Oh yeah. New mix sounds great! That was it it. You fixed it and then some. Powerful. I learned a big lesson a long time ago when I listened to "Carolina in My Mind" by James Taylor as a reference check when someone told me the bass and drums were always the loudest tracks on hits songs, even if you don't remember it that way. So I checked out the least likely candidate and heard, wow, yes the bass and drums are the loudest even on THAT song.The guitar, which I remembered as being out front, is actually subdued. And guess who played bass? Paul McCartney. With George Harrison on backing vox. Never knew that until a few years ago. Turns out Mac discovered James Taylor and was in the studio that day turning up the volume on his bass. Who knew! And in that song, the line:" "With a holy host of others standing 'round me.." Who was that? The Beatles. They were literally in the room while he was recording it. So yeah, always tun up and the bass and drums. Paul says so.
Hi David, Yes, the world is changing rapidly, and not for the better. You argued that very well, David! Look, we had gotten used to some scary world 'leaders' by now, but it is shocking that what used to be the leader of the free world is now embodied by a madman who turns everything he touches into mud. Especially freedom! We, Europeans, may not be the epitome of strength, but we are at least collectively astonished at how quickly moral decay can set in in that 'free' world. Maybe we can find the answer to this. Your song and singing style underscore this very strongly. Well done, David! Hans
Hi Bob, What a very nice gesture of you to post this song with that touching story behind it. The vocals were very good. And not only that, you wrote this song, am I right? Well, that is also great. The song is cool and also sounds familiair at the same time. I still hear fragments of the other, similair songs in my head, but can't recall their names. I also want to say sorry that I hadn't responded to the message you send to me. There are many reasons to name, but still it wasn't right. To give you an answer on it; of course you can have critics on my songs. That's why we have this forum, I hope! I only want to understand the reason of them. That's normall, don't you agree? Hans
Whoa! This is great! Another set of heavenly lyrics. I still don't understand why you and Bruce haven't done a collab album with all the boys from the original E Street band. It would be good for Bruce. He's gettin' a little old and cranky. He needs a little more Rosalita and a lot less sermon. Give him a call Bob. Play him this song. Remind him what he used to be. Great vocals y'all. Keep waving that Chelsea flag.
Hi Izzy, After some time, I felt it was time to pick up the thread on the forum again. Also had something to do with health issues. First one I listened to was your country song. A very nice song. In a way predictable lyrics, and therefore sad and funny at the same time. That's life. You think you have it all and then... You can start again and only look back at what you had. I'm not a very great fan of country songs, but you performed very well. And that is what I do like! Have a nice day, Hans
I guess some people would accuse me of being a purist and or a hypocrite. But I find I'm happier doing everything myself. Of course the hypocritical part being I use PG musics content. The reason being I can't afford session musicians. But each of us must pursue our own path. I'm not knocking AI. Anything that helps people get their music out there I think is a good thing. it's just that it's not for me particularly when I do my vocals. I don't use auto-tune either. I prefer to do multiple takes of vocals and then comp the best bits together. Happiness. Om
Hi Janice & Bud, There's so much I like about this song! - "The good news is the bad news coulda been worse" is a great hook, - Janice's excellent lead vocals, and how Floyd's backing vocals meshed with them perfectly, - Bud's cinematic imagery in the lyrics: "left the front door standing open when you walked out," "Tom Petty T-shirt in a corner on the floor" - Peter's guitar work.... All in all, a superb country/Americana tune, very nicely done! Bob
Bob, we appreciate your time to listen and write such a nice review. Thoughtful comments like this greatly help us feel like we met our objectives in the production. Thank you! J&B
Last year, my New Year's resolution was to try and record 1 song per week. I'm happy to announce that I was able to get that done. I'm gonna keep it going in 2026. This week... "Scarborough Fair", music and lyrics by Traditional. This song is in the Public Domain. According to Wikipedia, "Scarborough Fair" is a traditional Northern English ballad. The song lists a "number of impossible tasks given to a former lover who lives in Scarborough, North Yorkshire". While most of us are familiar with the Simon & Garfunkel version, I was inspired to give it a try while recently re-listening to Herbie Hancock's version on his album, "The New Standard". If you know, then you know. Check that album out! Memo: Medium swing jazz rhythm section featuring Jazz 'Poll Winners' Kenny Barron on acoustic piano and Ron Carter on acoustic bass. RealDrums are Lewis Nash. -Examples: Green Dolphin St., Solar, Genre "Intensity" Score=30/100 _JPLMDSW.STY. Jazz Swing Pollwinners All RealTracks. Trio. Tempo=140 (130-170) Instruments: Ac.Bass, Ac.Piano, Drums RD: JazzSwingLewis^01-a:Brushes, Snare , b:Brushes Swirl, Busy Snare :Lewis Nash RT2285: Bass, Acoustic, JazzSwingRonA-B Sw 140 , Ron Carter RT2289: Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm JazzSwingKenny Sw 140 , Kenny Barron -446:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm Jazz Sw 140, Oliver Gannon The saxophone was recorded using a Sennheiser 441 with the "FETHEAD" to boost the gain. The Sennheiser 441 is a dynamic mic. The Fethead gives it a 27db bump via the pre-amp built into my Focusrite Clarett++ 2pre. Dynamic mics do not require phantom power. The FETHEAD uses phantom power to boost the gain and just plugs into the XLR out on my mic. Backing tracks via Band In A Box 2026 Ultrapak Plus for Mac. Recorded in Logic Pro 11. Selmer Reference 54 Tenor Sax. Mouthpiece- Dave Guardala handmade MB1 Boston Sax Shop Black Box 3.5 reeds (the BEST REEDS EVER!) Filmed on iPhone 15 Pro Max. This video was edited using Final Cut Pro
somewhere down the road It's Country so of course it's gotta be about love gone wrong, Lyrics On Soundcloud Entirely H.I. and BIAB Key Eb Tempo 164 - tempo doubled to 6/8 PFPBTSW.STY (Slow Pop Waltz) tempo doubled 823 guitar 1123 bass 1296 pedal steel 2450 guitar 1707 guitar solo RealDrums in style:NashvilleWaltzSw^1-a:Snare, Hihat , b:Snare, Ride Me: Vox, BV's, piano & organ,
