From one who uses BIAB 99% of the time on live shows, well after getting my tracks as I want them, my 1st take is that the new GUI does not lend itself, as it once did to playing live. It seems it is now designed for the users who are doing studio work instead.
I say this as most of the tabs in the column on the left side of the chord chart are not helpful at all with live gig situations. For instance no tab for "Favorite Song Folder", no tab for "Jukebox" not even a convenient tab to get to your setlist "Open Song" to mention a few. I know these tabs are available on the header but are very small and not very easy to get to quickly, especially in a live gig situation where light or glare are often an issue. Is there any option where some of these tabs in that 1st column, that I will never use, be swapped with some that we do use all the time in live situations?
Thanks for any ideas, or workarounds as I am very hesitant to put 2026 on my gigging computers if not.
While not a total answer, you can add items such as Jukebox to the toolbar like this:
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
Thanks that may just be the workaround I am looking for, hope the world is treating you well these days.
Edited: Hopefully this will let me design that column on the left with the tools I can really use. Thanks again!
2nd edit: That will only let me add additional or swap choices on the top bar which are already very small and hard to find on the fly in a live situation. And "Favorite Songlist" does not have an option anyway. What would be nice is to be able to swap out some of the items in that left had column under "Library" with features I need for live shows. But again, thanks for the suggestion.
Sympathetic, here, with the views of Danny C. However, my use for/with BIAB is 100% live, with 2026. Developers, keep us in mind. Simplify, with less clutter.
Right Larry. If only that left column would contain a "Favorite Song" folder link it would be a lot easier to find our setlist in between songs on gigs. Hopefully next year, until then I will keep using 2025 for the shows.
Good morning Danny. I hope you're doing well. If the attached screenshot is the Favorite Songs Folder you want to open when you're playing live, there is a convenient way to open it in 2026 or even prior versions available. You can test if it's a suitable workaround method in your 2025 version.
Type ss2 into any bar on the Chord Sheet and enter - This opens the Favorite Songs List shown in the screenshot below.
This is non-destructive and has no effect on the loaded, current SGU file, it's simply a shortcut to open that dialog window.
I suggest that you put your idea of the user being able to customize the vertical toolbar to just the buttons they need to be put into the wish list area.
Studio One (latest version), Win 11 23H2 , i9 -10940X 3.3 GHz, 32GB Mem, a 4K 40" monitor, PreSonus Studio Live III Console as interface/controller. secondarily test on Reaper, Cakewalk, and S1 on Surface Pro 3 Win 10 (latest versions).
If all else fails (until the GUI gets updated), I was thinking you could create shortcuts to your songs in Explorer and copy or move those shortcuts to a folder in a location of your choosing called [songlist1] or whatever. Then if the checkbox in the BIAB options>preferences>display setting to allow multiple instances is unchecked, you can click on the shortcuts in the folder that you made and they will open in BIAB. Use Alt-Tab to switch between BIAB and your new folder. Just a thought...
Thanks Charlie, this "is" a more efficient way of getting to my setlist on live gigs other than searching through the multiple mouse clicks required in 2026. All the while looking at those easy to get to icons in the left hand column that I never use.
I appreciate your help my friend, but so far this is the 1st release since 2004, when I started gigging with BIAB right from the laptop, that I cannot recommend BIAB 2026 for live performances. Hopefully in the not too distant future I will see that left column contain some shortcuts other than the mixer, which is easy to find and work, that are designed for us live performers. I am guessing the people who designed this GUI either do not gig with BIAB, or do not gig right from a laptop if they do,
Take Care and big thanks again for thinking of me enough to give me this workaround, you are appreciated!
Hi Danny. I know you do a lot of live gigging so I'm glad it may help you out. I've seen others also say they would like to see the left column customizable.
You can set the main Song button (the button on the top toolbar to the left of the song title) to open the Favorite Songs dialog - click on the right-slide of the button (drop-down menu) - Set Default Action - Open Favorite Songs. That way you don't have to use the drop-down menu and it is one click.
Is it that you just want the button to be larger and on the left toolbar, or is there a button that's actually missing, compared to 2025?
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