Bandstand Midi Player
Bandstand InstallationBandstand can be used with Band-in-a-Box ® 2004 (Windows) or higher, and PowerTracks Pro Audio 9 and higher as a DXi plugin. It can be used with Band-in-a-Box ® 2006 or higher and PowerTracks Pro Audio 11 or higher as a VSTi plugin (recommended), and can be used with Band-in-a-Box ® 12 or higher for Macintosh as a stand-alone application.Note that it is fairly important that you meet the system requirements for Bandstand - these are listed on the website as well as the on the Bandstand packaging and user manual. You need to have a DVD drive to install this product, and a minimum of 512 MB RAM.
We recommend 1 GB or more. On Mac OSX, choose the 'Install Bandstand for Mac' icon and follow the on-screen prompts.
You can select either 'Easy Install', or 'Custom Install'. Custom Install allows you to select which components you want installed. We recommend choosing Easy Install if you are not sure.
Bandstand plays MIDI music the way it should be played. Its unmatched sample-quality and ease of use establishes a benchmark far beyond conventional GM modules. Intuitive sound mixing tools and exceptional effects deliver flexibility that make Bandstand the ideal tool in a wide range of situations. In all my years of playing with this junk I have never once used a 'midi file'. Sold a product called 'Bandstand' which was a MIDI file player that used a trimmed. Sweet MIDI Player - A MIDI player for both Windows and Mac. Sweet MIDI Player is a MIDI audio player that can not only audition all types of MIDI files, but also modify MIDI files themselves. It can help you easily edit the control messages, transpose the music, change the tempo, mute desired MIDI channels and save the end results to disk.
This will install both the stand-alone and plug-in versions. On Windows XP (or later), choose the 'Install Bandstand for PC' icon and follow the on-screen prompts. You will be prompted to select the components that you want installed: Bandstand Standalone Application, VST Plugin, DXi Plugin, RTAS plugin, and Bandstand Library. The only component that wouldn't be applicable to PG Music software is the RTAS Plugin.
If you aren't sure, you can just install all components.You should download and install the latest Bandstand update available from the Native Instruments website. Band-in-a-Box ® for WindowsWe recommend using Bandstand as a VSTi Plugin with Band-in-a-Box ®. This will work if you have Band-in-a-Box ® 2006 or higher, which support VSTi. If you have Band-in-a-Box ® 2004 or 2005, you will need to use the DXi plugin. Here are the basic steps:.
In Band-in-a-Box ®, go to Opt. MIDI Driver Setup. Click the 'Use DXi Synth' checkbox or press the DXi Synth Settings button.
This will open the DirectX Window. In the top plugin slot, select 'NI Bandstand' if you need to use the DXi plugin. Otherwise (if you have Band-in-a-Box ® 2006 or higher), click the 'Add VSTi Plugin' item. You need to locate and open the BandstandVST.DLL file. This is located on your hard disk in Program FilesNative InstrumentsBandstandVSTPlugins.
The Bandstand VSTi and DXi plugin user interfaces are the same. You will not need to go through the process of locating the.dll file again, unless you reinstall Band-in-a-Box ®. Make sure that the item selected in the DirectX window is Bandstand. Note the brackets around 'VSTi'. You can now close the DirectX window and press OK in the MIDI Driver Setup dialog, and Band-in-a-Box ® will now play through Bandstand.
If you need to view the Bandstand user interface from now on, the best way to do this is to click the DXi Synth button in the main Band-in-a-Box ® toolbar.If you are having trouble getting Band-in-a-Box ® to play properly through Bandstand:. Make sure you have downloaded and installed the latest Bandstand update from the Native Instruments website. Check that you have it selected as a VSTi plugin rather than a DXi plugin. You should have ' Bandstand' selected, rather than 'NI Bandstand'. In our testing, Bandstand works better with PG Music software as a VSTi plugin.
