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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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So I have just discovered ths AMAZING Program but just like many things...It's Biggest Strength is also a weak Point! Now Don't get all excited..what I mean is that there are so many features and purchase options that I have NO IDEA which package to purchase.

Will I need it all? Will I use it all? Do I only need Most but not all of the features??? I am considering the Everything Pak but not sure why the Audiophile pack has a larger drive? Will the Everything drive be too slow and create problems ie..freeze up's???

Shoooweee that is a lot of $$$$ HELP!!

I am an intermediate guitar player learning to sing that likes to learn new songs and would also like to begin arranging all the crazy lyrics that I have written over the years.

Thanks in advance for your help!!!

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Hi Badabing,

Welcome to the forums.

For a first-time purchaser the EverythingPak is a great choice. You get songs, lessons and tutorials that I know you would find a great help when starting out.

The difference between the Audiophile edition and the EverythingPak is that the Realtracks and Realdrums in the Audiophile ed. are wav files whereas in the EverthingPak, the Realtracks and -drums are wma files. From an audio perspective, wave files are superior in the reproduction of sound. There is a great deal of information on the web about this. That being said, though, I have the UltraplusPak with wma files and it sounds excellent! I'd imagine that someone with the Audiophile ed. will reply to your email and tell you about their experience.

Also, keep in mind that PGMusic have a 30-day money-back guarantee. This is a legitimate offer. It might pay to ring Sales and ask them about the possibility of buying the EverythingPak and if it can be changed for the Audiophile edition, in less than 30 days.

All the best,
Noel


MY SONGS...
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Simple, buy the most Biab you can afford ; )

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Bad a Bing,

Based on your information above, I would recommend the Everything Pak (not the audiophile).

>Will I need it all? Will I use it all?
You likely wont use it all, but you would use all of the Blues and maybe the Rock stuff. And the best way to get that (price wise) is the Everything Pak.

>>> I am considering the Everything Pak but not sure why the Audiophile pack has a larger drive? Will the Everything drive be too slow and create problems ie..freeze up's???

The audiophile is mainly for people doing high-quality recordings, it comes on a huge hard drive (1.5TB)

No, the Everything Pak is just as fast as the other PAKS. You can even install the whole thing to your own hard drive (if you have 80GB) available, or just run it from the USB hard drive.


Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
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Well, since I make no money on this, I usually recommned beginneers get either the Mega or the UltraPlus package.

They're all described here:

http://www.pgmusic.com/bandbox.htm


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Welcome aboard, oh yes, buy as much as you can afford. And of course come back to post some of your music when it is ready.

Later,

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You guys are awesome!!

Thanks again!!

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Hey Badabing, First it sounds like you are coming from my neck of the woods!

Anyway, I was overwhelmed at all the features at first. And months later, I still am! I started with the second PAK from the bottom. So far, I have used the pre-existing songs to stretch my instrumental abilities. Next, the notation functions to study what types of chordal/melodic movements were taking place in these existing songs so I can understand a little how music arrangement works.

Then, I branched out to actually writing songs in the BIAB main area. There, I use my previous experience on songwriting coupled with the neat things I learned going through the previous mentioned that it served to be more than just a place to write the same routine songs I have been doing over the past decades.

Lastly, this discussion board. A huge selling point for me was the support here. You have a wealth of users out there that have really pushed the pedal to the floor on this product and can answer every possible quandry I can work myself into.

My advice is if you are easily overwhelmed take the eating an elephant approach to whichever PAK you buy. Eat it one bite at a time. And when you need help, unlike other products, you actually will not be lost. Jump on the board and research your question. if you don't see it, ask.

Best to ya!
RickeG

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Hi Noel,

I have the audio file edition but I think for what I use biab for I would have been better off with wma files. Has anyone had any experience with both audio file vs wma files when it comes to loading times?


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Jakob,
Are you saying that beucause you bought the "audiophile" pakage that has the .wav format, the software runs slower???? This is one of the concerns I had about the size of this software on a laptop/PC??

Also(This is for Everone's comments and opinions):

Can anyone help me understand in simple terms how easy/difficult it is to create a backing track from an mp3 song. For instance I'm trying to learn "Hideaway" by Freddie king and I want to create a backing track so I can play to it

Thank you everyrone for your great advice!!

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.Wav files load faster than compressed .wma files. The .wma files must be converted to .wav first.