A company handling my sync licensing catalog sent me and others it represents a recent letter on its AI policy. No AI. As in zero. Loud and clear in plain English. As in, if you used it for the tracks in your music we don't want it go somewhere else. And if you send us something where you used it and didn't tell us you got to tell us now because we're going to take it down. I don't think the idea that AI music is the future is necessarily true. At all. For hobbyists who want to play their music back to themselves in their living room and enjoy it, I think that is groovy and cool. Have fun. But I don't think many people are going to sync anything that's done with Suno. I have no idea how Spotify plans to make money off of music that can't be copyrighted but I don't really care to know because I'm not really interested in their scams or anybody's scams for that matter. It just doesn't matter to me. I'm going to continue to do things the way I've always done it which includes using band in a box for some backing tracks like drums and bass, since real tracks are somewhat equivalent to samples and samples are perfectly legit, and then playing a lot of the rest of the stuff by myself and singing them too. Maybe I don't have the best voice in the world but at least it's mine.
Hey Herb this is a great song man a really great song. I love the song itself and the lyrics so I'm just going to give my personal opinion on the mix and this is just one of those things I guess where everyone has an opinion like everything else if you know what I mean. I can hardly hear the drums and the bass itself isn't loud enough to me. I listened with both my phones and my speakers with it blasting and I had the same impression. Where are these drums coming from by the way? I gather there some type of synth drum? For the type of song I think the drums and the bass should be pounding and set in stone as the first part of the mix and then the other stuff laid on top of it. The guitars are great and you play them very well but at some point in the mix I can't even hear the guitars that well because of the vocals being so loud. I know the vocals are supposed to be up front and they are but somehow they're kind of overwhelming everything else in the mix instead of sitting inside of it. I can't quite figure out what's wrong but I think maybe the drums in the bass need to be set to a certain pounding-ness, then set the vocals inside of a little scoop, and then bring up the guitars as the final part of the mixology to make sure they don't get lost in the scramble. That's just my two cents but again I think this is a really incredible song. Great idea and great title by the way.
Iâve tried using the Audio Chord Wizard for years, but Iâve never been able to get usable results on tracks recorded without a click. Because live tempos fluctuate, manually aligning bars to match tempo changes is a tedious process. Iâd love to see an automated bar-alignment systemâperhaps powered by AIâto streamline this for non-click recordings.
Hi Hans! Good to have you back and hearing your songs again. A very interesting theme that many of us can relate to. I know from my own recent experiences, we donât want our own health to be a worry for those around us, as you have shown it can be. Good arrangement, with a surprise here and there. Great BVs! I love the âsignâ at the end of the video - giving hope of a good outcome. The zooming in and out works well for creating movement and focus of the viewers attention. I find that working on a video to support my music often makes me think deeper about my lyrics and what I am trying to say, and sometimes makes me think of a different perspective. I hope you enjoyed this new perspective of your creative process. Well done! Andrew
It was a while back that I posted a song called "I Don't Care" in which I spoke about tossing everything and heading to some tropical place. One of the commenters asked exactly where such a place might be located and I replied.... something to the effect of... "Probably somewhere south of Margaritaville" and then added that would be a great song title. So a few days later I decided to write that song in order to hopefully answer that question. This one has been challenging but fun. And this one is all for the sheer enjoyment and self indulgence one might expect from something I do for myself. I hope you can also enjoy this trip..... This is another toss it all and get away song so, Come along as we go to a place that exists for each of us...... South of Margaritaville The Band: Josh & Nora on vocals Drums: synth Synth: 1543 B3: 688 Steel: 369 Bass and all guitars: me South of Margaritaville [Verse 1] I left the static noise downtown Past the red brake glow Packed one shirt, one map And my old transistor radio The phone kept barking at me Like it knew my name I threw it in the back seat and kept driving just the same [Pre-Chorus] Where the road turns to two tire tracks And the sky turns to blue I can hear my heart Saying, Move baby, move [Chorus] I need that blue water I need that tidal flow South of Margaritaville Thatâs where I want to go I need that blue water Nobody else needs to know South of Margaritaville Somewhere South of Margaritaville [Verse 2] Got sand in my shoes And salt on my skin An old beach chair And a tequila grin. The palm trees waving Like they know the plan I wonât bend for anyone Oh No, No No No. [Pre-Chorus] Let the city go Let the breezes blow I plan to take it slow Just rolling with the flow [Chorus] I need that blue water I need that tidal flow South of Margaritaville Thatâs where I want to go I need that blue water Let the whole world float away South of Margaritaville Somewhere south of Margaritaville [solo] [Bridge] I 'm tired of fighting deadlines And living day by day. I want to find the time and place And really live today. Tonight the moon hangs low In the sunset glow [Chorus] I need that blue water I need that tidal flow South of Margaritaville Thatâs where I want to go I need that blue water Let the whole world float away South of Margaritaville Somewhere, south of Margaritaville [Outro] South of Margaritaville Where the breezes blow South of Margaritaville Gonna take it slow Somewhere, south of Margaritaville Copyright 2026 Words and Music Herb Hartley
zplane recently interviewed Peter Gannon, the founder and creator of Band-in-a-Box, about the software's early days, what sets it apart from AI, how zplane's audio algorithms are used in Band-in-a-Box, and more!
