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RealBand
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Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 536
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OP
Journeyman
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 536 |
Hi All,
Let me start by saying I really do love the features that RealBand offers me foe songwriting (when its not frustrating me that is).
I am considering whether to upgrade to 2019, although I'm not that sure it's worth the move from 2017. But I have a load of things that simply keep putting me off. I do realise that this might be my own setup configuration and hardware, so I'm not out to get at RealBand, but I would like some other opinions, surely more than me gets at least some of this behaviour?
1. To start off, there is just the habit of just frequently crashing while it is being used.
2. Sometimes I will save a song that has been selected as an SEQ, but forget to put the actual SEQ extension. When I have done this and try to open the file, it is not visible in the file dialog (I have to go in separately and add the extension). If I forget that I have saved the file without an extension and subsequently save the file WITH the SEQ extension, I get the dreaded 'Error has Occurred' message. That reminds that I have to go and rename the file to add the extension.
3. Sometimes when I insert a RealTrack I will get the little timer circle (normal) but then the timer circle disappears and I can't do anything, I keep getting beeps each time I try to click on something. It's as if the program has crashed. But, it is really just waiting for me to select a RealTrack from the file dialog which is not visible on the screen. After many fails at this I discovered that by using Alt-Tab I was able to get to the dialog and select the file.
4. If I have at least one audio track in my song and I attempt to change the tempo then I get a message that the Sample Rate is being changed, but this never finishes - another crash. I have to get around this by deciding on the tempo before I lay down any audio tracks.
RealBand has been around for a long time now and issues like these should really not be occurring. So I'd be grateful for any feedback so that at least I can point the finger at myself.
Thanks
John
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RealBand
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 2,145
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Veteran
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 2,145 |
none of these problems trouble me so maybe i'm just lucky. al the problems i've had with RB have been operator error solved by posting on this forum! except the DI problem for Guitar realtracks and that is a known bug..........
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RealBand
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 8,021
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 8,021 |
I'm going out on a limb.
They don't happen to me either 2019. I do however some of those issues in 2017. I THINK 2017 went to build 4 but RB 2017 was broke beyound 2 or 3. Try going back to an older build.
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RealBand
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,525
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1. I do not get frequent crashes. A crash is pretty rare here.
2. I have never experienced this. If I select SEQ format it has alsawys saved as a .seq extension, and wav format as wav, etc. That said, there is a newer option added in this area in the last year; there is now a checkbox to set 'Default to SEQ format when saving a file'.
I don't understand how it could save a file without an extension. I've never seen that at all.
3.This was an issue for a couple versions. As you've noticed the Alt-Tab method works (as do others) as a workaround, but I feel like this was fixed over a year ago.
4. Sorry, I don't get this one either.
One thing I do know is doing this process creates a whole bunch of temp files in your Temp Audio directory.
Why? Because you can Undo it, and RB needs all those original chunks to revert to.
Not sure if that helps or provides a clue but thought I'd mention.
I just performed this action (tempo change) on a song with 9 RTs and it created 44 temp files. (Note that I had generated various sections on some tracks so I had lots of audio 'chunks' scattered around those 9 tracks).
If your Temp Audio directory is getting full or the drive is being overworked, maybe it lags too much (?)
I dunno. Just guessing, as I just don't see this result here.
Your Temp Audio directory can be set to any drive available, maybe that will help or eliminate some possibilities.
I'd also consider John's suggestion and try previous updates for 2017 as a test. Maybe a previous build will play nicer on your machine.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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RealBand
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 21,055
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Joined: Jun 2012
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...
I am considering whether to upgrade to 2019
... Hi John, If history repeats itself, there may be a 2020 version soon. It may even have special pricing. This is all only a guess, I have absolutely no evidence, but Santa often pops up his head at PG Music in December 
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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RealBand
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Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 536
Journeyman
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OP
Journeyman
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 536 |
Thank you rharv for your detailed reply. This is exactly what I was looking for and clearly there is an issue from my end.
When I first started to get these problems I looked for a RealBand update (I'm embarrassed to say that I don't even know what 'build' my version is or even where to find it).
I thought it might have been part of the BIAB update, which I did download and apply but there was no reference to RealBand there.
Thanks again
John
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RealBand
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,525
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Veteran
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,525 |
Your build is shown under Help - About Realband in the top menu
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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RealBand
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Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 536
Journeyman
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OP
Journeyman
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 536 |
Thanks, but try as I might, the box tells me it's RealBand Version (2) but no build information.
For my BiaB though the information is Version 2017 (471) where I assume 471 is the build number.
But I'm guessing that any RealBand updates will be part of the 471 buils anyway.
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RealBand
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Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 1,114
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 1,114 |
hi Thanks, but try as I might, the box tells me it's RealBand Version (2) but no build information.
