hello, I have a few Xpro paks and in particular the Xpropak 5 which uses the “synthmaster” synths, I had already bought these synths which I find very useful and quite complete so I have the pro version of synthmaster and I have not installed the synthmaster supplied with BIAB. I thought it could be problematic for the system to have 2 synthmasters… but for the moment BIAB has not detected that I have the “synthmaster pro“ already installed on my mac and when I load a style with “synthmaster” tracks BIAB plays them but there are no sounds. How should I proceed to get BIAB to play these synthmaster tracks without having to re-install the versions provided by BIAB? THANKS
mac M1max, Monterey 12.6.8, I have all the synthmasters in 2.9.1 installed: synthmaster player synthmaster 2.
BIAB has not detected that I have the “synthmaster pro“ already installed
Band-in-a-Box should recognize your existing SynthMaster plugin. In the Plugins tab of the Mixer window, click to select a plugin for any MIDI track, or go the Plugins button in the toolbar | Plugin Options. Scan for new AU plugins and/or VST plugins. Does it show up now?
That doesn't mean it will work automatically with the SynthMaster settings built into the Band-in-a-Box styles. Those are looking for SynthMaster 2 Player and specific presets installed with it. However, as far as I know there should not be any problem with having both SynthMaster and SynthMaster Player installed.
Hi Andrew, I managed to get the synthmaster plugins working and everything is ok now...the songs are loaded with synthmaster sounds on the midi tracks. I have one last problem which is that when I want to rebuild in stylepicker, there are 2 options: 1-rebuild fast only PG styles, this one works perfectly 2-rebuild slow PG music and 3rd party styles, this one has a problem it stops re-building at 20% and then this “unable to open….” window appears. Like on the pict. Where can this come from ? I may have an idea, is it not possible that it comes from personal styles which are not completely sure, which dates from the beginning where I used BIAB. if that's it Where could these styles be found so that I can delete them? thanks Andrew phil
In the /Applications/Band-in-a-Box/Data folder, create a text file with the exact filename bbw.lst (contents of the text file doesn't matter), and then try the rebuild again. Please let us know if that fixes it.
Andrew or PG Music Team, Phil T. Bone's issue and Andrew's response is perfect for the PG Music Chat and technical FAQs. How's this for a recap?
BBW for Windows Error Message
Issue: "Unable to open file /Volumes/Band-in-a-Box/Applications/Band-in-a-Box/Data/bbw.lst" error message occurs while performing a slow StylePicker rebuild.
Solution: In the /Applications/Band-in-a-Box/Data folder, create a text file with the exact filename bbw.lst (contents of the text file doesn't matter), and then try the rebuild again.
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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.
Whether you're exploring new features, checking out the latest RealTracks or Style PAKs, this is your go-to guide for Band-in-a-Box® 2026.
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac is here and it is packed with major new features! There’s a new modern look, a GUI redesign to all areas of the program including toolbars, windows, workflow and more. There’s a Multi-view layout for organizing multiple windows. A standout addition is the powerful AI-Notes feature, which uses AI neural-net technology to transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI—entire mixes or individual instruments—making it easy to study, view, and play parts from any song. And that’s just the beginning—there are over 100 new features in this exciting release.
Along with version 2026, we've released an incredible lineup of new content! There's 202 new RealTracks, brand-new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two new RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
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Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
If you're already using Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, make sure to grab the latest update! Build 904 is now available for download and includes the newest additions and enhancements from our team.
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