Rob, it was I, not DC Ron that said he gave up on RealBand 6 years ago. I spent weeks and weeks trying to get the thing to do what I needed and finally gave up; I simply could not justify the time that RealBand demanded to be a part of my workflow. Nor could I tolerate the 1990s GUI feel. Don’t get me wrong, I felt that BiaB was a great tool, and today I’m still a loyal BiaB customer. The idea of typing in a chord progression, selecting a style and hit play is brilliant. Does it need work to remain viable going forward? Yes. Imho PGM should focus on its core strengths while aggressively going after the 20 and 30-somethings; if that demographic is captured and enthralled, other demographics will follow. I believe many would agree that RealBand is not a core strength and its staffing resources should be directed to the flagship product.
However, when I discovered Studio One (now Fender Studio Pro) it was a breath of fresh air; my work flow was no longer slow and clunky but effective, logical and friendly. Studio Pro is well designed, has all the features I need, is fully compatible with my workflows, has a modern GUI, is a joy to work with, is maintained by an industry-leading team that understands software design and quality control and continues to add new relevant features in its major upgrades.
Imho, RealBand should not and cannot compete with the established/mature DAWs out there. The bar is simply too high and the market too crowded. Who am I talking about? Ableton Live, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Pro Tools, Cubase, Fender Studio Pro, Reaper, Reason and others. My understanding is that all of these tools are very strong DAWs.
Back in 2024 we wrote a 14 page White Paper on BiaB. I seem to remember that you participated in its authorship. It seems 2024 is eons ago, perhaps technologically it actually is, particularly in the domain of AI. For those unaware, it’s still available.
Wouldn’t it be interesting to catalog how much progress has been made since we wrote that paper vs. how much of it is still relevant today.
https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677 BiaB 2026 Windows For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
Imho, RealBand should not and cannot compete with the established/mature DAWs out there. The bar is simply too high and the market too crowded. Who am I talking about? Ableton Live, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Pro Tools, Cubase, Fender Studio Pro, Reaper, Reason and others. My understanding is that all of these tools are very strong DAWs.
I feel the same about BIAB. I get a feeling PG will be trying to compete with the likes of Suno with overuse of the AI tag, but unfortunately will fail miserably, which I mean in the nicest possible way. BIAB has some very unique features and should stick to its strength and improve on those, IMO the target demographic is mostly musicians and singer / songwriters. How that can keep them going with a younger demographic I have no idea. I think people taking up musical instruments is declining but I also don't think they will ever go away. As a practicing aid, BIAB has never been beaten. As an educational aid it also has some incredibly great features and this is where I think things can be improved dramatically. I personally don't feel that these people are really the Suno market.
Quote
Back in 2024 we wrote a 14 page White Paper on BiaB. I seem to remember that you participated in its authorship. It seems 2024 is eons ago, perhaps technologically it actually is, particularly in the domain of AI. For those unaware, it’s still available.
Just a quick nudge back to the bigger picture: The issue isn’t any one feature. It’s that looping, cursor positions, selections, panning, zooming, scrolling all behave differently from view to view. When the basics don’t line up, it breaks the flow and people end up fighting the software instead of staying in the music.
This is my last example of inconsistencies across views. (scrolling, panning and zooming) These basics are critical to making BIAB user friendly and thanks for sharing your honest views.
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).
Jeff, this is very well laid out. There have to be some pre-existing standards for at least SOME of this, as I find I'm using a very small set of commands to do things like zooming no matter what environment I'm in.
DC Ron BiaB Audiophile Presonus Studio One ASUS I9-12900K DAW, 32 GB RAM Presonus Faderport 16 Too many guitars (is that a thing?)
Jeff, Thank you for taking time and pinpointing these relatively easy to fix things, that in their current state erode user experience. One thing that I want to mention, I believe a default action for scrolling should be scrolling, not panning. Perhaps there should be a global set for mouse scroll wheel behavior, if for some reason folks want panning instead of scrolling. To me, scroll -> panning actually is a "muscle memory" issue.
Selection, looping, cursor starting point - center of the project throughout all views, zooming, scrolling, transport behavior should be viewed as a whole and be done in one sitting. Otherwise it will be a mosaic of patches that might or might not solve underlying issues.
Personally, I believe a big chunk of solution would be to implement a timeline with proper cursor instead of "song overview" that would be persistent through all BIAB views. That cursor, when set, will determine new project center and will return you to that position. Panning and zooming should respect new project "center".
Selecting a part of any track, should duplicate selection on timeline - that is a standard approach, not re-inventing a wheel. That selection could be used to define loop points. Alternatively, a selection could be made on a timeline itself, which would duplicate selection globally - same selection on all of the tracks. This could be very useful not only for "looping" but for other tasks as well. (see video below)
A single global looping button at the transport (the one we already have). The deeper options of repeats, etc should be achieved through right click of same looping button - this is already done, and if there are some particular looping settings in other parts of the program (6 methods) they should be brought to same looping button context menu.
