® Version 2008.5 for Windows © Copyright PG Music Inc.1989-2008. All rights reserved.
PG Music Inc. License Agreement CAREFULLY READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS BEFORE COMPLETING THE INSTALLATION OF THIS SOFTWARE. USAGE OF THE SOFTWARE INDICATES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS. LICENSE A. The program may only be used on a single machine. B. You may transfer the program and license to another party if the other party agrees to accept the terms of this Agreement.
Table of Contents PG MUSIC INC. LICENSE AGREEMENT.............................................................................................................2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................................3 CHAPTER 1: WELCOME TO BAND-IN-A-BOX!.................................................................................................7 WHAT IS BAND-IN-A-BOX? ..................................
PLAYING/PAUSING/STOPPING SONGS .....................................................................................................................119 ADDITIONAL PATCHES ...........................................................................................................................................123 CHANGING VOLUME, PANNING, REVERB, CHORUS, BANK .....................................................................................126 EDIT FUNCTIONS ...............................................
CHAPTER 11: USER PROGRAMMABLE FUNCTIONS.................................................................................285 THE STYLEMAKER .................................................................................................................................................285 MAKING REALDRUMS STYLES ...............................................................................................................................322 THE HARMONY MAKER....................................................
PG MUSIC INC. ......................................................................................................................................................500 INDEX ......................................................................................................................................................................501 PG MUSIC REGISTRATION FORM ..................................................................................................................511 HOW TO REGISTER .......
Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box! Congratulations on your purchase of Band-in-a-Box, the favorite of musicians, students, and songwriters everywhere. Get ready to have fun! What is Band-in-a-Box? Band-in-a-Box is an intelligent automatic accompaniment program for your multimedia computer. You can hear and play along to many song ideas and go from “nothing” to “something” in a very short period of time with Band-ina-Box as your “on demand” backup band.
Installing Band-in-a-Box for Windows ® Minimum System Requirements - ® Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista. 256 MB of available RAM. Digital audio features require a Pentium-class system. Minimum 400 MB available hard drive space. More space is required for RealDrums, about 1 GB per set. RealTracks (included with Band-in-a-Box) requires 2.5 GB of free hard disk space. Band-in-a-Box is fully functional with or without RealTracks and RealDrums. A MIDI sound source is required.
The next dialog you encounter is the MIDI Driver Setup. If the driver that was selected is not the best choice, simply make an alternate selection from the MIDI Driver Setup dialog. Select a MIDI Output Driver to use for MIDI sound playback and optionally a MIDI Input Driver if you are using an external MIDI controller keyboard or guitar. If the setup is panned to mono, the program offers to change it to stereo. Perhaps the easiest way to configure Band-in-a-Box is to press the [Run Driver Wizard..
without requiring any external MIDI hardware. Most new software synthesizers are released as “DXi plug-ins,” so they will work in a standard way with many programs. Connecting Band-in-a-Box to the software synth as a plug-in provides several advantages over the previous method of connecting as a MIDI driver. The plug-in allows Band-ina-Box to merge/synch in any existing audio file (vocals etc.) with the synth output. You can also directly render your performance to a .WAV file using the DXi plug-in.
VST/VSTi plug-ins save their presets to disk files. VST/VSTi plug-ins contain a bank of presets in memory. You can switch between presets while editing, and each edited preset is remembered in the current bank. If you save the bank, it will save all the presets you have edited. You can save individual presets, or you can build a custom bank by loading individual preset files into different preset slots, and then save the new bank file. Select Preset Menu Select a preset.
Options: Remove VST Plug-In (from list) This feature allows the removal of unwanted plug-ins from the Band-in-a-Box VST/VSTi plug-in lists. Driver Latency Software synthesizers have some inherent latency, which is the delay between the time a note is played and it is processed by the computer. Older softsynths had noticeable latency, whereas a DXi synth using ASIO drivers has very little. This setting is used to synchronize the visual display (notation, chords, virtual piano etc.) with the sound you hear.
