I just upgraded from 2018 -> 2021 (Windows 10). Kicking the tires on some of the new features (and some old ones that I never tried in 2018). One feature I'm trying (or at least acknowledging) for the first time is the sforzando Hi-Q instruments. I may have been using these in 2018 without knowing it... but for some reason now in 2021 Hi-Q instruments are silent and I get the subject line error in the lower right corner when I try to select other Hi-Q instruments.
I've tried several permutations of midi driver settings and no combination of options seems to work.
Any suggestions for further troubleshooting are appreciated.
Can you please load a style with a MIDISuperTrack (MST). In Stylepicker, these styles will start with M_
1. the track that contains the MST should be blue (like "Piano" on the image below) -- Is this correct?
2. If you click on the "Plugins" tab of the Mixer (#1, image below), you should see something like "Sforzando" or "Plogue" listed in the left most of four plugin locations (#2 on image). The other three plugin locations will have "none". Do you get this?
Lastly... Under "Help | About Band In A Box" can you doublecheck that update #818 is installed. It will be in brackets following the version of program.
If it's not #818, visit the link below, download the update and manually install it. Just doublecheck that the directory paths are correct when you get to that part of the installation.
Thank you for the quick response. It seems to be working now but I'm not sure why... I haven't changed anything. Here are the answers to your feedback but at this point it might be for academic purposes only.
I'm using M_BZ128.STY
1) The Piano row in the mixer is blue (1886:Piano, Solo-Accompaniment Bluesy 12-8John Sw 060) and the Bass and Drums are yellow.
2) The Piano line of my Plugins tab looks just like yours and all the others say ->[Default Synth]:None
I do have 818 update installed.
Thanks again for the suggestions. I'll start by checking these things if it stops working again.
Thank you for the feedback. I checked everything in your message and confirmed that everything lines up with your suggestions ie...
- Style = M_BZ128P.STY - Piano track is blue (1799:Piano, Rhythm...) - Piano Plugin is Plogue Art et Technologie... - Update 818 is installed
The good news is that somehow it started working ie... I can now hear the Hi-Q piano playing (even though I haven't changed anything).
The ??? news is that still get a YELLOW pop up at the bottom right when I open BIAB with error message "Could not load Hi-Q Patch. BIAB instruments might not be installed."
I'm not sure how/why it has started working or why I'm still getting the error notification. If it stops working again I will check the things you've mentioned first.
The ??? news is that still get a YELLOW pop up at the bottom right when I open BIAB with error message "Could not load Hi-Q Patch. BIAB instruments might not be installed."
Did you install the "HiQ instruments for Sforzando"?
I installed every option that the bandinabox_realband_2021_pro.exe installer presented when I ran it. Does installing the "HiQ instruments for Sforzando" require an additional/separate installation step?
I now see what you're talking about and found the additional files available in My Account / My Products. I also see that the Download/Install Manager in Utilities appears to have skipped the installation of those instruments.
I'm sure this will fix it. Thank you for the help.
That did indeed help. That particular YELLOW error box message no longer shows up. I have another question regarding other YELLOW error box messages for other files that appear to be missing but I will mark POST as resolved and start a new thread.
Where are the sforzando plugins supposed to be installed? I went with the default setting - C:\Program Files\PG Music Inc\Band-in-a-Box Sounds but they do not appear in the midi audio drivers set up nor in the add plugins in the mixer. When I search the band in a box directory (scan for pluins in a specific directory) for them they are not found. This is the latest biab on windows 10. Thanks.
I have the same problem I want to listen to MIDI Super Tracks and get a better sound so I guess Sforzando is what I need but there is nothing about this in the manual the Real Tracks are great but sometimes you simply want something else and choose your own sound please, please dont forget us MIDI users I think I have every Real Track available since I buy even the 49 packs but MIDI is far from dead thanks
Bernard Rasson
BIAB Audiophile 2021, BIAB Megapak 2015 (for midi-only projects), Cakewalk, Roland XV-5080, Roland Fantom XR, Aria AC60 Nylon Strings Guitar, Almansa Spanish Guitar, Fender Stratocaster Japan, two laptops Je parle français
If you want to install Sforzando, and if you purchased BIAB on a USB drive, the installer can be found on the USB drive under \PGMusic\Installers
If you didn't get BIAB on a USB drive, go to PG Music's homepage (not the forum home page), log-in into your sales account, go to My Products and see if the Sforzando installer can be downloaded from there.
Lastly, if neither of the above work, click on the blue icon on the lower right of the screen (a square with a white speech bubble in it) and you'll be able to chat in realtime to PG Music staff.
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
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