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How do I know which RealTracks are Playable? Are the Playable RealTracks available in Real Band?

The manual states: This means you can get the RealTracks to play the notes you want at key parts of the performance, either augmenting or replacing what the RealTracks is playing, for the section you want to change.

Does this mean that I can have the MIDI notes in unison with the sound-alike RealTrack notes? I'm thinking, for example, of inputting the chords to my song, then going into the bass part RealTrack, and then being able to pick which notes of this part that I want to edit, leaving the root notes that work as RealTracks, but then input or otherwise edit the other notes.

Is that at all how Playable RealTracks works?

Last edited by Funkifized; 09/05/22 04:55 PM.

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There is a video on Playable RealTracks that might be helpful to show you the workflow.



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I just found another video here with much more detail:

Playable RealTracks described


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Originally Posted By: AudioTrack
I just found another video here with much more detail:

Playable RealTracks described

Thanks... I found this video very helpful, in spite of the continuously, distracting, superfluous mouse movements.
I see this as a very powerful and useful feature.

but back to one of the OP's questions... "How do I know which RealTracks are Playable?"
Maybe I missed it in the videos.


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Funkifized,

I do not know of a direct way to determine which RealTracks have a Playable RealTracks association. However, you can open the "Select MIDI SuperTracks" window to indirectly determine the association. That is because the audio samples used to create MIDI SuperTracks are also used to create Playable RealTracks.

While what RealTrack was used to create a specific MIDI SuperTrack is not stated, I think it is safe to say that a Bass, Pop Half Notes, Push, Even 085 tempo MIDI SuperTrack played by Byron House likely corresponds to RealTrack # 314, Bass, Pop Half Notes, Push, Even 085 tempo by Byron House.


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"Select MIDI SuperTracks" window.

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Originally Posted By: Jim Fogle

While what RealTrack was used to create a specific MIDI SuperTrack is not stated, I think it is safe to say that a Bass, Pop Half Notes, Push, Even 085 tempo MIDI SuperTrack played by Byron House likely corresponds to RealTrack # 314, Bass, Pop Half Notes, Push, Even 085 tempo by Byron House.

Jim, how did you determine "RealTrack #314..." from your description example?

Last edited by bloc-head; 09/11/22 07:38 AM. Reason: added text

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Bloc Head, I'm glad you asked. It seems my initial response was wrong. I apologize for the error.

I should clearly state my answer is a conjecture, a guess.

The MIDI SuperTrack instrument patch was not sampled from bass RealTrack #314 because there is no RealTrack bass #314. Instead it appears the sample was taken from the acoustic bass used in RealTracks set #314.

I compare the description of the MIDI SuperTracks to the RealTrack descriptions. See the two screen shots below.

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Clipboard01.jpg (566.14 KB, 5 downloads)
RealTracks bass from RealTracks set # 314 highlighted.
Clipboard02.jpg (138.76 KB, 258 downloads)
MIDI SuperTracks descriptions highlighted.

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The answer I got from Support is this: "There isn't a list of the Playable RealTracks, but the closest thing to a list of the RealTracks that are playable will be found by right clicking on a track in your Mixer, then selecting | Select MIDI Instrument (Patch) Select Hi-Q MIDI Patch Plugin | and looking in the list of patches for any patch that says Playable RealTracks."


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Thanks for sharing that feedback, and for marking as 'Resolved', as this can assist others in the future.


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When is the more in-depth vid for Playable Tracks going to come out?


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Originally Posted By: Funkifized
When is the more in-depth vid for Playable Tracks going to come out?

That's a question that only PG Music can answer. Perhaps send an email to their support.


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Originally Posted By: Funkifized
The answer I got from Support is this: "There isn't a list of the Playable RealTracks, but the closest thing to a list of the RealTracks that are playable will be found by right clicking on a track in your Mixer, then selecting | Select MIDI Instrument (Patch) Select Hi-Q MIDI Patch Plugin | and looking in the list of patches for any patch that says Playable RealTracks."
Remind me please, which install was needed for Hi-Q MIDI? Sampletank?


