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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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OP
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Hi,
until now I used Bandstand as VST-plugin syntesizer. Everything worked fine.
Last week I 'upgraded' to Native Instruments Kompakt 5 - amazing sounds!
But: It's ok to install the VST-plugin. But the instruments don't load when playing the songs.
Back to Bandstand again - and everything works fine. But with Kontakt there's no loading of instruments. I would have to load each patch manually. I'm sure there's a way that works automatically.
Does somebody use Kontakt (5) along with BIAB? May be you can help me?!
- Thank you!
Ulrich
By the way: Kontakt 5 comes with 3 different VST-plugins: one for 8, one for 16 and one for 32 MIDI channels. I guess the 16 channels will be the best one for BIAB; but the problem is the same for all three of them.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Kontakt libraries do have amazing sounds; however, it's not a GM synth. You would have to preload each channel. So you can't just run through a bunch of songs, unless of course, you are using the same instruments on each track between songs. You can also save the rack of instruments so that you can call that group up easily in Kontakt, however, it does take a little time for each of the instruments to load completely.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Yep, good ol GM it gets noob's every time including me back in the day. Biab uses the GM standard by default because while it's very limited it's also no brainer easy for people to use. The thing is GM soundbanks are small so they load easily into ram so then all you do is load it once like you do with Bandstand and then every song you want to play just plays. Not so with a synth like Kontakt. The reason it sounds so good is each instrument sample is huge. It's simple math, the bigger the sample size, the better the sound. No way do you have enough ram to preload it all in. That means every song has to be set up manually by you first but the trade off is great sound. Even then I don't know if that would work because of the sample sizes. Maybe Kontakt has a bank of smaller samples that might work. This is one reason why people will go with a hardware synth. No loading of samples. But then you lose the ability to direct render to an audio file and a few other things. Ain't life grand?
Musicians the world over use big samplers like Kontakt because they're using DAW's not Biab. Biab is a real time song generator. A DAW is a audio/midi recorder. You only work with one track at a time in a DAW. You lay down the track, move on to the next and then after each track is recorded, then you mix it. See the difference? You're only loading one Kontakt instrument at a time into a DAW so a sample size for one of the killer grand pianos could be over a full gig in size and it doesn't matter because it's not being used in real time by a program like Biab. Seven instruments could be used in Biab and if each one averages like a half gig in size? That's a ton of processing for any computer and it simply can't happen.
Everything's a tradeoff. Try Kontakt in Real Band because you can generate one track at a time and put your song together that way. It's complicated but you could do it in Biab because it lets you use more than one synth at a time. The problem is with midi tracks Biab will generate all of them every time so you would have to use a GM synth for all the tracks except the one you're using Kontakt with and then rotate them around. I think it would be much easier in RB.
Bob
Last edited by jazzmammal; 07/10/12 10:09 PM.
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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You can load multiple instruments in the Kontakt rack and assign them different channels and then save the entire rack; however, one single instrument can take 15-20 seconds to load. So an entire ensemble could take a minute or two before all the sample load (and some of the samples are half a gig in size, so you would also need plenty of memory).
But the sounds are amazing. I agree with Bob that RealBand is a better place to use Kontakt sounds.
If I get a chance, though, I'll play with it in BIAB some and report back my experience.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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OP
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Hoops - it seems that I made a mistake when buying the Kontakt 5 synth.I thought it would just work like Bandstand - only with even better sounds.
Nevertheless I will work with Kontakt and BIAB. Thank you very much for the explanations and the useful hints you gave me!
NI's Bandstand is no longer supported by NI since years now. So I thought the Kontakt synth is the follow up software.
But one good thing remains: I bought Kontakt 5 during the special offer time with 50% of the normal price during the time of Kontakt's 10th anniversarie.
Thank you again for your responses!
Ulrich
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Quote:
Hoops - it seems that I made a mistake when buying the Kontakt 5 synth.I thought it would just work like Bandstand - only with even better sounds.
Nevertheless I will work with Kontakt and BIAB. Thank you very much for the explanations and the useful hints you gave me!
NI's Bandstand is no longer supported by NI since years now. So I thought the Kontakt synth is the follow up software. But one good thing remains: I bought Kontakt 5 during the special offer time with 50% of the normal price during the time of Kontakt's 10th anniversarie.
Thank you again for your responses!
Ulrich
if you decide it isn't what you really wanted, and you'd like to unload it and get your money back, contact me by PM. We may be able to work something out. (Unless the software license forbids the surrender of license to another party)
Seriously.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Hi Pat,
thank you for your nice offer to help me getting my money back. But I think that would be rather complicated as I am living in Germany. It was complicated in another case years before to exchange money between the US and Germany. It took several weeks.
Also, I bought another software along with Kontakt 5 - the Vintage Organs. They are great!!! And I want to use those together with my Yamaha keyboard. The Vintage Organs were also half price last week.
So I got quite a lot of good software for relativly little money. That's ok for me - even when I will not be able to use Kontakt as effectively as I intended to. But thanks again!
Ulrich
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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This is from NI's user license agreement: Quote:
Licensee is not entitled to grant any other third party rights of ownership of the Licensed Software. Licensee is authorized to transfer or resell the Licensed Software (for download sales see restrictions as described above) and Hardware once to a third party, on the condition that this third party agrees to Native Instruments End User License Agreement. Licensee must erase all other copies of the Licensed Software prior to its delivery to the third party. Native Instruments will transfer the serial number upon request of Licensee sent from the email address he/she has registered with Native Instruments, and therefore cancel Licensee’s registration.
