That's great you got it playing. It seems to be still quick under wine, I didn't go through it testing everything but the only issue I found so far was the wma files so when they add an internal decoder and stop bbw4 with the BBPlugin looking for Coyote it should be all good.
I start qjackctl & jack at login, then at present start qsynth/fluidsymth manually ... that already has the JJazzLab sound font loaded ... I have yet to try others. Then I start wine->bbw64 from the Linux menu. Thus far I've usually(?) had to set MIDI to connect to fluidsynth and audio to the pulseaudio jack-sink. Whether these are the best settings is another matter. RealTracks sound better than the synth, of course.
I tried Timbres of Heaven, but on the few instruments I've tried so far, the JJazzLab font sounds better to me.
It's annoying that I don't know what, exactly, made it spring into life :-(
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
I just set VstSynthFont as default and that will load the JJazzLab font. I think I had to type the name in the soundfont browser in VstSynthFont as is was not showing the directories properly.
I just set VstSynthFont as default and that will load the JJazzLab font. I think I had to type the name in the soundfont browser in VstSynthFont as is was not showing the directories properly.
That threw me for a short while. I had presumed that VSTSynthFont (and SynthFont1/2) were sound-fonts, like it kind-of says on the tin, but it isn't ... it's a sound-font player.
I found the same when I looked at TinySoundFont for something in which I wanted a very compact sound-font. It's not a sound-font.
"How absolute the knave is." :-D
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
VSTSynthFont64.dll installed into bb/Data/lib64. I scanned for new VSTs, which found it but initially I failed to offer a default sound font and it failed to appear in BiaB, and would no longer be found. I opened it again via "scan in a specific directory" and selected the linux path /usr/local/lib/vst/VSTSynthFont/ where it found both the .dll and the default soundfont. I'm unsure whether the vst I see as a plugin is VSTSynthFont or a BiaB shim as it has the BiaB logo, but it does have VSTSynthFont in the top-right corner. I selected Options->Files & Folders->Add Folder and added the Linux /usr/share/sounds/ and its sf? subfolders. I was then able to select soundfonts from there. If found sf2 fonts, not sf3 fonts. I think it should find sfz fonts, but I've just added one and it has yet to find it.
I tried playing around in the mixer with BiaB's own plugins, but those plugins don't seem to work (no issue, I'll more likely use plugins in Reaper or those in my Ui24R. They appear to not match the .dll files above, so I guess they're handled elsewhere. I just thought I'd mention it in case you already know any suitable magic, to try to collect it all together in this thread.
Now I think about it, this should probably all go into the tips and tricks area.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
It normally uses C:\Windows\System32\drivers\gm.dls
That may be an issue, then, as I'm still unable to install gm.dls
That said, I am now getting the other soundfonts in VSTSynthFont and my pop-up looks pretty much like yours.
I've just flagged the winetricks GM.DLS fail on the MX-Respins forum.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
Incidentally, I note that winetricks on my Linux offers wmp9, wmp10 and wmp11. I'm wondering if any of those would/should install an appropriate wmp.dll suite.
IIRC, when I tried, I had that sha256sum mismatch, which looks like a problem on my installation. AVL-MXE holds back wine-staging to 6.2 to avoid some later new bugs, and I wonder if winetricks and wine-staging are out of step. Exploring.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
Hmm, here's an oddity and I can't yet tell if it's something I hadn't previously noticed (I _think_ I'd have noticed), or if it's happened as a consequence of putting folder bb onto a USB drive and symbolically linking that to ~/.wine/drive_c/bb or if it's related to applying the 844 update.
My Browse styles with info opens normally with styles listed as I expect, but if I click the style-filter [clear] button or the style-filter [Refresh] button, whilst the [Name] column remains as it was, all the other columns get set to the same values as the line currently selected. If I click on one to select it, the other columns for that line get filled in (I presume correctly).
Also it appears that sometimes wen I go away from the window, e.g., when I'm writing this and cross-checking, the data for all columns gets restored. That appears to happen after I've stepped through a few selections.
Edit: When I say "go away", I mean that I'm switching workspaces in Linux. I use workspaces quite a lot, so I can separate, e.g., A music workspace from a software development workspace from a mail/web workspace.
Edit: Actually it is very quick to work around. Click an entry, click a different workspace, click back to the first workspace.
Edit: Build 844 on Windows8.1 does not seem to do that.
Last edited by Gordon Scott; 10/19/2107:59 AM.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
Maybe it's related to symlinks. They had crossed my mind as a risk, before I did it.
