JJJ:
First, let me say that in my reply to you last night I got distracted and did not finish a paragraph to complete my point so I edited it this morning so it better conveys my thoughts. I apologize for the lack of clarity in the original wording.
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So, I gave it a few more minutes and read everything in the manual but it never mentioned how I would individually apply a plugin effect to one track in my medley. I tried applying a plugin and, of course, the plugin affected every medley track the same. Can you maybe explain how I can apply a plugin to only one track in my medley group?
I'm starting my first reply by addressing your last comment first. It's not me that you doubt but it's BIAB. I think you suspect I've not claimed publicly I can do a task using BIAB that I can't do. I can explain all of these tasks but here's the rub; Questions and answers are having conflicts with terminology and definitions. Track and instrument need to be used correctly for clarity and application. You and others should come to terms that BIAB functions, reacts and responds like a high level digital multi track recorder. Moving forward, you and others will learn the concept of virtual tracks. Learn there's a difference between a channel and track. Accept the RealTrack Medley sub mixers are 'true' mixers and are as 'real' as a DAW mixer console. Rustyspoon is absolutely right. All of these techniques, features, hidden gems and recording principles can be used with the new Utility Tracks. BIAB's power is expanding by a monumental leap for those willing to adapt to these new features. 2021 BIAB/RB breaks many barriers and limitations - Perceived and real...
Since the introduction of RealTracks, PG Music has not delved deeply into multi track recording theory and concepts. I have no idea if the introduction of Utility Tracks signals a shift in company policy and direction but 2021 BIAB is a prime opportunity for the company to do so.
Some may question if PG Music knows or thinks of BIAB as a multi track recorder. For those that do, watch the first 0:23 seconds of this introduction video of the then 'new' Audio Recording feature from July 7,2015.
Band-in-a-Box for Mac: Recording Audio
To answer your question: It may not be in the manual. You think of the BIAB as seven individual linear tracks. A Medley track is a single track but that one track can have 10 instruments residing on that single track. Think of the 10 instruments as slots that each can hold RealTracks. It may also help to think of the similarity to how a single MIDI track can play 16 midi channels. Think of a RealTrack change similar in function to a MIDI patch change.
To apply an effect to an individual midi patch when it's located on a single track that has multiple patches, the 16 individual channel patches are moved to individual tracks. The same procedure works for those 10 RealTrack slots on a BIAB Mixer Legacy Track.
the multi track principle at play here is to think of the BIAB Mixer as a 7X 11 grid rather than seven single linear tracks.

I tried entering 3 bars for the value of when to change RealTracks but, of course, that didn't work. It only worked when I chose one of the presets. So I guess I must build my song so each instrument change on the medley track happens at exactly the same number of bars? Again, the manual did not explain how I might do this. Maybe you can explain it?
There are two ways to input a RT medley sequence. 1. Use the RT Medley window and 2. Manually enter RT slots using Bar Settings. In your example, use Bar Settings to enter RT's manually.

And try as I might I cannot find any instructions for how to freeze individual tracks within the medley group. It either freezes them all or none of them as far as I can tell. Any idea how this can be done?
Yes. PG Music created a RealTrack to do this. At a bar you want to Mute - select the RealTrack "Silence" then at the bar you want an instrument to begin playing, change the RT from Silence to what ever RT you want to use.

Same question for bar settings. And for reverb. And for tone.
These are done the same as you would a MIDI patch as I described above - Grid rather than linear. I've attached a multi track recording Track Sheet to give an idea how multi track recording has to have structure planning and mapping to get the most ease of use.

I am gonna give you the benefit of the doubt that you actually know how to do all of these things and I would love it if you could explain them because the manual does not. If it can really do all you are claiming then it may be useful. But, as a seasoned software user and designer, the fact that I could not figure this out does not give me a lot of hope these things are actually possible.
Once you get a handle that BIAB is a multi track recorder and apply multi track recording techniques and principles to tasks, you'll understand these issues are recording theory issues and not software deficiencies.

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Last edited by Charlie Fogle; 12/11/20 05:56 AM.
BIAB 2026:RB 2026, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.