Bottom line is that I rather see certain things done in a fashion of accepted standards than patching smaller holes. Piano Roll "almost" got the standard timeline going with the selection option (see Jeff's first video), but it is very finicky and the problem of inconsistency doesn't go away, even if it is brought to standard (proper cursor / start position marker, loop selection without hard coded automation of ON state, disabled only through unmentioned shortcut), we would need same timeline in all views.
FWIW, I found a neat lecture on the philosophy of good software design. Just listening to this guy speak makes it obvious that he has a mountain of credentials. It brings back memories of the learning/develoment courses that many of us took as professional engineers to stay at the forefront of our chosen careers.
Some notable subjects he talks about are: Red Flags Tactical Tornados Spagehtti Code How to hire the best software coders ("hire based on the slope, not the y-intercept") And his software design book
There are lots of goodies in this lecture and is well worth watching for anyone interested in the challenges of designing good software products and some associated pitfalls to avoid.
https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677 BiaB 2026 Windows For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
Thanks to everyone who contributed. Many of us have been pointing out these same issues for years, including the videos I posted years ago.
The new multi‑view GUI makes the underlying problem even clearer.
BIAB has grown organically for decades, one view at a time, and that’s why looping, cursor positions, selections, panning, zooming, and scrolling all behave differently depending on the view.
The GUI refresh was a great step, but improving the user experience now means unifying these fundamentals so the views feel like one coherent application.
Consistency in the basics keeps people in the music instead of fighting the software, and I hope PG Music will acknowledge this and make it a priority for the next phase of BIAB’s evolution.
Thanks again for everyone’s time and input.
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).
Thank you Jeff for the clear well done videos. I agree that we took a giant step forward with this years release. Why what you are talking about is very important and vital is that these aspects of the program will make the GUI update really shine.
PGM team please respond with your thoughts on this. If it is possible please share your opinion on it. Without your input we are striking the air with no way of knowing if we are making sense or not!
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96
There are lots of goodies in this lecture and is well worth watching for anyone interested in the challenges of designing good software products and some associated pitfalls to avoid.
Hmm, yes. I agreed wholeheartedly with most of that.
About my only significant different view was on exceptions, but that's because most of my work has been embedded and in that circumstance, one the software is live, exceptions help nobody and break systems. I tried to catch all potential exceptions by data checking and, once that's complete, removing them and if necessary jamming in otherwise credible false data to keep the machine running. Some systems really can't afford to just stop or break.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
Hmm, yes. I agreed wholeheartedly with most of that.
About my only significant different view was on exceptions, but that's because most of my work has been embedded and in that circumstance, one the software is live, exceptions help nobody and break systems.
Yep, there are various strategies available. But the goals should be graceful recovery; logging, cleanup (closing files, releasing resources, etc when relevant), relevant messaging to the user/coders and appropriate fallback behavior. In music and non-music software applications alike, we’ve all seen where graceful recovery wasn’t assured. But as an industry, I’ve seen significant improvement over the years.
But back to the main thrust of this thread; consistency across views is very important for positive user experience.
https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677 BiaB 2026 Windows For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
In general the main ideas are: -Improve looping - standard loop control on the transport and standardized across windows. -Zoom/scrolling on various windows should be standardized. -Sync with current time between windows (views)
We addressed some of these points with the GUI update and there is certainly more work to do. So we agree with the ideas presented here and plan to add them in the future. Thanks!
In general the main ideas are: -Improve looping - standard loop control on the transport and standardized across windows. -Zoom/scrolling on various windows should be standardized. -Sync with current time between windows (views)
We addressed some of these points with the GUI update and there is certainly more work to do. So we agree with the ideas presented here and plan to add them in the future. Thanks!
Thanks, Andrew we really appreciate you jumping in. Just to restate the three core areas backed by many people here: - Consistent toggle‑looping behavior across all views - Unified zoom/scroll/pan behavior across all views - A single, synced current‑time position between views
These core behaviors are what keep people in the creative flow, and it’s great to hear they’re on your radar for future updates.
Thanks again for taking the time to respond.
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).
As Jeff mentioned: "- A single, synced current‑time position between views"
This is one of the most painful workflow limitations for me. As there is simply no proper focus on the section you are working at. 1/2 of the views already have a variant of "time line" but the all function differently and non has proper cursor start position marker or able to select a section. Only new Piano Roll has semi-working time line. Proper global time line with start position cursor doubled as select cursor will solve a lot of navigation, selection, looping issues and will standardize workflow by a lot.
These changes, fixes & improvements will certainly go a very long way to make the product "world class". We certainly look forward to their implementation.
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.
Today's the Last Day of the Band-in-a-Box 2026® for Mac Special!
Order before 11:59pm PDT today (May 15, 2026) to save up to 50% off your Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® upgrade and receive a FREE Bonus PAK loaded with great new Add-ons to use with this new version!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac - Special Offers End at 11:59pm PDT on Friday, May 15th, 2026!
