PG Music Home Forums PG Music Product Forums Band-in-a-Box for Windows Make RealTrack more versatile?

I have a question. Let's use guitar as an example.
RT: 3182

I like the strumming of this guitar very much. I use it often. But it will be boring if I keep strumming. Is there any way to make 3182 have some changes. Make the whole music more rhythmic?
Sudden pause? I don't think it's good.
Or find a guitar similar to 3182, play it at the same time, use F5 or multi-track mute, and then suddenly appear in some sections, but I think this is also very difficult.

I also tried to do some interleaving cooperation with NI guitar. However, the tone changes too much and it doesn't sound good.

When you encounter this problem, how do you solve it?

I remember doing that, but I did it in the DAW with 2 tracks with different guitars and used the volume automation lanes to reverse on the other track. I tried to get that in Biab but it's not there yet
You can also make up a UserTrack of the two or more RealTracks playing.
You can also do with electric Direct Input guitars, just use the same FX for both.
Maybe you could get Biab to intelligently mix the tracks chosen tracks while generating.

Here's some easy methods to quickly increase dynamics, groove, rhythm and keep the song from being boring.

Here's ways to quickly change the arrangement of a song in BIAB:
1) Search and display a list of Styles that use RT3182

2) Audition Styles from the list of Styles that use RT3182

3) Convert your song into a MultiStyle song using Styles from the list of Styles that use RT3182

4)Modify and customize the new MultiStyle song as desired

5) A quick and easy arrangement modification on the RT3182 Track in the Mixer, open the RealTrack Medley Maker tool where you can use any of the 4,099 RealTracks to mix and replace RT3182 to play in different preset patterns.

You may not understand what I mean.
What I want to say is whether it is possible to have several variation options for each RealGuitar like NI guitar, and then we can make changes in the rhythm of the details in the paragraphs. I can control it.

babymusic. Your screenshot is a perfect display of a MultiStyle in BIAB.


<< What I want to say is whether it is possible to have several variation options for each RealGuitar like NI guitar >>

Yes it's possible and the fact of the matter, it appears BIAB is considerably more versatile than NI and will be a real instrument played by a real session player.
RT3182 is used in 19 Styles that can be mixed and matched in any order of any measure of an SGU file. Repeated as desired and 100% modifiable by the user compared to the 4 pattern variations in the NI display above.

This is what I'm talking about:
https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=799196

https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=801973#Post801973

hello.
RT3182 is used in 19 music styles, and the music style has changed.
But RT3182 has not changed. How to make RT3182 change, this is my question.

Music style change and RT3182 change are not the same thing.

<< But RT3182 has not changed. How to make RT3182 change, this is my question.

Music style change and RT3182 change are not the same thing.>>

RT 3182 has changed. What the session musician has recorded for PG Music isn't a single strumming pattern for all of the music he recorded that became the audio data in the RealTracks folder. He recorded many different strumming patterns, chord changes, chord progressions so that he- the musician, can play the same instrument, which can be used and sound correct and match the playing style of many different genres of music.
By changing MultiStyles, not only will his playing vary, but the playing style surrounding his playing and even some instruments will change which will vary the dynamics, rhythm, tempo, key, feel and groove of the music as a total.

That is to say, the BIAB program is currently unable to do so.

But according to your changes, wouldn't everything have changed?

Or, would you be willing to make a video?

<< But according to your changes, wouldn't everything have changed? >>

In the example I gave, yes, it's possible some of the 19 Styles would change everything other than RT3182. But understand that RT3182 is the same instrument being played by the same session musician while sounding completely different in one of these Styles than it sounds in the current Style you are using.

BIAB doesn't play the same patterns over the same as NI guitar does. RT3182 has hundreds of variations recorded for many different genres of music. There also may be a RealTrack recording of that same instrument being played by that same session musician in a fingerpick style, a crosspick style or even a soloist. BIAB can access all of those different recordings in a single SGU file and on a single track.

As noted, all of these different instruments can be loaded onto a single track and mixed/ matched, rotated between all of the varied instruments to make a completely unique interleaved performance track.

I said a long time ago rather than have instrument name "26 Acoustic Guitar", "28 Clean Electric Guitar" etc.. to name them the actual instrument "Fender Strat" etc.. they are recorded Direct Input so you can add any FX you like and no matter what style/pattern playing you use it will fit with the same tone where you have changes on the track same as you can change patterns seamlessly with NI Session Guitar.

