Sound Card? Library? How to make BiB sound good?

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So, I was given BiB for XMas. Looks promising. Currently sounds like a cheap early 80's Casio backing track.

I've been looking for solid instruction on how to make it sound more real. I've come to the understanding it's using midi and I need to get it triggering better sounds.

My question is what then? Will a nicer PC soundcard have better sounds? If so, which? Or do I need some outboard midi device with a library? Or can I upload a library to my PC and tell BiB to use that?

What pieces of equipment are you all using to make the program actually sound good??

Thanks all!!

I assume you have Win7 - if so, Load this free 30 day trial immediately, and you will hear the best sounds available for $40 from a Dxi synth:

http://www.pgmusic.com/coyotefortedxi.audvid.htm

Welcome to the Forum

Yes the Coyote Forte has some nice sounds. If you want to venture into soundfonts, there are plenty of discussions on the forum and a tremendous collection on the web - many free. But try the Forte first. It works very well with BIAB. I don't leave home without it.

Welcome to this forum. The answers are yes, pretty much anything, yes and yes. BIAB produces MIDI commands that have no sound on their own, and the quality of what you hear is completely dependent on what you use for a software or hardware synth (synthesizer).

Coyote Forte software is an easy, complete and inexpensive way to get far better sounds. A Ketron SD2 is a good hardware choice. You don't need both.

Now, BIAB also has RealTracks, and these are audio samples under MIDI control by BIAB. These will sound as good as a CD does on your system. How many RealTracks you have depends on which package of BIAB you bought.

RealTracks and MIDI together can sound great.

Here's an example of Real tracks and a different VST instrumenst and a Ketron SD2 sound module, Fiddle and drums are the only Real Tracks. The song is "Memories of last Summer"
http://soundcloud.com/cubanpete/memories-of-last-summer

Quote:

So, I was given BiB for XMas. Looks promising. Currently sounds like a cheap early 80's Casio backing track.

Welcome to the forum, not a nicer bunch of people around. We can help you get started but it really helps us if you tell us what version of Biab you have and what are the specs of the computer you're using.

It sounds like a cheap synth because that's exactly what you're using for sound. The ancient (probably 80's) Windows soft synth. It's a gift to you from Bill Gates and I don't think he's a musician. Probably cost him $.05 to give it to you. It's really only used for the Windows beeps and other sounds. For playing midi tracks, no way. Although if you're sitting on an airplane playing Biab on your laptop with headphones it's ok for putting songs together and auditioning styles knowing when you get home you have your much better stuff.

The quality of the midi sound is entirely up to you. The costs range from $40 for the Forte, to maybe $2-300 for Sampletank to $400 for the Ketron hardware module to $3,000 for my Kurzweil PC3 or even $4,000 for a new Yamaha Tyros. It boils down to everything else in life, the more you spend, the better it sounds. There's tons of choices and every one of them have been discussed to death here every few weeks it seems. Just do a forum search "midi sounds" or "best sounds" and you'll be reading for a week. To just get you started and not cringe every time you hit play, you can't beat the Forte for $40 and it's free for 30 days. The other inexpensive option is to by Music Creator from PG also for $40 to get the TTS-1 Roland synth. It's a bit different than the Forte but pretty decent as well. It has that classic Roland sound to it. You have to buy MC because Roland doesn't offer the TTS-1 by itself, it's only packaged with software and MC is far cheaper than Sonar.

Bob

Agreed with Bob, I also have the TTS-1 from Music Maker and is pretty decent, I mean for the price.

Mike B.

I too am trying to get a better midi sound...I purchased BAIB recently and evidently installed Coyote Forte with the initial install... after reading this thread I tried downloading the sw again and it says my 30 days have expired...any way of getting an extension....if not is there anywhere I can listen to the coyote Forte samples before I purchase?

That's normal, gypsyrosegracie, so people cannot 'renew' the trial permanently. PG Music has a really great page with all kinds of sound demos. Go here: http://www.pgmusic.com/dare-to-compare.htm

Megabutter, (the OP), if you're still here, that's a great resource for you to check out, too.

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Gee, these user names get better and better...

Welcome, megabutter and gypsierosegracie! Besides Coyote Forte (which really does make a difference) and RealTracks and RealDrums (which make an unbelievable difference, you can use other VST and MIDI instruments as well.

If you want to do it for free, my recommendation would be one of jazzmammal's choices, SampleTank. The full version, with a ridiculous amount of noise, is indeed $229 MSRP, but the free version still has about 500 MB of sounds. (They are both, in fact, the same software; what you're paying for is the samples.) To use it with BIAB, follow these instructions, substituting "SampleTank" for "ARIA Player".

And, of course, there are lots of videos and resources right here at PGmusic.com.

Good luck, ask questions, and have fun!

I have tried all of the soft general midi synths recommended here and have to say that the Roland TTS-1 sounds the best on all of my hardware. That being said you can now compliment that sound with other sound modules both soft and hard. I got ez drummer and liked it so much I moved up to Superior Drummer to replace the drums. In my opinion better than real drums. I also have built up a collection of soft synths and sound modules. The vintage organs gives me a b-3 that's a heck of a lot lighter than the original and capable of being played just like the real thing. I also have picked up the legacy series of synths from korg. This gives me access to an M1, wavestation, poly 61 etc. I find I don't use these as much with BIAB but after transfering the BIAB file to a regular daw (You have a free one with Real Band) you find it a lot easier to add these to your arrangement and the sounds are not just good but excellent to fantastic. One of my favorite soft synths is an older copy of FM7 which is exactly like a Yamama DX7. The FM8 is the same but with more features.

Yes, BIAB doesn't sound good with the 5 cent sound card in your laptop. But with the soft synths that are out there it can really be made to sound great.

The cheapest way is just use real tracks, combinations of individual tracks can yield some amazing results. And now with looping I have been even happier with my current songs. This is a link with Biab and loops from my Mac that I try to sell to a sax player. http://www.reverbnation.com/stonecoled He has purchased quite a few since real tracks came around. There are still a few MIDI tracks in some of the songs, but I find that some sounds are good enough to tweak into use. Here is a link to free loops, some are very good. http://www.looperman.com/

Cool info everyone! Thank you so much.

Just to add the info requested, I have BIAB 2011.5. I'm running Windows 7 64-bit. The computers pretty fast. Should run whatever well.

I will look at that free trial. Sounds I can generate internally would be prefered.