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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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dmunday Offline OP
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If I switch to a Mac (been using Windows), will the BB and Real Band songs I created in Windows open in the Mac version of BB and Real Band?
Thanks
EDIT: Looks like I found the answer in the Mac FAQ (yes)
"36. Are Mac and PC versions of Band-in-a-Box® songs compatible?
Yes, Band-in-a-Box® songs are compatible between platforms."

Last edited by dmunday; 03/22/21 11:46 PM.
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Be forewarned: there is no Mac version of Real Band.


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One thing to be careful of is that your songs that you are sharing between the Windows version and the Mac version uses RealTracks that both computers have installed. For example, the Band-in-a-Box UltraPAK includes all of the RealTrack Sets for its particular version/year and the Pro PAK is the smallest PAK with a limited number of RealTracks. If your Windows is an UltraPAK and you made a song with it, then open that song in a Pro PAK for Mac, it is possible to accidentally use RealTracks from the Windows UltraPAK that are not included in the Mac Pro. Thus the RealTracks would then show as N/A and not play.


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dmunday Offline OP
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Gotcha, thanks. I'm planning on avoiding that problem by getting the Mac version with all 2,500 tracks smile

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Originally Posted By: babarton
Be forewarned: there is no Mac version of Real Band.


What, no Real Band for Mac? Wow, I just assumed that would be part of the package. Darn, I've always liked moving songs from BB to Real Band. So you make a song in BB and move it to another DAW?

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Originally Posted By: dmunday
Originally Posted By: babarton
Be forewarned: there is no Mac version of Real Band.


What, no Real Band for Mac? Wow, I just assumed that would be part of the package. Darn, I've always liked moving songs from BB to Real Band. So you make a song in BB and move it to another DAW?


Correct. Since all Mac users have access to Garage Band for free, most users would likely not use RealBand. Some users certainly would miss it, of course, but likely not enough of them to be worth the amount of time and programming it would take to port RealBand to Mac (and because RealBand depends on a number of Windows-only libraries and API's, that would likely make the task quite difficult).

That's just my educated guess though, I don't know the full reasoning behind the decision.

Last edited by Simon - PG Music; 03/23/21 12:19 PM.

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dmunday Offline OP
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OK, thanks for the heads up. I'm just so used to Real Band. Guess switching to one of the other free DAWs is not a deal breaker, though smile

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Quote:
Since all Mac users have access to Garage Band for free, most users would likely not use RealBand. …
Really, that's the reason?

Oh dear…

I'm one of many who would purchase RB for Mac if it was available. I've no intention of ever firing up my Windows laptop again, however.


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Originally Posted By: Mike Halloran
Quote:
Since all Mac users have access to Garage Band for free, most users would likely not use RealBand. …
Really, that's the reason?

Oh dear…

I'm one of many who would purchase RB for Mac if it was available. I've no intention of ever firing up my Windows laptop again, however.


So would I - easier than having to learn a new DAW smile
PS - I'm a "newbie" on the forums, but as you can see from my sig, I've been using BB and PowerTracks - was that what it was called before RealBand? - since 2002 smile My Windows laptop died, and I'm strongly leaning toward replacing it with a MacBook, thus the questions
EDIT: PG Music's algorithm put an ad on my Facebook today for the plugin that puts Band in a Box into GarageBand. OK, I have to say that makes sense.
https://www.pgmusic.com/support.bbmplugin.garageband.htm


Last edited by dmunday; 03/24/21 08:46 AM.
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RealBand is basically PowerTracks that calls on bbw2.exe that is just Biab that runs silently in the background, it generates up tracks, renders them to RealBand's temp folder that are then loaded into RealBand tracks.

So basically this in what the BBPlugin does within your DAW,
so you have the Band in a box plugin you load in your DAW,
it then calls on bbw_64.app that runs silently in the back ground,
it generates the tracks, renders to aiff into the SavedTrack folder,
you then can drag them into the DAW.

The future of the BBPlugin should be to generate and play the RT RD direct from the source files.
This way the tracks will generate instantly, quicker than Biab, load frozen SGU's,
no aiff/wav files will be rendered until you are happy with the results
then as you drag them out of the BBPlugin into the DAW track they will be rendered.
With the Sends now in the BBPlugin you could leave them in the BBPlugin and just render the DAW session to wav without the BBPlugin ever have to render to file.