I will add not only what guitar was used but also what pickup(s) as each pickup and combination of pickups will change the guitar's tone.

I'm going to try to clarify something, knowing I'll be wrong or misunderstood, or likely both...

RT3182 is Quinn Bachard playing acoustic rhythm guitar in a "grunge" style with an even feel at 90 BPM. He changes up his playing a bit, and he'll do shots and holds, but there's not a LOT of variation. I *believe* this is true for all styles that use RT3182.

If you filter the RT picker by "Bachard" and sort by tempo, you can see that Quinn also plays several other acoustic guitars with an even feel at around 90 BPM. These would good candidates to audition for a suitable change of pace from RT3182. For example, RT3708 is Quinn playing acoustic rhythm guitar in a "90s" style with an even feel at 90 BPM. Others by Quinn include fingerstyle acoustic guitar. Acoustic guitars by other-than-Quinn might also be suitable if you filter by "guitar, acoustic" instead of "Bachard".

Just my two cents.

As noted, in that one example, the Style changes would possibly change everything, but that is a simple example without any relation to a real project. If a project only needed to effect the RT3182, then that can be accomplished in BIAB.

I don't normally do videos but this would be a good subject to consider. I'll look into the possibility.

Thank you for sharing.
These are some search tips in BIAB.
This is the experience of an old BIAB user. For a new user or a non-native English speaker, it may have a big impact.
I will try your method. But I think it will take a lot of time to search and listen.

In addition, I can think that in order to achieve some changes, let multiple guitars go together, mute this one, play that one, change some in the right position, and be comfortable, this requires some luck to complete.

Because when naming RT, BIAB may consider search more, so it is like this.
The biggest problem at present is that it is difficult to quickly select some similar groups that can be interspersed with each other. This is very difficult. This is determined by the BIAB software itself.


NI guitars can do this quickly, but the sound is completely different from BIAB guitars.

We can learn from Ni Guitars and apply this to future RTs then we could do this in Biab, change the same guitar to another pattern/style, either manually or Biab could do it. Then if you search "Fender Strat" it will show all patterns/styles that can be used on the same track, even switching from solo to rhythm.
I remember changing a strumming guitar to finger picking in sections.

I think BIAB has created a lot of valuable REALTRACK, but it has not been really used well. There are hundreds of GB of RT content on the hard drive, but it cannot be quickly found and flexibly used. This is a sad story.

<< The biggest problem at present is that it is difficult to quickly select some similar groups that can be interspersed with each other. This is very difficult. >>

<<< I think BIAB has created a lot of valuable REALTRACK, but it has not been really used well. There are hundreds of GB of RT content on the hard drive, but it cannot be quickly found and flexibly used. This is a sad story. >>>

This is incorrect. There are many different search tools and techniques that are unique to BIAB and can't be learned from a DAW or Midi Software program because they do not function the same as BIAB.

Here's an example how to find the 206 RealTracks (26 Guitar) by Quinn Bachand, narrow the search to the 12 string guitar RT's, load all 18 of the 12 string guitars on two tracks and audition each in order for three bars of the current Chord Chart. This allows the listener to hear each of these instruments played independently in sequential order over a 32 bar Song.

Note that the RealTrack Picker and the RT Medley Maker's rows line up so the user can easily see and input the RealTrack numbers.

So, are we making music? Or are we searching for music?

How long do you spend listening to hundreds of search results each time you make music?

After listening to them, do you still have the mood to make music?

Faced with thousands or hundreds of search results, I believe that few people in the world would click to listen.

This might help the problem:
Random Instrument & Drum Picker
Random Style Picker Tool

[quote=musocity][/quote]

You are a genius. You should be invited to join the BIAB team！

Oooo this is going to be very good for practicing improv over a track with random styles thrown at me. Who knew?!?!?!

<< So, are we making music? Or are we searching for music? >>

Neither. I answered the question for this post "Make RealTrack more versatile?"

My response is about auditioning a RealTrack instrument in all the various ways it was recorded for PG Music. I made an example where once the RealTracks have been loaded into BIAB, this process 'auditions' 18 Quinn Bachard 12 string acoustic guitar RealTracks over a chord progression. Once the RealTracks are loaded, playing the SGU file allows the user to hear all 18 of these instruments in one minute to aid in the selection of one or more of these instruments to use in what in most cases is a BIAB music project that has already been chosen by the user.

