Hi all - I have been struggling with endless song generation times for simple songs in Logic Pro X. Some songs taking over ten minutes to generate. I am running the latest Apple Mac mini and latest versions of OS, Logic and BB.
Turns out that if you run Logic in "Rosetta" mode, rather than natively, the problem goes away. Not sure if anyone else has this issue, but to make Logic launch in Rosetta mode you have to get info on the app and set the checkbox "Open in Rosetta".
I hope that PG Music are working on a native version as all Macs will be running Apple Silicon soon.
With stand-alone I think it’s generally in the 10-30 second range, depending on song complexity. PS - a perfect winter day here, 25° and not a cloud in the sky…
Hi all - I have been struggling with endless song generation times for simple songs in Logic Pro X. Some songs taking over ten minutes to generate. I am running the latest Apple Mac mini and latest versions of OS, Logic and BB.
Turns out that if you run Logic in "Rosetta" mode, rather than natively, the problem goes away. Not sure if anyone else has this issue, but to make Logic launch in Rosetta mode you have to get info on the app and set the checkbox "Open in Rosetta".
I hope that PG Music are working on a native version as all Macs will be running Apple Silicon soon.
Very interesting - I have not noticed any issues like this on my M1 Macbook. I just tested the latest AU plugin in the latest native ARM versions of GarageBand, Logic, and Reaper, as well as standalone, and the generation times for the same song ranged from 36 to 40 seconds.
What version of the DAW plugin are you using? It should say at the bottom of the plugin window.
Simon - even without any of these M1 related bugs the generation times really are far too long.
To the point that one has to reconsider and adjust ones workflow to compensate - such as using the standalone to do all trialling out of different styles and arrangements - and then only using the plugin once one is sure of the style and song arrangement -
which defeats the whole point - because one might just as well then simply export and drag and drop all the tracks from BIAB standalone into the DAW and forget about the plugin.
PG really needs to focus on making generation times inside the plugin the same if not better than standalone.
Its all very well having thousands of real track style choices if one cannot try out a load of styles on one's chord progression before committing because of the huge waiting times involved with the plugin.
I've found the waiting times in BIAB standalone acceptable for many years now. Quicker always helps but the plugin times are just infuriating and for me unusable
Last edited by nonchai; 08/27/2106:16 AM.
MacOS Sequoia, M4 Pro Mac Mini , 64GB RAM 512GB SSD , BIAB, Cubase, Ableton, Logic Pro, SCALER 3, GigLad, AnyTune, Synthesizer V Pro,Vienna Ensemble Pro, Audiofuse, Fractal FM3, KOMPLETE 15, StreamDeck, iReal Pro White beard, beer belly, bald patch
I'm confident PG Music is working to reduce audio file generation times in the plug-ins. I've noticed that is a frequent topic discussion within the forum and has been mentioned in some of the release notes in past updates.
Do you mean the main Band-in-a-Box program when you use the term standalone? I ask because there is a standalone plug-in. The standalone plug-in is the same as the other, VST, AAX, AU, etc. versions of the plug-in with the major difference being the standalone plug-in does not require a host.
I understand the main program and the plug-ins differ in how they generate audio files.
The plug-in generates complete audio files prior to playback while the main program generates about eight bars of each audio file then starts playback.
As far as I can tell the main program can read ahead on the chord sheet so it can build audio tracks as a background task. The plug-in does have look ahead capability because it uses a helper file to look at the complete chord chart and then build complete audio files.
Simon - even without any of these M1 related bugs the generation times really are far too long.
To the point that one has to reconsider and adjust ones workflow to compensate - such as using the standalone to do all trialling out of different styles and arrangements - and then only using the plugin once one is sure of the style and song arrangement -
which defeats the whole point - because one might just as well then simply export and drag and drop all the tracks from BIAB standalone into the DAW and forget about the plugin.
PG really needs to focus on making generation times inside the plugin the same if not better than standalone.