I did wonder whether to mount the drive there, rather than symlinking to it.
It's easy enough to try ... Tomorrow :-)
The other possibility is mounting it like a Windows drive, on X: or something. I still find it bizarre that Windows uses drive letter like MS-DOS did ... it's archaic :-D
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
The database for the list would be in the \bb\Data in the wine install folder, so I don't think it's the symlinks, seems more like video, refresh issue ?
I decided to put the whole of bb on an ntfs filesystem of its own, so that I could, in principle at least, use the same drive/partition (presently USB3) under Windows10, without having to have and maintain two complete copies.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
Mounting the filesystem on /home/gordon/.wine/drive_c/bb makes no discernible difference.
Something else I noticed before and again in this set-up is that the BB splash takes quite a long time to appear. It's about five seconds before the outline appears, then the colour, then BB itself. That may be due to that still missing GM.DLS, but it may be that too many layers or OS activity via the USB drive is just too slow and something is timing out.
I think for the present I'll just shrug and do the workaround. At some stage, I'll likely get a new, larger, internal drive and put the whole lot onto that.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
I added BiabVST as an instrument in Reaper, accepting the multiple-track suggestion. I set up a standard 12-bar Blues, and using the default ZZJAZZ.STY, clicked the play button and it did. But that's MIDI, of course, not RealTracks.
When I try to set a RealTrack via StylePicker, I first, again, get the error about the missing GM.DLS (it seems likely I'll have to jam a checksum and get that installed). I then get the "BiaB is not activated" and for the present I'm still saying No, whilst I'm experimenting. I then see the StylePicker and can select the _ELECTAM style you used, but at present that style does not get set into the VST.
I tried double-clicking that style in the StylePicker and, of course, it doesn't play, then after a short while I get the error as shown in my screenshot.
It's quite likely that the missing GM.DLS and/or the lack of activation are responsible for this. I'm quite tempted to get that new hard drive, set up again, fiddle-install GM.DLS and activate. I'm not sure how PG count activations ... this is actually only my second machine with BiaB, but it's already activated on it under Win10. Well, either way, I don't yet try to exceed three, but I may have to delete some and/or get PG to do so. I'll think about it. I can get a new drive by Saturday.
Edit: It occurs to me that the difference may be only how the particular host/applications handles the problem.
Last edited by Gordon Scott; 10/21/2111:31 PM.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
Incidentally, for anyone following this thread and trying similar things, I wrote a minimal python3 script to expand all .wma files below it to .wav files. I'm sure it could be more efficient in execution, but it worked OK for me. It takes some time to expand an UltraPAK. Named expand-wma.py3, made executable, run by ./expand-wma.py3 I've added a .txt to enable upload.
Caveat Emptor.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
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Introducing XPro Styles PAK 11 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
XPro Styles PAK 11 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box® version 2026 (and higher) is here with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 31 RealTracks/RealDrums!
Guess who’s back again? That’s right! It’s our XPro Styles PAK’s triumphant return with the 11th edition in this series! 100 new styles are coming your way spread across the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres. And this edition's wildcard genre explores the immense and far-reaching catalogue of electronic music! The included 31 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1-11 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2026 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 22 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2026 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
It’s time to celebrate! Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Band-in-a-Box® is here, and we've got 200 brand-new styles coming your way!
No Xtra Styles PAK is complete without the classic rock & pop, jazz, and country volumes you know and love, and we’ve got plenty to share, with 150 styles spread across too many genres to list! Of course, it also wouldn’t be complete with our special wildcard volume to add a little spice and pizzazz to the mix. This year, because we loved it so much the first time, we’ve decided to make the second iteration of our SynthMaster volume, full of new sounds, interesting genres, and 50 engaging styles, all making use of the diverse SynthMaster plugin! Here you can find genres such as airy yacht rock, sultry electrotango, and even some synth soca funk. Don’t wait, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 22 today!
In this PAK you can find: dulcet folk ballads, funky gospel country, Brazilian jazz fusion, upbeat 1980s pop, classic Americana, a plethora of breezy bossa novas, indie singer-songwriter, scintillating synthwave, exuberant electronica, and many, many more!
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1-22 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 22 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 22 requires the 2026 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
zplane recently interviewed Peter Gannon, the founder and creator of Band-in-a-Box, about the software's early days, what sets it apart from AI, how zplane's audio algorithms are used in Band-in-a-Box, and more!
Special thanks to the team at zplane for their continued support.
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