|
Log in to post
|
Print Thread |
|
|
|
|
|
RealBand
|
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 19
Enthusiast
|
OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 19 |
I am working with a VSTi plug-in that implements a range of World Instruments. I See that I can attach it to a MIDI track in RB and drive it from that. I am a complete noob when it comes to VSTi plug-ins. Is there a nice tutorial that explains what I am expected to do with Bank and Preset to configure a VSTi specifically for each track? Currently, I can hook it up on each track, but as I click from one track to another, any changes I make in the VSTi's control panel just get dropped.
I know enough that VSTi's store their setting in files. This also tells me that there is probably a particular strategy that people use to name these files and make sure that they don't get lost if you move things around on your hard drive.
The BB and RB manuals don't discuss this (or maybe I can't find it). I guess they think that people know this VSTi stuff already. I am clueless about it.
-Bill
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RealBand
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,161
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,161 |
VSTis vary in the way they work, some have "ReadMe" documents, a few have manuals. Some are for single instruments such as Trumpet which, to set up, I would use the Classic Tracks Window (the alternative is the Main Tracks Window but that is more complicated). Enter a number between 17 and 32 in the Column PT (Output Port) and then click on the "DXi" Icon at the top of the Main Window. To assoociate a specific DXi/VSTi plugin to the Output Port, click on the first Plugin Box and negotiate to the name of the VSTi plugin you wish to use. Click and the name will appear in the Plugin Box. The other three boxes can be used for Effects Plugins. You are now clear to go. For other tracks repeat the process of Port selection followed by Dxi/VSti allocation.
Some DXi/VSTi Plugins allow for multiple patches to be chosen for each incident of the Plugin being used. The VSC DXi, Forte VSTi plugins which each provide a standard GM (General Midi) sound bank of 127 patches. are typical and each will address 16 channels of Midi Data for each incident of the Plugin. For these Plugins you need to select the same Output Port for each of the tracks using the Synth and select each individual instument by entering the appropriate numbers in the Columns "Prg", "Bank" and/or LSB for the individual tracks. Each of these numbers would be in the range of 1 to 127 and the information is made available in Plugin Displays or in the documentation.
Some Plugins permit the use of multiple patches which have to be specifically assigned within the Plugin and associated with the relevant tracks. Example: Samplers.
I hope this is of some help.
Lyn
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RealBand
|
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,582
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,582 |
Yes, it sounds like you are trying to use the same instance of the VSTi multiple times.
You have to assign multiple instances to different ports for each track as Lyn described above.
example- track 1 - port 17 assign the synth
track 2 port 18 - assign the synth (so it is another instance of the synth on it's own)
track 3 port 19 - assign another instance of the synth
etc.
Otherwise you are only running one synth and trying to control it from different windows, which will defeat the last change you made.
Use 'save preset' to save sounds. Usually the plugin will save in a default directory, so when you go to open presets later they will be right there.
..or you can pick a directory if you want, but I usually use the default.
If you are able to use multiple instruments at the same time from this VSTi (by design), then it will not be necessary to use multiple ports, instead you would need to make sure each instrument is on its own midi channel. Is it a 'one sound at a time' synth?
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RealBand
|
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 19
Enthusiast
|
|
OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 19 |
Thanks to LynB and rharv for your very clear response.
The plug-in I am working with is from Swar Systems and it implements a very long list of Indian classical instruments. I have their demo right now, which only has four instruments.
It makes no attempt to map these into a MIDI GM set of any kind. Instead each instrument is an individual preset. This is part of what threw me on how to set things up on this. Using your suggestions, I was able to assign different instances of the plug-in to different ports, and also select and save a preset for each one. I verified that I can exit RB and restart it and see that all this configuration information is NOT in place. Then when I open my sample song it all comes back. This says that all of this configuration data is just for this song and not global to RB. It also says that it must be in the SEQ song file somewhere.
When I saved presets for each instance of the plug-in I went with the default file names that came in the save dialog box. I just wanted to be safe for now, but I assume I can change these to whatever I want. One key issue is that these files all live in the same folder as the plug-in DLL, so I am going to have to be careful to back this up and also think about how to manage this across multiple songs. I should probably create some kind of template song or something for this new "band" and keep it as the starting point.
There are a lot of issues with managing this that I still don't quite understand. It is obvious that the SEQ file has all this configuration in it now. So how portable is this ? What happens if I move this to another machine. The SEQ file is a binary format, so you can't really look to see what's in it easily, but using Notepad2, I looked inside and see lots of strings like this:
C:\Desktop\Music\VST_Plugins\Swar_Demo\SwarPlugData\MN1CLOSD.WAV
Notice - the hard coded paths!!! Yikes - this means that the song is now tied to my hard drive configuration.
Please feel free to send any more comments on this that you can, as I figure out how to do this in a maintainable way.
Also - I am happy to report that the Swar Systems plug-in works just fine and sounds great. I only have the demo right now, which has four instruments. I need to verify that it all works when merging everything down to a WAV file.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RealBand
|
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,582
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,582 |
Note the filename extension on this file you pointed out -
C:\Desktop\Music\VST_Plugins\Swar_Demo\SwarPlugData\MN1CLOSD.WAV
Its a (probably temp) .wav file, I doubt any system config is associated with it.
I have saved presets in one seq and opened that same preset in another song many times .. Is this what you are saying you are having trouble with? I do not use default names usually, I name it so I know what it is. Maybe you can't overwrite the presets (?). Many free synths have restrictions on them, could this be one of them?
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RealBand
|
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 19
Enthusiast
|
|
OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 19 |
I am not really have any trouble now. I am just trying to see where I am going to run into issues going forward. The important thing right now is that you guys have gotten me going and it all works.
