Band-in-a-Box^® for Mac DAW Plugin New Features

New Features in Version 4.0 (included with Band-in-a-Box^® 2022)
New Features in Version 3.0 (included with Band-in-a-Box^® 2021)

New Features in Version 4.0 (included with Band-in-a-Box^® 2022)

There are over 40 enhancements to the Band-in-a-Box® DAW Plugin, including a new Chord Settings dialog (with Chord Builder, Chord Theory, and MicroChords tabs), the MicroChords feature (the ability to enter multiple chords per beat, four pages for a total of 32 tracks (8 style tracks, 16 utility tracks, and 8 multi-riff tracks) plus a Style Mix track, the ability to drag MIDI chords and markers to DAW, volume sliders for each track, the ability to save/load chord progression, and much more!

New Content
- 60 Unreleased RealTracks
- 20 MIDI SuperTracks
- 30 All-MIDI Styles
- 12 Instrumental Studies
- 50+ Artist Performances
- 50+ RealDrums Stems
- 300+ Playable RealTracks (sfz sforzando files)
- RealCombos Booster PAK
- XPro Styles PAK 2
- XPro Styles PAK 3
- Xtra Styles PAK 13

Chord Settings dialog with Chord Builder, Chord Theory, and MicroChords
There is a Chord Settings dialog which includes Chord Builder, Chord Theory, and MicroChords.

MicroChords (multiple chords per beat)
You can now enter up to 4 chords per beat, and the MicroChords in a SGU/MGU file will be written to the chord sheet.

Four pages on the track table
The track table now has 4 pages for a total of 32 tracks (8 style tracks, 16 utility tracks, and 8 multi-riff tracks) plus a Style Mix track.

Drag MIDI chords and markers from the plugin to DAW
- You can drag the [C7] button (above the chord sheet) to the DAW to export chords and markers in a MIDI file.
- "Save Chords to MIDI File" has been added to the File menu and the [C7] button right-click menu.
- "Load Chords from MIDI File" has been added to the File menu and the [C7] button right-click menu.

Volume sliders for each track
The new volume slides on each track allow you to control volume individually.

Save and Load chord progression
You can now save and load a chord progression using the new File menu commands ("Save chord progression" and "Load chord progression")

Drum Stems
Drum stems are separate tracks from the different mics in the RealDrums recording. They can be loaded to separate tracks.

[VI] button above chord sheet for chord display options
The [VI] button has been added to above the chord sheet and clicking on it shows a menu with options for types of chord symbols to display.

[MicroChords] tab in Chord Settings dialog
Clicking on the new [MicroChords] button in the Chord Settings dialog allows you to enter MicroChords, rests, and motifs.

Hotkey to open MicroChords dialog
Typing M <Enter> on the chord sheet opens the MicroChords dialog.

Generate all pages
The [Generate] button now generates tracks in all pages, not just the pages displayed on the screen.

Output RealChart for RealTracks along with audio
Preferences-DAW Settings has a new "Send MIDI Data to DAW" setting with 3 options (Never, Only for MIDI Tracks, Always) and this allows to output RealCharts for RealTracks along with audio

Option to always disable audio when generating MIDI-only styles
The new option in Preference-Rendering allows you to always disable audio when generating MIDI-only styles.

Track label should reflect what region is generated if any
Previously, the track labels did not reflect what region is generated if any.

Undo/Redo buttons
We've added convenient Undo and Redo buttons above the chord sheet.

Reset track volume slider to 0
You can shift-click on the volume slider to set the volume to 0 dB.

Load an audio file on any track
You can now load an audio file on any track.

Load a MIDI file on any track
You can now load a MIDI file on any track.

Changed "Extra" tracks to "Utility" tracks
Previously called "Extra" tracks are now called "Utility" tracks.

Exclude "Style Mix" from scrolling
When you scroll the track table, the "Style Mix" always shows at the top so it can be accessed from any page.

Style Mix [ALL] button now drags all style and utility tracks
Previously, when you dragged the Style Mix [ALL] button, only style tracks were dragged.

Black background for render options in Preferences dialog
The Preferences-Rendering dialog now has a black background.

Updated some preference settings to use a drop-down menu
Some settings in the Preferences dialog now have a drop-down menu instead of a checkbox.

