TIPS....WHEN RB MIGHT BE A BETTER ALTERNATIVE VIZ BIAB.
MAJOR FEATURE DIFFERENCES.
(RB = REALBAND, BB = BAND IN A BOX.).

1.INTRO.

the aim of this document is to detail various major feature differences between rb and bb and where imho rb might be a better alternative to use.
reason being new users might be confused by when to use bb and when to use rb. imho this type of document is overdue because from what ive seen over the years...there seems to be confusion, particularly for new users.
(note ive suggested to pg that a video of rb and biab feature differences might be very usefull for new users. because there are many diffs.)

let me start by saying that its important to read the manuals and faq's and view the vids of both biab and rb in order to get the best out of both....and so you compare features.
all of such are on this web site. there are various vids also if one googles etc etc.
NOTE...other rb users feel free to add anything ive omitted...as i know i will probably forget something.
(let me also note for powertracks (ptw) users they might find it usefull too as in concept ptw is rb minus the extensive rb auto accompany and track generation features.)

2.A PERSPECTIVE.

heres how i look at both bb and rb conceptually as to when each might be used.
in the past in recording studios a song often might be created initially as a rough demo as proof of concept...ie...'does this song idea work'.
or 'does this pig fly'...lol.
then, the powers that be, decideing that it does fly...then ok produceing the song....includeing often involving lots of expensive studio hours spent as well as hiring seasoned session musicians....and also sometimes useing very large track counts.
given the above i often look conceptually at bb as my 'song idea scratchpad'.
ie bb when i want to get a rough demo of a song idea down fast and proof of concept of a song idea. eg a rough demo i can show to others for feedback and hopefully unbiased comment.
but i view rb as per the studio example above as the vehicle for full blown production of the song takeing advantage of its many unique features i havent seen in any other music app.
as an aside let me say that i dont view it as a case of bb versus rb ...BUT...
often useing both TOGETHER for the betterment of the song.
its sorta like a marriage where each side has various things to offer.
depending on the situation tho' there are times when ive used only bb or rb.

3. WHERE RB IS HIGHLY USEFULL (A SUMMARY).

..you have a multi-input sound interface and you want to record several tracks AT THE SAME TIME. you can do this in rb. eg a group with 8 members etc.

..you are doing a song with an odd time signature (OTS).... rb is a better solution to try out imho as there are advantages. eg lets say the song is 6/8 ie the denominator is 8 then you will see graphically say in tracks view the 8 divisions in the bar....other time sigs same deal.

..you want to do a 48k sampling rate song...then rb is the vehicle for you.
(see in this tips forum the tip detailing this.).

..you have a need for fractional tempo features eg 120.456 or are dealing with a fractional tempo song...definitely...you should be useing rb.

..you want to do detailed audio and/or midi recording and editing then imho rb is the vehicle to do such. i find such editing easier in rb. and also you can do easily such things as 'oh i like that lick at bars 24 to 32 but want the same at bars 64 to 72' sort of idea. NOTE...in particular get into rb bars view and understand its ability to move chunks around. eg...you can even copy and paste multiple bars of multiple tracks at the same time and track duplication is lovely and quick if say you want a dry track and also a dupe you add fx to in order to experiment. you could even dupe original recorded track to several other tracks for experimentation. eg lets say you wanted bits of a vocal alternating tween left and right speaker. no prob just dupe and edit.

..you need/want lots of tracks to develope the song to try out lots of ideas then rb is the vehicle >>>max 255 audio/midi tracks.
for example multiple take situations.

..you want to build custom unique to you midi drum and/or click tracks.
you can do this useing the rb drum grid editor.
also note you can do 'quickie' drum tracks/clicks in various styles.
you can also use rb features to do crafty drum solos which might not be immediately apparent.
(as you delve into rb you'll find all sorts of crafty unique features in rb i havent seen in any other music app.)

..you want to 'comp' best bits of various takes on various tracks down to one final track...eg vocals or lead guitar licks...you can do this easily in rb.

..if you need smpte time code support then rb has this.
(ive never used it tho'....so...do your own testing/evaluation to see if it meets your needs.)

..of course you can drag rb tracks into any other daw you might use as long as D and D is supported in that app.
also vice versa.

..PLUS i find analysing midi songs easier in rb.
eg import midi song and BAM rb seperates to individual midi tracks as well as does chord interpretation. (there is also a midi data stream analyser.)

..note//other points..frankly i far prefer working in rb tracks view viz bb tracks view due to rb tracks view extensive features.
also the new user might explore rb mixer view and see how much this might be usefull. its very different from the bb mixer.
there is a guitar fretboard view you might also find usefull.
as well you can have scrolling lyrics and use a event list editor.
honestly just too much to list...its a cornucopia of features.

..two other VERY IMPORTANT points i would like to mention re rb.
first being if you drag down the bottom edge of the track you will see further settings. the second being its absolutely imperative to right click over a track to expose what i call the 'loooong' menu that pops up that exposes additional important very usefull features and settings.
of course the main menus at the top should be understood as to feature use also.
just a simple but usefull feature is testing audio performance of a pc.
(my new pc rb reports over 300 tracks. but halve this i recommend to allow a pc resource buffer. if a low track count is reported by rb you might want to look at useing a more powerfull pc if you want to have large track and plugin counts on any songs.particularly if the plugins are not low pc resource ones.)
rb will also report cpu use...and for some reason i cant explain i prefer the mp3 creator feature in rb to any other ive tried.

..let me also say dont underestimate rb's suite of included plugins.
before reaching for a non pg plugin give these plugins a fair shake.
i like them because they consume very little pc resources compared to many ive tried..
ive used the pg ones on a ton of songs includeing some in my sig and nobody ever has said to me 'ya should have used xyz non pg plugin.'
in fact sometimes i havent been able to get the same sound picture even with a ton of outboard gear in a studio.
some people have even said they prefer my demos to studio facilities where i tried to redo a song and failed....such is life...lol.

finally if i were a new rb user i would make a list of features in rb that would be usefull to you compared to bb. as bb and rb have lots of subtle differences.
and because my work methods probably are different than yours.

3..WRAP UP.

PLEASE PLEASE !!!!...if your a new user also go thru' the many rb 'tips of the day'.
this will expose the many many usefull extensive and deep features of rb and hopefully doing such you will realise what a huge deal rb is.
i mention this because i suspect some new users might say to themselves...
'well heck its free so it cant be any good'. imho nothing could be further from the truth. and the more one uses it one will realise rb is a VERY BIG DEAL for doing songs, and its getting better and better all the time.
i'm hoping some very big things are coming for rb 2026.


i think this covers the major points.
as i said before i'm sure i missed something major.
please also note i havent commented on notation features as i'm a dunce at such and feel unqualified on the topic. i'll leave it to others to comment on such.
i hope the above is helpfull.

happiness.

om

Last edited by justanoldmuso; 08/22/25 05:01 PM.
my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..)
https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs
(90 songs created useing bb/rb)
(lots of tips of mine in pg tips forum.)