And, these two comments doesn't take into account new therapies being worked on right now that can handle this thing. I'm getting fairly optimistic about this.
I hope you're right.
But the 1918 pandemic trailed off after the initial wave in spring. This created a false sense that it was over, but returned the following winter harder and stronger.
Oh, I totally get that. Don't want to be all light and happiness, we definitely have to be vigilant and careful.
The linear thing I got from an interview with the head of a big NY hospital. She said in spite of the huge uptick in cases, it was slowing in the last few days to a more linear manner. Cuomo also said two days ago the number of new hospitalizations was slowing. These two reports are probably not absolutely linear but closer to that than exponential.
Maybe.
I'm probably guilty as charged in looking at these things from the positive side rather than the negative. Also, keep in mind all the stories about people who have the virus and never had symptoms or mild symptoms, never got tested so nobody knows about them. That number could dramatically skew the death rate percentage quite a bit lower. The confirmed deaths is a fixed number but the real total of cases is probably much higher than reported. Another way of positively looking at this.
Maybe.
The people who died from the malaria drug were self medicating, not under a doctors care at least from what I've read. One case was an idiot in Arizona who decided to ingest some pool cleaner because it contains the same chloroquine phosphate that the malaria drug has. Another case was in Nigeria, same thing. I just did a quick search now and that's all that popped up. Certainly it's too soon to say if that can work or not but several doctors and researchers have said it looks promising. Chloroquine is another one of those risk/reward things. Malaria is really deadly so this stuff can save your life if you don't die from the drug first. Apparently it's safe enough under a doctors supervision but unfortunately it's not for us old folks. Too risky.
And David, since this is a music forum I hate to say this but when people return to work that won't include us. A structured, formal work environment can be well controlled but a "lets have a party!" gig or concert? Obviously not so unfortunately I'm seeing a bleak year or maybe longer of no gigs. Even Broadway shows and movies. After all this trauma, who's going to want to sit in a crowded theater with 1,500 people? It's hard enough for actors and musicians, this is so sad.
I'm seeing a bleak year or maybe longer of no gigs. Even Broadway shows and movies. After all this trauma, who's going to want to sit in a crowded theater with 1,500 people? It's hard enough for actors and musicians, this is so sad.
This is definitely going to change our culture. Certainly for a while. And maybe forever.
There are restaurants, already operating on a razor-thin budget, that will never come back. In the same way Amazon killed book stores this event could tip many retail stores out of business as more and more people become comfortable with shopping online. Same with sports as people have found other things to do with their time. And, unfortunately, same with music.
So much in our culture and economy (speaking of USA) is so completely non-essential. And so much of it is successful only because of extremely aggressive and incessant marketing to bored people who already have all of their basic needs met. I've always felt much of what we have built is a house of cards. I guess something like this can cause it all to come crashing down.
On a lighter note, +++ Eventide Audio +++ sent an e-mail with photos some of their employees working from home. (side note, Eventide is located near New York City which is getting hit hard). Along with photos of their employees Eventide sent this altered photo of The Beatles practicing social distancing.
All I have to say is this: If anyone thinks the economy is more important than their very life, go ahead, lead the way, you first.
I have self-preservation instincts. Dying for the stock market is not in my plan.
I have a decent sense of local economics. I'm self-employed. I've made a living doing music and nothing but music for most of my life. The mortgage is paid off, I've got some savings, and other than minimal car payments, I'm completely out of debt.
I've been to: 49 US states, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Croix & St John (USVI), more than half the Canadian provinces, 7 Mexican states, Bahama Islands, Bermuda Islands, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, England, Scotland, Wales, Gibraltar, The Netherlands, Hungary, Spain, Italy, Morocco, Czech Republic, Austria, Australia, Russia, Japan, and China (From the Great Wall down to Hong Kong). And I'm still out of debt.
I practice something the government doesn't do, I live below my means. I don't spend money I don't have and I don't spend all the money I make.
I won't die to keep the modern robber-barons comfortable in their gilded palaces.
There are plenty of companies working on vaccines and treatments. If we can hold off long enough, many fewer people will die.
If we go the "herd immunity" plan and put everyone back to work, the death rate will skyrocket. There will be no available hospital beds, doctors will either quit or get the disease (some already have), and those doctors still on the job will have to say "You can live, but I have to sentence you, you, you, and you to death because there are too many here to treat with the resources we have available."
Every rancher knows, when one or more cows get a virus, immediately isolate them.
If it's good enough for the steers, it's good enough for me.
Again, if you want to die so the super-rich can stay super-rich, go ahead. I'll not be joining you if I can help it.
Insights, incites, and self-preservation by Notes
PS - Historically musicians have done OK in depressions. People need to escape reality.
Since when does federal assistance require adoration from governors? I guess since he's not getting his ego stroked by his cult at the rallies then someone has to fill the void.
"Trump demands appreciation from governors for coronavirus response"
Whether we realize it or not, this is a very scary precedent to set. Please note that I spelled "precedent" correctly, ... unlike president cheeto when he tried to spell "precedent".
Even though COVID-19 is spreading around the world like a it's a whirlwind, positive stories are beginning emerge that indicate we are tackling the turmoil well...
Since when does federal assistance require adoration from governors? I guess since he's not getting his ego stroked by his cult at the rallies then someone has to fill the void.
"Trump demands appreciation from governors for coronavirus response"
Whether we realize it or not, this is a very scary precedent to set. Please note that I spelled "precedent" correctly, ... unlike president cheeto when he tried to spell "precedent".
Bob, I have to say this is just too funny. Here in SoCal probably 70% of all my musician buddies agree with you, on a gig nobody cares in the slightest what anybody's political beliefs are and I've said many times I will not allow political differences to get between me and friendship. Friends are too important.