Check that your computer meets the minimum system requirements for Bandstand, which includes a minimum of 512 MB RAM. We recommend 1 GB. If you have less RAM, patches may take too long to load and some instruments may drop out during playback. There may also be some stuttering. However, you may be able to get Bandstand to work acceptably with less memory with help from the next two points. If you have Band-in-a-Box ® 2006, check that you have Build 220 (or later) installed by going to Help About Band-in-a-Box ®. If you have Build 212 or earlier, to go to the Band-in-a-Box ® updates page on our site, and download the latest update patch available for version 2006.
In Build 220, we added some special purpose settings that help make Band-in-a-Box ® more compatible with Bandstand (these settings would also help with other software synths that have a large Program Change delay and use sample streaming from disk). If you have Band-in-a-Box ® 2007 or higher, you will automatically have the settings.In the Band-in-a-Box ® folder (usually C:/bb) you will find a folder called 'Bandstand Technical Notes'. For a 'quick fix', copy the file 'AsstSettings.ini' from the 'bbBandstand Technical Notes' folder to the main bb folder, then load Band-in-a-Box ® and see if it works better. However, it would be best for you to take a closer look at the three files in the Bandstand Technical Notes folder. One is a PDF file that details the use of Bandstand with Band-in-a-Box ®, and explains how you can tweak settings in the 'AsstSettings.ini file' to improve compatilibty for specific computers and situations.
AsstSettings.ini can be opened and modified with a simple text editor like Notepad. In Bandstand click on the Options button (the button with the checkmark near the top right-hand side) and enable the settings 'Ignore Program Changes after first note' and 'Ignore Mixer Settings after first Note'.
Also, experimenting with the DFD Buffer Size may help on some computers. If you have Band-in-a-Box ® 2006 or higher (which support ASIO) You may get better results if you use an ASIO audio driver with 'ASIO Always On' enabled. You can choose your audio driver type (MME or ASIO) in Opt. Preferences Audio. If your sound card doesn't have an ASIO driver, you may be able to download and use the third party program 'ASIO4ALL'. If you are using Bandstand as a DXi plugin and it doesn't seem to open correctly (if you can't see the user interface when you select it in the DirectX Window), press Play in Band-in-a-Box ® and it should then appear. If Bandstand opens but doesn't seem to respond to Band-in-a-Box ® (you don't see any activity in the Bandstand window even though Band-in-a-Box ® is playing), try clicking the 'new preset' button in the top toolbar in Bandstand.
This is the button directly to the right of the preset pull-down menu. You could also use Bandstand as a stand-alone synth along with Band-in-a-Box ®, provided you have installed virtual MIDI cables on your computer. However, Bandstand doesn't install these virtual cables so you would need to obtain them from a different source. You would open both Band-in-a-Box ® and Bandstand, and select the virtual MIDI cable as your output in the MIDI Driver Setup dialog.
You would need to ensure that Bandstand itself is properly configured by checking the settings in File Audio / MIDI Setup.If you are having trouble rendering files to wave:. You may experience note drop-outs or other problems when rendering songs to wave. This is because Bandstand has large samples which it streams from hard drive.
The rendering happens too fast, so some notes are missed. Band-in-a-Box ® has a special settings file that can be used to throttle the direct rendering (bbBandstand Technical NotesAsstSettings.ini). See the PDF manual in the BandStand Technical Notes folder for more information, or simply copy that file to the main bb folder. Alternatively, there is a way to throttle the rendering in Bandstand itself -. Band-in-a-Box ® for MacintoshYou can use Bandstand as a stand-alone application with Band-in-a-Box ® 12 or higher for OS X. Here are the basic steps.
You need to follow these steps in the order listed:. Open Band-in-a-Box ®. In Band-in-a-Box ®, go to the MIDI menu and click on Select MIDI Driver. Choose 'MacOS X CoreMIDI' and press OK.
