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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 791
PG Music Staff
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OP
PG Music Staff
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 791 |
RAX 2.1.2 (demo version) can be downloaded from: http://www.versiontracker.com/php/dlpage...2FRax_v1254.dmgGet some free VSTi’s: http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/freeware/mac/------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here are some basic steps. Note that these instructions may vary if you are using different versions of Band-in-a-Box and RAX. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Open Band-in-a-Box 2. Click on MIDI | ** Select MIDI Driver or Apple DLS Synth… 3. Select ‘MasOS X CoreMIDI’ and click [OK] 4. Set the Bass output to ‘Rax 1’ and click [<-- Set all ports to this] 5. Click [ok] --------------------------- Now you can set up RAX --------------------------- 1. Open RAX. 2. In the ‘Instruments’ section at the bottom, click on ‘add instrument’ 3. You can go to ‘Apple’ and choose ‘DLSMusicDevice’ or a different section to add a VSTi(any installed VSTi’s should be listed under the name of the company that makes them) 4. For each instrument, set the channel number on the far right below ‘MIDI’ (the channel to receive MIDI from – set it to ‘Any’ if you want it to receive from more than one channel) 5. If you need to change which channels Band-in-a-Box outputs on, click on MIDI | MIDI Settings…
Blake
PG Music Inc.
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 404
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 404 |
Just wanted to add that with the above procedure it's necessary to open RAX *before* BiaB. Otherwise BiaB wouldn't see the 'Rax 1' port. Generally I'd suggest using IAC as virtual MIDI port to avoid any launch order dependency.
PS. I believe that RAX supports only AU (Audio Unit) plugins, not VST.
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5
Newbie
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Newbie
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5 |
Hi, The previous discussion: How do you set up a Software Synth for Biab in Mac OS Leopard? Has moved here. If you want to get some of the background for this, check out the URL posted here - How do you set up a Software Synth for Biab in Mac OS Leopard? Basically there's one answer. Until PG Music develops a way, there is a program called RAX. But have you ever read all the demands people are making on the PG Music crew? Ouch! So I'm not going to ask for it. Blake sent instructions in his previous post in the OP - Thanks Blake! I followed the instructions, and noticed only one thing missing. If you're starting from scratch, you have to start RAX first. Like Fred B said. Although the manual - such as it is - is full of talk about AU, I believe, for the short time I had it 'half working' it was reading a VST file. I knew I was connecting Biab to RAX, and was hearing a heavily distorted UVI Workstation (software synth). So, I was on the right track. I started making sure the channels agreed in all 3 programs, but Rax crashed. It had to be force quit, but left the rest of the computer running. I saved the changes in Rax, and, shut down my computer, and opened from the file with those changes, and it crashed immediately. I decided to go back to a blank Rax interface, and build again, but it crashed. Every time I saved changes, and it crashed, they were unusable. It has been a long long time since I encountered a program that crashed as much as RAX, and, unfortunately, they're the only game in town to do what I want to do. Now this one is really strange - I trashed every file that had anything to do with Rax, emptied my trash, restarted, downloaded Rax again from the developer's website. I installed it, and restarted my computer, and, Voila there was a whole new interface. I think it just went online in the last couple days. Now, it didn't seem to want to work the same way the old one did, and there may be things in the demo mode that aren't possible in licensed mode, but I couldn't browse for UVI Workstation, and have the samples show up in the main interface of RAX. I spent nearly all day working on this, and sent crash reports to the developers when it seemed appropriate. If they have anything to add, I'll let you know about it. In the meantime, I'm going to dismantle the hard drive, figure where Biab is stored, and solder a wire there, and run it to RAX, and another to my soft synth. I think that will work, don't you? My hands are a little shaky when soldering, maybe one of you would like to try first? Thanks - JB
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 791
PG Music Staff
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OP
PG Music Staff
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 791 |
I assume you mean 'soldering' metaphorically.
"all 3 programs" - which is the third program? If it is a software synth, it may be possible to load this in another slot in RAX. Then you would just have 2 programs running.
Blake
PG Music Inc.
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,199
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,199 |
RAX was purchased by Audiofile Engineering in 2007, which makes an excellent editing program called Wave Editor. Version 2 of RAX is on the VersionTracker link that Blake provided. If you go to the AE website support page you can download a release candidate beta for version 3. The have revamped the interface, so that is probably why things looked different and why some features are not supported yet.
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5
Newbie
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Newbie
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5 |
Quote:
I assume you mean 'soldering' metaphorically.
Well, it's not technically a metaphor. I just wanted to give you a ridiculous picture of someone soldering wires between the sectors on the hard drive so the programs could communicate with each other. Because they certainly are not communicating now. But no big deal really. Band in a Box would be a much faster way for me to hear the sounds in MachFive, UVIWorkstation, etc., than playing them myself as I don't play keyboards well. I have a Midi guitar, but actually use it rarely.
Quote:
"all 3 programs" - which is the third program? If it is a software synth, it may be possible to load this in another slot in RAX. Then you would just have 2 programs running.
Three meaning, Biab to Rax to UVIWorkstation. The only way I know of getting Biab to access better sounds than AppleDLS. During my many failed attempts I tried to see if Rax could see the libraries directly, but it couldn't as they were grayed out. The few seconds I got it working the UVIWorkstation program was selected in Rax, then from there I could browse the file.
Because I sent them a bug report I received an email from Rax - Audiofile Engineering, (In summary) they said,
"... there are known issues regarding Rax 3 Release Candidate 6 and Band-in-a-Box.
We'll be working with PG Music to resolve these issues prior to Rax 3's release.
Furthermore, we'll only be working on resolving issues open in Rax 3. Rax 2 is end-of-life software, and we will not issue any bug fix updates."
"... I've already exchanged NFRs with PG Music, and the next step is to work with them to resolve this issue."
So, I think, for the time being, if I want to hear better quality sounds I won't be using Rax and any softsynths. Fortunately, Biab already sounds much better since the Biab 2009 release, and anything I really care about working on I can import into Digital Performer, and access the softsynths from there.
So, thanks for all the help. I guess for now it's a dead issue until Rax creates a working version 3.
Thanks - JB
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
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XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac Videos
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
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Check out this forum post for "One Stop Shopping" of our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Videos!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac is Here!
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Along with version 2026, we've released an incredible lineup of new content! There's 202 new RealTracks, brand-new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two new RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
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Wishing you an egg-cellent weekend!
— Team PG
Update to Build 10 of RealBand® 2026 for Windows®!
If you're already using RealBand 2026 for Windows, download build 10 to get all the latest additions and enhancements.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
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