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I just upgraded my BIAB to 2024 after probably a few decades.
Here are my initial discoveries:
1. I have been trying to find other options for General MIDI but CoyoteWT seems to be the only reliable and stable option. I have played with SynthFont and get these crazy cascading Access Violation errors and have to kill BIAB (Windows 11). I also tried using Halion Sonic and the latest version is VST3 only (BIAB is VST2) and the 3.5 version does not seem to see or load the GM set. I tried
to use the VST3 host and no bueno.
2. When transferring Type 1 MIDI files to my DAWs, I found the auto volume setting and auto patch change pretty annoying. I could turn of CC control in Kontakt 7 (that fixed the volume problem), but the patch change problem was still there. I could only fix it by editing the MIDI file in Reaper and deleting the header.
3. To my surprise, when I drag and dropped a type 1 MIDI file into Cubase, it opened up Halion Sonic and loaded the correct instruments immediately. Very smooth experience. Studio One also did the same thing with its MIDI player. Impressive.
4. I am still trying to figure out a workflow and would like to employ Scaler 2 as well. The only thing that seems to work is to save a chord progression created in Scaler 2 and export the MIDI file and import it into BIAB.
5. MIDI is really challenging but Real Tracks are more straightforward. I can see why people have gravitated toward them. But I want to use MIDI tracks with my arsenal of synths and samplers.
More to come...
Writer. Author. Music Producer. Technologist. Former contributor to Mix, Electronic Musician, Recording, Cleveland SCENE. www.tonythomas.net
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Welcome back.
PG Music has stated they intend to release support for VST3 this year. Now that the 2024 Mac version release is imminent, perhaps we will see that.
There are several users here who work extensively with MIDI and synths. I suggest you make one post per question, and we'll get it done.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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i agree with matt a point at a time.
frankly i use bb for sketching out songs often and then import the bb song into realband where i have the luxury of a huge number of tracks and session music
generation options and Deep midi features and filtering n slicing n dicing etc etc.
read the rb !manual on this pg site and see if its many midi features are usefull to you..from what youve said i think all the midi features of rb would be highly usefull to you.
could you please clarify headers word...do you mean the data at start of a midi track ?? ie not note data ??
welcome and rock on.
om 🇨🇦🇨🇦 🇬🇧🇬🇧
Last edited by justanoldmuso; 06/14/24 12:50 PM.
my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..) https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs(90 songs created useing bb/rb) (lots of tips of mine in pg tips forum.)
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Beginners Forum
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Joined: Jun 2024
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OP
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Joined: Jun 2024
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Welcome back.
PG Music has stated they intend to release support for VST3 this year. Now that the 2024 Mac version release is imminent, perhaps we will see that.
There are several users here who work extensively with MIDI and synths. I suggest you make one post per question, and we'll get it done. Sounds good! Thanks!
Writer. Author. Music Producer. Technologist. Former contributor to Mix, Electronic Musician, Recording, Cleveland SCENE. www.tonythomas.net
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Beginners Forum
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Joined: Jun 2024
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OP
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i agree with matt a point at a time.
frankly i use bb for sketching out songs often and then import the bb song into realband where i have the luxury of a huge number of tracks and session music
generation options and Deep midi features and filtering n slicing n dicing etc etc.
read the rb !manual on this pg site and see if its many midi features are usefull to you..from what youve said i think all the midi features of rb would be highly usefull to you.
could you please clarify headers word...do you mean the data at start of a midi track ?? ie not note data ??
welcome and rock on.
om 🇨🇦🇨🇦 🇬🇧🇬🇧 I have not spent much time with RealBand yet. It appears to be a DAW. I use a bunch of DAWs for various things. I will have to dig deeper. The header is in each track file and contains the track name, bank select, patch #, hold pedal info, volume, pan, effects, and chorus.
Writer. Author. Music Producer. Technologist. Former contributor to Mix, Electronic Musician, Recording, Cleveland SCENE. www.tonythomas.net
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Beginners Forum
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Joined: Jun 2024
Posts: 46
Enthusiast
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OP
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I just upgraded my BIAB to 2024 after probably a few decades.
Here are my initial discoveries:
1. I have been trying to find other options for General MIDI but CoyoteWT seems to be the only reliable and stable option. I have played with SynthFont and get these crazy cascading Access Violation errors and have to kill BIAB (Windows 11). I also tried using Halion Sonic and the latest version is VST3 only (BIAB is VST2) and the 3.5 version does not seem to see or load the GM set. I tried
to use the VST3 host and no bueno.
2. When transferring Type 1 MIDI files to my DAWs, I found the auto volume setting and auto patch change pretty annoying. I could turn of CC control in Kontakt 7 (that fixed the volume problem), but the patch change problem was still there. I could only fix it by editing the MIDI file in Reaper and deleting the header.
3. To my surprise, when I drag and dropped a type 1 MIDI file into Cubase, it opened up Halion Sonic and loaded the correct instruments immediately. Very smooth experience. Studio One also did the same thing with its MIDI player. Impressive.
4. I am still trying to figure out a workflow and would like to employ Scaler 2 as well. The only thing that seems to work is to save a chord progression created in Scaler 2 and export the MIDI file and import it into BIAB.
