Announcing... Xtra Styles Contest - 4 prizes of $150
We recently introduced Xtra Styles PAKs for Band-in-a-Box - these are new RealStyles in four categories: Jazz, Country, Rock/Pop, and Singer/Songwriter. Now you could win a prize for submitting a song that you made using an Xtra Style! We have one prize for each category. The winners will receive a $150 USD coupon for a future Band-in-a-Box purchase.
Participating can be as easy as typing in chords to a song, choosing an Xtra style, pressing play, then saving as an audio file and uploading to SoundCloud.
Please read the contest rules below. The contest is open for submission until midnight September 30, 2016
Contest Rules
You must own Band-in-a-Box 2016 along with one or more of the Xtra Styles PAKs.
The song you submit must be your own original composition. As mentioned, this could be simply typing in chords to your song and pressing play, but you may also add additional instruments, solo, and/or melody.
Submit your song to the "Xtra Styles Contest" forum, before the deadline.
To submit a song:
1. Make a song using an Xtra Style. Your song can be entirely Band-in-a-Box tracks, or you can add anything you want to it (vocals, additional instruments, etc.)
2. Save the song as an audio file and upload to SoundCloud (or somewhere else, as long as it can be downloaded/played from a url).
3. Post a new message in this forum that contains (1) a link to your song, (2) the name of the style you used (e.g. _LIBERTY), and (3) the category (e.g. Singer-Songwriter).
Start a new thread for your song, rather than replying to an existing thread. It is a good idea to include the title of your song in your post title. Note: If you're not sure of the category, look for the style name in the 'RealTracks - Demos\Xtra Styles' folder (e.g. RealTracks - Demos\Xtra Styles\Singer-Songwriter\_LIBERTY Demo.sgu').
We will review the songs based on a combination of criteria, including:
good compositions / songwriting.
creativity / originality.
good use of Band-in-a-Box or RealBand.
overall quality.
haven't won other recent contests (not a requirement).
other contributions on the PG Music forum (not a requirement).
Regarding song submissions, are melodies that can be verified to be public domain also acceptable? (For example: JS Bach, Stephen Foster, Beethoven, folk songs, etc.)
Are we allowed to do any modifications on an individual track from the style or does it have to remain 100% as it came in the package. In other words, lets say the guitar track that came in the Xtra style I want to use just does not fit the song perfectly whereas a slightly different guitar track would fit it just fine. All the other tracks in that Xtra style would remain the same.
If you're starting out with one of the 164 new RealStyles from the Xtra Styles PAK and make a few changes, that's fine! Just make sure to list the name of the style you used.
Better still, click on the [Memo] button in Band-in-a-Box, and paste the text from that into your Forum post with the song link.
How do i setup the style picker to show the 164 new RealStyles from the Xtra Styles PAK on my Mac Band in a Box USB drive ?
Hello W!
Sorting by date is a great option for now, as the 2016 Xtra Styles will be at the top of the list. You may also want to get in the habit of clicking on the "Set#" column heading, which groups together all the "Xtra PAK" style options. This will help when we release new styles with a more current date!
Ok, this is going to sound like a really dumb question, but I am not sure what genre to attach to the song I have already posted, Long Distance Runner.
It is prog rock. It comes from the jazz Xtra styles, technically speaking, but I turned it into kind of a rock/jazz or jazz/rock fusion thing. Right now I have Genre: Progressive Rock/Jazz. Do I have to choose a narrower category or am I good?
Also, I would assume you guys only want one posting per artist right, so as not to clog up the board?
Ok, that might have been two stupid questions.
David Snyder Songwriter/Renaissance Man Studio + Fingers
Thanks for asking the questions, David. I have also wondered the same.
I've been thinking that since there are four categories of styles in the Xtra styles (namely: pop, rock, jazz, singer/songwriter), by 'genre' PG Music are meaning "What genre style did you use as the foundation for the submission" rather than the over-arching song genre.
I'm probably wrong, though. It will be good to get clarification.
The genre/category to post to would be the genre that the RealStyle used is included in. For your recent submission using the STARLIT.STY file, it would fall in the Jazz category.
The rules for this contest do not state that there is only 1 submission per person, so feel free to submit songs for each genre/category if you'd like!