Alternate Patch Maps You can choose the patch map (instrument list) that matches your synthesizer keyboard or sound module. Original equipment sound cards or integrated sound chips are General MIDI (GM) compatible. We have made preset drum/patch files for many synthesizers and sound cards including the Roland VSC and VSC DXi. If your synth is not listed you should use the General MIDI Instrument Misc. patch kit (default).
Audio Setup Band-in-a-Box performs the audio setup automatically using the installed system audio components To restore or modify this set up click on the Preferences button and then select the [Audio] button to launch the Audio Settings dialog. To reset the default MME driver settings click on [Get from soundcard…] and Band-in-a-Box will analyze the sound card and enter the correct audio settings. If your computer has ASIO capability you can use these drivers instead of the default MME drivers.
3) If the ‘Audio Driver Type’ is already set to ASIO, but you later press the [Audio Drivers…] button in the Audio Settings. The Select one ASIO Driver list box lets you select an ASIO driver to use. You can only select one ASIO driver at a time. Once you have selected an ASIO driver, you will see the Input Port and Output Port list boxes filled with your driver’s input and output ports. By default, the first of each will be selected.
Resampler Quality combo lets you choose Fast, Good, Better, or Best. Fast is the quickest, but is the lowest of the four levels of quality. Best is the slowest (uses more CPU time), but the most transparent and accurate quality. The ASIO Driver’s Control Panel button launches a settings dialog specifically provided by your driver manufacturer. This usually lets you adjust the latency, and usually you will have a choice between buffer sizes in milliseconds. See the Understanding Latency section later below.
Chapter 2: QuickStart Creating music with Band-in-a-Box is as easy as 1-2-3! In this chapter, you’ll see how easy it is to get started with Band-in-a-Box. Step 1 – Typing in the Chords There are numerous ways of entering chords into Band-in-a-Box, we’ll discuss six of them: 1. Using the computer keyboard. 2. Playing directly on a MIDI controller keyboard. 3. Using the Chord Builder feature. 4. Importing chords from a MIDI file. 5.
the supported chord symbol display formats like Roman Numerals, Nashville Notation, Solfeggio, and Fixed Do (popular in Italy and other parts of Europe). Enter Chords Using a MIDI Controller Keyboard If you have a MIDI controller keyboard, you can use it to enter chords into Band-in-a-Box. Play a chord on your MIDI keyboard, and then type Ctrl+Enter. The chord will be entered into the chord sheet at the current highlight cell position. Another method allows you to choose alternate chords.
Import Chords from the Audio Chord Wizard The Audio Chord Wizard is the amazing feature that automatically figures out the chords from MP3 files (or other audio files like WAV, WMA, and audio CD etc.).
You can make adjustments for the start of bar 1 and individual bar lines and also mark sections of the song using part markers, and the sections will begin on a new line with a line space between so they are clearly seen. Then send the chords to Band-in-a-Box where you can make your own arrangement, tranpose it to your key, and print out your own lead sheet for the song with chords, melody, and lyrics.
Select a Set or genre from the left pane, and choose the specific style on the right pane. There are Memos and examples for each of the Styles. In addition to the selection categories, styles can be filtered by “feel” and “tempo.” They can also be selected by the number of the styles set. Method 2: To make a quick selection, go to the Styles menu and choose from among the 24 “built-in” generic styles. This list provides a convenient way to choose from among the most popular music genres.
Step 3 – Play your song! You’ve entered chords on the chord sheet and chosen a style. Now it’s time to play the song! You’ll need to tell Band-in-a-Box how long your song is, how many times to play it through, in what key, and how fast. Framing the Song To tell Band-in-a-Box where to start and end the song, take a look at the middle of the main screen. Locate the framing buttons. There are three of them, one each for Beginning of Chorus, End of Chorus, and Number of Choruses.