In the 'Select Ports/Instruments' dialog, choose 'BIAB Virtual Output' for the Bass output port, then click on Set all ports to this. Open the Bandstand application. If you open Bandstand before Band-in-a-Box ®, Bandstand may not 'see' the BIAB Virtual MIDI Out. In Bandstand, go to the Setup menu Audio/MIDI Setup, and select the MIDI tab. Turn the 'BIAB Virtual Output' ON under the Input section. Turn the other items OFF.
Turn everything under the Output section to OFF.If you are still having trouble, in Bandstand go back to Setup Audio/MIDI Setup. In the Soundcard tab, make sure the correct audio device is selected. If using your built-in Mac sounds, this will be 'Built-in output'. Also, you may need to increase the latency setting by sliding it to the right. Start with it set all the way to the right.
Later, you can experiment by decreasing the latency until you start having playback problems. Click on the routing tab and make sure the correct output is selected. This may be 'Built-in output' if using the internal Mac sounds.In Bandstand click on the Options button (the button with the checkmark near the top right-hand side) and enable the settings 'Ignore Program Changes after first note' and 'Ignore Mixer Settings after first Note'.
Also, experimenting with the DFD Buffer Size may help on some computers. PowerTracks Pro Audio and RealBandYou can use the DXi plugin version of Bandstand with PowerTracks Pro Audio 9 and higher, or you can use the VSTi plugin (recommended) with PowerTracks Pro Audio 11 and higher, which support VSTi. Here are the basic steps:. To select the DXi plugin, go to Options MIDI Devices and place a checkmark in the 'Re-route MIDI playback to default DXi synth' box. Select 'NI Bandstand' as the synth plugin. All MIDI tracks will now be played through the Bandstand DXi synth. To select the VSTi plugin:.
First, click on the DXi Synth button in the main PowerTracks toolbar or click on one of the Edit DXi buttons for one of your tracks (to find this button, press the track Disclosure button, which is the little triangle in the Track info field). This will open the Directx/VSTi window. Select the the 'Add VSTi Plugin' item from the top plugin pull-down menu. You need to locate and open the BandstandVST.DLL file. This is located on your hard disk in Program FilesNative InstrumentsBandstandVSTPlugins. You will not need to do this again unless you reinstall PowerTracks.
Close the DirectX/VSTi window, go to Options MIDI Devices and place a checkmark in the 'Re-route MIDI playback to default DXi synth' box. Select ' Bandstand'as the synth plugin. Note the brackets arount 'vSTi'. Don't select 'NI Bandstand', which is the DXi version.
Note that you can choose your DXi/VSTi synths on a track-by-track basis rather than routing all MIDI playback to a single synth. On our PowerTracks Pro Audio FAQ page for details about how to do this.
To view the Bandstand interface, you can click the DXi button in the main PowerTracks toolbar or click on the Edit DXi button. This will open the DirectX/VSTi Window.If you are having trouble getting PowerTracks Pro Audio to play back properly through Bandstand. Make sure you have downloaded and installed the latest Bandstand update from the Native Instruments website. Check that you have it selected as a VSTi plugin rather than a DXi plugin.
You should have ' Bandstand' selected, rather than 'NI Bandstand'. In our testing, Bandstand works better with PG Music software as a VSTi plugin. Check that your computer meets the minimum system requirements for Bandstand, which includes a minimum of 512 MB RAM. We recommend 1 GB. If you have less RAM, patches may take too long to load and some instruments may drop out during playback.
There may also be some stuttering. If you have PowerTracks Pro Audio 10 or higher (which support ASIO) You may get better results if you use an ASIO audio driver with 'ASIO Always On' enabled. You can choose your audio driver type (MME or ASIO) in Options Preferences Audio. If your sound card doesn't have an ASIO driver, you may be able to download and use the third party program 'ASIO4ALL'. If you are using Bandstand as a DXi plugin and it doesn't seem to open correctly (if you can't see the user interface when you select it in the DirectX Window), press Play in PowerTracks and it should then appear.