However, with the advent of "Allow Fast Loading of RealTracks files" it is virtually a nonissue with the compressed files now.

Besides that, it was likely only an issue for those using BiaB for live performances anyway. In the studio, you can surely wait less than 30 secs to load the song. And that's only for the first time in a session. After that, hit Play and response for that song is instantaneous.


--Mac

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Can anyone help me understand in simple terms how easy/difficult it is to create a backing track from an mp3 song. For instance I'm trying to learn "Hideaway" by Freddie king and I want to create a backing track so I can play to it. is it as simple as playing the song and hitting a button to have BIB make a backing track out of the original mp3?


Thank you everyrone for your great advice!!

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Badabing,
A couple of things.

1. If you are looking to create an exact replica of the backing tracks for Hideaway, then Band In A Box is NOT the program you want to use. You want to use a dedicated sequencer and manually enter everything.

2. If you are looking to create a backing track that may not be an exact replica, simply type in the chords to the song, select an appropriate style, and press the play button. The backing tracks will be generated. From there, you can move the tracks to a sequencer like Real Band, Power Tracks Pro Audio, Sonar, Pro Tools, etc., and tweak volumes, pans, etc., and finally mix down to a wave file. From that, you can convert to a .mp3 file.

I found a chart for the chords for the song, and I listened to a bit of the song itself. I used the chart to enter the chords into Band In A Box, and used the '_HRPBLUZ' Real Style for the backing. How close that is to what you want, I have no idea, but that's how you use BIAB to create a backing track.

Gary


I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Why anyone wants to play an exact replica is always beyond me. I understand cover bands, but.....

To me finding a style that suits YOU, that is true to the original beat and feel, and then tweaking it with RealTracks is all the fun. As to chord changes etc, you can find most of them on the net. And the lyrics. So I enter the chords, I put in the lyrics in a box, and find the exact style I want. Then I swap in realtracks until Iike the result.


John Conley
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I don't have to have the exact song reproduced but a close version if fine for me as I like to have a close resemblence to the original song. I noticed that the previous comments list that you input the chords and the lyrics which I did not know you could do and the song is reproduced. I thought there was an "audio chord" feature that allowed you to play an mp3 and the BIB software would automatically reproduce the song in the "style" that you chose?
is that correct or do you have to input the correct chords and changes in the correct measures??

Thanks in advance for your help!

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The Audio Chord Wizard will take a .wav or .mp3 file and decipher the chords of the song. Once you get the chords, it's still up to you to find a good backing style to match the original song.

John, in answer to your question, there are some songs, two that pop into my head immediately are 'Peter Gunn' and 'Wipeout!' that have very specific licks and backing tracks that would make it very difficult to do the song justice with a generic jazz or rock style. Roy Hawksford has styles that Bob Norton sells that are written specifically for certain songs. For instance 'Wipeout!', that I did a few years ago.

http://www.catsmeowcafe.com/Music/MP3s/wipeout.mp3

Would have been impossible for me to create that song by myself without the help of BIAB. But, then again, I'm not the musician you are, so that's not saying too much.

However, in this case, I would say that Hide Away is a generic blues tune and Badabing should be able to play it using several of the blues styles.

Gary


I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Gary,
Great info!! Thanks!!

So where do I get the custom backing tracks that you mentioned like "wipeout" and "Peter Gunn?". Those are songs I would love to have backing tracks to as well.

What do you think about a song like "Folsom Prison Blues" or "Hot Rod Lincoln?" Would I need custom backing tracks for those songs as well or would I be able to simply play them into BIAB(audio chord) and they would give me chords and a backing track? Are there "styles" that would work for those kind of songs?

Thanks!

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I made a response to this once, and accidently closed Firefox while researching an answer to it, so I have to type it all over again. Meh!

What I need to emphasize is that Band In A Box is actually a very simplistic program. You take a simple chord progression, and select a style, and it will create the backing track based on the style that you choose. That really is the entire basis of BIAB. Of course, it's much more elaborate than that, but that is the basic core function of the program.

