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Band in a Box 2024 has arrived!

TheMaartian

By TheMaartian
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TheMaartian

TheMaartian

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1 hour ago, craigb said:

Well, only sort-of mentioned!

 

A real visionary, he is. Their first mention was the posting of all of the 2024 videos on their YT channel yesterday (Tuesday, 5 Dec). I first checked their website. It was still showing the 2023 version. I watched the videos, then went back to the website, and 2024 was up for sale. At the time I purchased the update, the web pages for the bonus packs and the 49 extra pack had not been updated, and the links were broken.  But all of the extras were offered during the purchase process. Bought them all and used their nicely updated Install Manager to install all of the files. Seamless.

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Shane_B.

Shane_B.

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I really like BiaB. I ran in to a couple of hiccups that they did eventually fix, so some day I will definitely jump back in.

That said, for the love of God, can they please update the Windows 3.11 looking gui. It's been around a long time, it could really use a face lift. 

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TheMaartian

TheMaartian

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3 hours ago, Shane_B. said:

I really like BiaB. I ran in to a couple of hiccups that they did eventually fix, so some day I will definitely jump back in.

That said, for the love of God, can they please update the Windows 3.11 looking gui. It's been around a long time, it could really use a face lift. 

I agree, but...

I still remember what SONAR went through with the development of the Skylight GUI after v8.5 into X1, then X2, then X3. That was far from painless.

From a visual perspective, BiaB is really cluttered, with huge menus. It's just got a ton of options. Very much like Reaper, which I like and have great respect for (as I do for BiaB). Development resources are finite. Back in the day when I worked for the original Motorola, we had three development teams for major software packages: next point (bug fixes), next dot (minor feature additions and major bug fixes, and next version (next big release), all running in parallel. I doubt that PG Music has those kinds of resources available, so the resources required to code a major change in the GUI would take away from something else. And now they've got a Mac version, whose development requires separate resources.

The first 64-bit version of BiaB crashed on Win10, but they got that worked out pretty quickly. BiaB now runs smoothly on Win11. The inevitable crashes and instability that would come with a new GUI have to be considered. I manage OK with the current GUI for BiaB, but don't even install Real Band. I use Studio One and Reaper for DAW duties, and have no interest if figuring out a third DAW.

The reference to the growing pains of the SONAR Skylight interface have been discusses on this forum in the past. Here are a couple of links for reference.

Is Skylight interface getting obsolete

A nice comment from Reid Rosefelt

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Shane_B.

Shane_B.

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8 hours ago, John Maar said:

still remember what SONAR went through with the development of the Skylight GUI after v8.5 into X1, then X2, then X3. That was far from painless.

Yepper. I was there for that. The great thing about 8.5 was, you could customize almost everything. I still miss the gui in it.

I really liked using BiaB. I got the version with the uncompressed realtracks on a hard drive. Now I have lightning fast internet so I wouldnt do that again, I'd just download it. 

Long story short, it had a bug that effected very few users, they couldn't patch it, I returned it to Sweets, and a couple months later they released a new version and fixed it. Lol. It is what it is. Someday when I get a studio set up again I will definitely jump back in.

Who knows, maybe they are working on some eye candy improvements now and it will be out by then. ?

 

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TheMaartian

TheMaartian

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11 hours ago, Shane_B. said:

Yepper. I was there for that. The great thing about 8.5 was, you could customize almost everything. I still miss the gui in it.

I really liked using BiaB. I got the version with the uncompressed realtracks on a hard drive. Now I have lightning fast internet so I wouldnt do that again, I'd just download it. 

Long story short, it had a bug that effected very few users, they couldn't patch it, I returned it to Sweets, and a couple months later they released a new version and fixed it. Lol. It is what it is. Someday when I get a studio set up again I will definitely jump back in.

Who knows, maybe they are working on some eye candy improvements now and it will be out by then. ?

 

I just checked. The Audiophile Edition (uncompressed .WAV files) is not available for download, only via HD. While it's certainly downloadable via a gigabit internet connection like mine, it would be such a huge d/l that server load would be expensive. The current UltraPAK version (compressed .WMA files, which is the one I have) is still really big and is offered for download or on HD for those with slower internet connections. I checked just the current RealTracks folder. Mine is 130 GB in 197,395 files. I wonder how long that would have taken to download via my old 9600 baud modem in the '80s? ?

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Notes_Norton

Notes_Norton

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I started using BiaB when I had an Atari computer.

PG Music comes out with a Christmas update every year.

It's a good auto-accompaniment software app. I bought it, so I could practice my sax with a robot band. That way, I could try improv things that were risky without embarrassing myself (most of the risky things didn't work out). When PG wrote a stylemaker  option allowing end users to make styles, I found a side business. Still doing it, and still loving BiaB.

 

Notes ♫

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TheMaartian

TheMaartian

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19 minutes ago, Notes_Norton said:

I started using BiaB when I had an Atari computer.

PG Music comes out with a Christmas update every year.

It's a good auto-accompaniment software app. I bought it, so I could practice my sax with a robot band. That way, I could try improv things that were risky without embarrassing myself (most of the risky things didn't work out). When PG wrote a stylemaker  option allowing end users to make styles, I found a side business. Still doing it, and still loving BiaB.

 

Notes ♫

I bought your Disk #17 and like it. And your Expanded Styles! Any updates  based on the newer Micro-chords feature in BiaB?

Norton Music Style disk 17

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Notes_Norton

Notes_Norton

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We're re-doing Disk #2 now (Pop/Rock Fake Book companion). We compiled that one in the early 1990s, it's one of our bestsellers. There have been so many new styles released since then that express the songs better. So we decided to redo it. We've been working on that for about a year.

It will be a free update to anyone who has ever purchased it.

That just seems like the right way to go. It's how I would appreciate being treated if I was the customer.

We won't use micro-chords on that one, because we don't know what version any of BiaB our customers who bought that disk has.

Peter Gannon tells me that if the end user doesn't have a newer version of BiaB that supports micro-chords, only the first chord will be played, and that would ruin many of the songs. So we are still going with expanded styles.

I do like the micro-chords, but until they are about 10 years old, I'll probably continue to use expanded styles, for back-compatibility.

Back-compatibility is also the reason I assign MIDI styles to the fake disk songs. If a MIDI style is assigned, the BiaB 'robot' will suggest a real track style. On the other hand, if a real style is assigned, BiaB will not recommend a MIDI style. So to suggest both, MIDI must be default. Of course, the user can change the style.

A few years ago, I did Fake Disk #37, The Real Book Companion with all Real-Track styles, and the feedback from my customers was to stick to MIDI for that very reason.

When I made my own styles back in the 1990s, I gave them to a few friends who were using BiaB. They told me they liked my styles better than PG Music's styles (aren't friends wonderful?) and one said that I should sell them.

I took out a classified ad in Keyboard Magazine for 3 months. As the 3rd month was approaching, the ad rep called me and asked if I wanted to renew. I hadn't sold any, so I said, “No, Thanks.” About an hour later, I got my first order, so I called the mag and renewed. I wonder if the magazine bought a disk to get me to renew? Anyway, I'm glad I got that order. I've sold to 100 different countries now.

I walked into a music store in Bermuda, and another in London, and they both wanted to know if I was the “Real Bob 'Notes' Norton”. That and a couple of bucks will buy a cup of coffee, but it felt good anyway.

I don't make much money per disk. By the time I pay the web host, shopping cart, credit card authorization company, credit card merchant's account, business bank account (per deposit), and insurance, there isn't much left over, but enough to keep me from travelling to find work in the slow, Florida summers.

After the Pop/Rock redo, we're doing The Real Book volume VI. The last in that series. Mrs. Notes is planning on another Rock/Pop book.

Right now it's prime gigging season, and we are doing from 3 to 6 one-nighters per week, so there isn't much progress on the software.

 

Notes ♫

 

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Notes_Norton

Notes_Norton

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On 12/9/2023 at 7:23 PM, NOLAGuy said:

That is great to hear Mr. Notes...

I just purchased a copy of the Pop/Rock Disk#2, so very nice of you to offer an update free of charge! Looking forward to it's release!

I think you'll like it. Hundreds of new styles have been added, and we've gotten better at making fake disks since the early 1990s.

I'll send out e-mails to all the users, and post the message on my site and the BiaB forum when I'm done. It'll probably be a few months away. We're gigging a lot now. It's the Tourist Season, and we're doing 3-6 one-nighters per week. Mostly 4 or 5.

 

Notes ♫

 

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