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So BIAB is playing off the GM instruments in a given synth, or is that tweakable too? And would a sampler like Kontakt be appropriate to use?



You can use any synth, hardware or software with Biab including Kontakt but the problem is with ease of use. The reason to use an integrated GM synth is all the instruments are preloaded into ram and are instantly accessable to Biab. That makes those simple plug and play. A non-GM soundset using large samples like Kontakt or in my case Sampletank, have to be set up individually for each song. Sampletank also has a GM soundbank I can use but they don't preload either so I still have to set up each instrument individually ahead of time for each song. If you decide after hearing the tune one time to change the nylon guitar to the steel guitar, you have to go back into the sampler, take out the nylon and load the steel. You can have Biab really sound great that way but it's very tedious to have to do that. The other problem is with program changes. That's where a given style in Biab wants to change an instrument in the middle of the tune while the song is playing . If you're working with a big sampler like Kontakt, it needs a few seconds to load the sample but in a real time situation like that, the song is already playing so it causes an instant lockup. This is the reason why GM software synths all sound a little weak. Everything has to be loaded ahead of time, you can't use disc streaming or whatever. Hardware doesn't have that problem but if you don't want to use hardware, then people use Biab to create the song, then open the song up in Real Band or another sequencer because there you can use all your killer sampler sounds much easier.
I know you're new at this and it's difficult getting your head around all this stuff. There is no one easy solution to getting killer sounds out of Biab for small money. Good hardware synths are going to cost you and if you want to keep it in software then you have the problems I just described. Everything is a compromise, you have to learn enough to make a decision as to which way you want to go.

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.