Its all very well having thousands of real track style choices if one cannot try out a load of styles on one's chord progression before committing because of the huge waiting times involved with the plugin.
I've found the waiting times in BIAB standalone acceptable for many years now. Quicker always helps but the plugin times are just infuriating and for me unusable
The main difference between the main BIAB app and the DAW plugin (either DAW Plugin Standalone, VST3, AU, and AAX) is that in the main BIAB app playback starts before rendering is complete - basically, the program waits until let's say 20 seconds of the song is generated, then starts playing while the rest of the song continues generating. The DAW plugin requires the song to be completely generated before it can play back.
You can tell the main BIAB app to generate everything in full before playback, for testing the speed of the plugin vs BIAB. To do this, open Realtrack Preferences and disable "Speed Up Generation of RealTracks". I've done this and tested the plugin on my Intel Mac compared to the BIAB app, and the difference is that the plugin is a bit slower than the main app, but not by a lot. I found no discernable difference between the AU plugin and the VST3 plugin.
The difference is much more pronounced on my M1 Mac thanks to Rosetta, but not as slow as you're experiencing.
Can you time the following for us?
Band-in-a-Box App (disable Speed Up, then use a stopwatch to time the first play of a song from when you press play to when the song starts playing) BIAB DAW Plugin Standalone (you can open this from your BIAB folder under BBPlugin/Files) BIAB DAW Plugin in DAW (native ARM) BIAB DAW Plugin in DAW (Rosetta)
So on the bottom is the RT source file with all the chords that were played, Biab chooses the sections it wants to play from the source file and plays them back in linear order on it's timeline direct from hard drive. FULL SCREEN
hello there from Australia. I have the latest updates but when ni attempt to do a video, I get the spinning ball. it does not complete to video even after 30 minutes. if I use the old 32bit version. the video features works as expected. cheers. john.
I have a 2013 Macbook pro (Intel I7) and I have no issues with rendering times. I use BIAB MAc (latest) outside of Logic. IOW, not the plugin I find this separate approach no great inconvenience to my workflow but understand it may bother others
One thing I have noticed is that rendering time are orders of magnitude difference if you are saving to an Icloud drive vice a local drive. This may may not explain your particular problem, but it might.
This whole M chip Rosetta nonsense is a real throwback to the 80's. I feel for those who are slugging through it.
Personally I'm holding off on an M chip upgrade Till BIAB runs native on it.
biab2025(Mac) Latest Build Mac OS (Latest) Apple Mac Mini M2 pro 32GB Ram Logic Pro 11.2.2 Irwin Vice Grip Fencing Pliers
hello. same sentiments about the plugin's rendering time. it is virtually useless in my workflow. regards. john.
Hi Robbo, what are your computer specs - CPU, Ram, SSD?
In Band-in-a-Box, go to the Help menu, and click About Band-in-a-Box. Near the top of that window, it will have Version 20xx and a number in brackets - what is the number in brackets?
Originally Posted By: mrgeeze
I have a 2013 Macbook pro (Intel I7) and I have no issues with rendering times. I use BIAB MAc (latest) outside of Logic. IOW, not the plugin I find this separate approach no great inconvenience to my workflow but understand it may bother others
One thing I have noticed is that rendering time are orders of magnitude difference if you are saving to an Icloud drive vice a local drive. This may may not explain your particular problem, but it might.
This whole M chip Rosetta nonsense is a real throwback to the 80's. I feel for those who are slugging through it.
Personally I'm holding off on an M chip upgrade Till BIAB runs native on it.
I also have no issues with render time on either my i5 iMac or my M1 Macbook. The M1 is much faster of course, as any comparison between a 2015 and 2020 computer should be.
Good suggestion on the iCloud drive - if anyone here is saving songs to iCloud, can you try saving your songs to your Desktop instead?