Five menu options added for StylePicker
We've added following menu options to the StylePicker.
- Choose styles similar to current
- Band Styles (best RealStyles)
- Choose Style from Song Title Browser
- Recently Used Styles
- Favorite Styles

Sample rate/bit depth options in Preferences menu
Preferences-Rendering now have sample rate and bit depth options.

Have MIDI-only option for each track
The MIDI-only option for each track gives you the ability to specify if you want audio rendered from MIDI tracks. Previously, this was not possible for a single track and could only be applied to all tracks during a generation.

Pad/no pad partial renders
The new Preferences option allows you to add/remove bars of silence before a partial render. For instance, if you just render bar 4-5 of an 8-bar song and this option is checked, it will add 3 bars of silence before the 4th bar comes in.

StylePicker Picker Enhanced
- Additional row has been added to the mixer area for Utility tracks.
- The Other filter button has more menu items.
- The Set # column shows HalfDouble for Half-time/Double-time variation styles.
- We’ve added more user categories (e.g., Xtra12 All Styles, XPro Styles, Style Demos with Vocals, etc.)

Other features including features added since 2021 release
- Previously, the plugin would crash if you tried to run multiple instances because multiple apps are trying to call bbw4. Now, the plugin will check if there are multiple instances running and if so, it will close bbw4 after each call to prevent crashes. So, ultimately the plugin can now "somewhat support" multiple instances although it still isn't recommended.
- Now any "Recent" menu like Recent RealTracks, Recent MIDI SuperTracks, Recent Files, etc. (found in File, Select, and Generate menus) have an option at the bottom to "Clear" which will clear the list.
- The standalone version of the plugin now has the File->Quit menu command.
- You can now quickly preview N bars.
- There is now a right-click menu on the chord sheet that allows you to preview N bars.
- A message will show notifying you that the saved window size has completed.
- Bars will be highlighted during MIDI preview.
- The "Preview N Bars" option has been added to the Generate menu.
- A new button in Preferences-General makes the current plugin window size the default for all new instances.
- A new option in Preferences-Rendering automatically clears the render folder at startup.
- A new option in Preferences-Rendering always separates audio output channels for each track after generating.
- A notification will appear if the plugin cannot generate tracks because of missing media.
- The "Generation is complete!" message that shows after generating tracks has a [Play] button so you can start playback right after generating.
- "Play Current Chord" has been added to the right-click menu on the chord sheet. The hotkey for this function is Shift-Enter.
- The Preferences dialog is updated with tab menus.
- A new option in Preferences-General allows you to select a default chord type to display.
- You can use a dedicated MIDI synth for immediate MIDI playback of chord(s) and rendered MIDI files.
- The MIDI and audio channel buttons on the track table are now clickable and you can change a channel.
- You can set a folder path for saved tracks for that instance.
- You can preview chord progression as MIDI (Play/Stop button is above chord sheet).
- The top menu can be hidden to save space.
- A new button in Preferences-Rendering will display a plugin log of green/yellow messages.
- There is a new option in Preferences-General to let you select a chord font.
- A line is drawn between the Generate and Custom buttons to separate the two visually.
- The option to enable/disable style mix track is set by default.
- The Preferences-Rendering option to enable/disable style mix track is set by default.
- A new option in Preference-Rendering enables rendering with high-quality tempo stretching.
- Clicking a status message area brings any open Band-in-a-Box window to front.
- The Chord Settings dialog now has a keyboard to show notes in chords.
- Render settings and track context menus have been updated.
- There is now a preferences option to the save output channel mapping layout as default.
- You can select tracks to be excluded from playing the MicroChord.
- There is now a visual indicator for count-ins.
- MIDI Soloist can now be selected for style page tracks.
- A new preferences option allows the spacebar to start/stop playback in the standalone plugin.
- There is now a preferences option to keep the standalone plugin window on top of all other windows.
- The plugin will write to a log file each “action” that the plugin takes when an operation is in progress. (Note that in order for this to work, there must exist a file called "Users/Shared/Ticket/BBPluginDebug.txt.")
- Style Mix volume button now shows volumes for all tracks (Master volume button).
- Arrows to move to next beat/bar in Chord Settings dialog have been updated so that left-click will move 1 beat and right-click will move 2 beats.
- A new preferences option allows you to select a type of generate action to perform when pressing the Generate button.
- There is now an option to send MIDI data to an embedded synth for playing MIDI tracks.
- Newly saved progression replaces older one with identical name.

