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#528083 03/09/19 05:57 PM
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Ok, so far, I've just used realtracks. And they've been great. But I'm looking for a sound for an instrument track I just can't find in realtracks, so I'm trying to explore midi tracks.

Up to now, to change instruments, I've gone to the mixer, right clicked on a track, and gone to "select all realtracks".

So I figured I'd right-click on a track in the mixer and pick "select midi patch".

I do. I go select it. I press "OK".

ONE TIME, I got it to produce a string synth track. Which I decided I don't like.

Since then I cannot get it to replace a realtrack with ANY midi track.

I just went out and updated to 622 and the latest realtracks to see if that addressed the issue. But it does not.

What am I missing? This is driving me nuts!

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Phil,

MIDI tracks are loaded when BIAB loads a style. The patch that you mention is only the sound for a MIDI track.

Unlike Realtracks, which are audio, MIDI is a set of instructions that tells a synthesiser what to play. If you want to explore the MIDI side of BIAB, first disable the automatic substitution of MIDI tracks with Realtracks.

This can be done on a song-by-song basis (it's the "Allow style aliases" under "Song settings"). If you want turn this option off globally, it's under Realtrack preferences called "Auto-replace MIDI styles with Realtracks".

Once you've made the above settings, go into Stylepicker and scroll down the styles until you get to those styles that do not contain Realtracks. (Note... if a style begins with _ or = or M_ then Realtracks will be present.)

It's also possible to filter the styles to show only MIDI styles by using options under the "Type" button in Stylepicker.

When you find a MIDI track that you like, make a note of the style name. To get that track to play in amongst other tracks that you are working with, it is necessary to 'import' into the mix. MIDI Track Picker will allow that to be done easily.

If you go to the link below and have a look under the "Intermediate" section, you'll find a video clip about MIDI Track Picker. This is worth watching.

https://www.pgmusic.com/videos.bbwin.htm

Regards,
Noel


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Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Excellent explanation from Noel of a very complex process which any newbee would certainly get confused with by just trying to push buttons. Nothing intuitive here.

This is why Noel is the man and why BIAB drives us crazy. smile


BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.

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Ah!

Ok.

I tried saving a banjo realtrack as midi and then applying a sitar patch. It worked, but I probably just got lucky. I can't get it to work with the mando track.

That's the deal, I'm trying to do some cross-style stuff. It's a bluegrassy song, but I need a sitar in it as well :-)

Call me Bela Fleck. (No, really, don't. I'm not worthy!)

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Thank you, Noel!

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