Registered: 09/27/06
Posts: 1709
Loc: Victoria, BC
If you've been a long time program user, you may have noticed that with each release of a new version of Band-in-a-Box® we add 50+ new features and enhancements.
Over time, you may have forgotten all the different things that Band-in-a-Box® can do. Well, with the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2020 for Windows, we've solved this issue by added a Feature Browser!
How does it work? Access this feature by clicking on the [?] button on the main screen of the program or pressing the / Enter keys on the Chord Sheet. This dialog lists many features of the program and allows you to browse them, find the feature by text filter, read descriptions about the feature, find how to launch the feature, access to the online information or video about the feature, and do more.
Examples of a few situations where this feature is helpful:
You know about a feature but don't know how to find it. Just type a part of the feature name and you'll see the hotkeys, menu, and toolbar info on how to launch it. For example, if you want to launch the Chord Builder but don’t know how to do it, type "builder" in the text filter, and you will quickly find the Chord Builder.
You are exploring available features for Band-in-a-Box. For example, if you are a guitar player, type the word "guitar" and you'll see what's available.
You prefer "one-stop-shopping" and would like to launch features from the same dialog.
You are learning the program and like to browse or watch videos about topics you're interested in.
You can't remember hotkeys and want to review them.
Watch this new feature in action when you jump to the subject in our New Features video:
In 2019 there were 1,089 new & original compositions shared by 157 different artists to our User Showcase Forum!
There were song compositions posted from at least 23 countries, including: USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, France, Japan, Denmark, Finland, South Africa, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jersey Channel Is, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, and Sweden. In 2019 alone there were over 26,000 posts in the User Showcase forum, with 1.1 million views!
Many thanks to all who have contributed!
We've announced the "Top 40" User Showcase Awards to the top 43 contributors of 2019 – each of them will receive a free Band-in-a-Box 2020 UltraPAK (including the 49 PAK bonus)!
We've reviewed the contributions from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2019, and have based the results on a combination of the following criteria:
- great compositions/arrangements/productions
- use lots of Band-in-a-Box or RealBand (RealTracks or MIDI)
- most contributions
- other contribution to the forum (songwriting tips etc.)
- haven't won before (not an absolute requirement)
- haven't already got a free version from beta testing etc.
The Band-in-a-Box® 2020 49-PAK with 40 Unreleased RealTracks!
Our Band-in-a-Box® 2020 49-PAK is still available, and it's loaded with Add-ons you'll want in your Band-in-a-Box® library!
Our 2020 49-PAK includes 40 Unreleased RealTracks, Instrumental Studies 9: Western Swing Country Guitar Licks, Instrumental Studies 10: Train-Beat Country Guitar Licks, Instrumental Studies 11: Workin' Country Guitar Licks, Instrumental Studies 12: Rhythm Changes Jazz Guitar Soloing, Instrumental Studies 13: Jazz Blues Guitar Soloing, MIDI SuperTracks Set 30: Jazz, Funk, and Gospel Keyboards, MIDI SuperTracks Set 31: All Bass with 6 new bass MIDI SuperTracks, "Look Ma! More MIDI 3" with 15 styles, "Look Ma! More MIDI 4" with 15 styles, and over 280 RealCharts for RealDrums (transcriptions) with Drum Notation!
Purchasing an UltraPAK, UltraPAK+ or Audiophile Edition? As of January 16th, the 2020 49-PAK is included in your purchase (uncompressed RealTracks files for the Audiophile too)! Band-in-a-Box® Pro, MegaPAK, or PlusPAK customers can add this to their purchase for just $49, and will be prompted during the online checkout process.
User Tip - Create harmony Using the TC Helicon in RealBand 2020
Interested in creating harmonies using RealBand and the TC Helicon? Check out this forum post, where program user Noel96 shares information on his technique!
Have a tip of your own to share? Feel free to post it to our Tips & Tricks forum!
Band-in-a-Box® 2020 for Windows & VST DAW Plugin Update Available!
Band-in-a-Box® 2020 for Windows users!!! The latest FREE patch (build 713) and DAW Plugin Update 2.4.5 is available - learn more and download here.
Summary of changes for build 713: Fixed: Rendered audio files might be silent if mono and 24 bit are selected. Fixed: Possible crash when rendering to audio at 48.0kHz or 96.0kHz sample rate. Improved: Better support for localized versions. Fixed: Importing audio files that were 96 kHz sampling rate would fail. Fixed: The [More Info...] button in the Artist Browser dialog would launch the wrong web page. Fixed: Importing an ABCNotation file would not include the key signature. Fixed: ABC files only opening some chords. Fixed: Problem storing minor keys.(ampersand). Fixed: A few artists not displaying properly in Artist Browsers. Improved: RealDrums Picker information for the 2020 RealDrums has been updated/improved. Fixed: Some of the RealDrums from the 2020 release did not have drum groove names. Improved: All of the 2020 MIDI SuperTracks now have memos. Fixed: Some RealTracks were listed under the incorrect Set# in the RealTracks Picker. Fixed: _Gentle style from Xtra PAK 4 had an acoustic guitar set to Held mode. Fixed: Some ska style demos had drum drop outs. Fixed: Rendered files were not being normalized. Fixed: Pressing spacebar in the Notation window might launch a web browser instead of starting playback. Fixed: Practice window | Master Solos | Blues Piano, displays N/A. Fixed: MusicXML files created by Band-in-a-Box cannot be loaded by Band-in-a-Box if song title contains & (ampersand). Fixed: Japanese lyrics are garbage text when saving to MusicXML. Fixed: Various animations (eg. Guitar window notes) would freeze during playback if using MME drivers. Fixed: With some computers, distorted audio when soloing a track. Fixed: Changing a custom track label had no option to Undo, and did not prompt user to save song.
