Lots of folks here talk about starting their song in BIAB and finishing it in RB but every time I open my BIAB songs in RB I find it ignores settings such as bar settings and also it regenerates my RealTracks so rather than finishing I have to start over mostly!
Please change RB to honor the BIAB settings. If not, can it at least warn me of the changes it is about to make to my song?
Second time today I have seen this type of post. I have not noticed any changes to my BIAB files when they open in RB. However, I freeze all of my tracks in BIAB when I am finished with a song, and also do not save Volume, Pan or Effects with my BIAB songs. I prefer to have dry track to work with in RB.
Last edited by dga; 04/22/1610:24 AM.
"When you help somebody else you are really helping yourself"
Second time today I have seen this type of post. I have not noticed any changes to my BIAB files when they open in RB. However, I freeze all of my tracks in BIAB when I am finished with a song, and also do not save Volume, Pan or Effects with my BIAB songs. I prefer to have dry track to work with in RB.
Doesn't matter if you freeze. Default RB will regenerate your BIAB track when you open it! And I have spent lots of time setting my tracks to change in bars only to find that all ignored in RB!
Doesn't matter if you freeze. Default RB will regenerate your BIAB track when you open it! And I have spent lots of time setting my tracks to change in bars only to find that all ignored in RB!
What happens if you uncheck this box first in RB?
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.
It's also worth checking if the frozen track is reproduced exactly the same as it was in BIAB. Being frozen does not stop a track from generating. What it does is to record a set of instructions so that next time the track is generated, it will be produced the same as it was when initially frozen.
If you don't generate the tracks at least once, all you are going to get is a chord grid with nothing to play. The generation can either be done when you load the BIAB file, or after you've loaded it (if you have "don't generate" checked), but they have be somehow be generated if you are going to get any sound.
As Noel said, a frozen track isn't the generated track itself, it's just the instructions to re-create the track. The track still has to be generated to play.
And again, unlike BIAB, RealBand has to generate all the tracks completely before it plays anything back. BIAB lets you start playback shortly after generating, because it keeps generating the song in the background while the song starts. What that means is if you make changes in BIAB, for example, and then select to play towards the end of the song, it's probably going to take about as longa s RealBand to regenerate, because it has to generate up to (and slightly past) your play point before starting to play.\
RealBand just does it all up front, and then on a track by track basis as you work with your file (unless of course, you tell it to completely regenerate your BIAB tracks).
That being said, I believe it should honor the settings made in BIAB (such as pan, volume, envelopes, MIDI velocity, pitch bends, whatever). However, not everything may come across, for example, because the two apps don't share VST/VSTi presets or even the same list of available VSTi instruments and VST effects. Audio/MIDI Channels and Ports can be completely different between the two. But what can be brought in from the BIAB file should be brought in to RealBand (at least as a user-settable option).
John
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If you don't generate the tracks at least once, all you are going to get is a chord grid with nothing to play. The generation can either be done when you load the BIAB file, or after you've loaded it (if you have "don't generate" checked), but they have be somehow be generated if you are going to get any sound.
As Noel said, a frozen track isn't the generated track itself, it's just the instructions to re-create the track. The track still has to be generated to play.
When I load a BIAB song with a frozen track in BIAB it stays frozen and I get the same riffs that I had before. When I load a BIAB song with a frozen track in RB it should generate the same set of riffs for that frozen track that BIAB does. That is part of my wish! (How it does that is interesting but not really primary in my wish!!)
This is probably not an acceptable answer to the OP, but something to consider just the same.
Move to RB sooner. Get the style/chords down and then move to RB for generating.
Here's what you gain: Reliable reproduction of tracks (less lost work) Ability to generate sections of individual or multiple tracks Ability to try different style parts with the song (again partial or whole tracks) Multiriff options = ability to try multiple generations at once and cut/paste sections or do Multiriff again .. same or different style
What you lose: As far as Part Markers, RB supports A/B .. BiaB has C and D; this can issues with import/open routines Ability to keep 'exact' track data (it is re-interpreted when regenerated but usually pretty consistent) .. YMMV 'Convenience' of having everything regenerating quickly (often times not desired here; I had stuff I liked!) Preservation of C/D parts.
.. they are different programs and behave differently and I like that! knowing what each does best helps decide when to make the transition.
One thing that may be causing significant difference in RB compared to BiaB is if you had C/D part markers, as mentioned above. I could see this causing significant changes when opening a BiaB file in RB.
The tradeoff/benefit in RB is the ability to drill down into styles to regenerate the desired sections using substyles. RB calls them variations .. (see image below) This can be a challenge sometimes, which is another reason I move to RB sooner than later. I experiment there instead once I reach a certain point, mainly because I can and I know the SEQ file will be exact when I open it. Again YMMV, just works better for me.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
This is probably not an acceptable answer to the OP, but something to consider just the same.
Move to RB sooner. Get the style/chords down and then move to RB for generating.
Here's what you gain: Reliable reproduction of tracks (less lost work) Ability to generate sections of individual or multiple tracks Ability to try different style parts with the song (again partial or whole tracks) Multiriff options = ability to try multiple generations at once and cut/paste sections or do Multiriff again .. same or different style
What you lose: As far as Part Markers, RB supports A/B .. BiaB has C and D; this can issues with import/open routines Ability to keep 'exact' track data (it is re-interpreted when regenerated but usually pretty consistent) .. YMMV 'Convenience' of having everything regenerating quickly (often times not desired here; I had stuff I liked!) Preservation of C/D parts.
.. they are different programs and behave differently and I like that! knowing what each does best helps decide when to make the transition.
One thing that may be causing significant difference in RB compared to BiaB is if you had C/D part markers, as mentioned above. I could see this causing significant changes when opening a BiaB file in RB.
The tradeoff/benefit in RB is the ability to drill down into styles to regenerate the desired sections using substyles. RB calls them variations .. (see image below) This can be a challenge sometimes, which is another reason I move to RB sooner than later. I experiment there instead once I reach a certain point, mainly because I can and I know the SEQ file will be exact when I open it. Again YMMV, just works better for me.
Thanks for the detailed suggestions! Lots of good points you made.
But, as you predicted, I'd still expect/wish that RB honor BIAB settings! Even 3rd-party programs that import other data files do a better job of this!
I have tried RB several times and, as a multi-riff generator it is fine (mainly because I have nothing else) but as a DAW it falls way short for me. To me it feels unstable and outdated. Simple stuff like mouse scroll wheel does not work. Long delays are common when trying to do simple stuff like scrolling. I am used to software that is very responsive and that is what I require.
So not much chance I'll move to RB sooner! If they were to add bar-by-bar RealTrack generation to BIAB I'd delete RB from my hard drive. I'm glad it works for some folks but it will not work for me.
Doesn't matter if you freeze. Default RB will regenerate your BIAB track when you open it! And I have spent lots of time setting my tracks to change in bars only to find that all ignored in RB!
What happens if you uncheck this box first in RB?
Thanks VideoTrack! I found if I uncheck this box it will bring in my frozen tracks and keep them as they were when frozen! So this is great!
However, I also noticed some additional quirkiness that does not make sense. If you have the box unchecked it brings in the frozen track as I noted above but it ignores the bar settings to mute/play the track at specific bars. BUT, if you check the box, it regenerates even frozen tracks but seems to honor the bar mute/play commands!
So it looks like you can get one or the other but not both! I am just glad to be able to bring a frozen track in and have it stay frozen!!! Thanks again for that tip!
3J, that's great news. Glad to have helped. Thanks for the feedback that this (partially) resolved.
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.
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XPro Styles PAKs are styles that work with ANY version (Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition) of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (or higher). XPro Styles PAKS 1-11 includes 1,100 styles!
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Introducing XPro Styles PAK 11 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
XPro Styles PAK 11 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box® version 2026 (and higher) is here with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 31 RealTracks/RealDrums!
Guess who’s back again? That’s right! It’s our XPro Styles PAK’s triumphant return with the 11th edition in this series! 100 new styles are coming your way spread across the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres. And this edition's wildcard genre explores the immense and far-reaching catalogue of electronic music! The included 31 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1-11 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2026 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 22 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2026 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
It’s time to celebrate! Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Band-in-a-Box® is here, and we've got 200 brand-new styles coming your way!
No Xtra Styles PAK is complete without the classic rock & pop, jazz, and country volumes you know and love, and we’ve got plenty to share, with 150 styles spread across too many genres to list! Of course, it also wouldn’t be complete with our special wildcard volume to add a little spice and pizzazz to the mix. This year, because we loved it so much the first time, we’ve decided to make the second iteration of our SynthMaster volume, full of new sounds, interesting genres, and 50 engaging styles, all making use of the diverse SynthMaster plugin! Here you can find genres such as airy yacht rock, sultry electrotango, and even some synth soca funk. Don’t wait, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 22 today!
In this PAK you can find: dulcet folk ballads, funky gospel country, Brazilian jazz fusion, upbeat 1980s pop, classic Americana, a plethora of breezy bossa novas, indie singer-songwriter, scintillating synthwave, exuberant electronica, and many, many more!
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1-22 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 22 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 22 requires the 2026 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
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Special thanks to the team at zplane for their continued support.
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