There is also a ReWireVST Mac/Win that will let you slave any slavable DAW to Biab.
https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=648011
You will need BB21Mac for the plugin to work.

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It's interesting you bring this up, as I've personally experimented with BB on Wine. Definitely not ready for prime time, but I did manage to get it to make sound. Didn't play with it much further than that. Of course, this is completely unsupported territory. I would personally use VirtualBox before I used Wine for this.


Originally Posted By: Mike Halloran
Quote:
Since all Mac users have access to Garage Band for free, most users would likely not use RealBand. …
Really, that's the reason?

Oh dear…

I'm one of many who would purchase RB for Mac if it was available. I've no intention of ever firing up my Windows laptop again, however.


I wouldn't say it's the reason, just potentially one of many.


Originally Posted By: dmunday
So would I - easier than having to learn a new DAW smile
PS - I'm a "newbie" on the forums, but as you can see from my sig, I've been using BB and PowerTracks - was that what it was called before RealBand? - since 2002 smile My Windows laptop died, and I'm strongly leaning toward replacing it with a MacBook, thus the questions
EDIT: PG Music's algorithm put an ad on my Facebook today for the plugin that puts Band in a Box into GarageBand. OK, I have to say that makes sense.
https://www.pgmusic.com/support.bbmplugin.garageband.htm



Yep, I prefer using the plugin over RealBand myself, though that's mostly because I'm a Pro Tools/Logic guy so I'm more comfortable sticking with those.


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This is another way, it should work on BBMac21 as it has the new Plugin structure and seems to have quicker render times.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/abmdoc06zssol9t/Reaper-ReWireVST-Biab-PlugIn-Mode-MultiRiffs.mp4?dl=0

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We've created a video to help you learn more about the Volume Automation options in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows.

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Video: Audio Input Monitoring with Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®

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Video: Enhanced Melodists in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®!

We've enhanced the Melodists feature included in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows!

Access the Melodist feature by pressing F7 in the program to open the new MultiPicker Library and locate the [Melodist] tab.

You can now generate a melody on any track in the program - very handy! Plus, you select how much of the melody you want generated - specify a range, or apply it to the whole track.

See the Melodist in action with our video, Band-in-a-Box® 2024: The Melodist Window.

Learn even more about the enhancements to the Melodist feature in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows at www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024upgrade/chapter3.htm#enhanced-melodist

Band-in-a-Box® 2024 DAW Plugin Version 6: New Features Specifically for Reaper®

New with the DAW Plugin Version 6.0, released with Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows: the Reaper® Panel!

This new panel offers built-in specific support for the Reaper® DAW API allowing direct transfer of Band-in-a-Box® files to/from Reaper® tracks!

When you run the Plugin from Reaper®, there is a panel to set the following options:
-BB Track(s) to send: This allows you to select the Plugin tracks that will be sent Reaper.
-Destination Reaper Track: This lets you select the destination Reaper track to receive media content from the Plugin.
-At Bar: You can select a bar in Reaper where the Plugin tracks should be placed.
-Start Below Selected Track: This allows you to place the Plugin tracks below the destination Reaper track.
-Overwrite Reaper Track: You can overwrite previous content on the destination Reaper track.
-Move to Project Folder: With this option, you can move the Plugin tracks to the Reaper project folder.
-Send Reaper Instructions Enable this option to send the Reaper Instructions instead of rendering audio tracks, which is faster.
-Render Audio & Instructions: Enable this option to generate audio files and the Reaper instructions.
-Send Tracks After Generating: This allows the Plugin to automatically send tracks to Reaper after generating.
-Send Audio for MIDI Track: Enable this option to send rendered audio for MIDI tracks.
-Send RealCharts with Audio: If this option is enabled, Enable this option to send RealCharts with audio.

Check out this video highlighting the new Reaper®-specific features: Band-in-a-Box® DAW Plugin Version 6: New Features Specifically for Reaper®

Band-in-a-Box® 2024 DAW Plugin Version 6: New Features Video

The new Band-in-a-Box VST DAW Plugin Verion 6 adds over 20 new features!

Watch the new features video to learn more: Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2024 - DAW Plugin Version 6 New Features

We also list these new features at www.pgmusic.com/bbwin.plugin.htm.

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