Hi

I previously had BIAB on an external drive (F), then a litle time ago moved it on to the C drive but occasionally I now get a popup window "Aria Engine: Band-In-A-Box sounds. Can not find instrument Bank File at F:/bb/HiQinstruments/etc ..." which isn't surprising as none of that is there now.

It doesn't happen with everything, however currently I'm working on a variation of a previous song I wrote and it is happening all the time, no doubt because that's how that song needs things to be.

I have looked all through settings, preferences, options, the manual and more to see how to point BIAB to the C:/bb location instead, but have missed it wherever it is I guess and now can't see the forest for the trees anyway so can someone please tell me where I go to point things to the correct location? Thanks!!

hannay,

First, you will need to find where the Aria player dll file is installed on your c: drive.

In File Explorer...

1. open the folder "C:\Program Files(x86)"

2. now do a search for "Aria" (don't type the inverted commas in the search)

3. when the file "ARIA Player VST_x86.dll" is located, right-click on it and select "Open file location" to find which directory it is in.

4. make a note of the path


Second, you now need to point BIAB to the Aria Player VST file.

5. start BIAB

6. follow the directions on IMAGE 1 below to open the plugins dialogue window (if your view is not the same as mine, use CTRL+T to toggle views)

7. have a look at IMAGE 2... click on any track (I've click on Piano and the dropdown box and when it opens, you'll see "Add VSTi Plugin" available

8. select "Add VSTi Plugin"

9. a window will now open... navigate to where the Aria Player dll file is located and select it.

That should do the job for you.

Regards,
Noel

Noel69

Thanks so much!

I'm away from the house just now so unable to take those steps, but no doubt that will take care of things for me when I get back later.

Appreciated, thanks again!

Hi Hannay,

Which version and build of Band-in-a-Box are you using?

Thanks
Kent
PG Music

Hi Kent

2018, up to date so 516

Okay wellllll .... not so simple


First things first, I was alerted to this issue because 2 HiQ instruments (drum + other) were silent when going back to rework a previously complete song. For information it was created in BIAB 2017, and my installation would have been through appropriate updates and then the change to 2018 plus updates to that since.

The instruments shows visually as playing in the mixer section (flickering sound ribbon) but are not heard.

I can no doubt substitute RT instruments but that's not the point, I expect there will be other instances the same waiting to be encountered, and I don't want to have to sub every time before I can even start making progress.

OK. So then ...

Noel, thanks and I started following your steps, stopped very quickly as I don't have a Program(x86) folder. I have checked by unhiding all/system/protected folders and nothing shows.

However, I have a 32 bit Win 7 installation which I understand means there's no Prog(x86) folder anyway.

Regardless, a full system-search for "Aria" finds nothing. Also, Aria is a 64-bit utility as I now understand it anyway, Yes?

However, I am unclear then how BIAB can be requiring Aria - which seems not to be there for it even to know about - to be initiated in order to be able to see/play instruments/voices that it was perfectly happy with before.

The "can't find" popup also asks if I "want to uninstall this product" (presumably Aria). I've always said no to that, partly because I don't want to uninstall anything indiscriminately, also because maybe it is needed regardless and just needs to be given a way to communicate.

Also, asking if I want to uninstall it suggests that it IS installed after all! Puzzling!!

Moving along:

Although there's (allegedly!) no Aria .dll file to point to, I did run through the second part of your steps just to explore/learn a little if nothing else.

At that point, when I clicked a track in the plugins dialog to see if anything relevant is shown at the "Add VST Plugin" stage (I had selected the missing/muted instrument), the Svorzando UI opens along with a popup saying the instrument from (in this case) Bank 2050 can not be found. I presume Sforzando relies on Aria too, and also that this will therefore have further implications of its own if not dealt with.

So, right now I can't work with something containing Hi-Q instruments, BIAB is wanting to know Aria's .dll so it can use a utility it seems to be relying on and has never had a problem with but which Windows says doesn't exist, and everything worked/played perfectly on this song perfectly around 6-9 months ago!