<< How long do you spend listening to hundreds of search results each time you make music? >>

I'm able to use BIAB search tools in a way that always reduces the search results to less than 100. Most searches are less than two minutes. There's 11,929 Styles and 4,099 RealTrack instruments in my version of BIAB. I never start a search with either of those numbers.

<<After listening to them, do you still have the mood to make music? >>

Always


<< Faced with thousands or hundreds of search results, I believe that few people in the world would click to listen >>

The 'audition' SGU file is 18 instruments playing over a one minute period.

BIAB has many options and tools, categories and ways to search that can produce reasonable and manageable search results.

Are you claiming that a single RT, 3182, has different strumming patterns/riffs that are only exposed in certain RealStyles? So, changing the style that contains RT 3182 to a different style that also contains RT 3182 will cause RT 3182 to play differently? If that is your claim can you provide a simple SGU that demonstrates this and shows that RT 3182 actually changes based on the style it is used in?

This has always been my understanding too. But Charlie appears to be claiming that RT 3182 changes based on the style it is used in. If that is correct that could be quite interesting as an option to change up an RT.

No, I'm not claiming that. That would require having recorded music that specifically did that. My statement intent is the same as how you and DC Ron understand it. RealTracks vary and are not repeating patterns similar to c7 midi patterns on a keyboard which is how I interpreted babymusic saying the strumming is boring and the same.

How will RT3182 sound "completely different" in a different style? RT3182 will sound exactly the same because it did not change! The overall mix will sound different of course but RT3182 will not.

I just ran a test* of regenerating this RT on a track and at most I heard just a handful of variations and most of these were pretty subtle. Some of them sounded a bit "off" in how they were played or how they were recorded, like they didn't quite match the previous and following bar (I have seen this a lot with BIAB over the years.) I certainly didn't hear "hundreds of variations" so I'd have to say the NI guitars, with their limited sets of patterns, would compare quite favorably especially since you can mix pattern sets in NI using the same guitar. On the other hand, the RT 3182 sounded more human to me, maybe because of the issues I heard?

* Test was done in 6 different keys using all chords of that key. Song was 16 bars and was regenerated approximately 20 times in each key.

I agree with you 100%! Many forum members have requested better search tools.

One request I made some time ago (that was pretty much ignored) was for PGM to curate the vast collection of RealStyles into sets that play nicely together in a song to give it some dynamics without sounding like a completely different song just started! The A and B sections is a nice option but often it changes very little. And, before someone jumps in and starts promoting multistyles, there are far too few of these to properly resolve this issue.

1) RealTrack = recorded bits of a specific instrument
2) RealStyle = professionally curated collection of RealTracks that sound good together
3) RealSong = professionally curated collection of RealStyles that sound good together and provide dynamics/variety

#1 and #2 exist and are fantastic! How about adding #3 as well? It helps BIAB users AND provides something else for PGM to sell!

I have to add that, while I really truly appreciate when expert users offer work-arounds, these are often complex or require installing additional programs so they often do not provide resolution to the reported issue for regular users.

FWIW: A number of MIDI guitar strum programs have the same or similar capabilities as NI. You can achieve similar results with either BiaB's MIDI tracks and/or converting RTs into MIDI, that is if you have the software to convert polyphonic audio to MIDI. That and choosing a good MIDI guitar sound source can sound great. To make it more human some humanizing and maybe some CCs will work, not to mention that you can easily edit MIDI tracks.

Using different RTs that are similar or switching from strum to picked, and back at A and B markers, using playable RT methods can do a lot. It really does not matter whether you use Midi or RTs or create your own User tracks you are going to have to use ingenuity and creativity to make them sound like you want and get a "real" track. These are just tools and like a hammer and a screwdriver it is the skill of the craftsman that make the finished project sound great.

I disagree with babymusic's sad story that RealTrack content cannot be quickly found. Everyone may know this, but it's not been mentioned. If you know it, fine. But if you haven't tried it, you may find it to be useful. I use it and it's easy to organize RealTracks into manageable searches.

To summarize. RealTracks are grouped into sets. There are currently 467 sets. The sets are organized into specific genre and styles. Searching by these sets, search results produce instruments and styles that work together nicely. I've posted screenshots of search results for a 'Country Ballad" with 'Solo' instrument.