Contest Rules: -You must own Band-in-a-Box 2016 along with one or more of the Xtra Styles PAKs. -The song you submit must be your own original composition. (This could be simply typing in chords to your song and pressing play, but you may also add additional instruments, solo, and/or melody.)
I need to switch the category of Long Distance Runner to "Jazz" since that is the real styles folder it came from (Starlit Style), but it looks like edit has been turned off and I can't edit my post.
Can one of you guys make that entry category change for me?
David Snyder Songwriter/Renaissance Man Studio + Fingers
How do i setup the style picker to show the 164 new RealStyles from the Xtra Styles PAK on my Mac Band in a Box USB drive ?
Hello W!
Sorting by date is a great option for now, as the 2016 Xtra Styles will be at the top of the list. You may also want to get in the habit of clicking on the "Set#" column heading, which groups together all the "Xtra PAK" style options. This will help when we release new styles with a more current date!
Hello
CONFUSION
I purchased the 2016 Bonus 49PAK (49PAK-I) December 2015.
I executed this: To find out, look for the file _SANFRAN.STY in your main bb folder.
The file _SANFRAN.STY IS in my bb folder.
However when I sort styles by clicking on the "Set #" column, "Xtra PAK" does not display.
When I sort by date the latest year that is displayed is 2015. Since I purchased the 2016 Bonus 49PAK shouldn't there be 2016 dates displayed?
Have you installed the latest update? The minimum update that's needed for the Xtra styles to work properly is build 437.
Once that update is installed, sorting by date will put the Xtra styles at the top. If you double-click, the styles will be at the bottom of the list because it will be sorted in reverse order.
Updates for Windows versions of BIAB are found at the below link.
Have you installed the latest update? The minimum update that's needed for the Xtra styles to work properly is build 437.
Once that update is installed, sorting by date will put the Xtra styles at the top. If you double-click, the styles will be at the bottom of the list because it will be sorted in reverse order.
Updates for Windows versions of BIAB are found at the below link.
1. Rebuild the style list by clicking on either of the buttons on the lower left of Stylepicker.
2. Click on "Clear" (#1 on the image below).
3. Single-click on "Date" (#2 on image above) so that a a single asterisk is present next to date. This indicates that the sorting is from the most recent. (Double-clicking will give two asterisks and is not what is wanted.)
4. Scroll to the top of the style list.
Any luck? If not, re-install the Xtra Pak and work through steps 1 - 4 again.
1. Rebuild the style list by clicking on either of the buttons on the lower left of Stylepicker.
2. Click on "Clear" (#1 on the image below).
3. Single-click on "Date" (#2 on image above) so that a a single asterisk is present next to date. This indicates that the sorting is from the most recent. (Double-clicking will give two asterisks and is not what is wanted.)
4. Scroll to the top of the style list.
Any luck? If not, re-install the Xtra Pak and work through steps 1 - 4 again.
Hopefully this will help.
Regards, Noel
I tried the above refresh/rebuild but got the same results.
PG Music says:
Note: The Xtra Styles use RealTracks from the Band-in-a-Box® 2016 UltraPlusPAK, EverythingPAK, or Audiophile Edition, and require Build 437 or higher. A few styles use RealTracks from the 2016 49-PAK. Unsure if you already have the 49-PAK? To find out, look for the file _SANFRAN.STY in your main bb folder. The presence of this file indicates you have the 49-PAK.
I have the EverythingPAK Build 437.
I purchased the 49PAK December 2015 along with the 2016 BB upgrade. So according to the above I have the 49PAK installed because _SANFRAN.STY is in the BB folder.
Does the 49PAK contain Xtra Styles? If it does I don't see them in the Style Picker.
I have not purchased so I can't re-install the Xtra Pak.
The EverythingPAK + the 49PAK you purchased will give you all you need. (The 49PAK you bought in 12/2015 is the same one that PG Music is referring to.)
Have you installed the 49Pak?
It's probably wise to back up a little...
When you bought the EverythingPAK, how did you install it? Did you install a fully working copy to your hard drive or do you run some of all of the program from the USB drive?
The 49PAK is optional and, because of this, it will not be automatically be installed as part of the EverythingPak. If you purchased the E/PAK as a USB drive, I suspect that the 49PAK is on that USB drive and awaiting installation.