5. MIDI is really challenging but Real Tracks are more straightforward. I can see why people have gravitated toward them. But I want to use MIDI tracks with my arsenal of synths and samplers.
More to come... I have been doing more testing today and believe I have found the solution to the workflow issues. I have been working with the BIAB VST3 plugin and have been able to easily drag and drop both clean MIDI files and audio files into my DAWs. As a result, I don't have to mess around with the GM player or deal with file export/import anomalies. Next, I will work on integrating it with Scaler and Unify. Thanks for the comments and the help!
Writer. Author. Music Producer. Technologist. Former contributor to Mix, Electronic Musician, Recording, Cleveland SCENE. www.tonythomas.net
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Update: I picked up the Roland Sound Canvas VA plugin today, solving the playing General MIDI issue. Sounds much better!
Writer. Author. Music Producer. Technologist. Former contributor to Mix, Electronic Musician, Recording, Cleveland SCENE. www.tonythomas.net
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tony.
sometime read my tips in the tips forum.
re headers i sssumed thats what you meant.
often on these forums a new user will say....why are my bb or rb midi settings overridden. well the gotcha is of course embedded patch and other control settings in the midi data stream which have to be stripped out.
eg a midi song the user hsd dloaded from the net.
heres a little tip...for useing biab like a dumb waiter feeding tracks to a daw...what i do is instead of plugin is set bb to daw plugin mode top left box sayin daw and drag the tracks or master into the daw.
i find it faster.
note VERY IMPORTANT...ensure bb as plugin the settings point to your main dir
for the song...ie so saved tracks go into your daw eg reaper...cubase...studio one whatever...song dir..!!
frankly i prefer rb cos i have a huge no of tracks and midi tricks i can do... see my tips and rb manual..eg midi pattern generator and the rb dp feature and other midi goodies etc....watch the rb vids etc.
rb is a midi gold mine imho.
keep rocking
om
Last edited by justanoldmuso; 06/16/24 01:47 AM.
my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..) https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs(90 songs created useing bb/rb) (lots of tips of mine in pg tips forum.)
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Good info...I have to check it out. Drinking from a fire hose right now with BIAB!
Writer. Author. Music Producer. Technologist. Former contributor to Mix, Electronic Musician, Recording, Cleveland SCENE. www.tonythomas.net
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Hi Tony.
As Matt mentioned, a lot of us are waiting for VST3 support, that hopefully will arrive before the end of the year.
I had and was a big fan of Roland SC for ios years ago, but I remember PC version had some serious issues. Can I ask you a couple of questions please.
1)Is it stable? No crashing?
2) Is their "Lifetime license" / cloud invasive or it just activates and doesn't bother you?
By invasive, I mean products like Sampletank, Waves and a few others that try to push/market other content within the plugin. Also, I find that Halion is a bit invasive, but for other reasons. Their strict e-licencer often would crash software if you have two instances of audio programs opened where it scans plugin (Halion/Sonic).
Thanks.
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Hi Tony.
As Matt mentioned, a lot of us are waiting for VST3 support, that hopefully will arrive before the end of the year.
I had and was a big fan of Roland SC for ios years ago, but I remember PC version had some serious issues. Can I ask you a couple of questions please.
1)Is it stable? No crashing?
2) Is their "Lifetime license" / cloud invasive or it just activates and doesn't bother you?
By invasive, I mean products like Sampletank, Waves and a few others that try to push/market other content within the plugin. Also, I find that Halion is a bit invasive, but for other reasons. Their strict e-licencer often would crash software if you have two instances of audio programs opened where it scans plugin (Halion/Sonic).
Thanks. Everything is perfectly stable with the SC. The Lifetime License works well. It only checks in once a month to the server. I have never had a problem with Halion. They have moved away from e-licenser and use another system.
Writer. Author. Music Producer. Technologist. Former contributor to Mix, Electronic Musician, Recording, Cleveland SCENE. www.tonythomas.net
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Thank you!
Will get it when goes on sale.
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Not sure if it goes on sale. I would just grab it at JRR or Roland Cloud for $70. It is well worth the price for the number of sounds and capabilities. I had the original Sound Canvas SC-55 and it cost me $900 at the time!
I noticed that Sweetwater and Thomann no longer sell it for some reason.
Writer. Author. Music Producer. Technologist. Former contributor to Mix, Electronic Musician, Recording, Cleveland SCENE. www.tonythomas.net
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Tony,
iOs version that I bought about 8 years ago, which I assume has the same soundset was/is $20
Windows version, if I remember correctly was around the same price as it is now...
So to be realistic, they are milking 9 year old cow. Don't get me wrong. In absence of TTs-1 (and Roland is a bit better sounding synth) its still a good deal, especially considering GM issues with new Sonic.
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Yeah, it is based on the SC-8820--one of the last Sound Canvas models. Considering it has 1,600 high-quality sounds and 63 drum kits, I think it is a great value. https://www.roland.com/us/products/rc_sound_canvas_va/
Last edited by tony10000; 06/19/24 05:49 PM. Reason: correction
Writer. Author. Music Producer. Technologist. Former contributor to Mix, Electronic Musician, Recording, Cleveland SCENE. www.tonythomas.net
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