All 467 RT sets can be found in a list in the What add-ons do I have Window. All 467 RT Sets are listed, described and can be auditioned solo'd or in a band (Style) from the top of every forum page by clicking on Band-in-a-Box Windows icon and the RealTracks icon to open the RealTracks Set page.

On the RealTracks Sets Page, each RT set has a video link to a short demo of the RealTracks playing with a Style that is named and described . Each instrument is also identified.

In the MultiPicker with RealTracks selected, Click on the # button and select RealTracks Sets in this Range. For the 'Country Ballad' set, enter 2 for that set.

MultiPicker results display six RT's used in that set. 3 acoustic guitars, electric guitar, Pedal Steel, and bass.

Searching for a country solo, RealTrack set 350 is a RealTrack set dedicated to Country Ballad solos in with two RealTracks recorded at different tempos.

There are five other blocks of sets in the What add-ons do I have Window that can be used to launch searches broken into manageable groups.

I think there are three problems with BIAB's RealTrack.

1: It's hard to search for matches

2: It's very inconvenient to switch

3: It's not modern


I will keep my BIAB, but open bbw64.exe less and less often.

Charlie, thank you for this in depth explanation with images. That will be helpful to me gaining better understanding of the system. I appreciate the time you took to post it.

The image you provided showing clicking on the "#" button and then picking a RealTrack SET (or range of sets) was brilliant. I just had gone through a PGM chat and they did not know that this feature was the way to filter specifically for everything included in a SET. Another brilliant tip from you!

Well, I sometimes disagree with Charlie Fogle's rose-colored-glasses view of BIAB in many of his responses to wishlist & improvement suggestions!

Not sure what you are saying about the add-ons window as there is no searching or linkage there to anything I can see.

So, we should leave BIAB and use the PGM website to find RealTracks? Again, no searching feature there, just an enormous list that is handy to have but doesn't really make searching much easier.

If I'm seeking compatible RTs for my chosen style how does this help me do that? I would already know which RTs are included in my chosen style.

I don't follow how you got here!

Again, referencing useful screen with info but no facility to "launch searches" that I can see.


Charlie, you seem to have a deep understanding of BIAB and your detailed explanations are interesting and often quite helpful. Where I think you might be a little light is in understanding that many (most?) of us do not have nor want that deep level of understanding. And instead we are looking for a quick way to find stuff and get on with the music. I have studied and designed GUIs and one of the key points there is if a user must learn and remember or look up a complex set instructions in order to accomplish a task that GUI has failed. I feel this is a similar situation. There is a good reason tech books have both a table of contents AND an index even though you could make a seemingly reasonable case that only the TOC is really necessary!

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to try and explain things and I apologize if I am just being dense and not seeing this as the solution to the OP's original request.

I'm fine with disagreement. We all have different workflows and use BIAB in many different ways. Disagree but remain civil as you always do. Nothing I post about a BIAB process should be taken personally. It's about the program not the person.

The Add-ons Window is simply a place where all 467 RT sets are listed in an easy to reach place from anywhere a person is in the BIAB program.
The Add-ons Window provides the numbers necessary to launch a detailed search confined to limited parameters.

Once you know a specific set to search, opening the MultiPicker Library focused on the RealTracks tab, clicking on the # button opens a dialog where you can search by RealTrack set ranges.

RealTrack sets are grouped and sold separately by PG Music as RealPaks.
There are 21 RealPak sets, each selling for $79. Glancing at the Add-ons Page confirms if a particular range of RealTracks are included in your BIAB package or not.

As an example, RealPak Country 1 contains 14 RealTracks Sets with 87 styles added to the purchasers BIAB program. On the PG Music RealTracks page you can access from any page in the forum, you can read the details of the RealPak and also watch a 15 minute video to hear and see demos of all the RealTrack sets and 87 Styles. All 21 RealPak packages are set up the same way. A longtime user like myself and many others, I likely already own these RealTrack sets. I can quickly verify if I do or not by glancing at the Add-ons page. These RealPaks are self-contained search engines for Styles and RealTracks. The same can be said for Bonus Paks, 49 Paks, Xtra Styles, XPro Paks, etc.

My current BIAB version has 11,929 Styles and 4,099 RealTracks. I never begin a search with those numbers. I've found or developed methods to use the Paks listed and other similar tools that allows me to search in groups limiting genres, instruments and styles guiding me quickly to finding what I need. Rarely does a search extend beyond 2-3 minutes. My earlier post was to share my technique in hopes it would help others the same as its benefited me.

