I have yet to actually buy Band in a Box and wanted to find out first if it would fit my needs best.
Top the point, I am an amateur singer. I am interested in creating my own cover versions of popular songs. For the sake of example, I might want to sing the song "Hello" by Adel.
The LAW says that a cover version needs to be music created by me. But, the original music must be used.
To the point, I don't play an instrument and I really don't want to spend hours and hours getting the music all set up. What I want to do is find a way to quickly take the sheet music (Which honestly I don't really know how to read) and get into into my DAW so I can sing to it and I am exploring if Band in a Box is the answer?
Once again, getting the music set up is the part I want to spend the least amount of time on!
Buy midi backing tracks. BIAB will create backing tracks but not the sheet music arrangement. Backing tracks will recreate the song you want to sing and your DAW will allow you to change key if necessary.
As far as I can understand, the chords used in a song are not copyrightable.
I understand that you could use BiaB to enter the desired chords of your song, and choose an appropriate existing BiaB style to generate the song - without creating any copyright issues.
BiaB can certainly do this. It does not guarantee to replicate an existing song, including the melody, but will provide you with a usable backing track, and often the results can be quite astounding.
Also, Welcome to the forums.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Professional & Windows 11, Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors
BiaB does an excellent job of making a backing track from a chord progression. Getting a good chord progression can sometimes be a bit of a problem as, whilst they're often online, not all are authentic. The official sheet music may or not have the chords stated ... often not.
BiaB has a tool, Auto Chord Wizard (ACW) that will try to extract chords from a recording.
Once you have a chord progression in BiaB, try out different styles with them, to find a backing that works for you. Find a sound and feel that suits you, probably regenerate a few times, freezing tracks as you like them.
This almost certainly won't make a backing track that's the same as the original song's, but it can make an excellent backing track for a cover.
There's a "Melody track" that BiaB won't change, so you could import MIDI or XML into it, it can be a single-line melody or a full piano piece. It, indeed any track, can be muted completely or by bars or by choruses/verses.
There's no demo version, but I believe PGMusic are as good as their word on the 30 days unconditional money back guarantee, though I suspect they're not that often asked to do so.
The bad news is that the "Pro" version is the entry version and has very a limited selection of styles. Just about everyone advises getting the best/biggest version you're prepared to afford. Most of us have the UltraPAK. You may find that it's cheaper to buy the Pro version and then upgrade than to buy a bigger pack at the start.
PGMusic's videos are good but can be a bit overwhelming and hard to navigate. I rather like the versions done on YouTube by Henry Clarke.
There are differences between the Windows and Mac versions, the Mac vewrsion tending to be somewhat behind.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2025 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
BiaB will not give you an exact replication of a cover song. It will generate its own parts based on the chord structure. It will read a MIDI file of a cover song and extract the chords from it so you do not have to input all of the chords yourself.
If you want an exact replica of a cover song the best way to achieve that is to input a MIDI file into your DAW and sing to that. There are a lot of MIDI files on the web, some free and some for purchase. Some free ones are not very good but many are excellent. The purchased ones are the best for exactly transcribed cover songs.
BiaB is great for generating different versions of a cover song but it will not exactly duplicate a cover song.
BiaB excels at creating your own music.
Also note that you can not post cover songs on the showcase forum or on many web sites.
I'm in a fitness protection program. I'm been hiding from exercise.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
With all due respect, I think you guys missed this. The OP is not a musician, only wants to sing to a backing. My advice is Karaoke. Therefore, not a candidate for BIAB.
I agree, there are karaoke tracks available on the Internet, and for someone who is not a musician, it's the easiest way to go.
The only problem I see is that the karaoke tracks are probably in the same key as the recording. I have very little experience with them (although some of our competitors use them) and I assume that you cannot transpose them very far from the original key without generating those telltale artifacts.
I base this on listening to my competition. Perhaps they don't know how to transpose without the distortions. Singing out of their range and hearing artifacts.
MIDI songs can be easily transposed to any key without any artifacts, but of course you already know that. That is the reason I suggested downloading MIDI songs.
However the OP still hasn't answered the question I posed as to whether he wants to do exact cover copies or his own version of covers.
I'm in a fitness protection program. I'm been hiding from exercise.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
With all due respect, I think you guys missed this. The OP is not a musician, only wants to sing to a backing. My advice is Karaoke. Therefore, not a candidate for BIAB.
I got the impressions that the O/P wanted to actually explore creating his/her own music. This was mentioned in the O/P's post:
Quote:
I am interested in creating my own cover versions of popular songs.
The LAW says that a cover version needs to be music created by me. But, the original music must be used.
What I want to do is find a way to quickly take the sheet music (Which honestly I don't really know how to read) and get into into my DAW so I can sing to it
If the user can choose a style and type the chords of a song, to me it sounds like BiaB is actually a perfect candidate.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Professional & Windows 11, Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors
Have a look at this video, which may assist in your decision making:
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Professional & Windows 11, Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors
A singer can be a musician even if they don't play an instrument.
Our voice is an instrument, it isn't so easy to use, we automatically harmonise to music out of our vocal range.
There are plenty of musicians who can't read music.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2025 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
I agree. And I'll bet that there are plenty of BiaB users who can't read music too. That's one of the main reasons this product can be so valuable to so many people.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Professional & Windows 11, Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors
I agree. And I'll bet that there are plenty of BiaB users who can't read music too. That's one of the main reasons this product can be so valuable to so many people.
1000% agree! Thats why BB is so useful to me personally. Whilst it has levels way ahove my pay grade for those musically trained and/or technically minded, at my Base Level I can just input chords to a Style (or even have ACW guess them) and take it or tinker from there. Bests Ian
Old Guys Rule.The older I get,the better I was! BB2023 ULTRA, 1013, Win 7 and 10
I'm assuming that the O/P is familiar with other forms of existing backing tracks, but wants to also explore the potential of BiaB to provide a suitable solution.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Professional & Windows 11, Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors
I think BIAB is a great way to go. Generating backing tracks is not all that difficult. If you don’t understand or know chords you could use Ultimate Guitar or a similar type site and download the chords for whatever song. Put them into BIAB then arrange away. That way you can make fairly simple arrangements of cover songs.
Once you have the chords in BIAB it is very simple to adjust the key or tempo to suit your voice or taste. In a DAW such as Reaper it is equally simple to fine tune a key, the tempo or the balance of tracks.
My thoughts on BIAB go for it, buy the best version you can afford (get as many styles as you can), play with it, relax and enjoy it. Don’t skimp, you’ll regret that.
Tony
HP i7-4770 16GB 1TB SSD, Win 10 Home, Focusrite 2i2 3rd Gen, Launchkey 61, Maton CW80, Telecaster, Ovation Elite TX, Yamaha Pacifica 612 BB 2022(912) RB 2022(2), CakeWalk, Reaper 6, Audacity, Melodyne 5 Editor, Izotope Music Production Suite 4.1
My thoughts on BIAB go for it, buy the best version you can afford (get as many styles as you can), play with it, relax and enjoy it. Don’t skimp, you’ll regret that.
My sentiments, exactly.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Professional & Windows 11, Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors
Band-in-a-Box is primarily used to make backing tracks for your own original songs. You may find something similar to Adel's music and "Hello" is included in the familiar Song Titles database in order to use it to filter the Styles list. However, it will not sound exactly like the existing song. Also, you will still need to know the chord names of the song you want to make. You would not need to know every single note in the chord, just the letter names to enter into the Chords view.
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®!
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)
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.
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 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!
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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