For my BiaB though the information is Version 2017 (471) where I assume 471 is the build number.
But I'm guessing that any RealBand updates will be part of the 471 buils anyway.
You will find that Realband update builds do not come as part of biab updates. Go to the Realband forum page and you will see the latest update at the top for the current version My installed version shows as version 2019 (5) under about. For the latest update for earlier versions go to: Support (Top of page)/ Widows updates/Realband Mike
BIAB2021 UltraPlus,AsusN55S1Tbssd, W10/64,Akai EIEpro Yamaha CVP405,SquireStrat, CoolsoftVMidSynth Novatation Impulse61 Ctr kbd, Cwalk blab Kontakt http://mikesmusic.byethost16.com/
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RealBand
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Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 536
Journeyman
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OP
Journeyman
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 536 |
Thanks Mike. Got it, updated. Didn't solve the problem unfortunately, but I think I'm on the path.
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RealBand
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 12,852
Veteran
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 12,852 |
Well to just answer the question in the post - Yes. But I stopped using it long ago because of this so things might be different today. I just felt you needed a simple answer to a simple question. 
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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RealBand
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 7,954
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 7,954 |
I have been through the same with RealBand and eventually gave up and this gave birth to ReaTrak, it integrates Biab and the Biab Plugin into Reaper.
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RealBand
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,725
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,725 |
When RB is setup right it rocks I used it exclusively for about two years. It was solid I did have a few crashes but usually it was related to trying things it didn’t do or pushing it to fast. For the singer songwriter type it’s hard to beat.
Detail your setup and maybe something will jump out.
2020 is right around the corner I would upgrade then.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96
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RealBand
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,834
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,834 |
Also, pre-2018 (and in the initial release of 2018 until it was fixed) had an issue where it did not properly save files that may be deep into a file folder tree (the Windows limit of folder plus filename length is 260 characters; RealBand and PowerTracks limited it to 128 characters). This caused me all sorts of problems, as I manage my hard drive space using a lot of file folders with descriptive names.
Don't know if that is part of your problem, but I ended up with a lot a crashes (especially when I went one character over the limit). After it was fixed, I almost never have a crash.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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RealBand
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Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 536
Journeyman
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OP
Journeyman
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Posts: 536 |
Yes, jford, I am absolutely convinced that this IS one of the problems with my saving files but oddly it only really happens with the custom dialog. I wasn't aware of that limit I, too, have some quite deeply nested folders.
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RealBand
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,525
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Veteran
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,525 |
Do you have 'Log File Names use custom open/save dialogues' enabled?
May also want to check the 'Open and Save As dialogues remember last folder independently'
These are both in Options-Prefs-File section.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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RealBand
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Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 536
Journeyman
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OP
Journeyman
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 536 |
My Long file names use custom dialog is currently not enabled, this is what started off the problems I was having. I will nest my projects back near the root and have another go at using this feature (it was great to use Favorites but the box was small and couldn't be expanded so my long filenames disappeared off to the right of the box making the feature useless. So I guess it was never designed for very long file names!
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RealBand
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,834
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,834 |
Since version 2018, you get the full 260 characters (folders plus file name).
And if you happen to save your songs under "My Documents", remember that is actually a shortcut to:
"C:\Users\UserName\Documents"
so that's around 27 characters right there before any other folders and/or file names.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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RealBand
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Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 139
Apprentice
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Apprentice
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 139 |
I had a lot of crashes too so I stopped using it.
I think the crashes were related to the fact that RB is 32 bit and the file sizes were getting to be aver 500Mb.
Must have been hitting some type of RAM limit on my old hard ware.
Another this was that wanted to try out some plugins and see what was so great about a plugin that I had read about.
I had to jump thru all kinds of hoops to try to get them to work with little success.
So then I heard about Cakewalk by Bandlab.
I moved my project to it. Spent some time to learn a bit.
No crashes and no issues at all to try out a plugin.
Later I heard about Reaper.
Found the tutorials at Reaper.fm to be very very very easy to follow, interesting and informative.
After the 60 day trial I bought it for $60.
No crashes. 64 bit. all plugins run with no effort. great support. awesome training.
Reaper does not load all of the files into one file.
The reaper file is very small.
If you browse to the folder you will see lots of files. every audio take etc stays external.
you can undo to your hearts content.
Save is very fast because only the new areas get saved. not 500mb every time you hit save.
Your mileage may vary, but that is my story
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RealBand
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,697
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Veteran
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,697 |
You didn't read about JBridge on the forum? It's ten bucks through PGM. Then all of your plugs play perfectly in RB. Plus none of those DAWS can do what RB can right out of the box. Now, I'm just talking about problems with RB crashing. I understand there are other legitimate reasons to use other DAWs because you like their workflow, features, the overall look, etc but if the reason was you couldn't make RB work, then that's incorrect.
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.
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