Chapter 3: Band-in-a-Box 2008.5 Welcome to Band-in-a-Box 2008.5! Over 80 new features! Band-in-a-Box 2008 introduced 50 cool new features, and now we’ve added 30 more with Band-in-a-Box 2008.5! Read on to discover the exciting new developments in Band-in-a-Box 2008, and then please keep on reading to see what’s been added in the free update to version 2008.5. There are some exciting new features in Band-in-a-Box.
make your own MultiStyles from scratch or by combining parts from existing styles into a MultiStyle. For example, if you have 10 favorite Country styles, you can quickly make them into a single MultiStyle that has 20 substyles available within the same song. Medley Maker Would you like to make a medley of various Band-in-a-Box songs (MGU) using Band-ina-Box? This is easily done with the new Medley Maker.
- We have “artist” support. This allows you to choose among different drummers playing the same style. For example, we have multiple artists playing the “JazzBrushes” style. You can set Band-in-a-Box to choose a different artist with each play, or always choose a specific artist. - You can now select RealDrums styles within the StylePicker.
Long style names appear on the main chord sheet screen beside the short style name You can also specify a long style name (up to 32 characters) when saving a style from the StyleMaker or Hybrid style, and the 32 character name will appear in the StylePicker and on screen. - RealDrums selection can now be made from the StylePicker. - Support for up to 20,000 entries in the StylePicker.
Press Ctrl+F2 or right click on a chord, and an Edit control allows you to see and edit the current chords. Change of Key Signature at any Bar. Previous versions of Band-in-a-Box were limited to one key, now you can have multiple keys in a song. The new key signature is shown on notation. The GUI has been enhanced. There is support for Windows “Themes.” Band-in-a-Box will use the current them that you have selected in Windows Control Panel to use for windows and dialogs.
Changes at any Bar (F5) can now specify a chorus. Previously, any changes at a bar would apply for every chorus. Now you can specify the change to happen for every chorus and/or a specific chorus. This applies to bar settings like tempo changes, style changes, RealDrums changes, patch changes, volume changes, and harmony changes. Other Features Find File.
Summary of New Features Added in Band-in-a-Box 2008.5 This version has over thirty-five improvements, primarily to the area of RealTracks. And we have forty-four new RealTracks available to add to the previous three released with Band-in-a-Box 2008. The new RealTracks include Acoustic and Electric Bass (8), Fiddle (1), Guitar Fingerpicking (5), Guitar Strumming (9), Metal Guitar comping (3), Electric Guitar (11), Resonator Guitar (2), Slide Guitar (2), Pedal Steel (4), and Sax (3).
“Crescendo” Soloing can be generated for some RealTracks that have the intensity of the solo building up with the flashiest part of the solos played as the solo builds. Musicality of the solo phrasing improved, phrasing much closer to human. RealTracks button added to Soloist dialog, with color coding to allow quick access to RealTracks. RealTracks folders now have descriptive names.
QuickStart Tutorial for the Version 2008/2008.5 New Features The full descriptions of the new features in version 2008/2008.5 of Band-in-a-Box are provided elsewhere. This tutorial is a QuickStart tour of the new features in this version of Band-in-a-Box. Note: It is assumed that you are somewhat familiar with the previous release of Band-in-a-Box. Explore Band-in-a-Box Version 2008/2008.5 First, we’ll take a quick tour of the new features in Band-in-a-Box.
You will notice that the word “Strings” at the top of the screen is lit up in green. This indicates that a RealTrack will play on the strings track, because it is stored in the =GeorgeP.STY. Press Play. You will then hear the song play. On the Strings part, you will hear a RealPedalSteel part. This is made from actual recordings of a top Nashville session pedal steel player.
The dialog allows you to assign a specific RealTracks instruments to a track in a song. It also displays the current RealTracks that are assigned to each track. RealTracks can either be assigned from the style, or from the song. The dialog allows you to assign the ones in the song. Tip: RealTracks in styles are assigned in the StyleMaker. Press the [Misc.] button or use the menu command Style | Misc. Settings to go to the Misc.
To use the dialog, first select the track that you want to assign. Then, select the RealTracks that you want in the list below it. Let’s explore the MultiStyles. MultiStyles are styles that have more than 2 substyles. Instead of just “a” and “b,” they can have a, b, c, d, etc. all the way to “x.” Most MultiStyles that we’ve made have 4 substyles, conforming to the following pop song format (a=verse, b=chorus, c=intro (pre-verse), d=break (interlude) Open up the song NR_CURR+.MGU. This loads NR_CURR+.STY.
Explore additional MultiStyles by visiting the StylePicker, looking in the category called “MultiStyles.” Note: The first time that you visit the StylePicker, it will rebuild the list of styles, this will take about 30 seconds. It will scan your BB folder to look for other styles that you have, so they can be included in the list automatically. Once that’s finished, you’ll see the StylePicker window.
Press [Make Medley NOW]. You’ll now be hearing the medley. Note that: - Style changes and tempo changes occur for each song. - There are automatic transitions between the songs, with outro and intro chords between them generated automatically. - Key signature changes are written to the notation. - Patch changes for the melody occur for each song because we have checked “Patch Changes” in the “Include with Songs” group box. - The medley doesn’t loop at the end (because we left the Loop box unchecked).
Choose a number of bars to fade out (press the [Fade] button to insert 6 bars of fade, or choose your own). Now the song will fade out at the end! Let’s visit the improved Audio Chord Wizard. The Audio Chord Wizard now has a full chord sheet, allowing you to see the whole song at once, and you can insert part markers to delineate the sections. This means that you can learn the chords of the song while also seeing the form of the song with the sections divided up.
We’ve explored the main screen, RealTracks, MultiStyles, Medley Maker, improved StylePicker, and Audio Chord Wizard. There are more details on all of these and other features in the following chapters. This is the end of the tutorial. Thanks for taking the time to read this chapter. Have fun! 38 Chapter 3: Band-in-a-Box 2008.
Chapter 4: The Main Screen Main Screen Overview Band-in-a-Box supports Windows themes. It will use the current theme that you have selected in the Windows Control Panel to use for windows and dialogs. The main screen gives direct access to the major features and program settings of Band-in-a-Box for ease and convenience during a session. There are five different areas on the main screen. 1→ 2→ 3→ 4→ 5→ The main screen of Band-in-a-Box with a new, blank song. 1.
Screen Layout The Chord Sheet area (or Notation Screen) can be placed at the top of the screen if desired by selecting the “Put Notation/Chords on Top” from the Window menu or by pressing Ctrl+T. (This is reversed by selecting the same option.) Display Options Go to Opt. | Preferences or click on the [Pref] button to open the Preferences dialog.
Color Schemes You can choose from several color sets using the 256-color palette in Windows. Choose from pre-made color schemes or make your own. To change the color scheme, select Opt. | Preferences from the main screen, and then click on the [Colors] button in the Preferences dialog to launch the Color Selection dialog. To select a pre-made color scheme, press the [Import..] button and choose from the list of schemes. Select [OK] to make the changes permanent. Use the [Export..
Synth Window / Piano Keyboard The Piano Keyboard: This keyboard displays the notes (in different colors) that are being played by all instruments on various parts of the piano keyboard during playback (except drums). The MIDI Thru/Soloist is also displayed on the piano keyboard. On the top row, guitar (green), melody (red), and soloist (pink) are displayed. On the bottom row, bass (brown), piano (blue), and strings (grey) are displayed.
Audio The Audio Playback settings dialog makes it easy to mute, solo, or change the volume of the audio track, similar to the control of the other instrument parts in Band-in-Box. Click on the “Audio” label onscreen to open this dialog. Harmony The Harmony area displays the current Melody and Thru Harmony. At the top right, you'll see the harmony boxes for the Melody and the Thru/Soloist. The [M] button is for Melody harmony--pressing the [M] button produces a list of harmonies you can choose from.
Pressing the [F] button produces a list of your favorites; the 50 most recently loaded harmonies. The [T] button is for Thru/Soloist harmony. Either your live part or the Soloist will be harmonized in real time--in this case using George Shearing Quintet type harmony (piano, vibes and guitar). Pressing the [F] button produces a list of your favorites (the 50 most recently loaded harmonies). Pressing the Shift+F11 keys toggles the Thru harmony on and off.
Use the [Prev.] button to immediately open the previous song in the same folder (in alphabetical order) without going through the usual file opening process. Use the [Next] button to instantly open the next song in the same folder (in alphabetical order) without going through the usual file opening process. The [Save] button saves the song to disk with the standard Windows Save As dialog. This saves the song, allowing you to choose or confirm the name and location for the file save.
The [Rec.] button is to record a song from the beginning. The music that you play in to the computer will then be stored on the Melody track. The “R” key is the keyboard equivalent. The [R. Aud] button launches the Record Audio dialog for live audio recording. You can make yourself sound like a 5 piece vocal group or a 16-voice choir! Record a vocal part, and add a 4 part audio harmony. Press the audio harmony button on screen to do this.
The Big Piano button launches a Big Piano window. It will display the notes to any track (except drums) as the music is playing. This launches the applet for your sound card mixer. Use the mixer to make global settings to your sound card's input and output options. Press the Guitar Chord button to launch the Generate Guitar Chord Solo dialog. The Ear Training button opens the Ear Training window that plays chord types and intervals for you to improve your playing-by-ear.
This button opens the Big Lyrics window for full screen “Karaoke-style” scrolling lyrics. Runs the Sequencer for control of multi-channel Melody or Soloist tracks. Each track can record up to 16 separate channels. The Conductor window allows live, real time QWERTY keyboard or MIDI control of the song as it is playing. The Audio VU meters display the input volume for audio recording and the output volume for audio playback.
The [Style] button launches the StylePicker window. This window offers detailed information about each style. The [F] favorites button opens a list of the last 150 styles chosen. The names of the last five songs are listed at the bottom of the File menu, and are numbered from 0 to 4. Note: Pressing Shift+F3 on your computer keyboard will bring up a list of the last 150 songs that you’ve loaded. The Song Title window allows you to enter the name of a song.
that you select is displayed. The number of choruses possible for a tune is 40. Click on the chorus button and choose how many choruses you require. As the song is playing the current chorus is displayed at in the chorus button. 2/3 shows that the second of three choruses is playing. If you change the number of choruses, Band-in-a-Box will offer to fill up or remove choruses of the Melody track to match the new number of choruses.
Chord Entry The basic way of entering a song into Band-in-a-Box is to type in the chords to the song on the chord sheet (worksheet). The arrow keys move the active (highlighted) cell around in the chord sheet. The Enter key advances to the next ½ bar. Chords can be entered from the QWERTY keyboard or an external MIDI keyboard (see Window | MIDI Chord Detection…). Chords are typed in using any of the supported chord symbol displays: 1. Standard chord symbols (e.g., C or Fm7 or Bb7 or Bb13#9/E). 2.
Section Paragraphs When you’re reading a book, a new section begins on a new line, with space between. Band-in-a-Box does that for chords too. Whenever a new section occurs (a part marker), we start the new section on a new line and draw a grey line above to clearly mark the new section. You’ll see each section on a new line so that the form of the song is easier to see. The feature is configurable and optional.
Chapter 5: Guided Tour of Band-in-a-Box With Band-in-a-Box you can arrange, record, save, and print your own song ideas. Just type in the chords to any song; choose a style and press [Play] to hear the “band” play a full arrangement. Then record a Melody - either MIDI or live audio – or have Band-in-a-Box write an original Melody for you.