If you bought the EverythingPAK and the 49PAK directly from PG Music, you should also be able to login into your sales account and have download access for those purchases. To do this, go to PG Music's webpage and login using "My Account" (as shown below).
From here you should be able to download the 49PAK if you bought it in December 2015. The link will be under "My Products".
If none of the above work, you need to contact PG Music. They will have a record of your purchases and will be able to organise things for you. They are very good at looking after customers in this way. You will not be double-charged for anything you've already bought.
User Video: Next-Level AI Music Editing with ACE Studio and Band-in-a-Box®
The Bob Doyle Media YouTube channel is known for demonstrating how you can creatively incorporate AI into your projects - from your song projects to avatar building to face swapping, and more!
His latest video, Next-Level AI Music Editing with ACE Studio and Band-in-a-Box, he explains in detail how you can use the Melodist feature in Band-in-a-Box with ACE Studio. Follow along as he goes from "nothing" to "something" with his Band-in-a-Box MIDI Melodist track, using ACE Studio to turn it into a vocal track (or tracks, you'll see) by adding lyrics for those notes that will trigger some amazing AI vocals!
Wir waren fleißig und haben über 50 neue Funktionen und eine erstaunliche Sammlung neuer Inhalte hinzugefügt, darunter 222 RealTracks, neue RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, "Songs with Vocals" Artist Performance Sets, abspielbare RealTracks Set 3, abspielbare RealDrums Set 2, zwei neue Sets von "RealDrums Stems", XPro Styles PAK 6, Xtra Styles PAK 17 und mehr!
Add updated printing options, enhanced tracks settings, smoother use of MGU and SGU (BB files) within PowerTracks, and more with the latest PowerTracks Pro Audio 2024 update!
Download and install this to your RealBand 2024 for updated print options, streamlined loading and saving of .SGU & MGU (BB) files, and to add a number of program adjustments that address user-reported bugs and concerns.
Did you know... not only can you download your Band-in-a-Box® Pro, MegaPAK, or PlusPAK purchase - you can also choose to add a flash drive backup copy with the installation files for only $15? It even comes with a Band-in-a-Box® keychain!
For the larger Band-in-a-Box® packages (UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition), the hard drive backup copy is available for only $25. This will include a preinstalled and ready to use program, along with your installation files.
Backup copies are offered during the checkout process on our website.
Already purchased your e-delivery version, and now you wish you had a backup copy? It's not too late! If your purchase was for the current version of Band-in-a-Box®, you can still reach out to our team directly to place your backup copy order!
Note: the Band-in-a-Box® keychain is only included with flash drive backup copies, and cannot be purchased separately.
Handy flash drive tip: Always try plugging in a USB device the wrong way first? If your flash drive (or other USB plug) doesn't have a symbol to indicate which way is up, look for the side with a seam on the metal connector (it only has a line across one side) - that's the side that either faces down or to the left, depending on your port placement.
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows® Today!
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows for free with build 1111!
With this update, there's more control when saving images from the Print Preview window, we've added defaults to the MultiPicker for sorting and font size, updated printing options, updated RealTracks and other content, and addressed user-reported issues with the StylePicker, MIDI Soloists, key signature changes, and more!
A few excerpts:
"The Tracks view is possibly the single most powerful addition in 2024 and opens up a new way to edit and generate accompaniments. Combined with the new MultiPicker Library Window, it makes BIAB nearly perfect as an 'intelligent' composer/arranger program."
"MIDI SuperTracks partial generation showing six variations – each time the section is generated it can be instantly auditioned, re-generated or backed out to a previous generation – and you can do this with any track type. This is MAJOR! This takes musical experimentation and honing an arrangement to a new level, and faster than ever."
"Band in a Box continues to be an expansive musical tool-set for both novice and experienced musicians to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs, as well as an extensive educational resource. It is huge, with hundreds of functions, more than any one person is likely to ever use. Yet, so is any DAW that I have used. BIAB can do some things that no DAW does, and this year BIAB has more DAW-like functions than ever."
One of our representatives will be happy to help you over the phone. Our hours of operation are from
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One of our representatives will be happy to help you on our Live Chat or by email. Our hours of operation are from
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