User Guide

Chapter 7: RealTracks and RealDrums
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- In the RealTracks Settings dialog (Preferences), leave “Use +/- RealTracks for generation (enable on slow machines)”
unchecked. The program won't use them.
- Use the program for a few days, playing all kinds of songs, including ones with
lots of RealTracks, and in different keys (e.g. Gb). If you look at the CPU usage
of bbw.exe during playback, you can see how hard your machine is working. If it
is less than 60% CPU use, things are fine.
If you have no playback issues (stuttering, or instruments dropping out during playback), then indeed you do have a “fast
machine,” and can safely press the [Erase Un-needed +/- files] button.
The [Verify] function checks your installation to find if RealTracks are properly installed, or any files are missing.
1. It checks the Bt0 status of the RealTracks st2, compared to the Bt0 found in the RealTracks folder.
2. It issues error messages if a st2 is found, but not the RealTracks folder.
3. Issues a message if xt2 not found (for a chording RealTracks).
[Defaults] sets RealTracks Settings back to default settings.
Press [OK] to make your selection and exit the RealTracks Settings dialog.
Using RealTracks
There are three ways that you can use RealTracks with Band-in-a-Box.
1. RealTracks in songs. The [Assign to Track] button in the RealTracks Settings dialog allows you to assign
specific RealTracks instruments to a track in a song. It launches the Assign RealTracks to Track dialog,
which also displays the current RealTracks that are assigned to each track. This dialog is also available with a
right mouse click on any Band-in-a-Box part name. Then select the Add/Remove RealTracks menu command.
2. RealStyles. These are Band-in-a-Box styles (.STY) that have at least one RealTrack. For example the style
called “=GeorgeP.sty” is a RealStyle because it uses RealPedalSteel for the Strings part, as well as other
instruments (MIDI bass, MIDI piano, MIDI guitar, RealDrums).
Technical note: You can add a RealTrack to an existing style in the StyleMaker, using [Misc] [More] “Assign RealTracks to
style.” The RealTracks gets generated on one of the Band-in-a-Box style tracks (Piano, Guitar, or Strings).
3. RealSoloists. These are Soloists that are generated on the Soloist track, by pressing the Soloist button on the
main screen. Soloists 361-363 are using the RealTracks.
Tip: You can quickly go to Soloist 362 by typing 362 and pressing “Go To #” or using the Favorites if you’ve previously chosen
this soloist.
Using RealTracks in Songs - Assign RealTracks to Track Dialog
The Assign RealTracks to Track dialog assigns a RealTracks instrument to any of the Band-in-a-Box
instrumental tracks. It also shows any RealTracks that are assigned to Band-in-a-Box tracks.
Note: RealTracks can either be assigned from the style or from the song. This dialog allows you to assign the ones in the
song.
This dialog is launched by
1.
Shift+click on the RealTracks toolbar button, or click and select RealTracks Picker Dialog.