Fixes
- You cannot "Paste Special" from main program to plugin.
- Style page should also be considered as available tracks for non-style tracks.
- The 'Highlight Bar From DAW' option in the Preferences dialog causes high CPU.
- Separate audio tracks are not working properly
- Sync stops working if dragging tracks fails
- MIDI tracks on same channel are muted together.
- MicroChords are incorrect in Nashville Notation.
- Fixed: Cannot enter 'Fadd2' chord.
- Plugin crashes in FL Studio.
- Generating style track from track context menu does not work.
- Generating 'Selected Region' shows wrong region in track description
- Generating 'All Pages (Ungenerated tracks Only)' does not work.
- You cannot enter chord on second beat (e.g.: ',B').
- Sync offset cannot be edited.
- Starting playback with more than 1 chorus causes generate icon to blink.
- Play icons do not change when first pressing PLAY.
- Clicking on plugin while BBApp is opening and running stops operation.
- Copy/Paste in chord sheet does not work properly.
- The Preferences dialog does not have enough space between items.
- Bar is wrongly highlighted when there is no playback.
- Generating MultiRiffs crashes plugin.
- Generate icon should not blink when tracks are empty.
- Drum and Piano tracks are swapped when dragged individually.
- Plugin should only reset DAW dirty bit when song is dirty or unsaved.
- Visual count-in does not show when moving playback position to start.
- Riff numbering is incorrect when selecting "MultiRiff from this RealTrack" in Track menu.
- Generate icon does not blink correctly.
- Right-click on solo & mute buttons should work as in Band-in-a-Box.
- BBPluginDebug.txt should always be written.
- Order of Style tracks in custom menu is incorrect.
- Order of Style tracks when dragging is incorrect.
- Plugin should close BBApp when multiple instances are running.
- Creating BBInput file causes crash in some cases.
- Mute buttons should work as in BIAB.
- Solo buttons should work as in BIAB.
- Setting global chord display does not work correctly
- Visual transpose does not work
- Plugin is stuck with "Shutting Down Band-in-a-Box Engine" message
- Confirmation dialog does not show on correct plugin instance when multiple instances are running
- There is an input restrictions for song settings (Tempo, Start Bar, Total Bars, Choruses).
- Confirmation dialog should take keyboard focus when opened.
- You cannot set audio track settings.
- Chord display won't be saved when plugin window is closed.
- Entering chords in MicroChord dialog does not always work.
- Default button in Render Settings dialog should only reset check boxes.
- Preferences settings are changed automatically by the plugin.
- The plugin does not generate style with utility tracks together.
- Font selection gets lost when first opening the plugin.
- Piano and Drums track are being swapped.
- Plugin scrolls to last page with tracks when window opens.
- Plugin crashes when undoing added tracks with identical names.
- Utility tracks store custom track data like style tracks.
- Importing external wav/midi file does not work.
- You cannot generate RealTracks on audio tracks.
- '3' in slash chord does not work.
- Setting custom track does not delete previous track data.
- Enabling Style Mix did not allow it to be generated.
- Nashville notation has display issues.
- Trying to generate a single style tracks generated all style tracks.
- Generating "All Ungenerated Tracks" generates Style Mix even if it is disabled.
- Chord Sheet resizes when adding/removing secondary chord display.
- Setting tempo percentage change in bar settings dialog does not work correctly.
- Playing midi progression while DAW plays shows error message when stopped.
- Starting DAW playback should stop playback in the plugin if sync is on.
- Highlighted cell is still shown after playback is stopped when "Highlight DAW Bars = Only During playback."
- Generating all but master (master disabled) does them one at a time.
- You cannot enter "Blues" chord.
- There is a buzzing sound when playing tracks in plugin while DAW is running (Sync is off).
- The secondary chord display should be coloured grey.
- Transpose to minor key does not workg correctly.
- Changing key without transposing does not work correctly.
- Audio RealChart should play if MIDI is not sent.
- Chord Theory options are not transposing to current key.
- Select... buttons changes colour when clicked.
- Plugin shows message saying track was not generated even though it was.
- Changing language removes selected key.
- Changing language changes save state.
- Changing language with custom tracks removes them.
- Re-word preferences settings to fit new design.
- GENERATE button causes crash if clicked when plugin is empty.
- Volume slider does not work on MIDI tracks.