So, what IS a style, anyway? In a nutshell, it's a combination of up to five parts, the drums, bass, piano, guitar and strings that when combined make up a backing track. It's how that style is put together that is the real genius of Band In A Box. In an 'arranger keyboard' like the Yamaha, Casio or other manufacturers, you play a chord with your left hand, and the keyboard builds a backing track around that. Now, I'm not dissing arranger keyboards, since that is what I use, and have two very expensive ones. But, you play a C chord, and the arranger keyboard will play a singular backing track for as long as that C chord is input, only changing when you put a new chord it. That chord NEVER will change, it will ALWAYS play exactly the same notes. If you put in a progression, every single time, the keyboard will play back an identical track. Band In A Box is not that way.

The five 'parts' of the BIAB backing track are composed of stylistic patterns. Peter Gannon designed BIAB so that you can have multiple patterns for each element. He also designed it to 'look ahead' and know how long that chord is going to last for, and choose an appropriate pattern for the chord length. In detail, depending on how the style was written, you may have 1 bar patterns, 2 bar patterns and four bar patterns. You may have ten slightly different patterns for the one bar patterns, five slightly different patters for the 2 bar patterns and five slight different patterns for the four bar pattern. So, for a major chord, you may have up to 20 different patterns that can be selected depending on the length of the chord. Which pattern gets selected is determined within the program and based on the designer's weighting of the pattern. Now, that is just for say the drums. That same thing may apply to the bass, the piano, the guitar and the string parts, giving you 20 different patterns for each instrument for any given bar. This is why BIAB sounds so good.

Given a two bar C chord, a one bar F chord and a one bar G chord, and then a four bar C chord, played over and over again, it is possible that it may play 100 times before repeating itself. Again, it depends on the weighting of each pattern, but it's possible to have so many different combinations that you'll be hard pressed to hear the same thing repeated over the course of those eight bars, at least very often.

Now, for a song like 'Wipeout!' or 'Peter Gunn', certain parts of the song have a very specific motif to them, and you would have to build a style to match that song. For 'Peter Gunn' the bass is very unique, and the bass pattern would have to be written not to change each time. For 'Wipeout!' the drums are very unique and would have to be written to reflect the song. You could select another style, but it would not have the specific motif of the song, and hence would sound 'wrong.' For me, doing 'Wipeout!' or 'Tequila', I bought certain styles from Norton Music that had those styles already created.

You can make your own styles. Most of us do not because of the time involved in doing it, and for me, the lack of musical knowledge to actually do it. Bob Norton makes excellent styles, and you can pay him some good money for some great styles. Or, if you are talented, you can do it yourself.

For something like Folsom Prison Blues, Hot Rod Lincoln, or any song for that matter, the Audio Chord Wizard only determines the chords. It does nothing for the style. The ACW doesn't know style from melody. YOU get to select the style, and if there is a style similar to what you need, you can use that. If not, then you need to find someone who has created it, or create your own. The that end, you may also use the Hybrid Style maker, which allows you to take a stylistic element from one style and combine it with elements of other styles to come up with one that works.

Does this answer some of your question?

Gary


I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Gary,
First and foremost Thank you for your time and details! I know how frustrating it is to get half way through a very detailed message or e-mail only to loose it at the brush of an erroneous keystroke!! aaaghh!!!

Your message is very helpful!! I think that "Folsom Prison" and "Hot Rod Lincoln" have very common country old school beats and I bet that style is in BIAB. I would have to arrange it accordingly but I bet it can be done.

Thank you again, you are a scholar and a gentleman!!


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Badabing,
A lot of people use BIAB for creating music for gigging. I'm not one, since my playing isn't up to that level. However, "Notes" Norton has the best description of how to set up files from BIAB for playing live with. I would highly recommend this web page as a great link, even if you aren't going to use them playing live.

http://www.nortonmusic.com/backing_tracks.html

The information contained here comes from a wealth of experience Bob has gained over the years, and it shows from the acclaim of his group, the Sophisticats.

http://www.nortonmusic.com/cats/cats.html

Gary


I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: The Newly Designed Piano Roll Window

In this video, we explore the updated Piano Roll, complete with a modernized look and exciting new features. You’ll see new filtering options that make it easy to focus on specific note groups, smoother and more intuitive note entry and editing, and enhanced options for zooming, looping, and more.

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You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!

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.

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You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!

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®!

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)
  • 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:


  • 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 PAKs for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®!

Video: New User Interface (GUI)

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!

Watch the video.

You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!

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.

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!

Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.

Video: XPro Styles PAK 10 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch 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 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!

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!

Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 21.

Video: Xtra Styles PAK 21 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch 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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