Note that only software provided on media may be transferred/sold. Downloaded software may not. Downloaded software falls into their NFR (not for resale) clause, found elsewhere in the license agreement.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Hi, I'm also from Germany, as I will immediately prove to you with my English -  If I were you I would never give away Kontakt because it sounds just too good! Kontakt is not only a playback engine, it is also a great sampler, which you can use grandiosely for example in Real Band (and BiaB, see below....). In Kontakt you have to organize the sounds in advance, of course. But with the new options in BIAB, each instrument has a separate VST instrument, you can e.g. replace a Bandstand- sound by one/ two.... great Kontakt- Sounds- and perhaps even by your own sampled voice - By the way, Kontakt has also small libraries like "vintage", many sounds less than 20 MB. You can also pre-work with Bandstand in BiaB and afterwards use Kontakt with Realband to let the sound be much greater. This only as a small supplement. Greetings, Rainer
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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http://www.cakewalk.com/products/sfz/ The Cakewalk Soundfont player is a nice compromise for me. I can create a subset of GM with individual high-quality SoundFonts ans skip the helicopters and accordions. There are still some very nice SoundFont collections out there that you can edit to your liking.
Jan - 12 Core AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Quote:
But with the new options in BIAB, each instrument has a separate VST instrument, you can e.g. replace a Bandstand- sound by one/ two.... great Kontakt- Sounds- and perhaps even by your own sampled voice - By the way, Kontakt has also small libraries like "vintage", many sounds less than 20 MB.
You can also pre-work with Bandstand in BiaB and afterwards use Kontakt with Realband to let the sound be much greater.
The second comment is the way to do it and here's why. Most of the best Biab arrangements using the new ability to use different VST's at once can also involve using different instrument patches in different parts of your song so for example you change from an acoustic piano to a Rhodes electric at a bridge. That means there's a program change in the middle of the song or several program changes. There's no way to set that up ahead of time using the instruments in Kontakt even if you've loaded the basic 5 instruments. When it gets to the program change Biab will lock up because using a GM synth, everything is already there to use instantly. If that program change takes even a split second too long to implement, Biab thinks there's no synth and stops. Biab has to have access to everything it needs in real time, as in right now. DAW's don't work that way but Real Band does if you have it regenerate a whole song rather than one part at a time. If RB is not regenerating anything then no problem because the midi tracks are already created. This gets very tricky.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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In the meantime I had some leisure time for experementing with BIAB and Kontakt. Now I can profit from version 2012's new feature of assigning only single instruments with a specific VST-synth.
(Thank you for that good hint, Rainer!)
So, my general synth is Bandstand, and I can replace easily 1 or 2 other instruments with patches from Kontakt. The result is great! The 'old' MIDI-files with their vast variety of styles and patterns are a new alternative to the RealTracks now! Sounds great and loads faster than Real-styles! The only thing is that I have to invest a few minutes for each song I want to add Kontakt-sounds to. But it's worth it.
I didn't work with RealBand yet. So I can't tell anything about working with RB and Kontakt.
Thanks again for your precious hints and advice!
Ulrich
By the way:
Rainer, I'm living in Baden-Württemberg, too. Near Bietigheim. Interested in sharing about BIAB experiences?
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Quote:
So I can't tell anything about working with RB and Kontakt.
Kontakt works great for me in RealBand. I just tell the track to use the Kontakt VSTi, load the instrument, match up the channels, and twiddle the dials or load a preset.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Introducing XPro Styles PAK 11 – Now Available for Windows Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
XPro Styles PAK 11 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box® version 2026 (and higher) is here with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 31 RealTracks/RealDrums!
Guess who’s back again? That’s right! It’s our XPro Styles PAK’s triumphant return with the 11th edition in this series! 100 new styles are coming your way spread across the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres. And this edition's wildcard genre explores the immense and far-reaching catalogue of electronic music! The included 31 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
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XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2026 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
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Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 22 requires the 2026 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Introducing XPro Styles PAK 11 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
XPro Styles PAK 11 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box® version 2026 (and higher) is here with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 31 RealTracks/RealDrums!
Guess who’s back again? That’s right! It’s our XPro Styles PAK’s triumphant return with the 11th edition in this series! 100 new styles are coming your way spread across the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres. And this edition's wildcard genre explores the immense and far-reaching catalogue of electronic music! The included 31 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1-11 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.
Video: XPro Styles PAK 11 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2026 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 22 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2026 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
It’s time to celebrate! Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Band-in-a-Box® is here, and we've got 200 brand-new styles coming your way!
No Xtra Styles PAK is complete without the classic rock & pop, jazz, and country volumes you know and love, and we’ve got plenty to share, with 150 styles spread across too many genres to list! Of course, it also wouldn’t be complete with our special wildcard volume to add a little spice and pizzazz to the mix. This year, because we loved it so much the first time, we’ve decided to make the second iteration of our SynthMaster volume, full of new sounds, interesting genres, and 50 engaging styles, all making use of the diverse SynthMaster plugin! Here you can find genres such as airy yacht rock, sultry electrotango, and even some synth soca funk. Don’t wait, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 22 today!
In this PAK you can find: dulcet folk ballads, funky gospel country, Brazilian jazz fusion, upbeat 1980s pop, classic Americana, a plethora of breezy bossa novas, indie singer-songwriter, scintillating synthwave, exuberant electronica, and many, many more!
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1-22 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 22 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 22.
Video: Xtra Styles PAK 22 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 22 requires the 2026 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Peter Gannon Talks Band-in-a-Box with zplane
zplane recently interviewed Peter Gannon, the founder and creator of Band-in-a-Box, about the software's early days, what sets it apart from AI, how zplane's audio algorithms are used in Band-in-a-Box, and more!
Special thanks to the team at zplane for their continued support.
Check out the full interview here: https://products.zplane.de/blog/peter-gannon-interview-pg-music
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