So:

Is Aria installed automatically by/within BIAB? If separately, should I install/reinstall it to see if that helps?

Do I even need that however in a 32 bit system? If I do, will it look for a x86 folder and I need to do something in advance without upsetting Windows?

If I don't need it and don't have it, why is BIAB unable to go forward without it now when it was fine without it from 2004 to some months ago?

If I do need it and do have it, where is it if BIAB appears to be aware of it but Windows doesn't?

Workarounds? I can always "yes" to the uninstall request, though I am fearful of what Windows would be uninstalling thinking it was Aria!

Or maybe like Windows, there are times when only a clean reinstall of BIAB will fix things?

Hope it is a lot simpler however!


BUT, before finishing I want to go right back to the original fault window ... "Aria Engine: Band-In-A-Box sounds. Can not find instrument Bank File at F:/bb/HiQinstruments/etc ..."

That Instrument Bank File however is exactly where it is supposed to be on the C:/bb installation, do I HAVE to go through Aria to get BIAB to look there for it or can I do that directly? Would it resolve the issue by reversing in to that connection that way and independently getting BIAB to see the file it wants?? If so, I need to be shown the steps.


I am really much too close to all of this now and possibly missing something very obvious, but I've got nothing else.

So for the moment I can't get on with a project, and that's not especially helpful with a couple of deadlines on the way ... fortunately not a problem for a few days yet anyway.

Can you/someone please point me to what I need to tinker more with under the hood to diagnose/fix this.

Thanks!

hannay,

That would have been a bit frustrating for you!

As far as I'm aware, Aria has never been part of the BIAB installation. I should have asked you a few more questions before launching in to am attempted solution.

In both BIAB 2017 and 2018, Sforzando is the soft synth that plays the HiQ sounds. Sforzando has no reliance on Aria player. Also, I know that Aria also plays the same file types that Sforzando uses because my Aria player lists all the BIAB HiQ sounds (it's picked them up automatically).

Can you make one of your problem song files available for download using something like Dropbox? It would be good to be able to see the settings.

Regards,
Noel

The Aria player is not part of the BIAB/RB installation. Sforzando is, which uses the Aria engine, so there might be some confusion there. The HiQ instruments do not load Aria.dll, but sforzando.dll instead.

It's possible you have Aria on your computer if you have any Garritan instruments, as that is the player used for all of them. There probably are some others that use Aria, but Garritan is the only ones I have.

If you have the Aria player, it does pick up whatever Sforzando sees (in my experience), but they are two different programs.

For BIAB HiQ instruments, BIAB needs to have sforzando.dll in its list of VSTi's in order to use those PGMusic provided sfz instruments (which replaced the previous SampleTank instruments).

You can certainly select Aria as an instrument on a track and use the PGMusic provided instruments, but by default, BIAB is looking for Sforzando to load them.

Hi Noel, thanks.

Frustrating - somewhat ... weird - very! lol

I'm not sure I follow the logic of sending you a file that presumably will play fine for a *good* BIAB install, but I'm happy to do so anyway.

What I've actually done is to use the exact same style _CTWLZGP.STY as the song I am wanting to rework, dropped-in an easy 32 bars and left it at that.

Named "Test", you will find it at

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ev8felg0qss06en/Test.SGU?dl=0


Should be easy-open, but as simple as that is, when I try to launch it I get the same Aria popup (can't find Instrument Bank File at F:/bb etc which is the previous location of my BIAB which is now on C:/ )

If I then decline the option to delete "it" the piece plays, but only the Piano and Guitar parts (RTs) not the Bass (HiQ 033 01).

There's a standard drum kit (Midi) in there too but only for the count-in, which does play.

All the exact same behaviour as my work-in-progress.

I'm kinda thinking that whilst it won't play properly here on my broken (?) BIAB it will presumably play fine with your good installation as yours will not be looking in wrong places for things it needs, and it can just be opened/launched no problem?

I hope I'm missing something however and the fix just is waiting to drop out of it

It isn't like BIAB is a complex installation anyway however, just all the files in a standalone /bb folder - launch the .exe and there it is!

