So, I opened BB and had my midi keyboard turned on with it's sound turned off.
I played a few notes and heard the piano. All good. I observer the following on the screen.
THRU on the mixer screen was showing me activity. So.. I right clicked on THRU and a new window opened.
It had 4 options. The bottom one is SELECT MIDI INSTRUMENT (patch)
Clicking on that one gave me a new drop down with a variety of options. Near the middle of the list was favorite patches. One of those was Muted trumpet and below that was Tenor sax. Clicking on those gave me that instrument immediately.
I did a screenshot with my camera and attached it as a file you should be able to open.
One would have assumed by this he already had at least some basics down.
Yeah. You would think.
Apparently not, judging from his posts.
The catch is that the OP may know too little about MIDI to know how best to phrase the post. I think the post was a little unclear for that reason and we perhaps presumed too much.
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 .
BIAB. CbB. Mixbus 32C 8 HP Envy. Intel core i7. 16GB RAM W10. Focusrite Scarlett 18i 20. Various instruments played with varying degrees of proficiency.
One would have assumed by this he already had at least some basics down.
Yeah. You would think.
Apparently not, judging from his posts.
The catch is that the OP may know too little about MIDI to know how best to phrase the post. I think the post was a little unclear for that reason and we perhaps presumed too much.
I know that I did!
When you are at the checkout line and they ask if you found everything say "Why, are you hiding stuff?"
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
I've just posted 'Are RTs killing midi' in the BIAB forum. Maybe I should have posted here. Not sure if cut and paste between forums is allowed but here's what i said..............
buy BIAB today and you can jump straight into RTs. amazing real isntruments playing in wonderful styles.
i have every RT and every style so far, and i must admit i tend to use real styles almost automatically these days on new projects.
but i have midi when i need it. i have favourite midi parts i drop in - like a wonderful strings part i discovered years ago.
and for solos i often use midi - exactly the notes and timings i want and after hunting around for samples, exactly the instument sound i want.
but there have been a number of recent posts which suggest new users have no idea about midi. and given that RTs are so good they have no need to learn midi to create superb songs. but i can't help but feel they are missing out on a wonderful musical tool.
if their experience is the mickey mouse sounds of a bad midi player then no wonder they get put off. but a little extra work and investigation will open up a huge sonic arsenal that broadens their musical horizons.
what do other users think? is the excellence of RTs killing midi? and how do we sell the benefits to new users that make the learning curve worthwhile?
some users may not know it, but MIDI is what allows RTs to even exist, so I don't think RTs are killing MIDI at all, just showing the possibilities .. though a beginner may not grasp that yet Without MIDI Key and Tempo, RTs would be like canned loops from the 90s (just prerecorded audio)
Plus without MIDI there would be no Kontakt, GM sounds etc. so eventually it becomes something new to learn, just depends on your starting point and path to learning music Some of us old users learned MIDI first, I suppose some very new users may not have learned it yet, but it is definitely not 'killing MIDI' by taking advantage of it
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
Thank you Mario D. I really appreciate yours and everyone else's input. I am working through your suggestions and I am sure I'll get the hang of it. It does seem that I am doing something wrong somewhere, because now I got the brass(ish) sound, but trying to figure out how, I cannot get any other(ish) sound. It's like playing golf: that one time you get it perfect, you don't know what you did...
some users may not know it, but MIDI is what allows RTs to even exist, so I don't think RTs are killing MIDI at all, just showing the possibilities .. though a beginner may not grasp that yet Without MIDI Key and Tempo, RTs would be like canned loops from the 90s (just prerecorded audio)
Plus without MIDI there would be no Kontakt, GM sounds etc. so eventually it becomes something new to learn, just depends on your starting point and path to learning music Some of us old users learned MIDI first, I suppose some very new users may not have learned it yet, but it is definitely not 'killing MIDI' by taking advantage of it
Indeed. Many of the early DAWs including Cakewalk started life as Midi sequencers before they added audio capabilities.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
rharv makes a very good point and Guitarhacker expands it well. those of us of a certain age started out with midi only and we learnt how to manipulate and edit our tracks. i used the same work process then as i do now. rough out in BIAB then edit the midi in PowerTracks. except today its RB for the edit and polish.
then the wonder of RTs came along. we got a huge bonus in musical terms.
but come to BIAB today and you can just plug in RTs and get great sounding music without midi. and the call is for extra funcionlaity within BIAB rather than use a separate DAW.
