Questions:
If I do have the above mentioned Forte sounds setup correctly should the instrument colors be yellow signifying MIDI?

All synth tracks will be shown in Yellow, Real Tracks are shown in Green, and Red indicates that the track is Muted. Cyan, or light blue, indicates a Super MIDI track.
Why do the instrument names not match what I have assigned (and hear) in the Forte DXI window?
I don’t know how you would change something in the Forte DXi window, it only displays what’s being chosen by settings elsewhere. Of course, I may also have an older version of it, and not have that ability.

Two serious problems with Styles and one chronic one
with the application.
1 -
I cannot pick a style directly in style picker. I don't get any error messages and it does not stop BIAB but it is as if I did not do anything. The only way I can change the style is if I do "Next Selection" or "previous selection". So I am stuck paddling through the sytles sequestially starting from whereever BIAB set me down.

There are two parts to the Style Picker button. Above the line shows a keyboard, drum and guitar, and below the line in the word ‘Style’ and a down arrow. Click on the lower part of the button, and select the first line from the menu that comes up; StylePicker. This opens the the Style Picker window.

2 -
Very often though not always BIAB will shut down when I change styles. When it starts to happen that is the end of the session in the sense that I can no longer change the style. I can use the current style until I quit bIAB but cannot change it.

3 -
BIAB shuts down with a very generic error reading
"Band In a Box has stopped working"
"A problem caused the program to stop working..."
The only option is to "Close Program".
This happens in so many different situations it would take me most of the rest of the day to document them all. It comes right up after I close it but it closes much more often than any working application that I have used. It is as if everytime it hits a 'bump in the road' it simply shuts down.

For the last two problems, I’m wondering about your computer. The specs on it would be nice, as well as
1. Do you have antivirus and anti malware software installed, and if so, which ones
2. How many hard drives do you have, and how much available space on each of them. Please indicate ‘Drive C: is 500GB and has 373GB free space.” Please do this for each drive.
3. When was the last time you defragmented your hard drives?
4. Tell me about your computer. What kind of processor, how much RAM and what OS. Okay, nevermind, I have that information, but I still need to know about the hard drive. If you’re going to do audio recording, I also recommend the purchase of an external hard drive where you can store all the audio for your tracks. It makes it so much easier on the computer if your audio is on one physical hard drive and the drivers and software and OS are on a completely different drive.

Addendum whining:

- I don't know how to change instruments in Forte DXI.
I go to the track and click on a new instrument and it shows up for a moment and then goes away.
WHen I click on one of the buttons on the left side, for example "Thru", it takes me to sampletank
which I am not using.


In your Audio/MIDI Preferences windows, is the Forte DXi selected in the VSTi/DXi drop down menu? It should be. At the top right of the screen, there is the Mixer panel, which also has Plugins, Piano and Patches tabs. Select the Plugins Tab, please.

On any YELLOW instrument, there will be four instances of [None] on the top line, and an Instrument: XX Name. Click the left most [None].
The VST/DXI Synths/Plugins window opens. At the very bottom on the left side, there is a button that says ‘Default Synth.’

Please press that.

At the top right, the first plugin should say <DXi> ForteDXi Plug-In. Below that, you should see a list of the instruments for each channel. It will have the instrument number, or ‘Program Change’ value, and the name of the instrument.
Starting at the top, on the left hand side, click each instrument part button, EXCEPT the Default Synth, and if there are ANY plug ins at all, remove them. Each of the four drop downs for each part button should say ‘None.’

Close the window.

Look at your plug in tab. Which instruments are yellow, and which are green? On any that are yellow, i.e., your Melody, click the ‘Instrument: XX Name line.

The Menu flyout appears, and you need to select “Select MIDI Patch.”

An additional flyout appears asking you to select NO MIDI Patch, General MIDI Patch, or GM2 Patch, and finally Higher Bank Patch. There are also a list of favorite patches below that you can select from. I recommend using the General MIDI patch for now, until we get this all worked out.

Select the sound you wish to hear for this particular part, and click on it. You can do this for any instrument part that is in Yellow. If you attempt to select an instrument part for a RealTrack, it won’t do anything.


- I have been able to my generic ASIO drive once but normally it shuts down all the sound and I have to switch to MIME. Unforutnately "MIME" provides incredibly long latency. Hit the key on my keyboard and then sometime in the near future I hear the sound.

The RealTek drivers are not ASIO drivers. I recommend installing ASIO4ALL. http://www.asio4all.com/

Gary

I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!