I would like to see if I can get this plug-in to work off MIDI channels instead of ports, but I will have to work this out with Swar tech support unless there is someone else out there that is already familiar with this product. I will also find out if there is a way to have multiple instruments play from a single channel.
It is good to hear that you can choose any names you want when saving the presets and that this is correctly stored and retrieved with each song. Could someone now explain what is commonly done with "Banks" now? Banks seem to be collections of presets, but that would not seem to be useful in my situation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RealBand
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 7,913
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 7,913 |
William, you probably know that many VSTi actually do work on midi channel as well as port - but more often multi-timbral VSTi like to operate with channels. One that I use now and then is Sampletank. You can have just one instance of it and send various tracks of midi data, but each track on it's own channel, and it will crank away playing the multi-track data.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RealBand
|
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 19
Enthusiast
|
|
OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 19 |
Actually the world of VSTi is completely new to me, so any information like this is useful. In the documentation it says: "SwarPlug is not a multi-timbral plug-in but depending upon your sequencers capability, you can open as many instances of SwarPlug as required".
So, now that I know what multi-timbral means, it is clear that each instrument that I want to use is going to require a different instance and port.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RealBand
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 7,913
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 7,913 |
Needing a different port may or may not be necessary for each track. PG products handle plugins in a different way than many applications.
Have you tried simply putting a new instance on each track, then controlling each track/instance of swar with a different midi channel?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RealBand
|
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 19
Enthusiast
|
|
OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 19 |
The song I am testing with has a full set of tracks including drums, string, guitar, piano, etc.
In my first set of tests, I loaded the Swar VSTi into the "DXi/VSTi Synth 1" slot in the dialog brought up from the DXi icon. I then selected this entry from the drums track and also from the strings track. I selected the tabla drums and did a Save Presets from the drum track, and then switch to the piano track and selected the Harmonium and did another Save Presets. I then switched back over to the Drum track, I saw that it was now set to Harmonium. The drums are on MIDI channel 10 and the piano is on MIDI channel 3, so the Swar plugin does not seem to pay any attention to the MIDI channel.
For my next set of test, I followed the procedure supplied by LynB above. When I configured four different entries - Synth 1, 2, 3, 4 and used the Classic Track Views to set the ports for the drums and piano to a different Synth number, did the same setup and Save Presets, things now worked and the preset selection was preserved properly and also go saved and reloaded with the song.
Is there another way to configure this that would verify that the MIDI channel is being ignored.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RealBand
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,161
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,161 |
Hi William,
I think that you are using four instances of the same Synth via 4 different Ports correctly. When DXi/VSTi synths are applied to individual tracks the association is track to Port. Channels become relevant when one instance of a DXi/VSTi is applied to multiple channels as then the Channel number is needed to determine which sound is heard for a specific track.
Lyn
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Holiday Weekend Hours
As we hop into the Easter weekend, here are our holiday hours:
April 3 (Good Friday): 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM PDT
April 4 (Saturday): Closed
April 5 (Easter Sunday): Closed
April 6 (Easter Monday): Open regular hours
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!
If you're already using Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, make sure to grab the latest update! Build 904 is now available for download and includes the newest additions and enhancements from our team.
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® users: Build 1237 is now available!
Already a Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows user? Stay up to date and download the build 1237 to get all the latest additions and enhancements.
PowerTracks Pro 2026 for Windows is Here!
PowerTracks 2026 is here—bringing powerful new enhancements designed to make your production workflow faster, smoother, and more intuitive than ever.
The enhanced Mixer now shows Track Type and Instrument icons for instant track recognition, while a new grid option simplifies editing views. Non-floating windows adopt a modern title bar style, replacing the legacy blue bar.
The Master Volume is now applied at the end of the audio chain for consistent levels and full-signal master effects.
Tablature now includes a “Save bends when saving XML” option for improved compatibility with PG Music tools. Plus, you can instantly match all track heights with a simple Ctrl-release after resizing, and Add2 chords from MGU/SGU files are now fully supported... and more!
Get started today—first-time packages start at just $49.
Already using PowerTracks Pro Audio? Upgrade for as little as $29 and enjoy the latest improvements!
Order now!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows Special Offers End Tomorrow (January 15th, 2026) at 11:59 PM PST!
Time really is running out! Save up to 50% on Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® upgrades and receive a FREE Bonus PAK—only when you order by 11:59 PM PST on Thursday, January 15, 2026!
We've added many major new features and new content in a redesigned Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®!
Version 2026 introduces a modernized GUI redesign across the program, with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, and a new Dark Mode option. There’s also a new side toolbar for quicker access to commonly used windows, and the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, making it easier to customize your workspace.
Another exciting new addition is the new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. You can view the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to process an entire track or focus on specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
Upgrade your Band-in-a-Box for Windows to save up to 50% on most Band-in-a-Box® 2026 upgrade packages!
Plus, when you order your Band-in-a-Box® 2026 upgrade during our special, you'll receive a Free Bonus PAK of exciting new add-ons.
If you need any help deciding which package is the best option for you, just let us know. We are here to help!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® Special Offers Extended Until January 15, 2026!
Good news! You still have time to upgrade to the latest version of Band-in-a-Box® for Windows® and save. Our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® special now runs through January 15, 2025!
We've packed Band-in-a-Box® 2026 with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can process an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
When you order purchase Band-in-a-Box® 2026 before 11:59 PM PST on January 15th, you'll also receive a Free Bonus PAK packed with exciting new add-ons.
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® today! Check out the Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all the purchase options available.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forums57
Topics86,050
Posts800,689
Members40,053
| |
Most Online64,515
Apr 8th, 2026
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean