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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I came across this unresolved problem years ago and it re-surfaced while playing with SuperTracks. The issue was that when using certain software synths, the Acoustic Bass track would 'drop' some notes. By drop I mean the notes were in the event list but would not play. The odd thing is that the track would play fine using Coyote Forte but would drop notes using other soft synths. I was listening to the SuperTracks demos found HERE and heard it again. If you listen to the M_JAZSWN demo you'll hear one about 18 seconds into the song. As far as I can tell, there are several more later in the song. I gave up trying to figure out the problem writing it off to the fact it seemed to happen when using soundfonts (SF2) and not Forte. Now that I heard it in the demo using Garritan, I would love to see if a resolution to this is possible. I have a beautiful Acoustic Bass soundfont that I would love to use. Any thoughts?
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Rachel, many times this is caused by different sound sources having different note ranges. For example if the note(s) are at the lower end of the spectrum and your sound source doesn’t go that low then you will not hear the note. Raising the bass line one octave should solve this problem
Another cause could be if your softsynth doesn’t have enough polyphony. That is it is set to play a maximum of 10 notes when your sequencer sends 11 notes then one will be dropped. So with the bass line if the polyphony is set to 1 and one note overlaps another the softsynth is receiving two notes, thus one will be dropped. Increasing the softsynths polyphony corrects this problem.
I hope this helps and good luck.
The bumper sticker said "I'm a veterinarian, therefore I can drive like an animal".
Suddenly I realized how many proctologists are on the road.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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What Mario said. This happens most often with bass because some bass parts were written or recorded into a midi file with a 5 string bass in mind. Those can go to the B below the low E. If your synth doesn't have a 5 string bass patch with samples that go that low, you hear nothing. When you look at the actual notes see where they fit on the bass clef. If they're not those low notes then it could be the polyphony. You can check for overlapping notes by looking in the piano roll window.
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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You guys confirmed some theories I had from trying to resolve this before. No question some soundfonts I have played with had a range problem. I can understand the low end problem due to a 5 string bass but the upper range also had missing notes. No question the soundfonts were not yet completed which is probably why they were free. I was just surprised to hear the apparent dropping of notes in the SuperTrack demos which used the Garritan JABB library.
If anyone is looking for a nice acoustic bass to use with the new SuperTracks, try the Sonivox DVI. There are several bass variations included so to be sure to try them. For $20 it is quite impressive.
Thanks for the feedback. Again, I learned something new!
R
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I can confirm that my limited experiments with Garritan JABB about four years ago included finding out that a note too high for the instrument's range will not sound. Whether that is still the case, I don't know.
I can also confirm the above descriptions of polophony limits on my Roland hardware synths. It's not always obvious, either, when the limit will be hit. Each patch on the Roland uses a different number of concurrent tones (some up to 6) that each count toward the limit (I think its 126 on my Roland Fantom XR). With multiple channels using harmony, that upper limit can be hit easier than you think. I realize the hardware synth is not what Rachael is using, but this info might help others.
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Just a heads up! Don't try to change the octave setting for any of the midi supertracks just yet - it doesn't work. Peter and the PG Team are aware of the problem and it should be fixed shortly I hope. Kevin 
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I believe that synths will typically give priority to the most recent note (or notes). When you reach the voice limit, the result is usually a note being cut off abrubtly rather than a note failing to play at all.
The oldest note will be shut off to free up the voice for the newest note. So typically you will hear each new note begin at least.
Even in a case where the bass channel has only one voice allocated, you should always here the most recent bass note.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Quote:
I can understand the low end problem due to a 5 string bass but the upper range also had missing notes. No question the soundfonts were not yet completed which is probably why they were free. I was just surprised to hear the apparent dropping of notes in the SuperTrack demos which used the Garritan JABB library.
Some of this is the philosophy of the company producing the synth samples. Samples by definition are recordings. If a flute player can only play the high E two octives above middle C or whatever it is, then how can you create a midi file where the highest flute note is the G above that? There's no recording of that, therefore no sample unless you do a pitch shift to create it. There's a purist school of thought that goes why should they give you notes that don't exist on the original instrument? Others go hey, it's a synth ok? Give the user the option so they create those notes using certain techniques. If they're looking for a squeaky unnatural sounding flute as a special effect, fine, that's their choice. All this is one reason why the manuals for synths run 3-400 pages. They go into all this stuff in mind numbing detail.
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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Fair enough as I don't wish to get into creating and modifying samples. So the problem seems to lie in the range of the bass line that BIAB creates? I checked my settings and the low is set at the default of E2. I could see not setting to limit the high. Is there a way to fix this without having to freeze and modify the bass line in all of the problematic songs in which this occurs?
R
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Quote:
So the problem seems to lie in the range of the bass line that BIAB creates? I?
R
No Rachel, the problem is in the range the synth creates NOT the range BiaB creates. Check the settings on the synth.
Also check out Matt Finley’s response. There is a lower and upper limit on JABB instruments. They do this so you are forced to stay with in the range of that instrument.
He also mentions concurrent tones in his polyphony response. For example if you only have an 8 note polyphony and you play a note that has 4 concurrent tones you will only have 4 notes of polyphony left. If you play a harmony at the same time you will have no polyphony left. Each concurrent tone takes up one polyphony so 2 notes x 4 concurrent tones = 8 notes polyphony. I hope this makes sense to you.
Any way check the note range on the synth you are using. Also check the polyphony setting. Increase it if necessary.
A second though, you could freeze the midi track, import it into a DAW and raise it up an octave there and see what happens.
The bumper sticker said "I'm a veterinarian, therefore I can drive like an animal".
Suddenly I realized how many proctologists are on the road.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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