I created a perfectly normal SGU in BiaB - ALL REAL TRACKS - _CDRIVIN.STY - and thought I'd try and work with it in RB instead of my usual DAW. I didnt get just my 5 tracks - I got all this c--p as well! blocking up the tracks. If I'd have wanted the midi tracks (where did THEY come from??) I'd have asked for them. As it happens one is a Piano track (it doesnt exist at all in the STY) which is actually quite a nice, usable extra but that is not the point.
Tracks 1 - 8 are useless to someone working in RTs only but I cant empty them prior to importing anything so unable to actually start at Track1.
Can you understand now why people like me who don't WANT to be midi and/or RB Technofiles don't use RB and bale out to a normal DAW using wavs ex-BiaB? Seriusly cheesed off Ian
Last edited by sixchannel; 11/07/1904:39 AM.
Old Guys Rule.The older I get,the better I was! BB2023 ULTRA, 1013, Win 7 and 10
Ian, those extra tracks are created inside the BiaB file. RB creates them as part of the process. I just highlight them and delete them it only takes a minute or two to do that. The plus is that sometimes I get a really good track to use for other things. Example, sometimes I use a TC helicon vocalizer to enrich a song with more backing vocals I can use one of those midi tracks to control it. Embedding the cc commands to start/stop, and define the parameters wanted.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96
The unwanted midi tracks get created for a reason. I believe the reason is because of the method PG Music uses to create a style that uses RealTracks.
I suspect PG Music begins the RealTracks style creation process by starting with an all midi style, assigning RealTrack instruments and then saving the modified style under a new name. Whoever is creating the new, RealTracks style forgets or overlooks removing the underlying midi patterns.
When a Band-in-a-Box song file containing one of these modified RealTracks is imported into RealBand, RealBand reads the midi data on each track as well as importing the RealTracks.
When PG Music creates a RealTracks style from scratch there is no underlying midi so midi doesn't get created in RealBand.
that has happened to me but it's nothing more than a minor nuisance. the ease with which BIAB and RB work together more than compensates. and as a DAW it does everything I want and need (so far!)
as I've posted before, if you like another DAW use it but RB is fine for me and there must be thousands of us who are quite happy.
Peter Gannon's post about using the free Cakewalk DAW suggests that just about anything is possible without paying for anything other than BIAB whcih comes bundled with RB.
When I started on floppy discs it was PowerTracks that came as the freebie and the change to RB has been quite simple in the main.
I remember when I used to use RealBand, a lot of good things have come about because of the frustrations with RealBand, like the Biab Plugin and ReaTrak. If you don't want the bottom midi tracks just un-select "Also Generate RealCharts" in the Generate button menu.
Those extra tracks occur because Realband is generating the notation for the Realtracks. This notation is a MIDI file. In BIAB, such notation is not seen unless one goes into the Notation or Leadsheet windows.
Because of the nature of Realband, though, the notation is created as a separate MIDI track.
To disable it, head into to Options and follow the below image...
Personally, I like that the MIDI version of a RT is easily available because I've used it a number of times. For example, if I want a bass line to follow a particular pattern at a certain point, I create that pattern with the MIDI bass that's derived from RT notation. I then either use the MIDI with a good softsynth bass or create a wav from the MIDI and copy/paste the created section into the RT's track. Provided I have a softsynth whose timbre is similar to the Realtrack's, copy/paste works fine. (Bass doesn't have to be an exact timbre match for it to sound ok.)
The song below is a recent one I've assembled using a bass line that was created from a Realtrack's MIDI notation. I modified that bass line to suit what I wanted and then ran it through Garritan's Jazz And Big Band 3 (sold by PG Music). I also used a Realtrack's MIDI notation for the Piano.
Yeah, as mentioned, there are options to make your workflow better if you want. Uncheck the 'generate RealCharts', as mentioned above, will get rid of the bottom un-needed tracks issue.
The 8 'BB' tracks (with the blue track names) at the top are the designated BiaB tracks. These (if left as is) will regenerate the whole song when the Song Generation feature is used; much like BiaB does. This retains a BiaB behavior if you want it. It takes longer in RB but the behavior is retained.
Some people use them, some people delete them, personally I just use Right-click - Tracks - Make all BB tracks regular tracks. Then those blue track names turn black and the tracks act like normal RB tracks. You can do whatever you want with them. They are not permanently locked as BB tracks, they just start that way IF you open an BaiB file. When you open a BiaB file RB does as much BiaB adaptation as possible .. but it's pretty easy to get rid of if you want to, which I normally do right away.
If I open a BiaB file, the first thing I do is Make all tracks regular tracks. If I wanted BiaB behavior I'd be using BiaB ... but that's just me.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
Can you understand now why people like me who don't WANT to be midi and/or RB Technofiles don't use RB and bale out to a normal DAW using wavs ex-BiaB? Seriusly cheesed off
RB is complex, it does a lot of things that are unexpected because folks think it's just another "normal" DAW but it's way more than that. As has been explained, those midi files are a FEATURE of the program and all you do is check a box if you don't want them. You really must read the manual and help files and watch the videos.
Still, the simplest way to use RB is to not import a Biab file. For me I never do that, just begin your song in RB. It works just like Biab when you do that without all the confusion. That whole "Make Biab tracks regular tracks" continually confuses noobies so by starting the song in RB in the first place avoids that.
Start with the chord grid and enter your chords. Then pick a style and generate. The big difference between Biab and RB is the Generate drop down menu in RB. You can tell it to generate ALL BB tracks or one at a time. If you want to do one track at a time which I use a lot, then start at the track level by highlighting one track, right click in the track then pick Generate.
If you tell RB to generate all the BB tracks at once it seems to do it much slower that Biab does. That's only because Biab was given the ability to start playback BEFORE the tracks finished generating. One good way to lock up Biab is to stop playback after just a few seconds and then immediately hit play again. It's not really locked up, you just forced it to interrupt one generation and start over. RB has to finish generating all the tracks before you hear anything so it's usually better to work with one track at a time like you would be doing anyway in any other DAW.
RB does so many different things that you have full control over that it can get confusing and yes frustrating if you don't understand it.
EDIT
I remembered I had seen a vid about this and did a YouTube search. The vid is about using the BB Plugin in RB but as he says you don't need to do that because it can all be done natively inside RB itself but if you want the plugin you can use it. The last third shows how to start a song from scratch in RB basically like I described above.
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!
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202 New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2026!
With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
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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.
And, if you are looking for more, the 2026 49-PAK (for $49) includes an impressive collection of 20 bonus RealTracks, featuring exciting and inspiring additions to add to your RealTracks library. You'll get new country-rhythm guitar styles from PG Music favorites Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason, along with modern-pop grooves that capture today’s radio-ready sound! There are also new indie-folk styles with guitar, bass, 6-string bass used as a high-chording instrument, acoustic guitar, and banjo. Plus, dedicated "cymbal fills" RealDrums provide an added layer that work very well with low-key folky styles with other percussion.
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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
Playable RealTracks Set 5
RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App
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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)
XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
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blocking up the tracks.
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