This project was certainly a lot of fun and a lot of work. Indeed, Everyone showed up here at my farm in central NC and the location of Kill Branch Studio for a day of just getting to know each other better in person, and playing some music and hanging out in the woods and on the farm. Several folks drove a considerable distance to be here. We all had a good time. I think, and the others will correct me if I'm wrong.... but the main instigator of this video and the song was David. So blame him as it's all mostly his fault. The rest of us were to one degree or another, willing accomplices. Some more..... some less.
With the disclaimers out of the way.....
Let me give you some of the background specifics of the music.
There is a total of 19 tracks in this project.
7 tracks are vocal tracks.
6 tracks are live guitar tracks.
The band is:
Dave on lead vocals, background vocals, and guitar. Herb on bridge lead vocal, background vocals, and guitars. Eddie on background vocals Pat on Background vocals Charlie on background vocals
Glen Duncan on fiddle RT #1754 Rob Ickes on Dobro RT #2040 Gene Rabbai on Hammond B3 RT #686 John Jarvis on Piano RT #2046 Tobin Frank on Bass RT #684 Ricky Lawson on Drums RT # NTN127
Style is Groovy Piano Pop @ 110bpm
Composed in Band in a Box, Real tracks rendered in Real Band, and mixed in Sonar.
Kudos to Eddie on the work he did putting all the video segments together into a cohesive, watchable, video.
The individual artists worked remotely after we had our reunion day and writing/recording session. The studio version was recorded in each participant's home studio and sent to be mixed at Kill Branch Studio. All sorts of black box magic was applied and the result was the song you heard in the video.
Band in a Box and Real Band played a huge part in being able to do this song the way you hear it.
THANKS PG MUSIC!
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
Love this! Thanks everyone for putting that together. I'm really sad that I couldn't be there, it looked really fun.
Originally Posted By: Guitarhacker
We all had a good time. I think, and the others will correct me if I'm wrong.... but the main instigator of this video and the song was David. So blame him as it's all mostly his fault.
I would concur based on what I saw. I did like his voice to the song, I get the Randy Newman/Bob Dylan vibe that I've heard on his other songs.
I really liked that everyone was able to jump in on the background vocals. This helped seal the whole song together. Guitar playing by all real and BIAB guitars was mixed really nice too. Great work guys!
We had a stone-cold blast doing this, and it was done with a laughing spirit, but also a heart full of gratitude for our numerous Band-in-a-Box forum friends and for the PG Music team members, who have done so much for so many people.
There is one thing Band-in-a-Box enables that is truly priceless and I will explain it with a story.
When I started as a Regional Coordinator with the Nashville Songwriters Association about 10 years ago (about the same time period Herb turned me on to BIAB) a leader of that prestigious organization took me aside in Nashville, sat me down, looked me in the eye, and uttered these words:
"Dave, here at Nashville Songwriters, we like to say there are 5 secrets to becoming a better songwriter.
"1. Collaboration.
"2. Collaboration.
"3. Collaboration.
"4. Collaboration.
and finally, and it may come as a surprise,
"5. Collaboration."
The collaboration on this forum is simply remarkable, and BIAB is the great enabler of so much of that.
I am a huge fan of this product and this community.
And yeah, we had fun.
Can't wait 'til next year!!
David Snyder Songwriter/Renaissance Man Studio + Fingers
My dog had his first test of extended off-leash time and I was pleased to see how he stayed near by and didn't get distracted and wander off. We were busy doing our thing for maybe what, 4 hours, and the dog pretty much laid on the ground outside of where he knew I was, making short trips to the water bowl and to visit with other people who were around, but always returning to the place he knew the guy who feeds him was sitting. There were a few scenes we had to do a second take on, some discussion of what the next segment needed to include, and things like that, so that particular day was a fairly intense day. I had to shoot some establishing footage, and enough drone shots to be able to have them for the "dead spots" where there was really no action to match the audio.
As the video assembly went on I vacillated between "WHY did I say I would do this" and "Man this is a great opportunity for me because I am learning so much about Vegas Pro". I won't bore you with the details other than to say there was a LOT of stitching, editing, stretching the tiles in the "how to assemble a song" section, syncing things to the audio... But I will say that the learning angle made it all worth while for me. Everybody had their role and did them well. The conceptual and writing side, the technical/audio side, the video side...
At the core though was the opportunity to meet people who had in the past contributed parts for my songs and offered advice in the forums. We would be remiss is we didn't make sure to point out that Jim Foley was 100% in on the concept but had some personal level things come up that prevented him from physically contributing. We all felt his presence as we worked though. In fact I think he stepped on my toe once! And maybe helped keep my dog close by. All in all, I'd do this again without as much as a second thought. Good ol' bunch of good ol' boys!
A. nice job B. looks like a lot of fun C. Nice setting 4. What a Jack a$$ way to end it <grin> (that's all I got)
and lastly, that looked like a lot of fun and nice job.