<< If I'm seeking compatible RTs for my chosen style how does this help me do that? I would already know which RTs are included in my chosen style. >>

BIAB has search parameters to look for similar styles to the current style. Using this search is a good method to almost immediately find compatible RT's. Create a list of similar styles to use as a search. All of the similar styles will have 4-5 compatible RealTracks that are different from the RT's in the current chosen style. This search is particularly good for finding a compatible soloist. This is limited and precise result of styles that are similar to your current style. Why not search these styles first for compatible RealTracks rather than start a RealTrack search of 4,099 RealTracks? Overwhelmingly, I normally find my best style, best additional and compatible RealTracks, SuperMidi instruments to add or substitute and any soloist or soloist replacement within minutes from my first target search.

I personally think a collection of styles and RealTracks that have been put together into RealPaks by PG Music staff and sells for $79 is a gold mine search engine for a targeted search.

Thanks Moonbeam9067 for your kind words. I appreciate your comment and I'm glad you found the tip useful.

Charlie

I am a person who cannot read English.
I have been learning to use BIAB since 2019.
I am reflecting some of my true feelings.
Maybe what I said is a bit direct, but please understand me.

I understand your point of view. As I said to another person earlier, nothing I post about a BIAB process should be taken personally. It's about the program and processes, not the person. I make RealTracks play more versatile several different ways that may be unique from what any other poster or people reading these posts attempt to make RealTracks more versatile. Many others share your frustration with versatility and searches.

It was noted earlier, there's no search button in the add-ons window. It wasn't designed nor intended as to be used for searches. I wasn't clear in my post that I don't use it to launch searches. The add-ons window is where a huge list of all the RealTracks sets, Midi sets, SuperMidi sets, RealDrums, all of the Xtra, XPro, Bonus, 49- Paks and more are organized and listed in a single convenient place. I use it to identify and determine appropriate PAKs and Sets to launch searches. For instance, the RealTracks PAKs is a huge collection of styles and RealTracks that PG Music has categorized in different ways and explain each package, created demos, and videos broken down into 21 Paks. I see these PAKs as sort of an All-Star collection of what PG Music thinks to be the best of the best out of all 11,929 styles and 4,099 RealTracks. So I study and learn about these PAKs and return to them to launch searches for my projects. I don't know of anyone else that does this. I shared it here and some may benefit from the technique, others may not. It's posted for those that may benefit. I'm aware there's many people that struggle for hours searching RealTracks and Styles. Many see this as a GUI failure and they feel the solution is a technical issue. That may be true, I don't code so I don't know. My approach is to use what I'm given. I see the add-ons as an Index and the RealTracks page as a TOC/summary to launch searches and its been an effective tool for me.

I want to tell you my true situation. I hope I don't offend anyone.

I have been using BIAB for almost 6 years now. But it is still difficult to use it every time. I have recorded a lot of RT numbers, but I have to look through them every time. Every time is a new beginning.

I have been using NI session guitar for less than a month, but I am very familiar with it. I can remember the name, I can find it quickly, use it quickly, and use it quickly. The process of using it is very happy. There is a feeling of excitement. The most important thing is that the rhythm of NI session guitar is very modern. Simple patchwork feels very modern, and it feels like a chart song. The taste is right.

This is my true feeling. It may really have something to do with the design itself.

I will continue to keep my BIAB updated, because BIAB also has some characteristics of its own.
But I will use NI session guitar more to add guitar parts to my music.

The first thing I do when I wake up every day is to try out some music with STUDIO ONE and NI session guitar. Different arrangements of chord input notes and different Voicing will produce different strums and arpeggios. All kinds of fresh patterns make me addicted.

This an example in UserTrack format how RealTracks can work

This is just piecing together Quinn Bachand Acoustic Guitar of different styles
RT3182-Style.mp3

Whoa, as a newbie, I found this really interesting. I listened to the mp3 file and was somewhat blown away by the variations. What I don't understand is with picking a RealTrack, how did you make different variations of strumming at different times? Obviously I know squat about this. Is it appropriate for me to ask this here? Does this happen inside BIAB on the chord sheets or does it have to be done somehow in a DAW. Maybe there is even a video on this? Thanks for posting that audio file!

These are all the tracks, same artist same guitar, you can use volume automation to bring each track in at different bars/beats,
you could put the instrument changes all on one track, but with volume automation it's easier.

