|
Log in to post
|
Print Thread |
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55
Enthusiast
|
OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55 |
Rustyspoon,
Thanks for your latest post.
I agree with your comment about how the new content would be accessed. I'm not a younger user and I find the search/browser process complicated and sometimes frustrating. Any new material catering to modern pop should be easily accessible within its own zone or robust filter term, rather than hard to find among thousands of other loops and realtracks.
If you check out the songs in my list on youtube, you will find that they are regonisably proper songs. In fact, perhaps due to the writing to tracks phenomenon, their length and structure is more rigid than songs from the 70s and 80s.
These are mainstream contemporary pop songs ('Adult Contemporary'), often with proper instruments like piano central to the arrangement. I find it encouraging that there has been a return to what I would regard as proper songs with good chord changes and catchy melodies. But if I was to submit a song like this with a Beatles arrangement, it would be rejected.
My list does not include dance music, EDM, techno, rap or any of that. While there are stylistic flourishes and beats borrowed from other genres, the core of these pop songs is quite conventional (in a good way). If you're not familiar with contemporary pop, you might be pleasantly surprised by some of the songs on my list.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 8,880
Veteran
|
Veteran
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 8,880 |
<< Can you post your 5 songs created "in less than an hour" along with an ID of what Jetracks and AC songs you replicated so we can compare and see how these turned out? >>
No. I deleted all the SGU files for the songs when I removed my earlier post because I considered them test files.
Songs I downloaded and replicated using only BIAB:
JETRACKS SONGS:
Wakeup
Your Love
LAZARUS LIST OF AC SONGS:
Moral of the Story - Ashe
River - Charlie Puth
I think I Should Go To Bed - Dan & Shay
<< You always have good advice and you always seem to say "BIAB can already do that" so I'd like to see firsthand how this turned out! Thanks! >>
I will redo the SGU file for "Moral of the Story" by Ashe and post a link to it. I'll follow my suggestion that the created file will be a songwriting template and not a cover or karaoke duplicate of the original commercial song.
To be clear, this process will have all the elements that comprises this particular modern pop song to be an "in the style of" project. This includes the chord progression, Key signature, tempo map, number of identifiable instruments, the song arrangement and dynamics. There will be no melody nor vocals.
Due to copyright infringement and PG Music restrictions, the SGU file will not have the specific piano riff that plays throughout the song. That said, it should not sound like a cover of "Moral of the Story". But what I would do if this were an actual personal project I was attempting to write an original song using "Moral of the Story" as a guide and template, I would insert the actual audio file I downloaded from YouTube onto the BIAB Mixer Audio Channel and then the BIAB SGU musical bed would play along with, track, match and sync with the original song in all of elements I listed above. Including the actual piano riff should make the SGU file play a karaoke version of the song.
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55
Enthusiast
|
|
OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55 |
Great - thanks! Very much looking forward to hearing it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 78
PG Music Staff
|
|
PG Music Staff
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 78 |
Hi Lazarus, Thank you very much for your feedback. As the person who currently makes a lot of our modern pop styles, I get excited about the prospect of finding new ways to integrate modern pop sounds into our library, as well as new ways to improve the workflow for the purpose of creating modern pop music. As Peter mentioned, we're looking into the toplining approach, and your knowledge is very valuable to us. In the meantime, we do have several modern pop styles. Apologies if it has been hard to locate them. The majority of these can be found in our Xtra Styles PAKs and Loops-with-Style PAKs, which are add-on purchases. The easiest way to navigate to these styles specifically from the Style Picker is to go to Category > Choose and Show a User Category. Here, we have created lists for the individual genres in the Xtra Styles PAKs and lists for the Loops-with-Style PAKs. While you are waiting for new advancements in our modern pop integration, I have created a Google Sheet of existing styles that you may find useful. It includes the style short and long name, tempo, and feel for each entry. In addition, I've included which PAK they belong to and a link to an audio demo for each style. Modern Pop Styles Google Sheet Xtra Styles PAKs Loops-with-Style PAKs
Last edited by Jareth - PG Music; 03/18/21 06:11 AM.