If Bandstand opens but doesn't seem to respond to PowerTracks (you don't see any activity in the Bandstand window even though PowerTracks is playing), try clicking the 'new preset' button in the top toolbar in Bandstand. This is the button directly to the right of the preset pull-down menu. You could also use Bandstand as a stand-alone synth along with PowerTracks, provided you have installed virtual MIDI cables on your computer. However, Bandstand doesn't install these virtual cables so you would need to obtain them from a different source. You would open both PowerTracks and Bandstand, and select the virtual MIDI cable as your output in the MIDI Driver Setup dialog.
You would need to ensure that Bandstand itself is properly configured by checking the settings in File Audio / MIDI Setup.If you are having trouble rendering files to wave:You may experience note drop-outs or other problems when rendering songs to wave. This is because Bandstand has large samples which it streams from hard drive. The rendering happens too fast, so some notes are missed. While Band-in-a-Box ® has a special settings file that can be used to throttle the direct rendering, PowerTracks and RealBand do not have this file. However, you can still throttle rendering by pressing the 'direct-to-disc rendering' button in the Bandstand control panel.
Open the DirectX/VSTi window to display the Bandstand panel while the song plays. Press the little button to the left of the play button - see the screenshot below - so it lights up.
Now you should be able to render to wave properly.
Looking for a batch MIDI player with VSTi supportI'm actually looking for one for monitoring a batch of MIDI files.I'm getting tired with my old Yamaha SW1000XG, second hand Edirol Sound Canvas and Yamaha XG module.I think TTS-1 and NI Bandstand sound very 'MIDI'. '.Sure I can assign sounds in Sonar - but for quickly playing a bunch a MIDI files, that is not an option.' How much of a hurry are you in? I don't get why that's not an option. Oh well, that Is the option:-Open the MIDI file - Open it, don't import it.-Insert the Colossus GM set.-Select all the MIDI tracks.-Top Menu select TracksPropertyOutputs - In the drop down menu there, select Colossus.-Everything will be automatically set up, program changes et al.-Push play.Time involved after Colossus is inserted: maybe 5 seconds?Try that.Randy B.
NsaproductionsHi RandyYeah ok so ive inserted colossus. Opened the midi file. There is no GM set.In colossus there is a GM set subtitle but it is broken up into instruments and not as a set of instrument sounds. How do i -Insert the Colossus GM set before Selecting all the MIDI tracks.RegardsDaveI can use Kontakt or the GM sets in Colossus which are very decent,Hello again, Nsaproductions - You're the one who brought up the GM set in Colossus, as per the quote from you above.But the whole point of Colossus was that it's supposed to be a mega-huge, wonderful General MIDI set-I don't have it, but my understanding is that, as KVR Audio says about it, '.EastWest/Quantum Leap Colossus is a Kompakt based General MIDI (GM) compatible 32GB virtual instrument.' So it sounds like all you need to do is insert Colossus in a project, and you're good to go as far as GM MIDI files are concerned.
It's already in General MIDI mode, because that's what is is-an extra large GM instrument set.Randy B. 'So it sounds like all you need to do is insert Colossus in a project, and you're good to go as far as GM MIDI files are concerned. It's already in General MIDI mode, because that's what is is-an extra large GM instrument set.' The Problem is that Colossus is a VSTi and not a batch MIDI player.
It does have the GM set but you can only use these individually. So my Question still stands-Is there a MIDI player out there that you can play a host of midi files using PRO stock sounds ie from colossus, V.I one and so on,instead of the ones that come with TTS-1 and NI Bandstand.
Nsaproductions'So it sounds like all you need to do is insert Colossus in a project, and you're good to go as far as GM MIDI files are concerned. It's already in General MIDI mode, because that's what is is-an extra large GM instrument set.' The Problem is that Colossus is a VSTi and not a batch MIDI player. It does have the GM set but you can only use these individually.
So my Question still stands-Is there a MIDI player out there that you can play a host of midi files using PRO stock sounds ie from colossus, V.I one and so on,instead of the ones that come with TTS-1 and NI BandstandColossus is one kind of source, as you said. Midi player has to send midi data to it in order that it gives out sound, music etc.
Through sound card.as matter of fact, many midi player can suit it.for example, media player in windows can do the track, too.just turn to control panel, audio and game, open audi property, at midi player, drop down manu and choose your colossus. There are a few folks on the Kontakt forum that want the same thing. I am working on one but it's slow going. It's not hard, just time consuming. Not sure if this is the best way but-I am trying to build a multi instrument using the GM programs as a guide/ Like 1 is accoustic grand piano, 2 is a Bright accoustic piano, etc, etc Clavinet is 8, Just download a copy of the GM spec and try to duiplicate it. In my case, I don't need everything. So I am going with an abbreviated GM set to start.
I hope to at least get a classic jazzy Rock set going first. If that makes sense.I agree about TTS-1 and Bandstand-Not near as good as Kontakt sample wise.Hmmm- This probably didn't help you too much, sorry.
NsaproductionsI'm actually looking for one for monitoring a batch of MIDI files.I'm getting tired with my old Yamaha SW1000XG, second hand Edirol Sound Canvas and Yamaha XG module.I think TTS-1 and NI Bandstand sound very 'MIDI'. Stratman70'Goliath is suppose to be GM. According to their website'The EW Goliath sounds are variable - at their best they are outstanding, but don't expect a great human whistle for example (in fact - and this isn't a joke - a few samples reside in a folder that EW themselves named 'crap sounds', but they are a very small minority!) Overall the quality is good.Where you might come unstuck though is that I don't think there's any way to automatically map these GM sounds to a GM file. Although there is a folder structure with programs that conform to the GM spec, each sound you use will need to be loaded into Play first individually.As people have said, you have to manually load patches.
It doesn't take GM patch/bank commands. As for the quality, well it depends. While the recordings of the instruments tend to be universally good, there are multiple problems when it is applied to GM:1) Range. The patches cover, at most, the range of the actual instrument and often the whole range isn't sampled. GM doesn't restrict that, and so you'll find songs that use a wider range. Goliath doesn't sound these notes via stretching a sample, they are simply silent.2) Hard dynamic changes. Many patches contain multiple different velocity layers for realistic sound.
However in a number of cases the changes are very distinct and harsh. The timbre changes dramatically at certain levels. This can sound very bad in some GM songs and necessitate redoing the note velocities to make things work.3) Timber/voicing choices. Some instruments, the synths in particular, do not at all match the classic GM sounds. They aren't bad, but they are very different.
This leads to songs sounding 'wrong' when they are used since they were composed with a very different sound in mind.I like Goliath and try it with various GM pieces, but I often have to sub in something else. The overall best software GM set I've found is Native Instruments Bandstand. I don't believe it is made anymore, but you might still be able to get it. It's not perfect, but I find that it usually does a good job if nothing else will. The Papelmedia soundfont is another thing to look at.
Not perfect, but it can be useful in some cases.The only device I have that I can always count on to sound 'right' for a GM piece is my SD-20. Of course they stopped selling those too as near as I can tell.
With any other set, it involves sifting through various instruments and seeing which one works.As for Goliath things I can say for sure don't work are the electric guitars, generally the basses, and the synths/pads. The guitars do not play at all like GM songs expect and thus don't work well with them. The basses work sometimes, though you have to transpose things up an octave. The synths are just too different. Now the pianos and B3 organs, those work stellar. They sound awesome in anything I've tried.
The orchestral stuff I don't really know, I tend to use SO Platinum instead.SO, the point of all this: If you are looking at something to help fiddle with GM with in a DAW, Goliath is a good choice. Won't work as the one and only library, but it'll do well for many things. If you are looking for something to do MIDI while playing old games, Goliath isn't it, look at getting an X-Fi and buying the Synergi soundfont or something.
If you want something that gives the Sound Canvas sound, sorry, nothing I've found except the hardware can do that. The TTS-1 program that comes with Sonar is the closest I've heard in software, but it still isn't the same. Nsaproductions'So it sounds like all you need to do is insert Colossus in a project, and you're good to go as far as GM MIDI files are concerned.
It's already in General MIDI mode, because that's what is is-an extra large GM instrument set.' The Problem is that Colossus is a VSTi and not a batch MIDI player. It does have the GM set but you can only use these individually.
So my Question still stands-Is there a MIDI player out there that you can play a host of midi files using PRO stock sounds ie from colossus, V.I one and so on,instead of the ones that come with TTS-1 and NI BandstandThe Problem is that Colossus is a VSTi and not a batch MIDI player. It does have the GM set but you can only use these individuallyHi, Nsa - I guess I don't understand how Colossus is built. I thought it was a GM compatible multi-timbral sample collection and player, and as such, would do what you're wanting.I've never heard of anything referred to as a 'batch MIDI player'-and all soft synths are VSTis-so I don't understand what you meant by that.And you can only use the instruments individually-? What do you mean? Doesn't it have 16 separate outs that default to the 16 MIDI channels?-I thought that's how it's built, that's why I suggested you just choose all the MIDI tracks and with one click direct them to Colossus-. There would be no other setting up to be done, with the program changes in the MIDI track headers. It doesn't work like that?Randy B.
Hi rbowserYeah no colossus is just a vst. What i need is a GM instrument that has 16 outs like TTS-1.
(As you know most midi songs have only 16 tracks). Now instead of using the onboard sounds that TTS-1 has we were talking about being able to map expensive sounds through a player like TTS-1 or bandstand and have amazing results. I would like this as i burn alot of kareoke midi backing tracks for singers but the quality of sound isnt great. So now using my VST drums, bass, electric and accoustic guitars, strings, horns.etc etc VST Sounds to play the 16 MIDI tracks im sure the songs would sound a million times better!!
Nsaproductionshi rbowserYeah no colossus is just a vst. What i need is a GM instrument that has 16 outs like TTS-1. (As you know most midi songs have only 16 tracks). Now instead of using the onboard sounds that TTS-1 has we were talking about being able to map expensive sounds through a player like TTS-1 or bandstand and have amazing results.
I would like this as i burn alot of kareoke midi backing tracks for singers but the quality of sound isnt great. So now using my VST drums, bass, electric and accoustic guitars, strings, horns.etc etc VST Sounds to play the 16 MIDI tracks im sure the songs would sound a million times better!!Hi, - OK, but what's not making sense is when you say 'Colossus is just a VST.' -All soft synths are VSTs-VSTis actually. Many have 16 separate outs to do what you're asking. I've never used Colossus, so don't know how it works.
I thought it was mult-timbral with 16 outs, and GM,-and that's why I thought it would fit the bill. I'm surprised it won't do what you want.Randy B.
Rbowsernsaproductionshi rbowserYeah no colossus is just a vst. What i need is a GM instrument that has 16 outs like TTS-1. (As you know most midi songs have only 16 tracks). Now instead of using the onboard sounds that TTS-1 has we were talking about being able to map expensive sounds through a player like TTS-1 or bandstand and have amazing results.
I would like this as i burn alot of kareoke midi backing tracks for singers but the quality of sound isnt great. So now using my VST drums, bass, electric and accoustic guitars, strings, horns.etc etc VST Sounds to play the 16 MIDI tracks im sure the songs would sound a million times better!!Hi, - OK, but what's not making sense is when you say 'Colossus is just a VST.' -All soft synths are VSTs-VSTis actually. Many have 16 separate outs to do what you're asking. I've never used Colossus, so don't know how it works. I thought it was mult-timbral with 16 outs, and GM,-and that's why I thought it would fit the bill.
I'm surprised it won't do what you want.Randy B.RBThe reason it won't work is you have to set it up like TTS-1 For ex: In TTS1 Programs 1-8 are all keys from Piano to Clavinet. While 33 thru I don't know, say 39 are bass sounds. You can most certainly play a SMF thru Kontakt, but you will only get the instruments you insert.
Unless you insert and configure the full 128 Programs in GM-Then the drum notes-A GM synth like TTS-1 knows which file to play if the patch change is say, Bongo-No way Colossus or Kontakt would know that. You would have to insert a Bongo instrument and set it to the midi channel of the track that has the bongo on it or set up a midi program change. With aGM synth this is all done for you. But so far, no GM synth has had soundssamples even close to Kontakt or East west, etc With TTS-1, Bandstand, external Sound Canvas(I have a Roland SC88VL that I will never sell) all can be on Channel 10 nd the GM synth will play the instrument corresponding to the patch in the midi track. Many folks have not used GM synths. I have for 20 years.Now, I like Kontakt much better than a GM synth. I just would like to have GM set in Kontakt-For some older projects from 10-20 years ago.
I could play them without setting anything-Which I will someday:-). Nsaproductionsstratman70'Goliath is suppose to be GM. According to their website'The EW Goliath sounds are variable - at their best they are outstanding, but don't expect a great human whistle for example (in fact - and this isn't a joke - a few samples reside in a folder that EW themselves named 'crap sounds', but they are a very small minority!) Overall the quality is good.Where you might come unstuck though is that I don't think there's any way to automatically map these GM sounds to a GM file. Although there is a folder structure with programs that conform to the GM spec, each sound you use will need to be loaded into Play first individually.As people have said, you have to manually load patches. It doesn't take GM patch/bank commands. As for the quality, well it depends. While the recordings of the instruments tend to be universally good, there are multiple problems when it is applied to GM:1) Range.
The patches cover, at most, the range of the actual instrument and often the whole range isn't sampled. GM doesn't restrict that, and so you'll find songs that use a wider range. Goliath doesn't sound these notes via stretching a sample, they are simply silent.2) Hard dynamic changes. Many patches contain multiple different velocity layers for realistic sound. However in a number of cases the changes are very distinct and harsh.
Bandstand Midi Player
The timbre changes dramatically at certain levels. This can sound very bad in some GM songs and necessitate redoing the note velocities to make things work.3) Timber/voicing choices. Some instruments, the synths in particular, do not at all match the classic GM sounds. They aren't bad, but they are very different. This leads to songs sounding 'wrong' when they are used since they were composed with a very different sound in mind.I like Goliath and try it with various GM pieces, but I often have to sub in something else. The overall best software GM set I've found is Native Instruments Bandstand. I don't believe it is made anymore, but you might still be able to get it.
Bandstand Midi Player Torrent
It's not perfect, but I find that it usually does a good job if nothing else will. The Papelmedia soundfont is another thing to look at.
Not perfect, but it can be useful in some cases.The only device I have that I can always count on to sound 'right' for a GM piece is my SD-20. Of course they stopped selling those too as near as I can tell. With any other set, it involves sifting through various instruments and seeing which one works.As for Goliath things I can say for sure don't work are the electric guitars, generally the basses, and the synths/pads. The guitars do not play at all like GM songs expect and thus don't work well with them. The basses work sometimes, though you have to transpose things up an octave.
The synths are just too different. Now the pianos and B3 organs, those work stellar. They sound awesome in anything I've tried. The orchestral stuff I don't really know, I tend to use SO Platinum instead.SO, the point of all this: If you are looking at something to help fiddle with GM with in a DAW, Goliath is a good choice. Won't work as the one and only library, but it'll do well for many things.
If you are looking for something to do MIDI while playing old games, Goliath isn't it, look at getting an X-Fi and buying the Synergi soundfont or something. If you want something that gives the Sound Canvas sound, sorry, nothing I've found except the hardware can do that. The TTS-1 program that comes with Sonar is the closest I've heard in software, but it still isn't the same.Edited:Never mind-silly thought. Stratman70rbowsernsaproductionshi rbowserYeah no colossus is just a vst. What i need is a GM instrument that has 16 outs like TTS-1. (As you know most midi songs have only 16 tracks). Now instead of using the onboard sounds that TTS-1 has we were talking about being able to map expensive sounds through a player like TTS-1 or bandstand and have amazing results.
I would like this as i burn alot of kareoke midi backing tracks for singers but the quality of sound isnt great. So now using my VST drums, bass, electric and accoustic guitars, strings, horns.etc etc VST Sounds to play the 16 MIDI tracks im sure the songs would sound a million times better!!Hi, - OK, but what's not making sense is when you say 'Colossus is just a VST.' -All soft synths are VSTs-VSTis actually. Many have 16 separate outs to do what you're asking. I've never used Colossus, so don't know how it works.
I thought it was mult-timbral with 16 outs, and GM,-and that's why I thought it would fit the bill. I'm surprised it won't do what you want.Randy B.RBThe reason it won't work is you have to set it up like TTS-1 For ex: In TTS1 Programs 1-8 are all keys from Piano to Clavinet. While 33 thru I don't know, say 39 are bass sounds. You can most certainly play a SMF thru Kontakt, but you will only get the instruments you insert.
Unless you insert and configure the full 128 Programs in GM-Then the drum notes-A GM synth like TTS-1 knows which file to play if the patch change is say, Bongo-No way Colossus or Kontakt would know that. You would have to insert a Bongo instrument and set it to the midi channel of the track that has the bongo on it or set up a midi program change. With aGM synth this is all done for you. But so far, no GM synth has had soundssamples even close to Kontakt or East west, etc With TTS-1, Bandstand, external Sound Canvas(I have a Roland SC88VL that I will never sell) all can be on Channel 10 nd the GM synth will play the instrument corresponding to the patch in the midi track. Many folks have not used GM synths. I have for 20 years.Now, I like Kontakt much better than a GM synth. I just would like to have GM set in Kontakt-For some older projects from 10-20 years ago.
I could play them without setting anything-Which I will someday:-)Thanks, Stratman - My confusion is that I thought Colossus was a GM module, and so it would automatically respond to MIDI program change, instantly calling up the right instruments for the 16 MIDI channels. When I saw the ads for it, that's how I misinterpreted the description.
I thought it was a self contained sample player meant as a super cool big COLOSSAL GM module. My misunderstanding.Randy. Stratman70Yes that's what I thought Goliath was/is.
But the OP is saying it isn't-Hmmm I am, as I said, much happier with Kontakt than a GM. Just like the option for some old stuff-hence why I will build a set in Kontakt.I still don't get it. I Googled up more info on these two items, Goliath being the upgrade of Colossus. I see now that C.
Was designed to play in Kompakt, and G. Works with Play.Why does every mention of these programs say, 'General MIDI compatible'-? That phrase is meaningless unless it means what that phrase should mean, which is that it should be a snap to play GM MIDI files with these programs, without fussing with instrument set up. I have no idea why the ads say 'GM compatible' if these two libraries aren't.Hmmm.Randy B. Nsaproductionsto reader1You need to give me a more detailed instructions. I dont understand what you are talking about. Are you using Sonar 8.5?never.hehe, it's mere basic knowledge in midi software. Once you get in touch with sonar1, you can deduce it.not yahoo, but Yamaha.
Hehe, type a wrong word. Yamaha belong to GM standard.your batch midi player make many native english speakers puzzling.another hand you are focus on sonar. They are different concept and software.I guess you goal is at sonar, not at midi players.thus why I said.stratman70 present you with a plenty commentate. How to insert, how to define and how to use them.