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This is ridiculous. How are we supposed to at all identify what tracks go with what MIDI files for Playable Tracks. I thought that was an answer, but it just leads down another rabbit hole. I'm trying to do a harmonica Playable Real Track, but to no avail.

If PG Music doesn't start paying more attention to their documentation, I'm out.


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You are trying to do a Harmonica Playable Real Track?

In an effort to recreate what I think you are trying to do, just now I added Real Track #626: Harmonica, background Travis EV 085 to the Melody track of my song in BIAB. Generated the track then tried to edit some notes using the Playable Real Tracks capabilities and was successful in doing so. By the way, I like this background harmonica so much I'm going to leave it in the song.

This thread caught my eye because my understanding is all real tracks can be made playable. In working with them, I have not found one yet that can't be made playable. That said, from a workflow perspective, Playable Real Tracks are a great way to make small modifications to what the the Real Tracks artist plays after the track is generated.

For me, identifying which real tracks have corresponding midi patches/files really complicates things because it seems unnecessary when BIAB "knows" what corresponding midi patch to use when I tell it I want those notes to be editable (playable).

Hope this helps.


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Yes, Rocket's comment is correct. The answer is that ALL RealTracks are playable, provided that you have installed (a) Sforzando plugin (which is installed along with the main BB program), (b) HiQ Instruments, and (c) Playable RealTracks.

When you click either the PRT button in the Notation Window, or the "Playable RealTracks" button in the Piano Roll window, Band-in-a-Box will load in the best Playable RealTracks MIDI sample that is currently available. There isn't necessarily a direct one-to-one correspondence between RT and PRT. Some RT's don't have a perfect match, but it gets better over time as more PRT samples are developed.

As support mentioned earlier in the thread, if you want to see a list of HiQ and PRT samples that the feature draws on, you can look at the list of HiQ patches by right-clicking on a MIDI track. You can also look in the Sforzando Plugin Instrument --> Band-in-a-Box Sounds menu, or directly in the folder where they are located (by default):
C:\Program Files\PG Music Inc\Band-in-a-Box Sounds\Programs.


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If all RealTracks are playable, then why have I gotten this answer from Support?: We do not have a list of RealTracks for the Playable RealTracks feature. To be able to enable the Playable RealTracks feature, the RealTrack must first have notation available. To know if a RealTrack has notation or not, first go to the RealTracks Picker. Then look under the Chart column. The "N" means it has notation. Also, "Gt" means that the guitar will display a guitar tab, or if it is a bass then the bass track will display a bass tab.
Then it is a matter of having a Hi-Q instrument that sounds similar to the RealTrack, which is the instructions you had posted in your response.


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That statement isn't correct. It works whether or not the RT has RealCharts. You can still add PRT notes even if there isn't existing notation. Sorry for the confusion. If it DOES have notation it's true that you could edit existing notes / convert them to PRT notes which might be useful in certain cases. As Tobin points out in the video though, the RealCharts aren't necessarily meant to be heard, since they are a transcription rather than what was actually played.

The drop-down menu to the right of the PRT button has a number of useful options - e.g. converting notes to playable, muting RT audio for a region, or choosing a different sample. Also, in that same menu you can see which sample it's using - the ones that start with a number (e.g. '026 xxxxx') are typically ones that use material recorded in the actual RT session. The ones that start with 'HiQ' (e.g. 'HiQ 025 xxxxx') are closest matches that we currently have. Hope this helps.


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So, Chantelle is incorrect? Who are we supposed to believe?


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Originally Posted By: Funkifized
So, Chantelle is incorrect? Who are we supposed to believe?


Both are correct. Midi data is determined by the presence or absence of Real Charts. If a RealTrack instrument has Real Charts, the midi can be used as is, modified or deleted and replaced. If a RealTrack instrument does not have Real Chart Midi, then the user would enter the midi data to be played by the Playable RealTrack.

"The answer is that ALL RealTracks are playable, provided that you have installed (a) Sforzando plugin (which is installed along with the main BB program), (b) HiQ Instruments, and (c) Playable RealTracks."


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