Jareth
PG Music Inc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 78
PG Music Staff
|
|
PG Music Staff
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 78 |
Jareth
PG Music Inc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55
Enthusiast
|
|
OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55 |
Hi Jareth,
Thanks very much for your post. I am very glad to hear that you will be developing what BIAB offers to contemporary pop songwriters.
Thanks also for taking the trouble to make the Modern Pop Styles Google sheet so that I can find them. I look forward to checking out the styles you listed.
With regard to future BIAB Modern Pop styles, I suggest that the first place to look for inspiration would be the charts and songs like those I listed above. These have proven popular appeal and would result in styles that would be more attractive to your customers. I referred to toplining backing tracks for an indication of their production level, format and vibe but there are a lot more backing tracks out there than proven hits and many of the former will never become the latter!
One thing occurred to me when listening to the style demos: I may have got this wrong but BIAB demos seem to have all the instruments playing all through the song. This might work well for blues or country or maybe jazz when that could be appropriate for a song in that genre. But in pop you almost never have all the instruments playing all through the song. So your modern pop styles might be more effectively showcased with a demo song that has maybe a stripped down intro with a loop, verse arrangement then fuller arrangement for the chorus. It might make the demo sound more recognisably like a pop song. With utility tracks, you would have space for an instrument used just in the intro, bridge, breakdown or added to the chorus. The more it sounds like a pop song, the more it will appeal to new BIAB users.
You mentioned ways to improve the workflow for people writing modern pop songs. Charlie wrote in his post above lots of things that BIAB can apparently already do. I have no idea how to do the things he mentioned. While I am waiting for your new developments, I would like to be using the existing features of BIAB to their full potential. I checked out the video tutorial part of the PG website today. I found a tutorial by you for how to make a user track. That was interesting though I don't think it would give me chords like augs that I would want to use. Several of the videos there were quite old so they don't look like they're up to date on things like making styles.
What would help people like me would be some video tutorials that pull together the kind of things Charlie was talking about, using BIAB 2021, to develop songs from existing chart songs or toplining tracks.
Thanks
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,976
PG Music Staff
|
|
PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,976 |
>> What would help people like me would be some video tutorials that pull together the kind of things Charlie was talking about, using BIAB 2021, to develop songs from existing chart songs or toplining tracks.
Yes, that would be great.
One point, when you're comparing a BiaB track with a topliner track from a site. Imagine you were a songwriter and had to choose... if you have BiaB you can make it with any chord progression you want, not just limited to the progression that comes with the track.
Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55
Enthusiast
|
|
OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55 |
Yes, Peter, that is my point. That is exactly what I dislike about backing tracks and have always liked about BIAB.
So if BIAB's new modern styles can capture the contemporary, production-ready feel of those backing tracks (essential if a songwriter wants to get their pop song demos listened to in the industry) with the addition of all BIAB's features - not just chords but tempo, key, bar settings, shots and holds - and if contemporary songwriters get to know about what BIAB offers, why would anyone buy a fixed backing track again?!
I think that if you were to sell a collection of modern pop styles to cater for this market, you would reach more people if the set focused exclusively on that genre rather than just a handful of modern pop styles bundled in with handfuls of songs from all the other BIAB genres which would have little or no appeal to pop writers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 11,052
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 11,052 |
Lazarus,
You've raised some interesting points to discuss throughout this thread. Thank you for your positive and cheerful attitude and for directing the conversation to keep it on track.
I found the way you use the terms demo and styles interesting and thought provoking. I hadn't thought about it too much up until this thread but generally speaking PG Music has always created demo songs to demonstrate two product classes: instruments with distinct sounds like RealTracks and MIDISuperTracks or premium styles like the XtraStyles. Each product class has different demo song requirements.
A demo song highlighting instrument sounds should demonstrate how it sounds in isolation and in context. Ideally all variations should be demonstrated.
A style demo song should highlight how the style handles an intro, "a' section, "b' section and ending and the instruments used in the band.
If Jareth brought instruments in and out as you suggest would that not minimize or defeat the purpose of the demo requirements I gave above? Isn't the job of the song producer to determine how these tools are used?