Updated: Manual/Help [routine updates] Fixed: When re-saving a song that has an audio track, the audio track was not copied. Fixed: Dropping a song file onto Band-in-a-Box did not set the current directory. Fixed: The RealTracks picker window should remember its location when reopening. Fixed: The Piano Roll window was opening at the wrong bar location. Improved: Better quality audio resampling when rendering audio to higher sample rates. Fixed: Resampler quality setting in ASIO drivers dialog was ignored. Fixed: Using WAS audio drivers with 24 bit & 48kHz output rate might result in noise.
Summary of Changes for DAW Plugin Update 2.4.5 (Jan 21 2020) Fixed: Opening Band-in-a-Box song files (.sgu) would fail if the file names and/or paths contained any European language characters (eg. à,è). Fixed: Message if bbw4 has no valid handle Fixed: Mute and sync buttons not working properly Fixed: Clicking cancel would lag before cancelling Fixed: Right-click anywhere on track for context menu Fixed: Increase maximum chord sheet font size Added: Double click track name to launch picker of currently selected track Added: Flashing GENERATE button to notify if song needs to be regenerated Added: Mute and sync buttons to track context menu Added: Right-click chord opens bar settings menu at that bar Added: Error code for bbw4 related error messages Fixed: Plugin asking to save when booting the plugin and selecting File/Open Fixed: Crash when running vst3 plugin in reaper Fixed: Scroll bar margins when resizing plugin Fixed: Bar settings not saving Fixed: Time Base, and Natural Arrangement not saving settings Fixed: Calling bbw4 when already open will bring windows to front Fixed: Tool tips in Preferences Dialog Fixed: Time signature should be set from DAW when first opened Fixed: Set "..." colours for truncated chords to black Fixed: Selected track in table should be more obvious Fixed: Click YES to Save dialog and then cancel will reset save state to true Added: Right click for track table context menu Added: Medley/Multi (thickening) feature
What does this mean? Faster hard drive transfer rates will enhance the program operations (faster time to generate tracks, reduced audio artifacts) and offer faster transfer speeds (typically up to 3x faster)!
Band-in-a-Box® UltraPAK $469
Upgrade from Version 2019: $279
Upgrade from Version 2018 or earlier or crossgrade: $299
Band-in-a-Box® UltraPAK+ $569
Upgrade from Version 2019: $379
Upgrade from Version 2018 or earlier or crossgrade: $399
Note: The difference between the UltraPAK and the UltraPAK+ is that the Songs & Lessons PAK is included in the UltraPAK+ package.
Our Band-in-a-Box® Audiophile Edition ships preinstalled on a USB 3.0 hard drive too! Band-in-a-Box® Audiophile Edition $669
Upgrade from Version 2019: $479
Upgrade from Version 2018 or earlier or crossgrade: $499
Upgrade from ANY previous Audiophile Edition: $299
Heading to The NAMM Show? Make sure you stop by Booth 1015 (Hall E) - we'll be doing product demonstrations every hour, with some RealTracks Artists popping in for performances with Band-in-a-Box too!
Click here for more information about The NAMM Show, held in Anaheim California at the Anaheim Convention Center.
--SPECIAL PRICING ONLY AVAILABLE UNTIL JANUARY 15TH!--
We've added 164 fantastic new RealStyles in Xtra Styles PAK 8! These are imaginative new combinations of our existing RealTracks library that fall into four categories: Rock/Pop 8, Jazz 8, Country 8, and Celtic 1. To celebrate the release of Xtra Styles PAK 8, ALL of our Xtra Styles PAKs 1-8 are on sale for just $29 each! Learn more & listen to demos here.
Also brand-new is our Loops-with-Style PAK 1 for Band-in-a-Box®, which gives you the chance to expand your loops collection with 100 new loops! We've taken the RealDrums and RealTracks source audio and remixed, remastered, and combined it to create these original loops. All of your favorite genres are covered like jazz, funk, rock, pop, electronic, hip-hop, and more! To show them in action, we've created 50 new RealStyles that each include two of the loops. Plus, if you use the loops in Band-in-a-Box, we've included intelligent versions of the loops that automatically switch at A and B part markers. Each loop has a matching sister loop that works perfectly for another substyle! Get started with Loops-with-Style PAK 1 for the introductory price of just $19 until January 15th (reg: $29). Learn more & watch a great video demonstration here.
Note: Xtra Styles PAK 8 and Loops-with-Style PAK 1 require the Band-in-a-Box® 2019 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
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.
Hours of operation are from 10:00AM to 4:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday. (Please note:
Tech Support is not available on weekends or Holidays.) You can also send us your technical
support questions via fax or email.
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