I made a prediction (always risky!) in the BIAB forum - i think one of 2024's suite of 'improvements' will be making playable RT's capable of taking a keyboard input and recording parts from scratch or at least adding hooks and riffs in the right places to a generated RT.
We all know that that will in fact be mainly a midi process but BIAB will become the 'front end' of midi much the same as windows became the 'front end'of DOS.
but come to BIAB today and you can just plug in RTs and get great sounding music without midi
I think that's incorrect; as I understand it you are still using MIDI to generate those RTs behind the scenes I am pretty sure the whole basis is still MIDI .. the tempo and key sig are still based on MIDI
You may not be using MIDI for 'sounds' but it still uses MIDI
//not trying to be snarky, just pointing it out for clarity
Last edited by rharv; 07/29/2312:39 PM.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
yes of course midi is involved but maybe the phrase should be 'without consciously using anything to do with midi and without learning any of its capabilties' which was my main point
I think that, in addition to RealTracks that are 'controlled' by MIDI as described by rharv and others above, PG Music has delivered on exactly what so many people requested: the ability of RealTracks to play your melody. Again, it's under control of MIDI. Playable RealTracks are more related to MIDI than most users may realize.
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.
Hi folks, Thank you for all your comments and help. I am only beginning to understand what I am confused about, but
I have as Midi Output Driver selected VirtualMidiSynth which I downloaded from Coolsoft. Synthesizer Sound Card setting is :Coyote Wavetable DXI GM2 Support is General Midi 2 Support When I tick Use VSTi/DXi Synth I get a screen that looks like some sort of a control panel which says sforzando, but when I do that there is no midi sound. When I untick it, I get midi sound if I select the sforzando plugin. I also downloaded Compifont_NEW.sf2, but don't know what to do with it. I am beginning to understand what I am confused about, but not near having it under wraps yet.
BIAB. CbB. Mixbus 32C 8 HP Envy. Intel core i7. 16GB RAM W10. Focusrite Scarlett 18i 20. Various instruments played with varying degrees of proficiency.
I have as Midi Output Driver selected VirtualMidiSynth which I downloaded from Coolsoft. Synthesizer Sound Card setting is :Coyote Wavetable DXI
If I understand correctly what you've written, I think that means BIAB is still using the Coyote synth for you sounds
In the "MIDI/Audio Drivers setup" dialog, I think you want the "MIDI Output driver" set to "<No MIDI/sound output>", the two checkboxes to the right checked and to set the "VSTi/DXI Synth" to be VSTSynthFont64. See pages 8 and 9 of the manual.
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 .
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 pour Windows est disponible en Français.
Le téléchargement se fait à partir du site PG Music
Pour ceux qui auraient déjà acheté la version 2025 de Band-in-a-Box (et qui donc ont une version anglaise), il est possible de "franciser" cette version avec les patchs suivants:
Band-in-a-Box 2025 für Windows Deutsch ist verfügbar!
Die deutsche Version Band-in-a-Box® 2025 für Windows ist ab sofort verfügbar!
Alle die bereits die englische Version von Band-in-a-Box und RealBand 2024 installiert haben, finden hier die Installationsdateien für das Sprachenupdate:
Update Your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 to Build 1128 for Windows Today!
Already using Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Windows®? Download Build 1128 now from our Support Page to enjoy the latest enhancements and improvements from our team.
Already using RealBand® 2025 for Windows®? Download Build 5 now from our Support Page to ensure you have the latest enhancements and improvements from our team.
PowerTracks Pro Audio 2025 is here! This new version introduces many features, including VST3 support, the ability to load or import a .FLAC file, a reset option for track height in the Tracks window, a taller Timeline on the Notation window toolbar, new freeze buttons in the Tracks window, three toolbar modes (two rows, single row, and none), the improved Select Patch dialog with text-based search and numeric patch display, a new button in the DirectX/VST window to copy an effects group, and more!
First-time packages start at only $49. Already a PowerTracks Pro Audio user? Upgrade for as little as $29!
Video: Summary of the New Band-in-a-Box® App for iOS®
Join Tobin as he takes you on a tour of the new Band-in-a-Box® app for iOS®! Designed for musicians, singer-songwriters, and educators, this powerful tool lets you create, play, and transfer songs effortlessly on your iPhone® or iPad®—anytime, anywhere.
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