I'm with Charlie - it seemed obvious and easy to me too.
Maybe, but the OP is not yet a BiaB user... and is checking before buying that it will do what he/she wants/needs.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2025 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
My point was in relation to the slightly complicated options offered.
Understood and you're right. Some answers did seem to miss the point the OP didn't actually have BiaB and were talking through how it might be done with assorted DAWs. Well intentioned, but a little off-target.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2025 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
Well I just bit the bullet and ordered BiaB and the other assorted hardware I need to realize my project.
I plan to start experimentation as soon as I receive the back-up flash drive with BiaB as I really don't want to use up that much hard drive space at the moment.
I'll update this thread with my progress and my methodology in the hopes of helping someone else and any additional questions I may have.
In the meantime, thanks again for the encouragement!!!
Great news and good luck. Take your time, watch the videos, review the integrated help.
There are also many helpful friends here if you really get stuck.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Professional & Windows 11, Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors
All I can figure out how to do is import my MusicXML files into BiaB and render an MP3 backing track with NO metronome. When I enable the metronome, I can't figure out how to change the sound of it.
Figuring out how to create a click track IN BiaB is beyond my comprehension with what is available in searches on the Internet or the manual.
Do the steps involved really have to be this elusive?
How are you getting the count-in/metronome, please? I suspect it may be by the method MusicStudent mentions, but I think that doesn't get rendered.
I believe you need to set up a dedicated track, probably a utility track, and set up a style on that track. If utility tracks don't show on the mixer, click on the "eye" symbol bottom-right of the mixer and enable one. I did this on Utility#1, but Utility#16 might be a better choice.
On the mixer on the track, right-click and "Select custom MIDI Style...". . You'll get a dialog open. Use "Any Patch" and click on [Choose Style With This Instrument]. Type metronome into the Filter String and you should get a list of styles. Pick one, [OK], From Track: "Drums", OK.
I think that should be enough to get a metronome, but on my (slightly odd) setup, I also had to select "Plugins" tab on the mixer, click a track and "Choose Plugin", then choose a synth and a patch (Drums again).
Once that's done, after generating, I'm able to get the metronome on the rendered file.
I think you'll probably need to go to the Notation editor (Views->Notation) to change the notes to change the sound. The mono checkbox that you'll also want is top left on that window.
HTH. Gordon.
Edit ... in the mixer. double-click the track name to set a name like Metronome".
Last edited by Gordon Scott; 09/13/2208:21 AM. Reason: ...and a couple of typos.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2025 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
After some frustration, a update download and reaching out to Support, I figured out how to create a Metronome as a utility track although I had to manually set the MIDI Track a 2nd time to 10 (DRUMS) which renames the track to DRUMS2 from PIANO which it was mysteriously named after the first try.
However, if I close the file and reopen it, it reverts back to being named PIANO however it still sounds as DRUMS.
Also if I attempt to rename the track, BiaB crashes with no way out except Device Manager.
I also get a similar crash if I attempt to bring any file other than a BiaB file into RealBand so that program is useless to me at present.
I guess I need to get back to Support but I am wasting a lot of free trial time and quickly losing enthusiasm...
i dont know if this helps cos i'm struggling to understand your needs. (maybe i'm dumb , but ive done bout 90 songs useing biab.) if you could elucidate further please. eg step 1 i want to do x. or need 1 step 2 i want to do y. or need 2 step 3 i want to do z or need 3 etc etc.
as to metronome i dont bother with any metronome provided by any music software. never have. i always reserve the first 4 bars in a song for a custom metronome i make using either midi or using pg real drums. other times my first 4 bars might be 'drum scatting' or 'solos' like a real drummer might do in a live setting. sometimes i create longer drum solo song intros eg 12 bars. one reason i like realband also so much is i can do lots of neat stuff drum trak wise. from simple drum clicks to complex drum traks. the KEY is… just right clik over a trak in trak view , and youll see a loooong menu. in that menu are lots of nice features for doing drum traks//intros//custom stuff. but you will need to spend time understanding each feature.
as to mid if you find a midi patch , if you try to change it, reverts to original patch its not bb's fault. midi is just data. what often happens is someone has imported a third party midi song from outside biab (eg the net).. and the creator of said midi song embedded special commands in the midi data stream which you need to delete to do your thing.
have you done a lot of work useing midi ?
hopefully above helps a bit.
best om
ps if your bb chord sheet starts with all instruments right at bar 1. you can insert before bar 1. eg if you want 4 bar lead off...insert 4 blank bars so NOW instrumentation starts at bar 5 instead. thus the 4 bar lead off can have anything midi or audio. even if you want a lead off clanking a water glass..lol.
so now the instrumentation starts at bar 5.
Last edited by justanoldmuso; 09/14/2210:46 AM.
my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..) https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs (90 songs created useing bb/rb) (lots of tips of mine in pg tips forum.)
i dont know if this helps cos i'm struggling to understand your needs.
I think some of the early attempted answers may have caused confusion.
As I understand it, appoggiatura wants to render output to an audio file such that it will comprise two tracks, with one track containing only the count-in/metronome and the other track containing only the music output from BiaB in mono.
The intent is, I believe, to send the single music track to the PA and so out to the audience, and send the count-in/metronome track sent to his earpiece, so that (s)he has a click track along with which to play. It's possible that the intent is to send both to the earpieces, but I think that's incidental for this purpose.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2025 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
unless i'm missing something its simple panning isnt it ? a doddle ? eg clik on left music on right of stereo ?
does he want the clik ONLY for intro or all way thru ?
does he want 2 files exported. ? one for clik n' one for music ?
either way pg can do it. there are many options.
best
om
Last edited by justanoldmuso; 09/14/2212:13 PM.
my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..) https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs (90 songs created useing bb/rb) (lots of tips of mine in pg tips forum.)
unless i'm missing something its simple panning isnt it ?
Yes ... once appogiatura, who is very new to BiaB, has suitable tracks to pan. The built-in count-in/metronome does not get sent to the render, so (s)he needs a metronome track, for every song.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2025 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
After some frustration, a update download and reaching out to Support, I figured out how to create a Metronome as a utility track although I had to manually set the MIDI Track a 2nd time to 10 (DRUMS) which renames the track to DRUMS2 from PIANO which it was mysteriously named after the first try.
However, if I close the file and reopen it, it reverts back to being named PIANO however it still sounds as DRUMS.
Also if I attempt to rename the track, BiaB crashes with no way out except Device Manager.
I also get a similar crash if I attempt to bring any file other than a BiaB file into RealBand so that program is useless to me at present.
I guess I need to get back to Support but I am wasting a lot of free trial time and quickly losing enthusiasm...
Thanks for your help regardless!
Firts an aside: My setup here is a bit 'odd' as I run BiaB in Wine on Linux and a few things behave very slightly differently. One of those things is that I think the default synthesiser CoyoteWT doesn't work in this setup. On my setup I have to set another synthesiser. I think that won't affect what you do, but I'm not certain of that.
OK, here goes. I started a new song and set up a simple 12-bar blues. (I chose the RealTracks style _SURFEVP.STY, tough I think that's of no significance). I have the mixer showing, so clicked the 'eye' in the bottom-right corner and selected to show Utility#16. If the mixer isn't visible, click the 'mixer' toolbar tab at top right). On the mixer, ensure the 'Mixer' tab is selected. Right-click on the text in the mixer and choose "Select Custom MIDI for....." Leave the instrument set to "Any Patch" and click the button [Choose Style with this instrument". In the filter string (top left), type "metron" or "metronome". Choose one from the list .. I chose METRONM1, then [OK]. Back in the parent dialog choose the From Track "Drums" and click [OK]. In the mixer window, double-click the name text and type "Click" or whatever you prefer and click [OK]. Right-click either text on the same track and select Track Settings->MIDI Channel->10(Drums). (last time I didn't have to do that ... I'm not sure why that's now different). Try the generate and play. Hopefully you'll get a click now. Save the song as "clickSong1" or something. Do a File->New, then open the ClickSong1 again (File->0 ...) and check the song still plays the click track. I would now close and open BiaB again and open the file again to check that nothing gets lost. If your sound disappears, read the extra bit below the line.
Don't forget that you'll need to go to the Notation view and set Mono for all tracks so that you can pan them suitably.
I can't at present see a quicker way to achieve the above, though hopefully if there is one, someone else will help. I think with only a little practice, it'll become pretty quick, though.
-----8<------------------
Right ... I think you don't need to do this, whilst I do, but just in case... Because for me BiaB keeps reverting to CoyoteWT as the default synth and CoyoteWT doesn't work for me, I on the "Misc" toolbar I click MIDI->"MIDI/Audio driver setup" and in the mid-right I click on the button [VSTi/DXi Synth (CoyoteWT)] and choose "<VSTi> SynthFont VSTSynthFont64", then [OK]. For me, when I save and reopen the song, it works, but if I close BiaB, open it and reload the sone, BiaB has reverted to CoyoteWT, so I have to do that last bit over. I think BiaB is supposed to remember my default synth, but it appears not to do so on my setup.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2025 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
First and foremost thank you for your continued help!!
Second, please except my heartfelt sympathy to you and you countrymen on the loss of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.
Third, I am a he (at least I was a few moments ago at the loo).
Here is where I am:
Before I purchased my BiaB 2020 ProPak, I contacted PG Music regarding the version I needed to purchase because I DID NOT want to install or run the program from my Windows PC. I asked a specifically IF I could run BiaB from the back-up USB flash drive and the answer was YES. I was told that ALL versions could be run from an external drive. I also watched the video that showed the options for installation.
It wasn’t specifically mentioned was that ONLY versions installed on external USB HARD DRIVES could be run externally, NOT the BiaB ProPak version with an extra USB flash drive that I purchased and paid extra for in the hopes it would suffice (and save me some money).
I'll leave it to the forum members to decide if I am stupid or this was somewhat misleading or incorrect information from sales...
What also was wasn’t explained is that I COULD have installed and run BiaB on an existing hard dive I already have connected to my PC. For that reason, I plugged in the USB flash drive I purchased, didn’t see any “Option 1 (Run from external drive)” so I installed it on my PC.
Fast forward to the last few days; for reasons unknown to me and PG Music Tech support, presently BiaB and RealBand crash constantly. BiaB will crash if I try to rename a Utility Track. RealBand will crash if I try to import or drag & drop any audio file. In addition, BiaB is displaying other erratic behavior.
So I have decided to try completely uninstalling BiaB from my PC (for a 2nd time) but this time reinstalling and running it from an external hard drive which I was told would be the same thing as if I had originally purchased a MegaPak with an external drive.
IF this resolves my crashing issues, I will try some of the other steps you outlined to see if they get me the results I am after.
I will report on any progress or lack thereof after the uninstall/reinstall.
Thanks for your sympathy regarding the Queen. It all feels very strange at present. I'm 70 and I've only ever been, until now, in a country with a queen.
Thanks also for clarifying 'he'. I try not to presume anything, but that can sometimes be fraught.
I believe BiaB should run fine from an external drive, whatever the version, though a fairly fast quick such drive would seem sensible. If I'm wrong, then you can still move the big folders (e.g. Drums, RealTracks) to an external drive ... Tell BiaB where via Prefs-RealDrums->Custom Folder and Prefs->RealTracks->Custom folder.
Your crashing issues are another matter. Hopefully you and tech support will resolve that.
You might say what the CPU is. In a completely different context/software I've heard of issues with AMD ThreadRipper CPUs, though I've not heard of issues with BiaB.
If you haven't tried the on-line chat for support, it's often a good way to deal with things. With PGM, you get a real person and usually one of the people who give support in the fora.
Good luck with getting a resolution. BiaB is a great application if sometimes rather arcane.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2025 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
it would help pg users help you, so we are not 'flying blind' to know the following...
1. your sound device. 2. your biab and rb settings for drivers. 3. if the sound device has a user control panel what the settings are. 4. your windows recording n' playback settings includeing advanced tab.
obviously pics posted back for items 2 thru 4 would be most helpfull. pictures of settings will also help pg support.
fyi no problems here with pg paks. i currently run straight off the pg ultrapak which ive backed up several times in case the drive crashes.
best
om
ps thanks re queen. fyi a past member of my family now demised once did work for buck palace. all i know is they were treated very well.
Last edited by justanoldmuso; 09/15/2207:38 AM.
my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..) https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs (90 songs created useing bb/rb) (lots of tips of mine in pg tips forum.)
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