New Features in Version 3.0 (included with Band-in-a-Box^® 2021)

The Band-in-a-Box® DAW Plugin offers great new features including enhanced audio rendering, support for displaying two chord types, the ability to change audio output channels, and we've added table view buttons. Now you can import MIDI markers and tempo map, export chord markers as a MIDI file, generate all ungenerated tracks, and much more!

Audio Rendering Enhanced
Rendering is faster.
The default bit depth rendering is 24 bit.
The highest quality tempo stretching setting for élastique is used when rendering. You may be using a lower quality setting for playback in order to increase performance, but this is not necessary when rendering to an audio file.

Preferences dialog reorganized with tabs
The Preferences dialog has been organized with tabs for [General], [Rendering], [Folder Locations], and [Audio/MIDI Settings].

Global chord display options
You can use the new option in the Preferences dialog to set chord display globally. (Preferences dialog > General tab > Chord Display option)

Chord Builder dialog
We've added the Chord Builder, where you can hear and enter chords by clicking on the root, extension, and other chord options. You can open the Chord Builder with the [Chord Builder] on the toolbar.

Volume sliders
You can easily change the volume for each track with the new volume sliders. When the tracks have been generated, click on a speaker icon on the track table and drag the volume slider horizontally.

Dedicated synth for MIDI playback
The Plugin now plays MIDI notes through a default synth (Apple DLS Music Device on Mac). For example, if you right-click on the chord sheet to preview chord progression, you will hear the chord played as a MIDI piano note.

Clickable MIDI and audio channel buttons to set channels
You can click on the MIDI and audio channel buttons on the track table to change the channels.

Set folder path for saved tracks for that instance
When you save the song into a new directory, the Plugin will ask if you want to move all the saved tracks into that directory.

Preview chord progression as MIDI
To preview the chord progression as MIDI, right-click on a bar on the chord sheet and select Preview Chord Progression from the menu. Stopping playback can be achieved by clicking elsewhere on the chord sheet.

Options to store and load chord progression in chord sheet context menu
The new options in the chord context menu allows you to store the chord progressions and load them later.

Hide the top of the plugin
You can hide the top of the plugin with a new arrow button to the left of the [Tracks + Chords] button. This will save space that you may not need to see.

Button in preferences to open plugin log of green/yellow messages
The [Open Plugin Log] button has been added to the Preferences dialog. Clicking on this button will show you a list of green/yellow messages. (Preferences dialog >Rendering tab > Open Plugin Log button)

Custom chord font options
You can now select the font for the chord sheet with the new option in the Preferences dialog. (Preferences dialog > General tab > Chord Font option]

Line between Generate and Custom buttons
A line is now drawn between the [Generate] and [Custom...] buttons to separate the two visually.

Style mix enabled by default
The Preferences option to include a mix of the style tracks is enabled by default. Note that when the style mix track is disabled, it will be excluded from generation. You can enable/disable the style mix track by using the "+" button or right-clicking on the track.

High-quality tempo stretching option for rendering
There is a new option in the Preferences dialog to use the high-quality tempo stretching for rendering tracks. (Preferences dialog > Render tab > Use High-quality tempo stretching option)

Load Chords from MIDI File option added to chord sheet context menu
We've added an option to load chords from MIDI file to the chord sheet context menu.

[C7] button to export/import chords
There is a new [C7] button at the bottom right corner. You can drag it to the DAW to export chords in a MIDI file. Right-clicking on it allows you select items to include in the file. The menu also includes an option to load chords from a MIDI file.

Click status message area to bring any open bb window to front.
If you click on the status message area at the bottom of the Plugin window, any open Band-in-a-Box window (e.g. StylePicker, RealTracks Picker, etc.) will appear in front of the Plugin window.

Set output channels for tracks with audio
There is a new option that allows you to essentially setup "multi-channel output". That means that instead of having all audio output going to channels 1 & 2, you can route output to other channels like 3 & 4, etc. You can access this feature by clicking on the blue audio output display next to the track description which appears after you've generated it.

Copy/Paste to/from Band-in-a-Box®
Plugin now supports copy/paste special to/from Band-in-a-Box®. Paste Special from Band-in-a-Box® to the Plugin using the "Paste Special" option in the chord sheet context menu or with command+shift+V.
1. Copying from the Plugin to Band-in-a-Box®
- Highlight the bars of your song in the chord sheet and press command+C or right-click on the chord sheet and select Edit - Copy from the menu.
- In Band-in-a-Box®, go to Edit - Paste Special or press command+shift+V to paste the contents from the Plugin into Band-in-a-Box®.
2. Copying from Band-in-a-Box® to the Plugin
- In Band-in-a-Box®, go to Edit - Copy Special - Copy Song(s) to Text on clipboard or File(s). Then, in the dialog that opens, press the [OK-Copy to Clipboard] button.
- In the Plugin, press command+shift+V, or right-click on the chord sheet and select Edit - Paste Special from the menu.
Using command+shift+V to paste will paste not only the chords but the entire song. If you want just the chords then you can use command+V.
(Note: The hotkey command+shift+V in the Plugin will only work this command isn't already designated in the DAW.)

Global bar offset for sync playback
You can now set a bar offset value to delay playback in the DAW by a certain amount. Press the [Sync] button and enter a value for Bar Offset. For example, a value of 10 means that when you play through the DAW, the Plugin will not begin to play until bar 10, which helps if you have your whole music project delayed by 10 bars.

Export Chords option added to chord sheet contextual menu
You can use the new Save Chords to MIDI File menu option to export chords.

Part markers included in Copy/Paste
When you copy and paste chords, part markers will be included.

Display two chord types
The Plugin can display two chord types in the chord sheet. Click on the chord sheet, go to Chord Display > Also show..., and select a chord type.

Set action for new session
You can now set the action to perform when starting a new session. (Preferences dialog > General tab > Action for New Session option)

Set default style
There is a new option to set the default style to use when starting a new session or saving a song with no style. (Preferences dialog > General tab > Set Default Style option)

Save with default style
Saving song with no style will save with the selected default style.

Generate all ungenerated tracks
The Plugin can generate all ungenerated tracks. Press the [Custom...] button and select All Pages (Ungenerated tracks only).

Table view buttons
Table view buttons [Tracks + Chords], [Track Table] and [Chord Sheet] have been added so you can switch to display both the track table and the chord sheet, the track table only, or the chord sheet only.

Change audio output channels
You can now change audio output channels for an audio track. To do this, click on the light-blue audio channel button next to the track description on the track table.

Select MIDI channel
You can now select a MIDI channel for a MIDI track. To do this, press the [+] button on the track table and go to Set MIDI Channel.

User friendly file names
There is a new option for "User friendly file names" of rendered tracks. (Preferences dialog > Rendering tab> Simplify File Names option)

Export chord markers as a MIDI file
You can now export chord markers as a MIDI file. Hold the shift key while dragging from the chord sheet. There is also an option to include a click track or block chords. You can select this option with the General > Chord Export Option in the Preferences dialog. Block chord voicings can be changed by editing bbpluginchords.txt.

Import MIDI markers and tempo map
You can now import MIDI markers and tempo map to the chord sheet. Just drag a MIDI file onto the chord sheet.

Yellow flash for status messages
The Plugin will show a yellow flash for status messages to highlight actions.

Tempo and time signature info
Tempo and time signature info are now included in the fold/unfold feature.

Highlight bar during playback
The option is added in Preferences dialog to highlight bar only during playback. [Preferences dialog> Rendering tab> Highlight Bar From DAW option]

Fixes
- MIDI tracks were playing during demo playback.
- Plugin crashed when closing the Preferences dialog while the StylePicker was open. (The Preferences dialog now stays open until BB window is closed.)
- A bug was preventing file browser from opening when the Preferences dialog was open.
- Folder search is more intelligent.
- Bugs related to chord display in chord sheet have been fixed.
- Lag in plugin when using secondary chord display.
- Retrieving localized style after changing language should preserve generated tracks.
- Extra tracks were lost after changing language.
- Bar Settings only showed 1 chorus when there are multiple choruses.
- Organized track menu: Removed mute/solo, MISI/audio channels, and more from + menu in track sheet.
- Playback should pause if bbw4 dialog is opened.
- Loading default style when plugin first starts showed the incorrect style and description.
- Chord sheet now recognizes "min" chord (Dmin as Dm).
- "Play from bar at chorus" played 1 chorus later than expected.
- Plugin did not play the tag correctly.
- Bar highlighting should not go past song length.
- Opening a song file asked to save when there have not been edits.
- Changing tag should enable "generate is needed" blinking light.
- Localization bugs (UserTracks not always working, Localized strings).
- RealDrums' RealCharts were not working (bbw4).
- Out-of-sync bar were highlighting when there were tempo changes.
- Generating with disabled style mix left blinking light on.
- Transport buttons stayed greyed out after stopping sync playback in DAW.
- Chords in MIDI marker file should hold past bar to next chord.
- Generate single track from track table was not working.
- Generating single style tracks did not activate transport buttons.
- Generating individual tracks rendered single tracks.
- Plugin did not always mute style tracks correctly after generation.
- Update colours for playback controls to match and correspond to generation status and DAW playback.
- Plugin did not support '11' chords (ex: C11, etc.).
- 'TE' and "TI" chords did not work.
- 'Faug' chords did not work.
- C7 button should open menu on right-click and drag with left-click.
- "End" in chord sheet overlapped with tempo change.
- Changing render setting should notify that regeneration is needed.
- Right-click play from chord sheet while a section is highlighted should loop that section.
- Opening plugin window while DAW is playing showed warning message.
- Replaced 'highlight bars' with 'HQ tempo stretching' in Render Settings button and removed 'send MIDI data' because it was not a render setting.
- MIDI SuperTracks were not generating correctly on extra page.
- There were problems unfolding the song.
- Changing audio output channels of audio RC on MIDI track did not work.
- Audio did not play in sync mode with DAW running.
- Plugin crashed when trying to load a song demo.
- Make MIDI note length equal length of note in chord sheet.
- Update colours for play buttons.
- Chord display settings in chord sheet context menu was not working properly.
- Icons for play and stop should be highlighted when available.
- Audio output channels should not be reset if regenerating the same track.
- Plugin crashed when DAW timeline passed 256 bars.
- Shift-drag chord markers was not working for certain song titles..
- The Preferences button has been moved to be first in line.
- Bar highlighting freezed when looping in DAW.
- Plugin freezed when bar highlighting passed 255 bars.
- Bar highlighting was not working for multiple choruses.
- 'NEW' actions did not work.
- Block chords should be quarter note lengths.
- Block chords have included C in the chord.
- Deleting highlighted bars did not always work.
- Changing part marker should resize chord sheet to fit the song.
- Defaults button in the Preferences dialog did not work.
- DAW tempo in plugin was inaccurate.
- Bar highlighting was not working.
- Bug when dragging to highlight a section of chords in the chord sheet.
- Chord Marker file exported chord labels in default chord display type.
- Standalone did not save properly when closing.
- Multi-channel output did not work.
- Plugin asked to save when first opening project with plugin already loaded.
- Handle renamed if it failed.
- Entering chords put them on top.
- Generate all ungenerated tracks should be disabled if all is generated.
- Bar offset stoped playback early.
- Generate all ungenerated did not work on the style page.
- User friendly file names crashed DAW while generating.
- Right-click the chord sheet while bars were highlighted did not work (should work for copy, paste, insert, etc.).
- Shift-click to highlight region in chord sheet did not work.
- Pasting in new session and starting a new session did not prompt to save.
- Starting new plugin should start with the "new" action. (i.e: The default style should open zzjazz when opening a new plugin.)
- All part markers should start on a new line.
- Solfege display doubled last letter of note.
- Could not drag rendered files in some DAWs.
- 'Generate Entire Song' did not work if bars were highlighted in the chord sheet.
- K command replaced 3 with #.
- Unfolding removed chords after ending bar.
- Visual transpose key was resizing incorrectly.
- Muting track with count-in (master/drums) still included first beat of count-in when playing.
- Clicking mute area of empty track triggered mute.
- Drag-from track table should temporarily disable drag-to.
- VST2 produced no audio in some cases.
- Allow Riffs to start early/end starts playback one bar late.
- Plugin was not setting folder paths in the Preferences dialog.
- Some DAWs (e.g. Mixcraft) moved the highlighted bar when there was no playback. (Option has been added in Preferences to highlight bar only during playback).
- Removed support for dim7 chords.