In my mind what you're describing is why PG Music has the User Showcase. What's missing are User Showcase postings of modern pop songs created by young producers. Why that is so I don't know. But I frequently run across YouTube videos and songs on BandCamp and other websites where I believe Band-in-a-Box is used but not credited.
Pop producers generally don't credit the origin of a song's backing tracks. They don't distinguish if the backing tracks originate from midi loops, audio loops, session musicians, samples, Band-in-a-Box or whatever. You generally don't know who mixes or masters a song. It is the creative direction of the song producer that manages the song from beginning to end.
What I think is needed is for a social media influencer to discover Band-in-a-Box and promotes it's ability to create pop music.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 78
PG Music Staff
|
|
PG Music Staff
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 78 |
Hi Lazarus, I want to reply specifically about the issue of having the same instruments for the entirety of the song. By default, RealTracks or RealDrums can have two substyles, which usually (but not always) represent some kind of verse and chorus part. Some RealTracks and RealDrums are the same in both substyles, but many change when the part marker is switched between A and B. In addition to that, we have MultiStyles. MultiStyles allow us to combine multiple styles into one, which accommodates complex arrangements with a greater number of substyles. Usually these will have around 8 substyles instead of the usual 2. So instead of having the basic A/B part marker options, you will have something like A/B/C/D/E/F/G/H, and each will sound different. I created a MultiStyles PAK that has 30 MultiStyles (10 pop/rock, 10 country, and 10 jazz). I'll leave you a link below so you can listen to some of the demos. For the last few releases, there is usually at least one MultiStyle included for each genre of the Xtra Styles PAKs as well. The MultiStyles always include the "+" symbol in their short name, so you can filter for MultiStyles easily in the Style Picker by searching for "+". MultiStyles PAKs - Listen to Demos
Jareth
PG Music Inc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55
Enthusiast
|
|
OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55 |
Thanks Jim. I wasn't aware of the user showcase and I didn't know about premium styles and Xtrastyles so I will check them and their different kind of demos out.
My suggestions were aimed primarily at how PG might appeal to new contemporary pop songwriter users and take a share of that backing tracks for toplining market.
I agree with you that it would be good if a social media influencer (ugh!) could champion BIAB but, as Peter said above, it would be great if PG could make some tutorial videos that pull together everything BIAB can offer a pop songwriter.
I have been updating the program for years but there are still features that I don't know about or use. I'll often try them out when they are released but then give up on them because they're too confusing or don't work properly or suit my workflow. The user guide is nearly 600 pages. I don't have time to read that. I have loads of other music software and their bloated manuals too!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55
Enthusiast
|
|
OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55 |
Thanks Jareth for explaining that.
I've just listened to some of those multistyle demos. I think that would be a good way to go for your product aimed at contemporary pop songwriters as they do give a good example of how the styles might be used in different sections of a song.
I've bought Ultra and multiple Pluspaks over the years but a search of "+" shows that I don't currently appear to have any multistyles among the thousands of styles on my computer.
I would buy a set of multistyles that sound like hit contemporary pop songs but only if they were all genuine contemporary pop, not if those are minority of styles on a disk with loads of jazz and all the other styles that don't interest me.
As a longtime BIAB user who updates the program every year, I gave up long ago with bonus paks and all the (to me) confusing other types of paks because when I've bought them in the past, the PG policy of bundling all the genres together means most styles are of no interest to me. It may be that most other BIAB users like to work in all styles equally but, if you want to tempt new pop songwriters to BIAB, I suggest you create product which targets their specific needs.
Thanks
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 3,932
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 3,932 |
I am truly hopeful that this thread is going somewhere good! Lazarus has provided excellent insights regarding one category of modern music and enlightened me on the whole topic of toplining! And PGM seems open to adding functionality for creating modern songs! This is all really great news! In spite of claims that BIAB can already do this I remain unconvinced. I believe BIAB can produce components I can use to assemble a modern song. But I am quite curious to see if it can produce a modern song as completely and easily as it can produce a bluegrass song or a surf rocker! For those, and other classic genres, I can literally enter chords, choose a style and output a mostly complete song ready for vocals. But I have yet to see how that can be done for more modern music styles. And maybe modern music is more complex and BIAB won't be able to do that but I'd love to fully understand what is possible. I like the idea that maybe PGM can produce tutorials on how to use BIAB to create modern music! That would be quite welcome! Moral of the story - Ashe
River - Charlie Puth
Joke's on you - Charlotte Lawrence
Good in goodbye - Madison Beer
Bad guy - Billie Eilish
No time to die - Billie Eilish
Goodbyes - Post Malone
I should probably go to bed now - Dan & Shay
Snowman - Sia
Rescue Me - One Republic
Problems - DeathbyRomy
Someone You Loved - Lewis Capaldi
Memories - Maroon 5
Lose you to love me - Selena Gomez
Just my type - The Vamps
Ring - Selena Gomez
Feel it twice - Camila Cabello
Trampoline - Shaed
Dance Monkey - Tones & I
Hot girl bummer - Blackbear
Cuz I love you - Lizzo
Sucker - Jonas Brothers
High Hopes - Panic at the Disco
7 rings - Ariana Grande
Old Town Road - Lil Nas X
Novocaine - The Unlikely Candidates
Dark side - Bishop Briggs
Selfish - Madison Beer Thank you for this long list of examples. I am working my way through them to personally gain a better understanding of modern music. I did notice that, of your 28 suggestions, only 6 are in the current BIAB titles database. And the couple I am already familiar with that are in the database, Bad Guy and Old Town Road, did not result in suggestions of styles that sounded like those songs to my ears. After reviewing, auditioning and downloading two featured songs from Jetracks.com and another couple from the Adult Contemporary artist/song list Lazarus provided, it was obvious that BIAB can easily and quickly replicate 'Modern Pop' style music just as the program exists now or in 2020, 2019 and many years of prior BIAB versions. I replicated 2 Jetracks and 3 AC songs in less than an hour. I am still looking forward to hearing what you came up with. Replicating 5 modern songs in an hour with BIAB certainly seems impossible to me! Incidently, the 2 songs you picked from Jetracks may not be the best example since they have more of a classic feel at least to my ears. In the meantime, we do have several modern pop styles. Apologies if it has been hard to locate them. Thank you for the spreadsheet and for the samples of styles you provided in a subsequent post. I have tried listening to the demos for these styles and I am still trying to understand how to use them to produce modern sounding music. In my mind what you're describing is why PG Music has the User Showcase. What's missing are User Showcase postings of modern pop songs created by young producers. Why that is so I don't know. I think it may be the very reason we are having this conversation! We (the old guard) don't know how to produce modern songs with BIAB! And young producers are not using BIAB. And if they try it they don't immediately see it as a useful tool to produce modern music. What I think is needed is for a social media influencer to discover Band-in-a-Box and promotes it's ability to create pop music. First we have to convincingly establish that ability!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55
Enthusiast
|
|
OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55 |
Johnjohnjohn, I agree with everything you have written.
I would add that the songs on my list were selected to showcase a variety of styles of modern mainstream pop but what they all have in common is decent chord changes. In that sense, they are recognisable pop songs, with hooky chords and melodies, like the good songs from previous eras.
That is not the case for all modern pop songs and it is certainly not the case for MOST (in my opinion) backing tracks sold for toplining. The limitations of the fixed format leads their creators to 'play safe' by often having minimal chord changes (sometimes only two chords in the whole song). They think this will make them more usable to more purchasers but, to me, it makes them unusable because the dull chords are concreted in. As I've said before, BIAB is potentially the antidote to this.
The structures of modern pop songs are generally very conservative and they often have real instruments central to the arrangement. This is not EDM. The beats, percussion and transitions have a contemporary feel that I have not yet found in any BIAB style but I am excluding rap, techno and other formats. In principle, chord-based mainstream pop songs, like those in my list, should provide excellent inspiration for new BIAB pop (multi)styles.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 448
Journeyman
|
|
Journeyman
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 448 |
Hi Jareth Thanks a lot. Together with link to Soundbetter and Jet tracks this is really a work around in learning from those tracks as inspiration and using BB as far as possible . I will be looking forward to more extra styles packs and loop packs
Last edited by stratos; 03/18/21 10:56 PM.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,976
PG Music Staff
|
|
PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,976 |
Lazarus,
Thanks for the list of song examples, that gives us good examples of the genres you’re looking for. We plan on making some realtracks and realstyles dedicated to some of the modern pop genres, especially the melodic/chord progression based ones.