Having said that, in the spirit of us being good musical buddies because we would be if we ever had a chance to meet and play together, your interpretation of this video is pure liberal spin. He didn't say that at all, there is no "demand" there. Look at the props he gave to Gov Cuomo who totally hates him. In spite of that I totally admire the way Cuomo is doing his daily pressers. Politically I can't stand him but during this crisis he has completely shut that rhetoric down and is doing a fabulous job of calmly and clearly communicating what's going on in New York and I give full credit to him. All of his talks are up on YouTube within hours of him doing it, they're well worth checking out.
Contrast that with the governor of Washington. Why did he go there? There's no need for that right now. If Cuomo can do it why can't he? Trump is a counter puncher he simply will not take that crap which is why his supporters love him in spite of all his obvious flaws.
Back to Cuomo, I watched him this morning and there is some good news there. He said that while the cases are obviously going up and will continue going up the rate of doubling has dramatically slowed. A week ago they doubled in 2 days, then it went down to 4 days and now as of this morning the doubling is down to 6 days. That progress.
You take care my friend and I sincerely mean that.
Those with a mathematical background might appreciate this insight.
Yesterday I found the below log-log graph analysis of COVID-19 on Youtube. It is fascinating that the virus initially tracks the same in all countries.
This graph also very clearly shows when countries are succeeding in surmounting the virus's impact.
This is a really great find. Important details explained informatively, including how the data can be evaluated and analyzed in different ways, sometime leading to misinterpreted results. Thanks for sharing.
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.
I wonder how many thousands of American lives would have been saved if he had listened to the health officials and the intelligence officials and instituted the same measures we are taking now back in January when he was warned.
100,000 - 200,000 dead Americans doesn't sound like a success to me. Most presidents know enough to realize the things they don't understand and that's why they have so many experts there to advise them.
Trump only listens to them when he realizes he has no other choice.
I wonder how many thousands of American lives would have been saved if he had listened to the health officials and the intelligence officials and instituted the same measures we are taking now back in January when he was warned.
100,000 - 200,000 dead Americans doesn't sound like a success to me. Most presidents know enough to realize the things they don't understand and that's why they have so many experts there to advise them.
Trump only listens to them when he realizes he has no other choice.
I wonder how many more would have died if he didn't stop traffic from China when he did? Remember all the liberals were calling it a racist act.
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
You know, arguing about politics is not going to solve this problem. All it does is create a lot of noise and distracts from the problem at hand.
While I have an opinion of Trump and his approach to the world, I'm not going to express it here because it doesn't help make the PG Music corner of the world a better place. Likewise, I'm saving my thoughts regarding Boris Johnson, Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron, Xi Jinping, etc., for comments on articles in my local newspapers.
All we as individuals can do right now is to put politics aside and concentrate all energies on doing the best we possibly can to avoid circumstances that favour transmission of the virus. There's a lot of good medical advice out there and by following it, the chances of surviving COVID-19 increase greatly.
That's what I'm doing. And I want to do it with a smile on my face.
I wonder how many more would have died if he didn't stop traffic from China when he did? Remember all the liberals were calling it a racist act.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that Democrats have “loudly criticized and protested” his imposition of the travel restrictions, and have called the decision “racist.” But while leading Democrats have been outspoken in their criticism of the president’s overall response to the epidemic, very few have criticized his decision to impose limited travel restrictions.
Hi Guys Just dropping in to wish you all a safe and creative time during this crisis.Praying for Italy and Spain right now hoping for a downturn in numbers.I know Spain pretty well and the Health service is top notch and even it seems to have got over run. Good news today on the 5-13min test kit developed by ABBOTT in the US. Well alot of people who were saying the world was in Crisis for the last 20years now know what a real global Crisis looks like!
All the PG music fans and followers have no excuse and plenty of time to produce a record amount of music of the masterpiece variety rather than the pandemic variety hopefully, Liam Gallagher from Osasis said (paraphrasing) that he feels that their is a great song out their for him and if he is not out their trying to find it some other songwriter will grab it first! I am not sure that this is true but just in case get out their looking!Stay safe and here is an uplifting and melencholy song all at the same tim enjoy Hugh
I was curious about testing in LA County. The County has a population of about 10 million and right now the numbers are miniscule. As of noon today it's 2,474 confirmed cases and 44 deaths. The big deal though is testing so I found this article from two days ago. The guy is both an ER physician and the Medical Director of the LA County Fire Dept.
I've read this twice now to get a good grip on what he's saying. It's very easy to say "Where's the tests", "why do other countries have all this testing?" "It's all Trumps fault", etc, etc. This is a very complex question, read what he says about this test, that test, false negatives, does a hospital have their own lab or do they send it out? A lot of moving parts here. He's not mentioning the type of test the President just talked about this afternoon from Abbot. It's also very interesting reading his explanation of why doing testing on people with no symptoms is really a waste of time which sort of coincides with what I've said already, the reported death rate is way too high. We'll never know for sure though and against that is the point about overwhelming the healthcare system. If that happens the death rate surely goes up.
Overall a good read even though I'm not thrilled with his conclusions especially considering how low the numbers are right now. It just seems inconceivable to me that we can go from 2,500 cases to some huge number in a fairly short period of time. LA is nowhere near as densely populated as NYC. Then with all the personal sanitation and social distancing going on but yeah, he's the doctor and he's on the front lines so...
To keep my sanity I keep focusing on the good news stories, Tom Hanks and his wife are fine, Prince Charles at age 71 is fine and on and on with many stories about older folks who got through this in good shape. It's a risk for sure but it's not an automatic death sentence.
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.
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)
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.
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.
Norton Music
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean