It saddens me to say that the newer plugin hasn't cleared up my problem of not hearing my BIAB midi tracks in Reaper or Cakewalk. The sounds are there but just can't be heard. There's just one audio track in my song (drums) and that can be heard. Obviously I'm still not getting some setting right. I'll post another screen shot in a bit.
/Bobby
Bobby, if I read you correctly you want to hear your BiaB MIDI while in the VSTi, correct. If I may ask why?
The BiaB GM is at the lower end of the sound rankings. IIRC you have better sounds in both Reaper and Cakewalk and possibly some other softsynths.
My workflow is to bring all of the MIDI tracks into my DAW then assign a MIDI sound source to each track. It is more time consuming but I end up with much better ear candy using this technique. You may want to try this. YMMV
I got banned from Weight Watchers for dropping a bag of M&Ms on the floor. It was the best game of Hungry Hippos I've ever seen!
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
Hi Simon... and all... I don't want folks thinking that I have abandoned my thread. It's just that I have been too busy all day to sit down with the music. I will have more time tomorrow and will get back to you then.
Thanks in advance for all your help... very appreciated.
No worries Bobby! Once you're back at it tomorrow could you clarify for us whether you're trying to play the MIDI straight out of the BB plugin, or whether you've dragged the MIDI into the DAW?
What I do is compose my song in BIAB. I then go into Reaper or Cakewalk and insert a "virtual instrument on new track" I choose the PG Music plugin. This creates a track in Reaper called "BIAB DAW VST3." I open the song I composed in BIAB within the plugin. When it loads I then "generate" the song in the plugin, and it does it*. All the tracks are midi in this case - except the "real drums."
I then drag all the tracks into Reaper using the "All" button on the plugin. I have dropped them ON the first track that was created when I first inserted the plugin. It didn't work.
I have dragged all the tracks using the "All" button on the plugin and put them UNDER the track that was created when I first inserted the plugin. Tracks set up nicely and the meters are moving, including the track that was created when I first inserted the plugin, but no sound. I've made sure that all "record monitoring" buttons are set to "on."
I've tried bringing in one track at a time (as if that's going to make any difference) and end up with the same results.
If I bring the tracks into Reaper as wav files, everything works fine. But I do know that a midi track has a different set of rules than an audio track.
I should say that I'm having the same issue in Cakewalk as well. The only difference is that when I drag all the tracks from the plugin into Cakewalk, 30... yes, 30 tracks are created. Dunno what's going on there.
So I know it is something that I'm not seeing, doing, or probably even understanding.
I'm hoping that I've been able to explain myself in a somewhat coherent way. If not, let me know what I missed and I'll get back to you.
If I bring the tracks into Reaper as wav files, everything works fine. But I do know that a midi track has a different set of rules than an audio track.
But I assume you don't know what those rules are? A midi file dragged into reaper will have no sound. You need to assign a VST to the Reaper track in order for the midi to play a virtual instrument. Like midi in any DAW.
But that is the easy stuff. Are you telling us you have not crashed the BIAB-VST- 4.2.8 in Reaper? You must be doing something right.
BIAB – 2025, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud (Tip: No need to create a SC account to hear music - just hit ESC ).
It saddens me to say that the newer plugin hasn't cleared up my problem of not hearing my BIAB midi tracks in Reaper or Cakewalk. The sounds are there but just can't be heard. There's just one audio track in my song (drums) and that can be heard. Obviously I'm still not getting some setting right. I'll post another screen shot in a bit.
/Bobby
Bobby, if I read you correctly you want to hear your BiaB MIDI while in the VSTi, correct. If I may ask why?
The BiaB GM is at the lower end of the sound rankings. IIRC you have better sounds in both Reaper and Cakewalk and possibly some other softsynths.
My workflow is to bring all of the MIDI tracks into my DAW then assign a MIDI sound source to each track. It is more time consuming but I end up with much better ear candy using this technique. You may want to try this. YMMV
Hi Mario...
I THINK I understand what you're saying... but probably not lol I'll give it a try to see if I understand it.
I compose my song in BIAB and then bring it into Reaper or Cakewalk. Mostly, I'm using it for the bass and drum tracks, and the rest I do with plugins like SampleTank 4.
One of the reasons why I like to use midi on some songs is that I'm still not, after all these years, an accomplished keyboard player. Therefore, if there's a part that I need to put into the song, and if the song's tempo is too fast for my keyboard abilities I can slow the whole song down. Doing this gives me more of a chance of getting it right. Once done, I reset the original tempo and voila... I don't think I can do this with RealTracks as they're audio. Of course,I would much rather be always using RealTracks, and I do for a lot of stuff. Their sounds cannot be beat, hands down.
I know that the whole solution to this is for me to learn how to play the keyboard. But at my age, I really don't see that happening.
A midi file dragged into reaper will have no sound. You need to assign a VST to the Reaper track in order for the midi to play a virtual instrument. Like midi in any DAW.
That is correct. BIAB automatically assigns a plugin and an instrument to MIDI tracks, while most DAWs don't. Without an instrument or plugin, it will play nothing. The BIAB plugin itself doesn't respond to MIDI notes, so it will not play any sound that way either.
Originally Posted By: MusicStudent
But that is the easy stuff. Are you telling us you have not crashed the BIAB-VST- 4.2.8 in Reaper? You must be doing something right.
So far I have not crashed 4.2.8 or any of the previous 4.x versions in Reaper, so I guess I'm performing some sort of voodoo. The only issue I've personally had was in Performer Lite 13, which refused to validate the VST3 (which it also wouldn't validate some of the 3.x versions for me either) - VST2 was fine though.
Well, I'm thinking that I may be starting to understand what is being explained to me.
When I insert a BIAB plugin track into Reaper, I will see all the midi notes that were played in the original BIAB song. But I won't hear them. I have to assign an instrument to that track in order to hear those notes being played. Am I getting warm?
For sure I'll be playing around with it again tomorrow.
As for crashing the newest version of Reaper... yep... I've been doing it while trying to use the new PG plugin. Many times. I've also crashed Cakewalk with it. Many times. For me, using the plugin is like a box of chocolates... I never know what I'm gonna get.
Thanks for all your patience with me... I'm much obliged to you guys.
Almost forgot to wish you all a very happy new year!!!
It is another very quiet new year's eve around here. The Covid virus is spreading like wildfire in my neck of the woods and so we're under lock down again.
.................. When I insert a BIAB plugin track into Reaper, I will see all the midi notes that were played in the original BIAB song. But I won't hear them. I have to assign an instrument to that track in order to hear those notes being played. Am I getting warm?
.....................
/Bobby
Not warm but spot on. That is exactly what you have to do.
I got banned from Weight Watchers for dropping a bag of M&Ms on the floor. It was the best game of Hungry Hippos I've ever seen!
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
Is it possibly time to mark this in the first post as Resolved? The post title might imply to some that the problem here is caused by BIAB, when it's more of an education issue. Granted, the plug-in contributed, but that is being worked on.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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We've been hard at it to bring you the latest and greatest in this 9th installment of our popular XPro Styles PAK series! Included are 75 styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres (25 styles each) that fans have come to expect, as well as 25 styles in this volume's wildcard genre: funk & R&B!
If you're itching to get a sneak peek at what's included in XPro Styles PAK 9, here is a small helping of what you can look forward to: Funky R&B Horns, Upbeat Celtic Rock, Jazz Fusion Salsa, Gentle Indie Folk, Cool '60s Soul, Funky '70s R&B, Smooth Jazz Hip Hop, Acoustic Rockabilly Swing, Funky Reggae Dub, Dreamy Retro Latin Jazz, Retro Soul-Rock Fusion, and much more!
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Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: Using VST3 Plugins
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You must be doing something right.
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