.. oh, one more thing for the PG web team; add "?rel=0" to the end of the embed link so when it ends it is showing appropriate next videos previews (minus the quotes of course).
Lots of good work crammed into this. Would have been fun to participate.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
p.s. With David's seriously exaggerated speaking accent, I was half-disappointed there wasn't a single "ye-haw!" in there at some point or another
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BBox 2022 Audiophile, Mac Pro Intel, OSX 10.6.8, 800x600 (TV VGA)
"And the Yank who drove, with a trailer and a dog, to escape the snow'. I'm still smiling....
And everyone was in correct uniform. Nice touch.
Great effort, everyone. Y'all should be on stage.
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
It's hard to say how much fun, Floyd. The way the day flowed, the laughter all day long, the comfort level of where we were at... it was all great. This mattered to me personally on a couple of levels. The main one is that this kind of event is the kind of thing I have to force myself to attend. I deal with PTSD, and Bud may weigh in here to note that PTSD can manifest itself in many ways. With me it has affected me in a way that I am always "on guard". I am not comfortable in crowds, so I don't go to concerts, movies, bars... When I do make myself go to a bar to see a songwriter, I stay one set and leave because being in even small crowds make me nervous and anxious. I am an extreme loner who, at almost 71, has a grand total of 4 people I feel correct to call friend. With these guys it was different. THESE guys... I was comfortable and at ease all day. The personalities involved, while varied, were such that I was not the least bit uncomfortable. Herb was an extremely gracious host. Charlie is funny as hell. Dave is both bombastic and gregarious. Pat, an introvert like me, was wide open and also very funny. It truly felt like a group I have known my whole life. I was truly grateful to be involved in this from the personal level as much as the musical level.
The song flowed from everybody and it was collaboration in the purest form. Herb did a large part of the writing. Dave added some tweaks. I put in the part about being the one who escaped winter and driving from Ohio. Charlie's scene in the rocking chair was great. It was like sitting at grandpa's knee learning about life.
.... I put in the part about being the one who escaped winter and driving from Ohio.
Eddie, was that you? I never would have guessed
Ha Ha, a great collaboration. Herb provided the perfect setting (thanks), and you guys all landed on your feet (and in uniform, so some planning was clearly involved).
Top show. No question.
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 put in the part about being the one who escaped winter and driving from Ohio.
Eddie, was that you? I never would have guessed
Ha Ha, a great collaboration. Herb provided the perfect setting (thanks), and you guys all landed on your feet (and in uniform, so some planning was clearly involved).
Top show. No question.
I had no clue on the tshirts. I believe it was charlie who did that and didn't tell anyone what he was planning. The only planning was on the date and approximate time and that we were going to do a song and video it.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
What a fine idea; the good feelings and fun come through and you guys made a cool song. I really enjoyed this...with a cameo for the mule and way less infighting than Get Back!
with a cameo for the mule and way less infighting than Get Back!
The donkey was extremely cool, like I wanted to go into the pen and hug her!!
When I did that last part of the video, I moved the donkey's head bob tick by tick to get the head bob perfectly on time with that last snare flam, as if it was her nod of approval. That kind of explains my level of OCD and my extremely wry sense of humor. I spent 30 minutes moving that section of video back and forth until I felt it was just right.
That day was the most fun I have had in a long time. And it was doubly cool because it was productive as well.
Good times and fun project! I am yet to hear mixed version David posted.
Glad you done a brief BIAB walkthrough, surely can help some to understand the workflow. And a boy from the north didn't get beat up... Thank you for sharing.
Loved this. Looks like you sure had allot of fun. Pretty cool with the virtual community can get together face to face. Especially with all the covid isolation we have experienced. Well done guys..
The video is a hoot! Did y’all properly train Eddie so that he now has our Southern drawl too?
It is obvious that y’all had a very good time together and we too are very thankful to PG Music for so many friendships we have made over the last 10 years.
The BiaB Allstars band did great with performance, production and mix on the videography and the song.
Enjoyed it y’all!
J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos are here on our website.
Did y’all properly train Eddie so that he now has our Southern drawl too?
Well heck fire, Bubba. Those good ol' boys had me in search of barbecue and cornbread before the day was over. And honey hush, the vittles was great! Wheeeee, doggies it was!
Clearly they immediately thought you were one of theirs. "He's a cool dude, that Eddie guy."
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
That’s fabulous! What a great collaboration - leading to a great song and performances. I loved it all. The song, arrangements, vocals, guitars and videography. The video is a great resource for others to see the process from start to finish.
Well done, and we look forward to the next HERBSTOCK!
Awesome end product guys! I really like what you did with the song, the assorted footage and the video editing!
