Firstly, a really BIG hello from me from the UK. After listening to numerous demo BB tracks, I have just bought the EverythingPak on the external hard drive (received a week ago) and am starting to work through the manual (whoohoo). So I'm delighted to join the community on this Forum.

Please can I have help with my first problem.

I have had a play and made my first test tune in BB and have loaded it into RealBand - it consists of 5 Audio tracks and 1 Midi track (the melody). I then right click on the Midi Track (as I want to patch in a string section) and go to Specific Vsti/Dxi synth for midi tracks and the drop down list appears of all my plug-ins. However, when I click on Cakewalk's Dimension Pro or Rapture on my list I get the error message "Sorry, real band cannot make the connection". Also, I CAN patch in SampleTank but think this is the cutdown version that comes in the BB package and not the SampleTank 2 XL full version that I also own.

Alternatively, I could use my Sonar X2 to patch in plugin sounds BUT I can't see a way of exporting the RealBand song into a multi-track format that would load correctly into my SONAR X2.

So at the moment I have a half finished song - I would really appreciate some pearls of wisdom from fellow members.

Many thanks in advance

On your MIDI track in RB, click the little arrow on the left and select Edit DX
then select your synth of choice in the top slot (this is important).
The top slot is for the synth, the next three are for effects if desired.

Another route is to go to Options-Preferences-MIDI Devices and find the checkbox for 'reroute all MIDI to DXi synth' and then select your synth there. This will cause all MIDI tracks to use that synth as the default.

To get tracks to Sonar; click the little DAW icon at top to run RB in DAW mode, then you can load the tracks into a little spot that will allow drag/drop to sonar, or use the Render Audio/DXi button at top to export the tracks to separate files and then import them to Sonar.

Welcome to the Forum

Many thanks rharv - using your suggested methods, I have now managed to get all the tracks into my Sonar X2 DAW.

One strange thing though - the one MIDI track (the melody) now plays faster and finishes earlier in Sonar and therefore is not in sync with the 5 Audio tracks which ARE in sync. I would have thought that dragging and dropping a track should copy across an exact replica! Any help gratefully accepted.

Thanks again, Malcolm

RB tempo should match Sonar tempo.

Thanks again, rharv - I've now managed to get all the tracks working perfectly in sync in Sonar and it sounds amazing.

I've only been using BB and RB now for a few days but the software looks and sounds phenomenal. I really feel just like a young boy in a sweet shop - so many goodies and so much to choose from - even though I am over 60! Looking forward to discovering even more on my BB journey over the coming months etc. Will post my creations when totally finished.

Regards, Malcolm

I work in a similar but perhaps slightly different manner.

I use BB, RB, and Sonar X1 in this manner.

I write and compose the music and lyrics in BB. I make sure I have the song exactly as I want it,,,, intro, structure and ending.

Close and save the song in Band in a Box.

Open Real Band and load the song from BB. It renders all the existing tracks as real tracks. I listen and evaluate if I like them or not. If yes, I export them track by track into a folder I set up for this song project on the desktop screen. If I don't like them, I select a new track (highlight it) and choose the appropriate track and render it.

I will render as many times as is needed to get the correct Real Track playing the part the way I need it played.

I also will render the "other" instruments such as steel, fiddle, dobro and whatever else I need.

I export all the tracks from RB to the folder. I also am sure to keep the BPM the same in BB/RB, and as I move to Sonar, the first thing I do is set the BPM to match.

I open X1 and after setting up the format of the project, I begin to import the tracks into Sonar audio tracks. Once there, I save it and then begin the editing and mastering process and this is where I add my own guitar tracks, mandolin tracks, and vocal tracks.

This method seems to work the best for me and I use it on all the songs on my music site.

NOTE: there is no single "right way" or "wrong way" to work with this software. Develop the method you like best, and use it consistently. Because, no matter which way you get there, if you use the same methods you will begin to learn the nuances and produce CONSISTENT results. The goal is to have each song sound good and as if it came from the same studio in the same year.

In my experience, I find it's better to stay in RB a little longer.
If you can start recording your new personal tracks in RB it leaves the option open to change a Realtrack or two, or even extend the song and regenerate where needed. This flexibility comes in handy sometimes.
I only move out of RB once I see a reason to. But I tend to stay there longer in the situation you described. Recording new tracks alongside Realtracks has not been an issue here.

I normally audition the tracks in RB, to see if they are close enough for rock and roll....

If I get them into X1 (Sonar) and play them and don't like them, or they are not quite right, I will not hesitate to delete them and return to RB and render another track with the same RT or perhaps select a different RT to try.