Let's say I've put together a 32-bar piece of music that adheres to the aaba song form. I've set it up to play 3 choruses. But rather than having these little 8-bar "bridge" sections in every chorus, I would like to add a completely separate bridge section to the piece, say, between the 2nd and 3rd choruses. I might even want a style change, but probably not an instrument change, which will make things somewhat tricky, I suspect. This type of song form is very common in popular music, and I'm surprised I'm having such a tough time trying to pull it off.
I've read through the help section on endings -- 1st and 2nd and DS al fines and codas and what have you, but they all stay within the 32 bar framework. I'm wondering if I might, for example, set up a "c" section beyond the song in the gray area and then refer to it from the song and then from it back to the song. I've tried doing this once and wound up with a total mess. However, it seems to me that it just might be possible if I were able to arrange things correctly.
Any suggestions as to how I can do this? The way I'm doing it now is I just use BiaB in a freeform format and input the choruses and bridge section(s) one at a time, then set it up to play just a single, very long chorus. This works fine, although one of the drawbacks to this is I lose the variations that take place when the chorus repeats. And sometimes that's not such a minor detail, for example, when the drums change from side stick to snare and then back. That can be a pretty significant change to the feel of a piece. Now, if the drums are MIDI, I can always go into the track and edit it the way I want. But for RealDrums, it isn't possible. Well, I guess it is if I want to cut and splice. Added work, though, added tedium.
So anyway, it would be cool if I could do this. It would save a lot of space on the display and I wouldn't have to be printing out multiple pages of sheet music -- or at least, not as many.
Thanks for the link, Noel. I've played around with the Song Form Maker some, but never found much use for it.
What the Song Form Maker is doing is essentially automating to a degree what I've been doing manually -- that is, having one long chorus with the various elements laid out as they occur. One defines each section and its position and length, then one arranges the song the way one wants, having the sections occur where one wants. This is identical to what I'm doing manually. Unfortunately, it appears that there is no way for one to get a chorus to repeat (with variations, the way it happens when cycling through the choruses) the way the Song Form Maker sets things up -- same as my manual method.
Michael I finally remembered to check out your Soundcloud page, lots of people here have one and I keep forgetting. It's very nice and well mixed too.
What might work for you is the Conductor. It's not perfect either but it has tons of options. You control it from a PC keyboard. Basically it works with part markers on the chord grid. Set it to either jump immediately or at the next part marker and set the jumps to anywhere.
The thing you're asking for right now is to extend the bridge. You can do that by hitting the key to jump back to the beginning of the bridge at the next part marker. Experiment with that because of course the part markers also create a drum fill but if it fits your song you could have a part marker every 4 bars for example to give you a bit of freedom as to where to jump from but it always jumps back to the beginning of the bridge regardless of what part marker you use for the jump if you set it that way. But, you could also set it to jump to the middle of the bridge or anywhere else by hitting a different key. Lots of possibilities here.
Of course, you still have to manually hit a key and that could be tricky if you're also playing a part live to record. Maybe the Conductor can work using a midi footswitch, dunno never tried that.
Hey Bob, I've never played around with the conductor. It does sound kinda interesting. But real time stuff is not really what I'm after. My primary goal with BiaB is to produce a good, solid basis for a piece of music that I can export to Cakewalk, where I can then fine-tune the various tracks and parameters. So I need to automate stuff as much as possible.
Basically what I'm doing now is I save each RealTrack to its own .wav file and I save the MIDI instruments as a group (of separate tracks, of course). Then I import this into Cakewalk. By having each RealTrack and MIDI instrument assigned to its own track in CW, I'm able to take advantage of a wide variety of DXis and VSTis that I can use to further enhance the project. So the conductor might be fun to use, but I dunno if I'll actually be able to put it to much use since I'm exporting everything.
Oh, and thanks for giving my Soundcloud page a listen. I appreciate your feedback. I've been wondering if my mixing of those tunes was adequate. I feel like I've learned a good deal more since I created those pieces and I have the occasional urge to go back over them and remix them. Some sound a bit too hot now.
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!
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.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
If you're already using Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, make sure to grab the latest update! Build 904 is now available for download and includes the newest additions and enhancements from our team.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you over the phone. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday, and 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST Saturday. We are closed Sunday. You can also send us your questions via email.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you on our Live Chat or by email. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST (GMT -8) Saturday; Closed Sunday.
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean