgrade packages... and that's not all! With your version 2026 for Mac purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons FREE! Upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks... that's 222 NEW RealTracks available with version Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac!
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® today for as little as $49! Check out the Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all available purchase options.
Learn more about the Free Bonus PAK and 49-PAK here.
If you have any questions about which package is the best option for you, just let us know. We're here to help!
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):
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®!
XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
All of our XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs are on sale until May 15th, 2026!
It's the perfect time to expand your Band-in-a-Box® style library with XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs. These additional styles for Band-in-a-Box® offer a wide range of genres designed to fit seamlessly into your projects. Each style is professionally arranged and mixed, helping enhance your songs while saving you time.
What are XPro Styles and Xtra Styles PAKs?
XPro Styles PAKs are styles that work with any version (Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition) of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). XPro Styles PAKS 1-10 includes 1,000 styles!
Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 includes 3,700 styles (and 35 MIDI styles)!
The XPro & Xtra Styles PAKs are not included in any Band-in-a-Box® package.
The XPro Styles PAKs 1-10 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
The Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the Xtra Styles PAK Bundle for only $199 (reg. $349)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
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!
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