I enjoy using the Sforzando that came with BiaB, but ironically I seldom use it with BiaB. Instead I use it mostly in Cakewalk. Its nylon string guitar patch is one of the best I've found, although it does require a fair amount of EQ finagling before it sounds right. It has decent jazz guitar and rock organ patches as well.

But before I get to any of that, I have to set up Sforzando to work with the DAW. First thing I do, cuz I've learned from past experiences, is I set the volume to max dB because once it's configured, wherever the volume is set, that's where it's gonna stay.

Which is the reason for this post. How in hotdaggity blazes do I get Sfz to let go of the volume knob so I can put it where I want? Cuz sometimes, even though I'll max out the knob, it'll set it differently. Just now, it decided to set the volume to -8dB after I'd set it to 0dB. Very annoying. Now I gotta delete the synth and reinstall it, hoping for a better next time.

I've looked through the settings and what have you and I can't find anything in there that would let me reconfigure the volume. And it's not just volume, either -- it's all three of those knobs, volume, balance, and (effects) send. Once they're set, that's it.

Suggestions?

To clarify, you're not using sfrozando in Band-in-a-Box but in another program separate from PGMUsic products? If so, you may want to pose your question in the Help! SOS (Off topic) forum instead. This forum in particular is for discussion about Band-in-a-Box for Windows, but if I've misunderstood, let me know, and I'd be happy to offer my thoughts on the matter! It sounds like you're more looking for help with Cakewalk and Plogue's Sforzando which we don't make, so just wanted to check in with you about what product in specific you wanted help with.

Hey Ember, I'm not really familiar with the Help SOS forum, but I'll go give it a try.

However, the Sforzando I'm using -- the only copy I own -- is the one that came with Band in a Box. When I do a search for VSTs in Cakewalk, it finds Sfz, so I've included it with VSTs I can select. It works great, as is, in CW, by the way. Except for not being able to change setting values.

Have a look at the sfz format, check the SFZ on the top right filter
https://sfzformat.com/opcodes/

Make a backup of C:\Program Files\PG Music Inc\Band-in-a-Box Sounds\Programs\Guitar\Nylon Acoustic.sfz
open the original in Notepad of text editor by dropping in.

I'm just trying to remember it all as I made a lot up in the User Forum.
In the file you will see

gain_cc7=18

I'll have a look more and see if it all comes back to me.

Hey Pipeline, thanks for this info. After a brief look through this web page, it's like all I ever wanted to know about Sforzando and way, way, too much more! So, I'm gonna have to do some study here. I did scroll way down to the volume part and there does appear to be something that addresses this. I'll do as you suggested and look for your above statement, or something similar to it, and hopefully, I can piece something together.

I just tried and these 2 adjust the level

gain_cc7=18
group_volume=-15

Hi Michael, most likely Cakewalk is sending a MIDI Volume message to Sforzando. Try changing the volume in Cakewalk, or see if there's a way to open a MIDI event list and see if there are any volume messages, and if so delete them.