1. Re: Keep releasing new Realtracks!

RealTracks are great, no complaints here. BTW, what does everyone think about the Xtra Styles Paks being sold at extra cost? I wonder if PG has too much of an incentive to "hold back" with their best/freshest content so they can make some extra bucks.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for companies charging a premium for extra features that are truly supplemental--as in of a different character than the core program features, such as the instrumental studies, or the 101 jazz phrases or what-not.

By all means, PG, develop as much Realtracks as you like, and if you want to charge more for them, how about allowing the consumer to choose the core 202 new tracks they want for their $100 upgrades. I'd much rather have many of the styles I heard Demo'd in the YT vids than the Klezmer and Mariachi. Also the Americana tracks are not all that different from the excellent RTs released over that past decade. For instance, the Rock-Pop 4 styles are a lot more distinct (and more desirable from my perspective, than many of the other RTs which came with the std. 2017 to 2018 upgrade).

You know what I would shell out good money for? A well illustrated tutorial book with a CD and example files where you need to accomplish different things. Sell them as modules for all I care. There is no reason that I, and I'd wager a majority of other BiaB owners, should only be using less than 25 percent of the program's capabilities.

2. Re: No more "50 new features" each year!

I both agree and (respectfully) disagree. On the one hand, I LOVE the features. The ACW, the reharmonist, I could go on and on. Yes, a lot of them have a very steep learning curve, and I'll readily admit that I am barely proficient in 5 percent of all of them. However, suddenly you find a use for a given feature, and it suddenly becomes indispensable.

THAT SAID, the whole "50 new features each year thing" creates a tremendous disincentive for BiaB go 'hoard' fixes and updates that should really be released continuously throughout the year.

To throw out a few examples culled from the 2018 features--organizing the cluttered folders? Saving MP3 in a quality better than 64kbps? Skins? A floating mixer? Support for 12/8, 9/8, and 6/8 notation? These are issues that should be patched as a matter of course, not features!

Examples of genuinely new features (culled from updates over the years) would be the DAW plugin mode, the ACW, the ability to save mono audio as MIDI, the ability to open and save in ABC file format, usertracks, loops that transpose with the chordsheet, etc.

3. Fix the bugs!

+1,000,000,000 (and see regrading 2, above, as they are closely related). Can we drag Realband out of the 1980s please? Get an outside team and a technical writer or two if you must, say it costs you the amount of $ you would spend on developing, what 10, 25, 100 realtracks? Once done it's done, and can be updated relatively efficiently.

Would anyone here not sacrifice dozens or RealTracks for a decent GUI and coherent manual--a manual that isn't just the same one from the last decade with the upgraded feature text copy-pasted into relevant sections...

As a closing note, I would like to express my utmost respect and admiration for the folks at PG music and the incredible product they produce. You guys are cool af, but you need to listen, and respond to your consumer base more consistently (IMHO).

Peace to all, and happy new year!

Deacon







Last edited by DeaconBlues09; 01/01/18 06:12 AM. Reason: A word
Band-in-a-Box 2021 PlusPAK w 2019 Bonus Pak. Custom Build Desktop PC W/ Windows 10 Home 64-bit. CPU: Intel Core i5-9600k @ 3.7GHz (6 core x 6 threads) RAM: 16GB DDR4. Storage 238GB SSD + 2.7 TB HDD. GPU: ZOTAC NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB