We now finally have 64 bit Mac OSX BIAB. So I can use KONTAKT and my other 64 bit plugins inside BIAB without that horrendous JBridge kludge.

Great.

I would like to be able to audition the instrument I happen to select as plugin when I have a plugin loaded on the MELODY track.

Is this possible?

I get that BIAB will play back what I record into the melody track

But I would like to be able to just play the sound at ANY time. Not too much to ask is it ? To be able to try out ideas before committing them?

And why is the procedure needed to record MIDI onto the MELODY track so arcanely hard to find?

The red button in the toolbar seems to always expect me to record audio when clearly the melody track has a MIDI plugin on it. What gives?

The Piano roll editor has been in BIAB for over a year but actually recording MIDI onto it leaves a lot to be desired. Surely someone can think of a better user interface for this.

Hi,

You can. I assume that you mean you are playing a MIDI controller and you want to hear it play through your virtual instrument in real time...

Use the Thru track for this. In the Mixer window, click the THRU+ button to show the thru track, and add your plugin to that track.

Regarding MIDI recording, in the "small toolbar" screen mode, the record button in the transport area will record audio and also MIDI. The dedicated "Record MIDI" button is missing in this mode, I agree, and must be accessed via the Melody or Soloist menu. In the "large toolbar" screen there IS a dedicated Record MIDI button.

But why only the THRU track???

I simply want to be able to hear the instrument set up on the MELODY TRACK.

THE THRU track is a different track. In any DAW this would be a no brainer.

Well the thru track is specifically for live playing, and uses it's own channel by default so that you can play along with the program and not interfere with the other tracks that are playing. You probably know you can audition the sound of any track by using the Piano tab of the Mixer window. Another idea is to use scrub mode in the notation window. If you need to audition by playing an external keyboard, you can audition patches on the Thru track and then set the Melody or Soloist (whichever you are recording to) to the same patch.

Alternatively, you try Options | MIDI Settings, and set the Thru track to channel 4 (same as melody), then it should work like you want...