To be honest, the M1 for me is very fast even using Rosetta. Yes, it's slower than native apps, or a similarly spec'd Intel machine, but for anyone upgrading from an older machine the M1 is light speed. For comparison, [u]using Rosetta[/i] my M1 benchmarks slightly less than double my 2015 i5 iMac, and using a native ARM benchmark the difference is about 2.5 times. Compared to your 2013 Macbook the difference is around 2.5 to 6 times the speed (depending on which Macbook you have).
hi simon. build 511. Mac Pro mid 2010 5,1. 32Gb RAM. SSD for Boot Drive. Real Tracks and Real Drums are on a 2TB internal WD Black Caviar. Some good news...... i checked/compared your USB drives contents against the content on the above partition. Quite a few Drum files hadn't been installed properly. Mainly drummers Shannon and Alex. well, it took a long time but all now seem to be present and there are no more N/A's best. john.
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe
This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.
Bonus PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®
With your version 2026 for Windows 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®!
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-For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 25 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
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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)
Android Band-in-a-Box® App (included)
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
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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)
Join Tobin as he takes you on a tour of the new user interface in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®! This modern GUI redesign offers a sleek new look with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, and a smoother workflow. The brand-new side toolbar puts track selection, the MultiPicker Library, and other essential tools right at your fingertips. Plus, our upgraded Multi-View lets you layer multiple windows without overlap, giving you a highly flexible workspace. Many windows—including Tracks, Piano Roll, and more—have been redesigned for improved usability and a cleaner, more intuitive interface, and more!
Introducing XPro Styles PAK 10 – Now Available for Windows Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!
Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a brand spankin’ new XPro Styles PAK! In this, the 10th edition of our XPro Styles PAK series, we’ve got 100 styles coming your way! We have the classic 25 styles each from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, and rounding out this volume's wildcard slot is 25 styles in the Praise & Worship genre! A wide spanning genre, you can find everything from rock, folk, country, and more underneath its umbrella. The included 28 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
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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.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 21 – Now Available for Windows Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest Xtra Styles PAK installment—the all new Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher)!
Rejoice, one and all, for Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box® is here! We’re serving up 200 brand spankin’ new styles to delight your musical taste buds! The first three courses are the classics you’ve come to know and love, including offerings from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, but, not to be outdone, this year’s fourth course is bro country! A wide ranging genre, you can find everything from hip-hop, uptempo outlaw country, hard hitting rock, funk, and even electronica, all with that familiar bro country flair. The dinner bell has been rung, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 21 today!
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Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 21 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 21 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 21 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Introducing XPro Styles PAK 10 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!
Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a brand spankin’ new XPro Styles PAK! In this, the 10th edition of our XPro Styles PAK series, we’ve got 100 styles coming your way! We have the classic 25 styles each from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, and rounding out this volume's wildcard slot is 25 styles in the Praise & Worship genre! A wide spanning genre, you can find everything from rock, folk, country, and more underneath its umbrella. The included 28 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Here’s just a small sampling of what you can look forward to in XPro Styles PAK 10: Soft indie folk worship songs, bumpin’ country boogies, gospel praise breaks, hard rockin’ pop, funky disco grooves, smooth Latin jazz pop, bossa nova fusion, western swing, alternative hip-hop, cool country funk, and much more!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 10 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
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.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 21 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest Xtra Styles PAK installment—the all new Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher)!
Rejoice, one and all, for Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box® is here! We’re serving up 200 brand spankin’ new styles to delight your musical taste buds! The first three courses are the classics you’ve come to know and love, including offerings from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, but, not to be outdone, this year’s fourth course is bro country! A wide ranging genre, you can find everything from hip-hop, uptempo outlaw country, hard hitting rock, funk, and even electronica, all with that familiar bro country flair. The dinner bell has been rung, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 21 today!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Energetic folk rock, raucous train beats, fast country boogies, acid jazz grooves, laid-back funky jams, a bevy of breezy jazz waltzes, calm electro funk, indie synth pop, industrial synth metal, and more bro country than could possibly fit in the back of a pickup truck!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 21 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 21 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 21 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
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