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Alison Offline OP
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Hi folks,
i am sorry to ask this,... as i am sure i have seen responses to this question before,... but i can't find them...
Is there a way for me to convert a melody which i composed in notation, into a real track ?
the midi sounds are awful, and it is such a pity to have a great sounding backing track, and then a terrible sounding melody.
i know i can ask the melodist to generate a melody,.. but i want to compose my own.
Thank you all,

Alison

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sorry but no - realtracks are audio recordings of real musicians. your melody is a midi track so if the midi instrument you choose doesn't sound good it's not possible to replace with a real instument. but don't lose hope yet. the quality of your midi sound depends on the soft synth you are using - it's a pc program trying to recreate the sound of a real instument.

what are you using at the moment? if it's the built-in synth on your pc it will sound pretty bad. the coyote soft synth you got with BIAB will sound better.

forte dxi is available from PG Music and will sound even better. But see Peter Gannon's sticky post above 'no brainer' in the recording and mixing forum and you'll see how to get the TTS-1 soft synth for free. i use that and as part of a mix the instruments sound ok to me.

however, you already have sforzando as well - it's a 'player' that accesses high Q patches in BIAB and RB which sound better than bog standard midi - details in the manual. you have to choose a specific synth for a track before you can use it but it should appear as a vst plugin when you select a plugin for your melody track. (Forgive me I do it a lot in RB but not in BIAB)

it has several guitars keyboards, strings and a flute that might sound better as midi instruments than what you are using.

and don't forget there are commands to humanise your melody which will stop it sounding 'stiff' and mechanical.

feel free to come back on what synth you are using and the instument you want for your melody. there are lots of free vst instruments that will load in sofrzando and some are excellent based on sampled real instruments

and by the way, the melodist would create a midi track - not use a realtrack instrument

Last edited by Bob Calver; 04/24/20 08:58 AM.
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Originally Posted By: Alison
Hi folks,
i am sorry to ask this,... as i am sure i have seen responses to this question before,... but i can't find them...
Is there a way for me to convert a melody which i composed in notation, into a real track ?
the midi sounds are awful, and it is such a pity to have a great sounding backing track, and then a terrible sounding melody.
i know i can ask the melodist to generate a melody,.. but i want to compose my own.
Thank you all,

Alison


Hi Alison,

Previous messages have explained the differences between MIDI and RTs. GM MIDI generally has sounds that are at the bottom of the MIDI sound source spectrum. I have some individual MIDI sounds that are larger in size then a complete GM.

But if you wish you could send me a MIDI track along with what sound you are looking for and I will send you back a wav or MP3 with that sound. I have some pretty good MIDI sounds. So if you want to do this then just send me a PM.


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Hi Bob,
thank you so much for your informative answer...
i do also have Finale music writing ,.. so i should be able to utilize better midi sounds from garriton sounds.
i will also look into Sforzando.
i am fairly new to BIAB, and it just seems to be able to do so much..
thank you.

Alison

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Alison Offline OP
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Thank you so much....
i persisted,... and eventually found and connected Sforzando.
now i have MUCH BETTER midi sounds.
In Gratitude,
alison

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well done! any other problems this forum should be your first call. i have been using BIAB since it was on floppy discs and took a break between 2008 and 2018. when i got back i found there was so much new stuff to learn and the forum was incredibly useful. if you watch the forums you'll see i keep asking for help because there are experts like Mario who will respond immediately to your questions.

keep learning keep asking!

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Originally Posted By: Alison
Hi Bob,
thank you so much for your informative answer...
i do also have Finale music writing ,.. so i should be able to utilize better midi sounds from garriton sounds.
i will also look into Sforzando.
i am fairly new to BIAB, and it just seems to be able to do so much..
thank you.

Alison


Hi Alison

Others have answered your main question far better than I could have, but I just wanted to say that if you're writing a lot in a notation program like Finale and you want some good sounds without much effort, I'd heartily suggest you check out Note Performer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXFO3QBGx0U

(it depends on what sort of stuff you're writing; I wouldn't recommend it for jazzy stuff, but for orchestral it's great)

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Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.

Video: XPro Styles PAK 9 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!

XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.

Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: VST3 Plugin Support

Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® now includes support for VST3 plugins, alongside VST and AU. Use them with MIDI or audio tracks for even more creative possibilities in your music production.

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Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: Using VST3 Plugins

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