Special thanks to the team at zplane for their continued support.
Last Chance! The Band-in-a-BoxÂź 2026 for MacÂź Special Ends Today (May 31, 2026) at 11:59pm PDT!
Time really is running out! Save up to 50% on Band-in-a-BoxÂź 2026 for MacÂź upgrades and receive a FREE Bonus PAKâonly when you order by 11:59 PM PDT today!
We've added many major new features and new content in a redesigned Band-in-a-BoxÂź 2026 for MacÂź!
Version 2026 introduces a modernized GUI redesign across the program, with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, and a new Dark Mode option. Thereâs also a new side toolbar for quicker access to commonly used windows, and the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, making it easier to customize your workspace.
Another exciting new addition is the amazing new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. View the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to transcribe an entire track or transcribe specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-BoxÂź 2026 for MacÂź.
There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, âSongs with Vocalsâ Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, and much more!
Upgrade your Band-in-a-Box for MacÂź to save up to 50% on most Band-in-a-BoxÂź 2026 upgrade packages!
Plus, when you order your Band-in-a-BoxÂź 2026 Mac upgrade during our special, you'll receive a Free Bonus PAK of exciting new add-ons.
If you need any help deciding which package is the best option for you, just let us know. We are here to help!
Band-in-a-BoxÂź 2026 Mac Special Offers Extended Until May 31st!
Good news- we've extended our Band-in-a-BoxÂź 2026 for MacÂź special offers until May 31, 2026!
Band-in-a-BoxÂź 2026 is packed with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new âAI-Notesâ feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can transcribe an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, âSongs with Vocalsâ Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, and much more!
There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-BoxÂź 2026 for MacÂź.
When you order purchase Band-in-a-BoxÂź 2026 before 11:59 PM PDT on May 31st, you'll also receive a Free Bonus PAK packed with exciting new add-ons.
Check out the Band-in-a-BoxÂź for Mac packages page to find the best package for you.
Today's the Last Day of the Band-in-a-Box 2026Âź for Mac Special!
Order before 11:59pm PDT today (May 15, 2026) to save up to 50% off your Band-in-a-BoxÂź 2026 for MacÂź upgrade and receive a FREE Bonus PAK loaded with great new Add-ons to use with this new version!
Band-in-a-BoxÂź 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-BoxÂź 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-BoxÂź 2026 for Mac!
Upgrade to Band-in-a-BoxÂź 2026 for MacÂź today for as little as $49! Check out the Band-in-a-BoxÂź 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-BoxÂź 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genresâfeaturing your most requested styles!
Jazz, Funk & World (Sets 468-475):
Our new jazz, funk & blues RealTracks include a groovinâ collection of RealTracks and RealDrums! These include more requested âsoul jazzâ RealTracks featuring artists Neil Swainson (bass), Charles Treadway (organ), Brent Mason (guitar), and Wes Little (drums). There are new âsmooth jazzâ styles (4), which include a RealTracks first: muted trumpet, as well as slick new smooth jazz brushes options for drums. Blues lovers will be thrilledâthere are more âclassic acoustic bluesâ 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 ânâ 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 â plus an accompanying rhythm section (4) of drums, bass, guitar, and electric piano!
Rock & Pop (Sets 476â482):
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 âProducer Layered Acoustic Guitars (15)â featuring Band-in-a-Box favorite Brent Mason. Weâve 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 â70s and early â80s â 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 â80s 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 weâve added lots of new modern pop styles (16) â the kinds of sounds youâre hearing on the radio today, featuring exciting new drums, synths, and cutting-edge RealTracks arrangements.
Country, & Americana (Sets 483â488):
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. Weâve 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 âbackground soloingâ acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason â 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 todayâs 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!
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