The issue with volume automation in Biab is you can only do it in the Audio Edit window, there is No Snapping, and the points are too big.

You say these are all the same guitar. The list says 26 acoustic guitar, but shows other instruments. I do see that it is the same player. How do you know these tracks you have chosen are the same guitar? (see image).

Musocity is on the right track. There's several ways to do this in BIAB without needing the Audio Edit Window or external DAW.

Here's one method that works really well. See the attached screenshots.

The first screenshot below is the nine guitars Musocity has loaded in his demonstration. The second screenshot is those same nine guitars loaded onto a single Mixer Track like he also mentioned. They are programmed to play sequentially every two bars. So, every third bar, the guitar 3 Track will change to another of the nine similar guitars. BIAB's algorithm knows these instrument changes will be occurring and will select appropriate phrases to end the first instrument and appropriate phase for the beginning instrument. Note in the Medley Maker Window, the user can volume balance the instruments as well as pan each of them if desired. Also notice the dropdown window that allows the user to select when and how the nine guitars rotate in the song.

You could also also change between the nine guitars using the same track by converting the song into a MultiStyle or a third way would be to do it on a bar by bar basis using the Bar Settings Window.

You need to use your ear, that is how PG name things "26 acoustic guitar" that's why I said it needs to be named by the actual instrument "Gibson Acoustic" "Fender Stat", chances are if you go by the artist name they use the same guitar.
Using Direct Input guitars are going to blend a lot better as it's all using the same FX you insert, than using the same non DI Electric Guitar with different FX.

In the DAW I can see all automation at the one time, what comes in where

I hope you can save those MultiStyle RealTracks as a preset and don't have to set it up each time ?
You want an option to be able to change at chord changes.

Yes. You can save the file as a MultiStyle. It can either be song specific or a StylePicker Style.

The changes can be made anywhere desired. They can be manually entered or set to change at specified number of bars, chorus or Part Markers. All of the instruments in the Medley Maker can be volume balanced so they all play at the same level.

Every track has the availability of its own Medley Maker settings. So every track can have up to 10 additional tracks in a sub-mixer configuration. It's also user selectable to have all of the instruments play simultaneously or sequentially.

The Medley Maker can be used to widen the stereo field by doubling a guitar and panning one hard left and the other hard right. You could load two or more instruments like similar guitars as you did in your example and use the four available Plug-in slots to add effects to all the instruments at once. Similar to bussing to an Fx bus in a DAW.

This is what BIAB officials should do. Let users call similar RT instruments more conveniently.

It needs to be quick and easy to do, Drag n Drop would do it:
As you drag n drop a RealTrack from the picker into the Biab timeline it will go in as 1 bar
This can be copied, moved or resized
You can play/preview it in the chord position
You can Regenerate
You can set the color of the item for a quick visual to see where it repeats on the timeline
You can adjust the volume for one section of a RealTrack or adjust the same for all occurrences of that RealTrack.

These are movable segments representing the RealTracks, Biab will generate the track accordingly:

You are essentially demonstrating a MultiStyle on a DAW timeline. BIAB has had the capability to do everything in your list in this post for years.

With a MultiStyle if the user wants RT#3181 on bar 5 to also be on bar 21 simply requires clicking the appropriate Part Marker in bar 21 for RT#3181.
This can be replicated as many times as desired on the Chord Sheet and previewed.
Newer versions of BIAB has Partial Regeneration
Part Markers are Colored and can contain letters and numbers. Plus the Chord Sheet has Section Text
Users can adjust the volume for one section of a RealTrack or adjust the same for all occurrences of that RealTrack
BIAB generates the track according to the user input Chord Chart settings, style, tempo and Key

The attached screenshots are a PG Music pre-made MultiStyle demo using 16 substyles that can be placed on any bar. Every substyle can be repeated as many times as a user wants on the Chord Sheet.

MultiStyles are completely modifiable so it is quick and easy to replicate using all of the RealTracks used in your demonstration so the MultiStyle only affects the RealTracks and the Style would otherwise remain unchanged. The limitation of MultiStyles is user imagination and applying what's needed for a project.

FWIW, "26 acoustic guitar (steel)" is the GM instrument definition for instrument patch #26, so that's where the definition comes from. PGM are just saying it's a steel-strung acoustic guitar, nothing more than that. They may/could/should put more detail in the notes.