I apologize for leaving the party so soon... it's been a hectic year for me so far. I've been traveling pretty much the whole time since leaving immediately after we recorded the backup vocals scene. I just got home a few days ago.. this is the first time I've seen the finished video... hats off to everybody who made an active contribution to the project! It was very gracious of you to keep me in the video considering how little I contributed. Thanks for that!
If there is in fact a HERBSTOCK 2 next year, count me in! Next time I'll make it a point not to schedule my time so tightly that I can't stay for more than 2 hours!
And to any other forum members who might find such a meeting enjoyable: I strongly recommend that you take time to come to HERBSTOCK 2 if you can. None of us are getting any younger. What's possible now might not be possible later.
I have to start lining up a jumbo sleeping bag, air mattress and tent NOW!!
From Herbfest to Herbstock in one year! The late Michael Lang would be proud! He did Woodstock. We do Herbstock!!
Looking at the "distance circle" we could probably see as many as about 8-10 more people.
As far as the video Pat, you contributed, you get some face time!! I even got my dog into it and he did nothing but lay around all day!
I think Herbstock, maybe with a little stage area near the firepit, with Charlie's small PA, would be a BLAST!!! Now THAT video, wow! I'd actually buy another Canon video camera like the one I have now to have one fixed and one moving cam. Plus drone footage... YEAH!!
I think we will need a lot more security for the next event.
Herb could probably handle a large part of the threat assessment and response with what he already has, but it looks like we might need to call in for reinforcements if we have more than the expected number of pup tents and hippies on the premises.
David Snyder Songwriter/Renaissance Man Studio + Fingers
Everybody I have contacted from the original Woodstock is dead! I wanted Hendrix to do the National Anthem. I wanted Janis Joplin to sing Bobby McGee. Paul Butterfield to play some blues. Jerry Garcia to do some slide work...
Plus we need to get Herb to sign off on bringing in all the dirt to make a hill for the mud slide. That may be a union thing...
Life might be hard. What i seen there is what life is all about, taking trips meeting friends, playing music & writing songs. In this video life is good. Thanks for sharing!
That pic was from about 2015 which I believe was the last year I played the reunion shows with that particular band. Then I "cartoonized" the pic, to match my cartoon like playing.
Do we have any drummers here? We could use one for the backline at Herbstock.
Well, I came upon a child of God He was walking along the road And I asked him, "Tell me, where are you going?" And this he told me Said, "I'm going down to Hartley's Farm Gonna join in a rock 'n' roll band Got to get back to the land Set my soul free"
We are stardust, we are golden And we all use our PG software And we're glad we've got our forums Where we can all share
Well, then can I walk beside you? I have come to lose the smog And I feel myself a cog In somethin' turning And maybe it's the time of year Yes, and maybe it's the time of man And I don't know who I am But life is for learning
We are stardust, we are golden And we all use our PG software And we're glad we've got our forums Where we can all share
By the time we got to Herbstock We were 'bout a dozen strong And everywhere was a song And a celebration
And I dreamed I saw a tiny drone Over where the critters stay Shooting footage for a film To remember the day by
We are stardust, we are golden And we all use our PG software And we're glad we've got our forums Where we can all share
My late son (died in a motorcycle accident in '85) had a saying he uttered quite often:
There's lots of things I've said and done But I ain't ever had too much fun!
This video epitomizes that saying. Well done and good to see ya'll live. Thanks for letting us in on the good time! Ya'll some pretty cool and talented dudes!
Too Much Fun is an interesting song. Daryle Singletary released a song by that name in 1995, but I remember it more as a Commander Cody song from the 70s that Bill Kirchen wrote. THAT version I have played more times than I can count, and that's a motto many people live by. You son, based on the date of his unfortunate passing, had to have known the Commander Cody song, so we know he had good taste in music!!
Bill Kirchen was a great player, mindful of "The Telemaster", Danny Gatton.
And yep, that day was way too much fun. Join us next year for Herbstock and you can get in on the fun in person!!
Cheryle Anne, come on up to Herbstock. It's a bit of a drive for you, but we have people coming from 12 hours away. And remember people drove across the country in 1969 for Woodstock and the infamous Altamont Free concert.
So any reports on Woodstock II, which I believe was called "Herbstock" in honor of a child who was on stage at Woodstock and tried to take the guitar away from Jimi, but who now lives in seclusion in the woods of North Carolina.
I hear Jimi may have made an appearance and some great music was made.
And they chanted the praises of BIAB late into the night like ancient Druids of yore.
What happened?
Are the "Rites of April" now a thing, a social movement??
David Snyder Songwriter/Renaissance Man Studio + Fingers
David: Little in life more rewarding than assembling three or four talented kids from the church into a musical group. When the time is right, bring in a seasoned group of musicians to add the professional product in a stage presentation. You know they are going to take that experience with them after HS graduation & the rest of their life & knowing we played a part in that.
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.
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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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
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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!
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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!
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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.
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