Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread
Print Thread
Go To
Page 3 of 3 1 2 3
RealBand
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 7,294
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 7,294
Look at a couple more things and follow some logic.

Programs run in RAM. That means that if you have a lot of TSR (terminate and stay resident) programs running, your RAM is full and you are using swap space for your executable program. Thus when the program needs to make a call back to the memory page holding the program, you need to go back through your processor, back to the swap space on your hard drive, find and load what that call is asking for, and then come back through your processor toward your RAM. This is why IT nerds preach about having as much RAM available as possible. (If you are running XP you can only really utilize 3gb of RAM no matter how much your system says you have available. AVAILABLE and ACCESSIBLE are 2 very different terms.) Bottom line is to make as much RAM as possible available, so load nothing besides RB when you use it and test to see if that makes the problem go away.

Also, and you may already do this, click START ==> RUN and type in

%temp%

That will open your system temp folder. Delete as much as you can. (Anything in use will not delete. That is normal. Just get rid of all you can.) Your system refers back to those temp files and that slows your system down by wasting CPU cycles doing it. You RB cache of temp files will clear and reset every time you start the program. Save often and restart RB. As soon as you notice RB starting to be sluggish when you select anything (to change gain, for example), save your song and reboot.

As far as number of tracks, I have been as far as 23 tracks on one particular song that Rog had his students do "choir" vocals on. That song ended up with 2 lead vocal tracks, 6 backup vocal tracks from Rog, and 6 vocal tracks from me. 14 tracks for JUST vocals.

But bottom line, get back to computer basics for what you are seeing. This sounds like a computer performance issue more than software. Defrag will not help this. Think about what defrag does. It takes segmented files and makes them contiguous. Those files will load no matter what, and once they load, it no longer matters if they are fragmented or not. Defrag may speed up loading time by 2 milliseconds but means nothing after the loading is done. Most worthless utility out there, and one that techs at the level of Geek Squad who know nothing better will tell you is a fix for your problem. (DO NOT use Geek Squad. All they are trained to do is upsell. I set them up once and busted them but that's a whole other story.) You sound like you are having a system interrupt (an IRQ) that is "breaking in" on the CPU as it runs your RB process.

Just my dime.


I smashed the hell out of my car today. When the cops came I told him "Officer, that guy was BOTH texting and drinking a beer." The cop said "Sir, he has every right to do that. I mean, it's HIS living room..."
RealBand
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 8,074
Veteran
OP Offline
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 8,074
Quote:
Also, and you may already do this, click START ==> RUN and type in

%temp%


actually, I don't do that already.. this is the first time I ever heard about it.... thanks, Eddie!

RealBand
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502
M
Mac Offline
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
M
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502
I agree about use of %temp% - a good tip, Eddie, but there have indeed been times when performing a defrag fixes bad operation, stuttering audio and poor loading of Realtracks - BUT - it is always something that happens when I'm using Band in a Box, defrag doesn't seem to cause issues for me with RealBand.

Not trying to argue with Eddie, his point is valid enough, especially in these times of hard drives that are very large in storage size as compared to those of a few years back, just want to make sure that those reading won't decide that the defrag is not necessary with Band in a Box, which has indeed been "cured" of various playback probs using a good defrag program like Defraggler. The two programs may appear to "do the same thing" as regards the ability to load and play BiaB Styles, Realtracks and Realdrums, but the two also do it in distinctly differing ways "under the hood" apparently.


--Mac

RealBand
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 21,609
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 21,609
In my experience, a good geek can use defrag effectively when needed.

It's definitely not the first 'go to' here, but it can help, depending on the system set up.
Especially for those using the same drive to read audio output data and write the audio input data. Having a large reliable open chunk of drive space can help in this (and other) situations. Drive thrash and all ..

The way I use RB it is often 'reading' (playback of existing tracks) over 20 tracks. With effects.

Then I ask it to record another bunch .. it may be 2 or it may be 8 or 16 more. If I can have one drive 'reading' and another one 'writing' the incoming data, that's the best scenario. However if I am expecting a single drive to do both, defrag can be helpful.

Experiments have found that using defrag as a first step, then re-saving the RB file (so it interweaves the tracks as the file saves) has improved performance also.
Props to Silvertones for that tidbit.

Recording audio, generating tracks, and doing what we do with BiaB/RB (including FX etc) is a pretty specific/touchy thing. Things keep getting better and better for us; enjoy!



Make your sound your own!
.. I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
RealBand
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502
M
Mac Offline
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
M
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502
Originally Posted By: rharv
Things keep getting better and better for us; enjoy!



Yes indeed, remember recording under Win95 when you had better remember to stop the Taskbar Clock so that it wouldn't interrupt audio streaming?

And all the other "must do" tweaks to the system as well.

Today you can pretty much just purchase a laptop or desktop, attach a USB sound device, install drivers and your favorite music making software and expect things to work fairly nicely.


--Mac

RealBand
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,687
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,687
Pardon me if I missed it but do we know the specs of the PC? All it says in your sig Pat is Win 7 Home, nothing about the computer itself.

Bob


Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Go To
Page 3 of 3 1 2 3

Link Copied to Clipboard
ChatPG

Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.

ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.

PG Music News
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 Review: 4.75 out of 5 Stars!

If you're looking for a in-depth review of the newest Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows version, you'll definitely find it with Sound-Guy's latest review, Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows Review: Incredible new capabilities to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs.

A few excerpts:
"The Tracks view is possibly the single most powerful addition in 2024 and opens up a new way to edit and generate accompaniments. Combined with the new MultiPicker Library Window, it makes BIAB nearly perfect as an 'intelligent' composer/arranger program."

"MIDI SuperTracks partial generation showing six variations – each time the section is generated it can be instantly auditioned, re-generated or backed out to a previous generation – and you can do this with any track type. This is MAJOR! This takes musical experimentation and honing an arrangement to a new level, and faster than ever."

"Band in a Box continues to be an expansive musical tool-set for both novice and experienced musicians to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs, as well as an extensive educational resource. It is huge, with hundreds of functions, more than any one person is likely to ever use. Yet, so is any DAW that I have used. BIAB can do some things that no DAW does, and this year BIAB has more DAW-like functions than ever."

Happy Easter! Holiday Hours...

2024 is well underway - it's already Easter Weekend!

Our Customer Service hours this weekend are:

Friday, March 29: 8-4
Saturday, March 30: 8-4
Sunday, March 31: closed

Regular hours resume Monday, April 1st - no joke!

Convenient Ways to Listen to Band-in-a-Box® Songs Created by Program Users!

The User Showcase Forum is an excellent place to share your Band-in-a-Box® songs and listen to songs other program users are creating!

There are other places you can listen to these songs too! Visit our User Showcase page to sort by genre, artist (forum name), song title, and date - each listing will direct you to the forum post for that song.

If you'd rather listen to these songs in one place, head to our Band-in-a-Box® Radio, where you'll have the option to select the genre playlist for your listening pleasure. This page has SoundCloud built in, so it won't redirect you. We've also added the link to the Artists SoundCloud page here, and a link to their forum post.

We hope you find some inspiration from this amazing collection of User Showcase Songs!

Congratulations to the 2023 User Showcase Award Winners!

We've just announced the 2023 User Showcase Award Winners!

There are 45 winners, each receiving a Band-in-a-Box 2024 UltraPAK! Read the official announcement to see if you've won.

Our User Showcase Forum receives more than 50 posts per day, with people sharing their Band-in-a-Box songs and providing feedback for other songs posted.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed!

Video: Volume Automation in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®

We've created a video to help you learn more about the Volume Automation options in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows.

Band-in-a-Box® 2024: Volume Automation

www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024full/chapter11.htm#volume-automation

Video: Audio Input Monitoring with Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®

We've created this short video to explain Audio Input Monitoring within Band-in-a-Box® 2024, and included some tips & troubleshooting details too!

Band-in-a-Box® 2024: Audio Input Monitoring

3:17: Tips
5:10: Troubleshooting

www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024full/chapter11.htm#audio-input-monitoring

Video: Enhanced Melodists in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®!

We've enhanced the Melodists feature included in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows!

Access the Melodist feature by pressing F7 in the program to open the new MultiPicker Library and locate the [Melodist] tab.

You can now generate a melody on any track in the program - very handy! Plus, you select how much of the melody you want generated - specify a range, or apply it to the whole track.

See the Melodist in action with our video, Band-in-a-Box® 2024: The Melodist Window.

Learn even more about the enhancements to the Melodist feature in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows at www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024upgrade/chapter3.htm#enhanced-melodist

Forum Statistics
Forums66
Topics81,401
Posts732,562
Members38,444
Most Online2,537
Jan 19th, 2020
Newest Members
Descoward, danielsk, Mark Morgan, zagrajbarke, Ernest J
38,443 Registered Users
Top Posters(30 Days)
MarioD 200
Al-David 132
DC Ron 115
rsdean 84
dcuny 83
Today's Birthdays
(charlie), WobblyGstring
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5