The current way in Biab with dialogs and entering values is based on the DOS days where things involved entering amounts with the keyboard in dialogs. You need an easy way to visually do things, that's why we got "Windows" and a mouse. You can adjust visually to the bar or beat. Change sections instantly. This gives an instant visual representation with the instrument name also.
Like Loops you need to go into dialogs rather than just drag n drop into the timeline where you want it.
Even now with drag n drop audio import it brings up a dialog, I don't want to type in where I want it to go.

From the old DOS midi days, now it's "Look Ma no Midi" real instruments need real names so when you search it will show all the same instrument that will match in tone.

I do often wonder just how long some of the stuff is BiaB actually goes back. Certainly some of the companion programs look like VGA or Win3.1, presumably in some kind of wrappper.

"26 Acoustic Guitar", even with the musician's name still doesn't really tell nearly as much as it should. There definitely should(*) be infomation there somewhere about the make/model of guitar.

(*) "Should", unfortunately means virtually nothing. Implementors can simply choose to ignore it.

After reading all of this post I have realized that BIAB is definitely a very strange program from a modern software perspective. I take it from your all's comments that it has been built up and layered from an ancient base and has never had a complete modern makeover as far as function, labeling, GUI etc. How unusual in the modern software universe. I am going to postulate that a complete makeover to bring everything up to modern standards would be very expensive and involve a huge investment of time. Has PGM given any feedback on their orientation on this topic? Not criticizing - just asking.

Pretty much spot on!

Nothing that would convince me they are seriously considering it. My impression is this software was someone's cool hobby project that they turned into a business but never refactored the code and just kept adding on stuff. Occasionally the added stuff is pure brilliance like RealTracks and partial regeneration. But often the upgrades are just glittery baubles that seem more like marketing nuggets than truly useful additions. And the program suffers from this bolt-on-another-new-feature syndrome. Old bugs remain, sometimes forever and new ones come up with every upgrade.

I don't mean to sound too negative because, with the RealTracks feature, BIAB is truly brilliant and incredibly helpful for creating music! Nothing out there can match it (yet!)

So, while I might complain a little (a lot?) I have happily sent PGM $300+ every upgrade cycle for the past 12+ years!

The current way in BIAB may be based on DOS, but how tracks are generated and how to make a RealTrack more versatile in a song project isn't dependent on the type of software the program was developed in. What matters are the tools, techniques and processes in the software used to make RealTracks more versatile. A visible waveform has no function or value in the generation of a RealTrack. It's a post generation editing feature.

The recent screenshot you posted would influence the quality of the track generation if the generation occurs in RealBand, the Stand Alone Plug-in, or the VST Plug-in compared to those RealTracks being generated in the main BIAB program using MultiStyles.

In my earlier post, in the attached images, that MultiStyle has 16 Substyles but only uses one of each a)-b) sub-styles of each main style. Simply clicking on every other Part Marker doubles the sub-style in that SGU from nine to seventeen. (end has a Part Marker)
The software being based on DOS is irrelevant to the audio produced.

Manually comping 25 bars of a single track with multiple instruments may be quick and easy in that simple demonstration posted, but manually comping multiple tracks and multiple instruments across multiple styles, it's a massive failure. Plus, in this screenshot attached to this post, The instruments and sub-styles were doubled in seconds which would further complicate manually attempting to reconstruct this MultiStyle demo in another program other than BIAB.

"The recent screenshot you posted would influence the quality of the track generation if the generation occurs in RealBand"
Biab is becoming a DAW because RealBand was too slow at generating (main issue why it was not popular), I was on RealBand for years trying to improve it as I did not use Biab because you had to type in everything you wanted it to do, you could not see the tracks.
Either users want the old Biab auto accompaniment on stage or they want to use it to create up tracks and work like a DAW.
I think the horse has bolted and it can only go one way from here.
My main focus in the BB Plugin/ Standalone as I can see all the limitations of Biab RealBand going into the future, I don't think things can last the way it's going with 6mths Win 6mths Mac, it needs to be true crossplatform eventually, RealBand is Win only, the future of PG is having a Linux and iPad version as well as Win Mac all released at the same time, but for now it will keep going how it's going for a while longer. See while we are doing this here with BB25, the Mac users are still waiting but there is zero concern because we got it already. Do we look at what's best for I, Me or what's best for us all and work for that ?

Typing in numbers BB2009, users can go back to these versions and they will still work in a less DAW way.