17. How do I get the Edirol HQ-QT SuperQuartet and the Edirol HQ-GM2 HyperCanvas to work with PG Music software?

Here are some general tips for using the SuperQuartet and HyperCanvas with our software.

  • Earlier versions of our software did not support DXi plug-ins. You must have at least Band-in-a-Box® Version 2004 or PowerTracks Pro Audio Version 9 to use the SuperQuartet or HyperCanvas with our software.

  • You will have the option of installing the VST and/or DXi version of the SuperQuartet and HyperCanvas. You can install both versions. PowerTracks Pro Audio 9 and higher, and Band-in-a-Box® 2004 and higher support DXi. Band-in-a-Box® 2006 and higher support VSTi as well. The DXi and VSTi versions of the HyperCanvas and SuperQuartet have identical sound samples and user interfaces.

  • In PowerTracks Pro Audio, you can choose the HyperCanvas or SuperQuartet as your default DXi synth in the MIDI Driver Setup dialog (Options | MIDI Devices), or select the DXi synth that you want to use on a track-by-track basis by using the DirectX window and setting the appropriate port for each track. In Band-in-a-Box®, you would select either the SuperQuartet or HyperCanvas as your DXi synth from the DirectX Window. To open the DirectX window, go to Opt. | MIDI Driver Setup and select "Use DXi Synth" or press the [DXi Synth Settings] button.

  • The HyperCanvas is General MIDI 2 compatible, but the SuperQuartet is not so it requires some extra setup in order to use it effectively with Band-in-a-Box®.

Using the Edirol HQ-QT SuperQuartet with Band-in-a-Box®

The HyperCanvas has a full General MIDI (GM) set of sounds, so it can be used in Band-in-a-Box® with hardly any setup. The SuperQuartet does not have a full set of GM sounds. Instead, it contains four categories of very high quality and customizable sounds: bass, piano, drums, and guitar. There are a number of variations for each instrument. If your Band-in-a-Box® style has a French Horn in it and you want the SuperQuartet to play the part using a French Horn, you are out of luck. It can only play bass, piano, drums and guitar. You could accomplish this by saving your song as a MIDI file and playing it with PowerTracks Pro Audio (Version 9 or higher), because PowerTracks allows you to select a different synth for each track. So, you could have another synth play the French Horn.

Here are some tips for successfully using the SuperQuartet with Band-in-a-Box®:

  • Download the Edirol SuperQuartet patch map from http://www.pgmusic.com/support_miscellaneous.htm. Copy the .pat file to your BB folder.

  • In Band-in-a-Box®, open the DirectX window and select the SuperQuartet as your DXi synth.

  • Make sure the SuperQuartet is set to use the 'Normal Map'. To do this, click on the Master Module tab and select 'Options'. (Note that this will only be possible if you have SuperQuartet version 1.5 or higher. To check your version, click on the [About] button. If you are using a previous version, ignore this step). Beside 'Control Change Map', press the [Load] button and select 'Normal Map'. If set to the 'Logic Map', the patch map will not work.

  • Add as many modules as you need for your song by clicking on the black tab on the left side of one of the guitar, bass, piano, or drum modules, and selecting 'append...'

  • Set the channels for each module to the same channels used by each Band-in-a-Box® track. To see what channels Band-in-a-Box® uses for each track, go to Opt. | Preferences | Channels.

  • You should increase the polyphony limit to prevent dropouts. The default is too low for Band-in-a-Box®. This setting is on the SuperQuartet's Master Module panel.

  • In Band-in-a-Box®, go to Opt. | Preferences | MIDI Options, and make sure 'Drum Bank Changes' is enabled.

  • In Band-in-a-Box®, click the [+] button (choose patch from higher bank) and and select Edirol_SuperQuartet.pat. Use this to select the patch you want to use for each track.

  • Once you have chosen your patches, and before pressing play again, save your song using File | Save Song with Patches and Harmony. Click [Fill w/ patches] and make sure 'Bank' and 'BankLSB' are both selected.

An alternative to using the patch map would be to disable song and style patch changes in Band-in-a-Box® (Opt. | Preferences | MIDI Options), then choose your patches directly in the SuperQuartet.


Alyssa - PG Music