Maybe I need to run my 2017-2018 upgrade again to get things where they should be if they aren't, though I'd rather use a small fix of course for a small fault if it's nothing more ...


Thanks for taking a look!

Hi John, and thanks ... I only saw your reply after leaving my response for Noel, and I think you have shone a light on matters with your clarification of the incidental/accidental cross-relationships involving Sforzando and Aria.

Give me a moment or two as I need to go and check something ...

Well, I thought I had something for a moment.

When I read that it is sforzando that is looking not Aria, and that it is therefore looking for a sforzando .dll not an aria .dll, I remembered coming across a sforzando .dll when searching around earlier looking for an Aria .dll ...

So I just went and searched again, eventually found it and set BIAB to install the sforzando plugin that has been in its own VST subfolder in the Plogue folder on my C drive, thinking that perhaps the path was broken when moving my /bb folder from F:/ To C:/, and that this would restore it!

However, it didn't make anything different happen ..

However, that leads me to assume that those things are actually working correctly!

My reasoning is that with the .dll found and applied, what is being reported is that the instrument Bank File is not at the expected location (F:/bb/HiQ/etc) where it is still instructed to go for it.

The Inst Bank File however is sitting right there in the equivalent folder now on C:/ drive, so I suspect that what I need to be able to do is direct the .dll-enabled search to that file instead, where what it is looking for is sitting right there waiting to be found!

Logical?

So can you tell me how I do that, how I point the search to a different drive entirely and to a folder there for the Instrument Bank File, NOT in fact for a required .dll after all because that side of things seems potentially fine?

What tells it where to go in the first place, I just need to change that.

Hi Hannay,

Moving your Band-in-a-Box folder shouldn't have stopped Sforzando from being able to find your Hi-Q sounds, as by default, they don't normally install to the BB folder at all. So it seems like you may have changed the destination directory when you installed the Hi-Q sounds.

Can you please provide the exact words of that "Cannot find instrument bank file" message, including the precise spelling of the entire file path? I'll see where the files are located on my machine.

Thanks
Kent
PG Music

Hannay,

Thank you for the file test.SGU. It helped.

When I loaded it, BIAB did not load Sforzando and neither did the program look for anything. BIAB simply defaulted to Coyote WT to play the bass.

Kent,

If it's useful information, my Hi-Q 033 01 Acoustic Bass sound which is listed on Hannay's file is in both "c:\bb\DX Settings" and "d:\bb\DX Settings".

I have BIAB installed my d: drive and have never used c: drive so I'm not quite sure why I have a set of sounds there.

Regards,
Noel

Hi Kent,

The popup comes whenever I open a BIAB song file that contains a midi instrument - BIAB can't load the instrument, so puts up a notification. If there are two midi instruments, it throws up two identical popups, and when you click one to dismiss it the other is underneath it. Same with three etc ... so it is looking for each instrument and reporting back when it can't find each one

The precise wording and filepath is

"Aria Engine: Band-In-A-Box sounds.

Can not find Instrument Bank File at F:/bb/HiQ Instruments/Band-in-a-Box Sounds/Band-in-a-Box Sounds.bank.xml

Do you want to uninstall this product?"

There is also a confirming yellow notification box briefly in the usual right-hand bottom corner of the BIAB window that says "Could not load HiQ Patch, Band-in-a-Box instruments might not be installed"


The Instrument Bank File is now at the exact same filepath but on the C drive, and I am quite sure that you will find it in the same sub-folder path within your own bb folder.

Seemingly, BIAB needs to be pointed to that C drive location for the Sound Bank.xml file it needs, because it is looking in the F drive location still which no longer has any BIAB content at all.

I still haven't been able to find out how to do that

Noel ... Thanks for the further input. Glad the Test produced something potentially relevant.

Hannay,

Until Kent backs to you, and please keep in mind that he knows much more about the product that I do, the below is worth checking.

Given that you don't have Sforzando installed, I'm surprised that BIAB didn't default to your general midi VSTi.

When I run a midi Supertrack, BIAB uses Coyote WT because I don't have Sforzando loaded (I don't need it in BIAB because I use software synths in my DAW).

Prior to reading and following the next paragraph, under "Options" save your current settings so that these can be reloaded if needed.

Now continuing...

Have a look at the link below and set you settings as shown. These settings are the default pretty-sure-these-will-always work settings. This will setup (a) audio using MME and (b) Coyote WT general midi software synth.

http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=461558#Post461558

These settings may already be set. I get the impression that the Coyote WT is not set on your system though. If this is the case, when you have set up everything according to the above link, try loading a problem file and give it a test run.

Regards,
Noel

Noel,

Thanks for that, it sounds entirely logical and well worth exploring the results alongside what Kent too might advise.

If circumventing sforzando/aria restores BIAB usability without also removing from its arsenal something that some other function requires, I'd certainly consider the option if repairing/restoring usability to the present installation appeared unlikely. The fallback of course is simply a fresh clean install.

It is now already Thursday AM here (UK) however, and I really have to pull away now and get to bed but I'll get on to that in the morning when I will probably be more alert too!

I know you have put in some time on this for me, I want to be sure you know I do appreciate that!

Hi,

One way you can fix this is to reinstall the file "hiq_instruments_sforzando.exe". If you have a Band-in-a-Box hard drive you can find this file in the \PGMusic\Installers folder. When you get to the destination directory screen of the installer, set it to the following, if for some reason it's not already:
C:\Program Files\PG Music Inc\Band-in-a-Box Sounds

The installer sets a registry key containing the location of the Band-in-a-Box sounds bank. The Aria engine, which the Sforzando plugin is built on, uses this key to determine the location of the bank.

You could delete the bank that you have installed on your F: drive (I'm assuming that's your USB HD?), since that won't be needed. You probably manually selected a location on your USB drive originally, and it probably got a different drive letter at some point which is why the problem started happening.

Hi Andrew, and thanks that took care of it!

I wasn't able to deal with it until the end of the working day due to a change of circumstances, but have just completed the fix early-evening with no problems.

I have opened a variety of song files from past and present just to check, and so far the missing Bass and all else seems fine.

Yes you were right, the old installation was to an external/USB drive (F:), and when running the sforzando.exe file installer it remembered the F: drive folder-structure address from previously and expected the location to be the same this time.

I pointed it to the correct C: drive location instead, and whilst the files it dropped there were of course already moved across from F:, it now also dropped a Registry Key sending things to the correct location on C: instead at last!

So now, as Meghan Trainor most profoundly remarked, It's All About That Bass ... again


NOTE
For the benefit of anyone searching the problem later and seeing this, there were a couple of adjustments along the way as my installations have all been via downloads with everything ultimately together in a /bb folder.

"hiq_instruments_sforzando.exe" should therefore be found among the downloads of anyone who has done the same not gone for the drive option with BIAB pre-installed.

For the same reason there is no "PG Music Inc" folder in C:\Program Files. Instead the "Band-in-a-Box Sounds" folder is in "bb/HiQ Instruments/" folder on whichever drive the user has chosen to use.


Noel & Kent
Thanks for spending the time yesterday chasing things down, I have learned a good few things about BIAB's workings just from following your knowledge and logic: those are the types of thing it comes in very handy to be aware of when you least expect it!

It's probably not the problem, but I'll ask it anyway. You don't happen to have Sforzando installed as your default MIDI synth, do you?

If you do, you should instead use something like Coyote WT or Coyote Forte or Cakewalk TTS-1 as your default synth. When a Hi-Q instrument is needed, it should load Sforzando automatically for just that particular track as defined either in the style or by selecting a H-Q instrument. Other MIDi tracks should play through your default synth.

Thanks for thinking to check on that, John.

Nope, it's set up with Coyote WT as the default, sforzando kicks in when needed.

Fingers crossed, but following Andrew's advice STILL looks like it has sorted the problem out