Peter
Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55
Enthusiast
|
|
OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55 |
Thank you, Peter. I am very pleased to hear that.
From what Jareth wrote, I think multistyles may be the best way to achieve this, to make BIAB the preferred tool for writing modern pop music. A good set of contemporary pop multistyles that sound like the chart pop songs on my list would be worth buying. Especially if there were good tutorial videos on how to get the best from them in BIAB.
I think you are right to focus on the melodic/chord progression based songs because this is what BIAB does so well in its existing well-developed styles. My song list was intended to demonstrate that the musical content of these modern pop songs - chords, melody, structure - is very similar to older pop songs that we all know and love. All that's different is the style - and the production standards required in the industry today to get your songs listened to. It's not like the old days, when you could send a publisher cassettes recorded on a 4 track recorder.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55
Enthusiast
|
|
OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 55 |
For your new contemporary pop styles to be authentic, I suggest you get input from people for whom this kind of songwriting and production is their first language. The reason BIAB realtracks are so good is that they are performed by musicians who are native speakers on their instrument and genre. Having sampled the existing 'modern pop' styles, I would respectfully and gently suggest that contemporary chart pop has been rather like a foreign language to PG up to now! If PG staff would like to familiarise themselves with the techniques of deconstructing hit pop songs and recreating them (reverse engineering), may I recommend the Make Pop Music free channel on Youtube? These tutorials are by Austin Hull, who is very busy producing other people's pop songs as well as his own. He is very generous in passing on his expertise in producing different pop genres. Some of his tutorials come with free stems that you can download to produce yourself. They also give a good idea of the elements needed to make a production ready to submit within the music industry. Here are a few of his tutorials to get you started. There are many more on his channel. How To Produce A Pop Song In 10 Steps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4YixkCxZk8How to analyze and deconstruct pop songs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z40mY1JC2FIHow to Make an Ariana Grande Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtxwsA1iAnYHow To Make A Pop Ballad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irjUUwUM70QHow To Make A Mellow Pop Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr6vf6t3kxYHow to Make a Taylor Swift Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_cmSbb3gC4How To Make A Song Like The Weeknd (Blinding Lights, In Your Eyes, Faith) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2d3y58rSYU&t=550sHow To Make Funk / Disco Pop (Charlie Puth, Dua Lipa, DNCE, Doja Cat) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI4rzNsTv_oHow To Make A Trap Pop Song (blackbear, Post Malone, The Weeknd) + FREE STEMS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fHPVQnX8EwI hope these links might also be of interest to other BIAB songwriter users. Also on Youtube, you can find Billie Eilish's brother talking about how he produces Billie's songs and people like Charlie Puth demonstrating how he wrote and arranged some of his songs. (His song River was on my list).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 21,106
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 21,106 |
This is certainly some excellent reference material that you have identified.
Many users could benefit from that info.
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 11,052
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 11,052 |
Lazarus,
Thanks for taking time to share your suggestions and links supporting your suggestions. This has been an interesting and fun discussion.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
Check out all the 202 new RealTracks (in sets 468-488)!
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)
Learn more about the Bonus PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
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!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac Videos
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.
Check out this forum post for "One Stop Shopping" of our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Videos!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac is Here!
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.
Holiday Weekend Hours
As we hop into the Easter weekend, here are our holiday hours:
April 3 (Good Friday): 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM PDT
April 4 (Saturday): Closed
April 5 (Easter Sunday): Closed
April 6 (Easter Monday): Open regular hours
Wishing you an egg-cellent weekend!
— Team PG
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forums57
Topics86,297
Posts802,905
Members40,085
| |
Most Online64,515
Apr 8th, 2026
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean