February 29, 2016 Band-in-a-Box 2016 Build 432 Update Available!

An update is available for Band-in-a-Box® Version 2016!
(This is considered to be a beta version because it is new.)

Learn more and download here.

Added: "Bar Lyrics Font" settings added to Notation Options. This allows a specific font size percentage to be applied to Bar Lyrics in the leadsheet.
Added: Audio Edit right-click context menu now has option to permanently apply the bar 1 offset by deleting or inserting silence at the beginning of the track.
Added: Audio Edit right-click context menu now has option to remove all UserTracks markers within selected range.
Added: Audio Edit right-click context menu now has option to remove closest UserTracks marker to cursor (within one beat).
Changed: "High Quality Tempo/Pitch Stretching" in RealTracks Preferences will always be set to false when booting up Band-in-a-Box.

Plus more than 40 fixes & improvements!

Posted at 02:03 PM

February 26, 2016 User Showcase Song - Fallen Rider

This is a co-write with Michael LeBlanc.

Mike wanted to write a "Biker's Hymn".
Something that could be played at a memorial.
He was tired of always hearing "Knocking On Heaven's Door"....

The BAND:
Style is _BALADP.STY (Ctry Bal. w/ ped.steel (65 RS))

RealTracks in style: 366:Bass, Electric, Country Ev 065
RealTracks in style: ~364:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking Ev 065
RealTracks in style: ~368:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Ev 065
RealTracks in style: ~369:Pedal Steel, Background Ev 065
RealTracks in song: 578 Harmonica, Background Blues BB Ev 085
RealDrums in style: NashvilleEven16^5-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride

Posted at 10:51 AM

February 23, 2016 Band-in-a-Box Giveaway!

Head to our Band-in-a-Box Giveaway page for your chance to WIN 1 of 3 Band-in-a-Box EverythingPAKs!

All you have to do is enter your email for your chance to win - it's that easy! Plus, if you have a Facebook account, you can share the Giveaway with your friends for additional bonus entries.

Not on Facebook? Click here to enter.
Good luck!

Posted at 12:08 PM

February 23, 2016 Band-in-a-Box Radio on SoundCloud is Here!

There are so many great song submissions to our User Showcase Forum, and now you can listen to them on the Band-in-a-Box Radio SoundCloud page!

We've created different playlists (stations) for easy listening:
-Recent Songs 78 songs included in the playlist
-Featured Songs 63 songs included in the playlist
-Jazz 102 songs included in the playlist
-Rock & Pop 142 songs included in the playlist
-Country & Folk 149 songs included in the playlist

For more information on our Band-in-a-Box Radio SoundCloud page, visit this forum post.

Posted at 09:38 AM

February 18, 2016 User Showcase Song - WALL'S DEPRAVITY

is about our trip to Berlin last September.
Of course we visited the wall, the part that is still unchanged, and the part that has been painted on by several artists back in the 80s.
Rob was here about six years ago. By that time all the original artworks were more or less untouched.
Six years later things have changed. Most artworks are covered and tainted with graffiti.
We were struck by the lack of respect. It turns out that larger parts of Berlin have been smudged with graffiti.

A big thanks to Frank (Seeker) for his UserTracks!

Still we hope, that you like the song smirk
Any comments are welcome.

Rob and Anne-Marie

Style is TEKRADIO.STY
Midi tracks: Ultra Analog
UserTracks:
Synth, Lead Sawtooth, House 2+
Synth Bass Producer 2 Discos Rhythm
Synth,Bass,80s Early Loop+Rhythm
Synth, Lead2, Saw,Arp Pop
RealDrums: CDiscoladies (third party-RealDrums for BiaB)

Posted at 09:53 AM

February 18, 2016 Video Tutorial: Band-in-a-Box Hands Free with Naturally Speaking - User Created!

Band-in-a-Box Forum Member Rob (from RnAM) created this easy-to-follow tutorial showing you how to use Band-in-a-Box with hands free commands!

Watch it: Band-in-a-Box Hands Free with Naturally Speaking - User Tutorial

The commands can be downloaded here (you will have to create an account on the KnowBrainer forum).

Posted at 09:35 AM

February 17, 2016 User Showcase Song - Meant To Be

Hi - I'm back with my second song in Band-In-A-Box! This song is a celebration of my marriage, which is in its 24th year. We have one daughter in college and the other one in the high school. I find myself reflecting on how much has changed and wondering what the future will hold.

I generated all of the music with Band-In-A-Box (thank you PG Music for making this life-changing software!!) and I mixed in a couple of tracks with me singing.

Link in Soundcloud: Meant To Be

My first experience with this forum was fantastic and I am excited to have something new to contribute. I look forward to hearing your feedback!

Style
_ELECROK.STY (ElecRock RealTrks guits (120 RS))
RealTracks in style: ~~387:Bass, Electric, Metal Ev 085
RealTracks in style: 691:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming AcRockBright Ev 120
RealTracks in style: 694:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm ElecRockArp Ev 120
RealTracks in style: 697:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm ElecRockDirty Ev 120
RealDrums in style: RockHardModernEv8^2-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, Open HiHa

Posted at 10:06 AM

February 16, 2016 RealTracks Artist Zane Carney - Los Angeles Performance!

If you're going to be in Los Angeles on Friday, April 29th and are interested in seeing RealTracks Artist Zane Carney perform with Charles Jones, tickets for this all ages performance go on sale this Friday! Click here for event information and to purchase tickets.

Zane was added to our RealTracks Artist library with the release of Band-in-a-Box 2016 and RealTracks Set 228 : Modern Pop with Zane Carney.

To listen to the demos of Zane's RealTracks, visit his RealTracks Artist Bio page, or watch this YouTube video: www.pgmusic.com/?vid=UYmQFz_HP10.

Learn more about Zane's experience with Band-in-a-Box with his video testimonial: Zane Carney on Band-in-a-Box.

Posted at 10:44 AM

February 16, 2016 Woodshedding with Band-in-a-Box #TipTuesday

Woodshedding (defined as Slang; to practice a musical instrument assiduously and with a specific goal in mind) is easy with Band-in-a-Box!

In Band-in-a-Box, press the [Practice] toolbar button and select Woodshed (increasing) Tempo… from the pulldown menu.

This will open the Tempo Woodshedding dialog window. If you set the "Woodshed tempo" value to 5 in this dialog, the tempo will speed up by 5 each time the song (or a highlighted section) loops to the beginning.

The idea is that you start off with a slow tempo, playing the part perfectly, and keep this up as the song tempo increases - what a great way to learn!

Check out this video tutorial to see how it's done using Band-in-a-Box: www.pgmusic.com/?vid=WFDORaC04Mc.

We even have a dedicated Woodshedding - Learning to Play! Forum where you can post anything to do with learning to play any musical instrument (including vocals)!

Posted at 10:17 AM

February 16, 2016 User Showcase Song - Where Are You Now?

Here's new music of mine WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

Style is _KEBMO.STY (Rock/Country Crossover)

RealTracks in style: 379:Bass, Electric, Country DoubleTime Ev 088
RealTracks in style: 381:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm Syncopated Sugar Ev 102
RealTracks in style: 382:Guitar, Slide, Background Blues Ev 085
RealTracks in style: 378:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming DoubleTime Ev 088
RealTracks in song: 2337:Violin, Background, PopHigh Ev 085 (1TrackStringSection)
RealDrums in style: NashvillePop16^1-a:Snare, Hihat , b:Snare, Ride

I hope you enjoy it.

Posted at 09:03 AM

February 15, 2016 Coming Soon to SoundCloud... PG Radio!

PG Radio is coming soon to SoundCloud ...

If you don't have a soundcloud.com account with your songs, please get a SoundCloud.com account, and then make a single post in the User Showcase Forum that lists all the links to your songs on SoundCloud (example here) so that we can add them to the radio playlist!

If you do have a soundcloud.com account with your songs, and have been using the links with your User Showcase Forum posts, there's nothing you need to do, since we can find the posts and add the links to the PG Radio!

Posted at 02:01 PM

February 15, 2016 Band-in-a-Box 2015 Mac Review! (by Premier Guitar)

Premier Guitar published their latest Band-in-a-Box 2015 for Mac review on February 14, 2016.

Jason Shadrick finishes off this quick review by saying:
Band-in-a-Box is one of the most useful tools for inquisitive musicians out there.

To read this review, and rate the program, visit this link.

You can also read other Band-in-a-Box reviews when you head to www.pgmusic.com/news.reviews.php.

Plus, as a Band-in-a-Box User, don't forget that you can review the program on our site when you visit the Comments section of our Band-in-a-Box page.

Posted at 10:07 AM

February 15, 2016 User Showcase Song - Silent Tears

This is a submission I (Alan) wrote for a movie. The description said "This musical director is looking for an instrumental music bed, atmospheric, melancholy, lots of strings, a deep bottom and a very limited lead track(s). Must be strong and powerful."

This is what I came up with. Hope you enjoy it.

Key=C , Tempo 63, Length (m:s)=3:48
8 bar intro, 24 bar chorus, from bar 9 to bar 32. Repeat x2 choruses
Melody has 119 notes, Melody harmony is < no harmony >(0)
Soloist track has 736 notes, Soloist harmony is < no harmony >(0)
Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0,
Song is saved with bar changes for Volume Changes,
Style is _ATMSPH3.STY (Atmosphere Chillout)
SoloistCustom Synth is Hi-Q 050 01 Strings, Ensemble, Movie SampleTank.tgs

RealTracks in style: 1536:Bass, Electric, PopBelieve Ev16 065
RealTracks in style: 2542:Pedal Steel, Background ModernBalladAtmosphere Ev16 065
RealTracks in style: 1543:Synth Pad, PopBelieve Ev16 065
RealTracks in song: 2338:Violin, Background, PopLow Ev 085 (1TrackStringSection)
RealTracks in song: 2335:String Quartet, Rhythm PopHall Ev 085
RealDrums in Song: RetroPop^01-a:Bass, HiHat, b:Bass, Snare

I added the violin, string quartet and chillout tracks to the tracks that were provided with the style.

Posted at 08:47 AM

February 12, 2016 RealTracks Artist Pat Martino - February Performances!

The Pat Martino Trio has a busy week coming up! Six performances in as many days starting on February 20th in Portland, Oregon with the Portland Jazz Festival. From there, they'll be heading to San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Seattle, and will finish the week off in Golden, Colorado!

For a more detailed list of Pat's upcoming shows, visit www.patmartino.com/ and click on Itinerary.

You'll find his RealTracks in Set 195: Jazz Pollwinners 2 - Pat Martino Guitar. To listen to demos of these, and learn more about Pat, visit his RealTracks Artist Bio page.

Posted at 10:18 AM

February 12, 2016 Our "Tips and Tricks" Forum - Share Your Band-in-a-Box Tips & Tutorials!

Have you come up with some technical tips or tutorials that are related to our products? Share them with fellow users by posting them to our Tips & Tricks Forum. As it is right now, there are 26 pages of posts from our Forum Members in that category!

Plus, if you've made your own tutorial video be sure to let us know - we can post it to our User to User Videos page.

Posted at 09:53 AM

February 12, 2016 User Showcase Song - Knights of the Groove

Just having a little fun with Biab. All Realtracks.

Posted at 09:29 AM

February 11, 2016 #ThrowbackThrusday - Band-in-a-Box 7 (from 1997!)

Wow - take a look at this Band-in-a-Box 7 New Features Video from 1997... www.pgmusic.com/?vid=OdtSP2SfKAI

Peter explains all the new features offered with this version release, which you can also review as a written list here.

Posted at 02:11 PM

February 11, 2016 Special Offer - Save on "Other Software" Purchases!

When you purchase any three "Performance Products" (Multimedia, Master Solos, Master Class or Performance Series products) valued at $49 each, there's a discount applied - you can purchase any three of these programs for only $99!

It doesn't stop there! Purchase 4 of these for only $131, 5 for just $149, or 6 for just $179!

This breaks down as:
Buy 3 Performance products for $99 - that's a savings of $48!
Buy 4 Performance products for $131 - that's a savings of $65!
Buy 5 Performance products for $149 - that's a savings of $96!
Buy 6 Performance products for $179 - that's a savings of $115!

Just add the items to your shopping cart - these discounts are applied once the quantity is reached.

Visit http://www.pgmusic.com/products.htm to see which products are available for your operating system.

Posted at 02:02 PM

February 11, 2016 User Showcase Song - Life Goes On

Thought I'd have a go at some Pop/Jazz/Funk this time, so plenty of 9ths and min7ths, with a funky five-string bass and lots of stacked vocals. This type of music kicked off in the late 70s and early 80s, though you can still find bands playing this stuff on tour these days.

The piano is Yamaha DX7, (well you'd have to, wouldn't you?) the horns are mainly Forte supplemented by some trumpets from Edirol Orchestral, the strings are Edirol and the solo sax is my old friend RT Hip Hop Tenor Sax.

As usual, the project was completed from start to finish using Realband and Powertracks.

Posted at 09:18 AM

February 10, 2016 We're Looking for a "Loops Creator"

We're looking to find someone who is a whiz at making loops, Hip-Hop, Techno, Dubstep, all of that kind of stuff!

If anyone has anyone they know who is really great at doing this kind of thing, we'd love to get in touch with them. Send any information you may have to marketing@pgmusic.com.

Posted at 02:26 PM

February 10, 2016 Video - Using VI Labs Ravenscroft 275 with Band-in-a-Box

Check out this tutorial on using Ravenscroft 275 with Band-in-a-Box for Windows, which also includes some demos of the Ravenscroft 275 piano playing MIDI SuperTracks: Watch it here!
Learn more about Ravenscroft 274 and listen to additional demos via our purchasing page or by visiting the VI Labs website.

Have you purchased a copy of VI Labs Ravenscroft 275? We'd love to hear your results! Post them here.

Posted at 01:50 PM

February 10, 2016 User Showcase Song - You Are Mighty

All the instruments on this one are RealTracks/Drums, with brass, some added percussion, and odds and ends from me. Hope you enjoy it!

YOU ARE MIGHTY

Here are the RT's/RD's used...

RealTracks in song: 2612:Bass, Electric, FunkHalfNotePulse Ev 100
RealTracks in song: 2623:Piano, Electric, Rhythm FunkSwing16 Sw16 085
RealTracks in song: 2525:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm FunkWahWahChords Ev16 100
RealTracks in song: 1236:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm SmoothJazzPoppy Ev16 090
RealTracks in song: 1154:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm Reggae Ev16 100
RealTracks in song: 2619:Organ, Rhythm Funk Ev 100
RealTracks in song: 2155:Piano, ElectricClav, Rhythm
RealTracks in song: 2603:Guitar, Electric, Soloist JazzRock16thsJon Ev16 090
RealDrums in Song: FunkyGroovin70s^2-a:8ths Hat, Snare , b:FunkyQuarterHat, Snare

Posted at 01:35 PM

February 09, 2016 Save Your Song as a Video with Band-in-a-Box 2015 for Mac!

With Band-in-a-Box 2015 for Mac you have the option to save your song as a video that you can upload to YouTube or work with in video programs! Watch Tobin explain this new feature here: www.pgmusic.com/?vid=IAfmkdpwVo8

(this feature is also available with Band-in-a-Box 2015 and higher for Windows: Watch the video.)

Not only can you save your song as a video, you can also load videos that you already have into Band-in-a-Box!
From the New Features List:
Video Window: The audio is extracted from the video to the audio track. As the song plays, you can slow down the video, and the audio will slow down and stay in sync.
The quality of the audio at slower or faster tempos is great. The video slowdown range is 6-800%. This is a great tool for transcription. You can select a range in the Chord Sheet window and use Transport - [Loop] button to loop a section of the video at a low tempo for example.

Have you made a Band-in-a-Box video? Feel free to share it on our User Showcase Forum.

Posted at 10:16 AM

February 09, 2016 User Showcase Song - My Baby Love

I put this little tune together for you using the everythingpak 2016. I am sorry for the lesser quality due to malfunctioning somewhere down the line (equipment) but I still hope it brings a smile to your features and a tap to your feet ??

Posted at 09:09 AM

February 05, 2016 Watch Wolf Marshall's Band-in-a-Box Testimonial Video!

Guess who else popped by our NAMM booth for a visit? Endorsing Artist Wolf Marshall!
(You may have noticed he's also in the recently posted photo of Henry Johnson enjoying the Crooner RealTracks...)

Wolf shared his Band-in-a-Box Video Testimonial with us, which you can watch here: www.pgmusic.com/?vid=4UWqoh0tP6Q.
Not only does he share how he uses (and why he enjoys) the program, he also tells us of a recent situation where Band-in-a-Box helps him complete a project in record time!

Click here to learn more about Endorsing Artist Wolf Marshall.

All of the Band-in-a-Box Video Testimonials are available here.

Posted at 11:36 AM

February 05, 2016 User Showcase Song - Ainsi Parlait Sarah (Dire-Straits sauce)

Here is a song of mine, wrote a couple of years ago, but just finished to record with BiaB and RB. It marries Neitzsche and Mark Knopfler wink
The base is _ACCNTRY.STY where I have kept 518:Basse, 405:Strumming Guitar and RDrums NasvilleEven8.
I have added : 509:Rhytme Guitar Dire and 511:Solo Guitar Dire

Don't hesitate to give your opinion and advice to improve the tune, I am open to any critical.

Posted at 08:28 AM

February 04, 2016 Band-in-a-Box Video Testimonial - Henry Johnson

Endorsing Artist Henry Johnson shares his thoughts on Band-in-a-Box with this Video Testimonial: www.pgmusic.com/?vid=MTNMoS61lMY

Henry has been playing guitar since he was just twelve years old! It didn't take long for him to become a well known jazz guitarist - learn more about Henry when you visit www.henryjohnsonjazz.com

We have even more video testimonials here.

Posted at 02:24 PM

February 04, 2016 User Showcase Song - By the Numbers

A new country song. Almost all Band in a Box 2016. I never tried country before. It was fun. Thanks again for listening and commenting. You all have been great.

Style is _E12STSF.STY (Drivin' Country Rock w/ 12 Strin)
RealTracks in style: ~~388:Bass, Electric, Metal Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 2541:Pedal Steel, Background ModernPopCountry Ev 110
RealTracks in song: 630:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm PopAmericanDirty Ev 120 (A:arp)
RealTracks in song: 1533:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm PopPowerPushArp Ev 120
RealDrums in style: NashvilleEven8^8-a:Snare, HiHat Open , b:Snare, Ride

Sonar X3, Melodyne Editor 2, Rode NT1000, ART prochannel, Waves Platinum, a little touch up with a Kaminski Custom Telecaster.

Posted at 09:39 AM

February 04, 2016 PG Music Inc. - Family Day Hours (February 8, 2016)

Monday, February 8th is Family Day in British Columbia, Canada. With this in mind, we will have limited hours of operation that day:
Sales & Customer Service: 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST (GMT -8)
Tech Support: Closed

Our regular hours will resume on Tuesday, February 9th.

Posted at 09:26 AM

February 02, 2016 RealTracks Artist Brad Turner - 2016 JUNO Award Nominee!

The Brad Turner Quartet has been nominated for a "2016 Jazz Album of the Year: Group" JUNO Award! The nominated album is called Over My Head, which you can listen to here.
We'll find out if he wins on April 3rd, when the Award Show airs...

All of the JUNO nominees can be viewed here.

Brad's RealTracks were some of the earlier released ones, with Sets 15 & 17. Listen to demos of these RealTracks and learn more about Brad when you visit his RealTracks Artist Bio page.

To learn more about The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and The JUNO Awards visit junoawards.ca/about/.

Posted at 01:43 PM

February 02, 2016 The Melody/Soloist Sequencer in Band-in-a-Box for Windows

Ever notice that green 'SEQ' button in Band-in-a-Box? This little guy allows control over multi-channel MIDI information on the Melody or Soloist track!
(for example, you might want a single instrument out of a MIDI file you import into Band-in-a-Box, so the Melody Sequencer allows you to rechannel, or delete specific channels)

We've created a video based on this feature with the Melody track (but it works the same with the Soloist track!) which can be viewed here:
www.pgmusic.com/?vid=OejFpi4TjIQ.

Learn even more about this feature by viewing this document (taken from the Help Menu within the program).

Posted at 12:05 PM

February 02, 2016 User Showcase Song - Everything Is Not OK

A song I made one day I felt so very very sad and frustrated...
I think I got my feelings expressed in this track?
(Real tracks in the song is 2542, 1814, 2510 and 1724, then super midi 2056 and 2058)

Posted at 08:20 AM

February 01, 2016 Learn more about RealTracks Set 248: Oberkrainer! Folk Music From the Alps

With the recent release of Band-in-a-Box 2016 for Windows, we also released new RealTracks Sets 228-253! Of course, everyone agrees that the Crooner RealTracks in Set 236 are amazing, but there's more to our list!

For instance, we now have Oberkrainer RealTracks featured with Set 248! Learn more about this new Folk Music set by watching the video: www.pgmusic.com/?vid=oL9jRE1wn64,or visit www.pgmusic.com/realtracks.all.php?os=win for demos of ALL the RealTracks Sets we offer!

Have you created a song using this new Set? Share it on our User Showcase Forum!

Posted at 03:07 PM

February 01, 2016 User Showcase Song - The Sun in Your Heart

Hello,

Here's my new music, a rock tune

THE SUN IN YOUR HEART

Style is _PNO16BR.STY (Folk Rock w/ Piano)

RealTracks in style: 1759:Bass, Electric, Pop16ths Ev 085
RealTracks in style: 1767:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm Pop16 Ev16 085
RealTracks in style: 1764:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm Pop16thsA-B Ev16 085
RealTracks in style: 1761:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Pop16ths Ev16 085
RealTracks in song: 1950:Piano, Acoustic, Soloist PopRootsyJohn Ev16 100 (Bluesy)
RealDrums in style: RockBritDrivingEv16^1-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride

I hope you like it.

Sergio

Posted at 09:13 AM