Order before 11:59pm PDT on Friday, May 15th and SAVE up to 50% on most Band-in-a-Box® version 2026 for Mac Upgrade packages... and that's not all! With your version 2026 for Mac purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons FREE! Upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks... that's 222 NEW RealTracks available with version Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac!
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® today for as little as $49! Check out the Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all available purchase options.
Learn more about the Free Bonus PAK and 49-PAK here.
If you have any questions about which package is the best option for you, just let us know. We're here to help!
202 New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2026!
With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Funk & World (Sets 468-475):
Our new jazz, funk & blues RealTracks include a groovin’ collection of RealTracks and RealDrums! These include more requested “soul jazz” RealTracks featuring artists Neil Swainson (bass), Charles Treadway (organ), Brent Mason (guitar), and Wes Little (drums). There are new “smooth jazz” styles (4), which include a RealTracks first: muted trumpet, as well as slick new smooth jazz brushes options for drums. Blues lovers will be thrilled—there are more “classic acoustic blues” styles, including guitar (5), bass (4), and drums (10) with blues master Colin Linden, featuring understated and tasty background acoustic soloing, plus brushes drums and acoustic bass. There are also new electric blues RealTracks, including electric blues with PG favorite Johnny Hiland (3) and soulful electric slide guitar from Colin Linden (4). If you love funk & gospel, there are great new options this year, including gospel organ (3) from Charles Treadway, as well as new funk, tango, and rock ’n’ roll drums (3) and bass (1). And for big, bold arrangements, we have uptempo soul horns (4) featuring a three-part hip horn section with options for a full mix or stems of each individual horn — plus an accompanying rhythm section (4) of drums, bass, guitar, and electric piano!
Rock & Pop (Sets 476–482):
Our new rock & pop RealTracks bring a powerful mix of requested favorites, fresh genres, and modern chart-inspired styles! We have more of our popular “Producer Layered Acoustic Guitars (15)” featuring Band-in-a-Box favorite Brent Mason. We’ve continued our much-requested disco styles (10), and added new Celtic guitar (5) with a more basic, accessible approach than our previous Drop-D or DADGAD offerings. There are also highly requested yacht rock styles (17), inspired by the smooth, polished soft-rock sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s — laid-back grooves, silky electric pianos, warm textures, elegant harmonic movement, and pristine production aesthetics. Fans of heavier styles will love our new glam metal (13), capturing the flashy, high-energy sound of ’80s arena-ready guitar rock. We also have a set of rootsy modern-folk rock (18), with a warm, organic sound combining contemporary folk textures and driving acoustic strumming. And we’ve added lots of new modern pop styles (16) — the kinds of sounds you’re hearing on the radio today, featuring exciting new drums, synths, and cutting-edge RealTracks arrangements.
Country, & Americana (Sets 483–488):
Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
And, if you are looking for more, the 2026 49-PAK (for $49) includes an impressive collection of 20 bonus RealTracks, featuring exciting and inspiring additions to add to your RealTracks library. You'll get new country-rhythm guitar styles from PG Music favorites Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason, along with modern-pop grooves that capture today’s radio-ready sound! There are also new indie-folk styles with guitar, bass, 6-string bass used as a high-chording instrument, acoustic guitar, and banjo. Plus, dedicated "cymbal fills" RealDrums provide an added layer that work very well with low-key folky styles with other percussion.
The 2026 49-PAK is loaded with other great new add-ons as well. Learn more about the 2026 49-PAK!
2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
With your version 2026 for Mac Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons for FREE! Or upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
The 2026 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 25 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 12 new RealStyles.
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
Playable RealTracks Set 5
RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
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)
XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
All of our XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs are on sale until May 15th, 2026!
It's the perfect time to expand your Band-in-a-Box® style library with XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs. These additional styles for Band-in-a-Box® offer a wide range of genres designed to fit seamlessly into your projects. Each style is professionally arranged and mixed, helping enhance your songs while saving you time.
What are XPro Styles and Xtra Styles PAKs?
XPro Styles PAKs are styles that work with any version (Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition) of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). XPro Styles PAKS 1-10 includes 1,000 styles!
Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 includes 3,700 styles (and 35 MIDI styles)!
The XPro & Xtra Styles PAKs are not included in any Band-in-a-Box® package.
The XPro Styles PAKs 1-10 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
The Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the Xtra Styles PAK Bundle for only $199 (reg. $349)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
Note: 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.
The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 19 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version as they require the RealTracks included in the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Supercharge your Band-in-a-Box today with XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAK Sets!
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
Whether you're exploring new features, checking out the latest RealTracks or Style PAKs, this is your go-to guide for Band-in-a-Box® 2026.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you over the phone. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday, and 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST Saturday. We are closed Sunday. You can also send us your questions via email.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you on our Live Chat or by email. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST (GMT -8) Saturday; Closed Sunday.
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean