Chapter 2: RealBand 2024

Summary list of New Features

There are over 30 new features to RealBand 2024, including

The number of tracks has increased to 256, which is more than 5 times the previous maximum of 48 tracks.

There are now 32 available VSTi/DXi synth instances instead of 16.

The new up/down arrows next to the time indicator on the tool bar will increase/decrease the current time by 1 tick.

The following windows now have a more modern color scheme that matches the modern toolbar icon sets.
- Tracks Window
- Mixer Window
- Audio Edit Window

The icons for non-floating windows that were redundant and took up space at the bottom of the area are now hidden from view.

Some windows like Meter Map, Tempo Map, Sysex, etc. have a moderately darker look.

Playable RealDrums are now supported.

The two new commands in the right-click menu of the Tracks Window allow you to:
- Increase or decrease the volume of the selected area of a track by using gain nodes, but without having to manually enter them in the gain node area of the track.
- Fade-in or Fade-out a section using gain nodes, without having to manually enter them in the gain node area of the track.

The Time Line at the top of the Tracks Window will show chord symbols for regular chords (non-MicroChords).

Holding the Alt key while pressing the Play Region button in the Tracks Window will play the selected area of the current track regardless of whether the track was muted or not.

There is a new “Copy/Move highlighted area of current track to another track” command in the right-click menu of the Tracks Window. It makes it easier for “comping” which is to create a track that is a composite of different takes/tracks. It's a quick way to move/copy to a destination track without having to first cut/copy and then paste.

The Mixer can now display up to 48 tracks at a time instead of 24, if the computer monitor resolution supports it.

The “Hide extra auxes/masters” checkbox in the Mixer Window, when checked, will automatically hide any extra masters or auxes beyond the highest used master and highest used aux.

The Grid lines submenu in the right click menu of the Tracks Window and Audio Edit Window will now display a checkmark on the menu item of the current setting.

The Quarter Triplets setting is added to the Grid Lines submenu in the right-click menu of the Tracks Window and the Audio Edit Window.

The right-click menu that pops up when you click on the nodes area in the Tracks Window has a new command to erase all the gain nodes in the highlighted area.

VU levels displayed in the overview section of the Tracks Window now better handle the situation of recording multiple tracks of audio simultaneously. RealBand will now display the correct VU levels for higher tracks within a group of tracks being recorded at the same time, rather than always displaying the same VU levels for higher tracks as the first track in the group of tracks being recorded.

When recording to mono tracks, the VU levels shown in the overview section of the Tracks Window during recording will be the specific VU levels for the input channel of the track being recorded. Also, if L+R is selected as the Input Channel for Mono Tracks in audio settings, and you are recording a group of tracks at the same time (e.g., multiple inputs ports selected in ASIO Drivers dialog), then each track in the group of tracks being recorded will have the correct VU levels shown for its specific input channel (either left or right channel) in the overview section of the Tracks Window

The floating VU Meters window will display the input and output for all ports that were selected in the Audio Drivers dialog and not just for Input 1 and Output 1.

Tip of the Day is now a floating window that can stay on screen rather than a modal dialog.

When dragging a section of audio or MIDI within the Tracks Window or a section of audio within the Audio Edit Window, you'll see either the audio waveform or MIDI overview during dragging rather than just a rectangle during dragging.

In the StylePicker, you can now preview the chords of the song that were entered in RealBand.

You can now initiate generation of tracks from the StylePicker by pressing a render button, and then when you exit the StylePicker RealBand will generate the tracks in RealBand.

RealBand loads an Hi-Q patch if it exists when generating a MIDI SuperTrack.

Fixes since 2023 Release
Added: A checkbox in File-Preferences that will enable the saving of all VSTi/DXi synth instances to .SEQ files even if they are in default slots.
Fixed: Undo for generation of individual RealTracks or RealDrums wasn't working correctly.
Fixed: Small chance of an access violation occurring during Undo if the existing song had non-default DXi/VSTi synths.
Fixed: When visiting the Style Picker, the list box would not be set to the current RB style.
New: The right-click menu in Tracks Window will now hide the MIDI-specific commands when the track is an audio track, and hide the audio-specific commands if the track is a MIDI track.
Fixed: Auto-detection of guitar tracks in the Notation Window is now less likely to mistake a non-guitar track for a MIDI guitar track.
Fixed: When running in 4k, Tracks the Window would not maximize fully.
Added: MIDI submenu to the right-click menu when the track is a MIDI track.
Fixed: Issue with Playable RealTracks not being heard, due to an issue loading sforzando on some computers
Fixed: Generate Audio Harmonies was getting an error -6 for some of the harmony presets like Jimmy Smith, Super Sax, and Glen Miller.
Fixed: Shots and Holds in an .SGU were not interpreted correctly. For example C...d (hold all instruments except drums) would incorrectly import as Cd, resulting in an Error code 8 when attempting to generate the track.
Fixed: Tracks Window - Right click menu - Select Hi-Q MIDI Synth Patch now includes SynthMaster presets.
Fixed: If generation of RealDrums results in a RealChart track also being generated, the RealChart track was set to channel 11.
Fixed: Clicking on the piano of the main screen could result in silence if the current track was an audio track, and the only MIDI track was a RealChart track.
Fixed: If the Edit - Tracks - Merge Tracks was used and the Merge Audio to Mono checkbox was checked, and then a regular render of the whole song was done in the future, it would result in a mono render.
Fixed: the "Force Enabled" checkbox setting in the MicroChords dialog might not be remembered by the program.
Fixed: if you visit the MicroChords dialog and press Cancel it will now undo the MicroChord changes you made and you could choose to Edit - Redo afterward if necessary.
Fixed: The Help button was not working in Adjust Volume/Trim of all Tracks dialog.
Fixed: Could not enter MicroChords when typing with the Ch checkbox enabled in the notation window.
Fixed: Highlighted area in black in chords window only showed the first chord in a highlighted bar.
Fixed: Undo was not working correctly after generating track.
Fixed: Set MIDI volume of Playable RT SFZ Sound menu item in the PRT menu wasn't doing anything.
Fixed: F10 hotkey for MicroChords dialog in Chords Window. (Could not use F6 because that's the Now hotkey in RB) (Could not use M because it's the part marker hot key).
Fixed: The Help button in newer dialogs is now linked to the new help topics.
Fixed: Stems generation might not have worked properly.
Fixed: Unchecking the Enable Realtime Effects checkbox in audio settings would crash the program.
Fixed: If the Event List Window was opened and you right-clicked on the right side of the Tracks Window (track overview or nodes section) then it was possible the Tracks Window location could jump to a location offscreen.
Fixed: The Include Nodes checkbox did not work for Drag and Drop in the Tracks Window
Fixed: If selecting File | New but then cancelling because work was changed since last save, then the Measure Offset of the song was set to the default measure offset without the user being aware of it.
Fixed: Regular text markers were drawn in the same color as part markers
Fixed: Deleting section text events in the Section Text dialog in the Notation Window (the dialog launched by pressing the 'T' button) could cause an integer overflow or access violation
Fixed: File | Import was causing Track 1 to be set to a mono audio track, even if a different track type existed on Track 1.

… and more!

Details of New Features

256 available track

RealBand now has 256 tracks instead of the previous maximum of 48 tracks.

32 VSTi/DXi synth instances

There are now 32 available VSTi/DXi synth instances instead of 16.

Arrow buttons to change the current time

The new up/down arrows next to the time indicator on the tool bar will increase/decrease the current time by 1 tick.

Modern color scheme for some windows

The following windows now have a more modern color scheme that matches the modern toolbar icon sets:
- Tracks Window
- Mixer Window
- Audio Edit Window
To use a modern color scheme, go to Options | Icon Set and select Modern.

Icons for unused non-floating windows are hidden

The icons for non-floating windows that were redundant and took up space at the bottom of the area are now hidden from view.

Darker look some windows

Some windows like Meter Map, Tempo Map, Sysex, etc. have a moderately darker look.

Playable RealDrums support

Playable RealDrums are now supported by linking a RealChart track (or any MIDI track) with an audio track containing a RealDrum.

Open the Notation window, display the RealChart track, and press the [PT] button and select Enable Playable Tracks from the menu.

A dialog will then open and let you select either an existing RealDrums track or a blank track to link to the current notation track. If you select a blank track, then you will have a chance to generate a new RealDrums track.

The selected RealDrums track is then linked to the current notation track, and the [PT] button gets the green borders to indicate that you are in the playable track mode. You can now add playable drum notes by clicking on the Editable or Staff Roll Notation Window.

The notes you have entered show in green and will be heard during playback along with the RealDrums audio. But you would want to have your own notes play in place of the RealDrums audio. So, press the [PT] button, select Create Mute Region to mute generated accompaniments from the menu and select the region./p>

This will add a green label at the top for the selected region. When you play the song, the RealDrums audio in this region won't be heard, but the green notes you have entered will be heard.

There is also a feature to change the non-playable notes in a region to playable notes. To do this, select the notes, click on the [PT] button to, and select Make notes in selected area playable notes from the menu. The selected notes will then become green and be heard during playback. This menu also has options to change the playable notes to non-playable notes, set MIDI volume of playable notes, choose a different Hi-Q patch, etc.

New commands in the right-click menu of the Tracks Window to adjust volume

The two new commands in the right-click menu of the Tracks Window allow you to:
- Increase or decrease the volume of the selected area of a track by using gain nodes, but without having to manually enter them in the gain node area of the track.
- Fade-in or Fade-out a section using gain nodes, without having to manually enter them in the gain node area of the track.

Chord symbols displayed in the Tracks Window

The Time Line at the top of the Tracks Window will show chord symbols for regular chords (non-MicroChords).

Play region even if the track is muted

Holding the Alt key while pressing the [Play Region] button in the Tracks Window will play the selected area of the current track regardless of whether the track was muted or not.

Copy/Move highlighted area of current track to another track

There is a new "Copy/Move highlighted area of current track to another track" command in the right-click menu of the Tracks Window. It makes it easier for "comping" which is to create a track that is a composite of different takes/tracks. It's a quick way to move/copy to a destination track without having to first cut/copy and then paste.

Up to 48 tracks to display in the Mixer

The Mixer can now display up to 48 tracks at a time instead of 24, if the computer monitor resolution supports it.

Hide extra auxes/masters in the Mixer

The "Hide extra auxes/masters" checkbox in the Mixer Window, when checked, will automatically hide any extra masters or auxes beyond the highest used master and highest used aux.

Checkmark displayed on the current grid lines submenu item

The Grid lines submenu in the right-click menu of the Tracks Window and Audio Edit Window will now display a checkmark on the menu item of the current setting.

Quarter Triplets setting added to Grid Lines submenu in the Tracks Window right-click menu

The Quarter Triplets setting is added to the Grid Lines submenu in the Tracks Window right-click menu and the Audio Edit Window right-click menu.

Erase all nodes in highlighted area

The right-click menu that pops up when you click on the nodes area in the Tracks Window has a new command to erase all the gain nodes in the highlighted area.

Improved handling of VU levels in overview section of the Tracks Window

VU levels displayed in the overview section of the Tracks Window now better handle the situation of recording multiple tracks of audio simultaneously. RealBand will now display the correct VU levels for higher tracks within a group of tracks being recorded at the same time, rather than always displaying the same VU levels for higher tracks as the first track in the group of tracks being recorded.

Better VU levels display when recording to mono tracks

When recording to mono tracks, the VU levels shown in the overview section of the Tracks Window during recording will be the specific VU levels for the input channel of the track being recorded. Also, if L+R is selected as the “Input Channel for Mono Tracks” in audio settings, and you are recording a group of tracks at the same time (e.g., multiple inputs ports selected in ASIO Drivers dialog), then each track in the group of tracks being recorded will have the correct VU levels shown for its specific input channel (either left or right channel) in the overview section of the Tracks Window.

Input and output for all ports displaed in VU Meters window

The floating VU Meters window will display the input and output for all ports that were selected in the Audio Drivers dialog and not just for Input 1 and Output 1.

Floating Tip of the Day window

Tip of the Day is now a floating window that can stay on screen rather than a modal dialog.

Audio waveform or MIDI overview shown during dragging a section

When dragging a section of audio or MIDI within the Tracks Window or a section of audio within the Audio Edit Window, you’ll see either the audio waveform or MIDI overview during dragging rather than just a rectangle during dragging.

Song preview in StylePicker

In the StylePicker, you can now preview the chords of the song that were entered in RealBand. To do this, enter a chord progression on the Chord Sheet and open the StylePicker window. Then, select a style and press the [Play] button in the “Play Current Chord Sheet” area. This will play the chords in your song using the selected style. You can change the tempo by entering a number in the “t=” field or using the [+][-] buttons. The [Stop] button stops the playback.

Render button in StylePicker to initiate generation of track

You can now initiate generation of tracks from the StylePicker by pressing a render button, and then when you exit the StylePicker RealBand will generate the tracks in RealBand.

Select a style and press the [Render Tracks] button in the StylePicker window.

This will open a small panel where you can select tracks types that you want RealBand to generate.

When you press the [Render Tracks Now] button in this panel, RealBand will generate tracks for your song.

Hi-Q patch loaded for MIDI SuperTracks

RealBand loads an Hi-Q patch if it exists when generating a MIDI SuperTrack.

Open the Select MIDI SuperTracks dialog with the Generate MIDI SuperTrack menu item in the [Generate] toolbar button, select a MIDI SuperTrack and press OK.

This will generate a MIDI SuperTrack and load a Hi-Q patch. If you press the [fx] button on the track overview and open the  Direct/VST Window, you can see that the Hi-Q patch and a MIDI synth (e.g., sforzando) are loaded.

Thank you for taking time to read this introduction to RealBand 2024!