The first time that you select the [Song] button Band-in-a-Box automatically writes the song list. The current folder name is displayed in the title bar, with the total # of songs displayed. The Song List generation has a [Cancel] button so that it can be interrupted. From then on, the SongPicker opens when the button is pressed and songs can be selected by title from the alphabetical list. Songs can be sorted by any of the column headings, like Song Title, File Name, Style, Tempo, etc.
subfolders to that. And then set the SongPicker to always open up in the c:\songs folder. Then you’ll have access to all of your songs easily. Choose a song from the Favorite Songs dialog. Open a song (or any media type) using the Open File dialog. Find a song using the Find song files… dialog. Copy the song list to the Windows clipboard where it can be pasted into any word processing program and printed. Search for song by keyword will find the search term if it is present in any field.
There are right mouse menu options on the Chord Sheet, such as “Play from Bar/Chorus #.” Chord Sheet Options You can set up the chord sheet with your own preferences. Go to Opt. | Preferences or choose the [Pref] toolbar button to open the Preferences, and click on the [Display] button to open the Display Options. In the Chord Sheet area of the Display Options you can pick a chord sheet font and the number of rows to display, or set an option to automatically adjust the number of rows to display.
Transpose Chord Sheet option The “Transpose” option is also found in the Display Options dialog. It is useful for non-concert pitch instruments like Tenor Saxophone. This option is also available on the Notation window. Play along with your MIDI Controller Keyboard If you have an external MIDI keyboard controller connected to your computer system, you can use the MIDI THRU features to play along with the program, including the Harmony feature.
The Wizard can also be used with a connected MIDI keyboard. The keyboard wizard always plays correct notes, and is a fun way to play along with Band-in-a-Box. The MIDI keyboard also sends volume information (unlike the QWERTY keyboard), so is a better choice if you have a MIDI keyboard connected. This feature is accessed with the [Transpose] button in the Preferences dialog. To turn on the Wizard to allow MIDI control, choose “Use Wizard for THRU part.
In the style change dialog (F5 and others) you can audition the style that you are considering. This dialog can also be opened with the [Bar Settings] button in the Song Settings dialog. Make a MultiStyle Song If you have a song, you can also use more than 2 substyles for that song. For example, let’s say we have a song that is a Bossa Nova and you want to have a Jazz Swing section.
The Band-in-a-Box Synth window controls instrument settings. Solo an Instrument Part While listening to Band-in-a-Box, you can easily solo (isolate) a certain part by holding the Control key and mouse clicking (left or right) on the instrument at the top of the screen. For example, if you want to hear only the Piano part, Control-Click on the Piano part. If you want to use hot keys for this, you can press Alt+2 (Mute-All) and then Alt+4 (Unmute Piano).
Looping of a section of the song is enabled by the “LoopSec” checkbox or with the keystroke NUMPAD 1. Open up the Loop Section Settings dialog by clicking the Loop button, or pressing NUMPAD 2. The Loop settings dialog will then display. Medley Maker Would you like to make a medley of various Band-in-a-Box songs (MGU) using Band-in-a-Box? This is easily done with the new Medley Maker. Inside the Medley Maker, simply select the songs that you want, and Band-in-aBox will make the medley for you.
Add Real Instruments – RealDrums and RealTracks Your songs, styles, and solos can use live audio tracks recorded by studio musicians. These live recordings can be substituted for the Band-in-a-Box tracks in the RealDrums Settings or RealTracks Settings dialogs. RealDrums There are several ways to hear RealDrums with new or existing Band-in-a-Box songs. We provide many styles that already have RealDrums. These styles can be identified by the style name beginning with a minus sign. For example “-ZZJAZZ.
With “Enable RealDrums” checked RealDrums may be used rather than MIDI. There is also a hot key combination to turn RealDrums on/off (Ctrl+Shift+F6). The hot keys also work while the song is playing. This will substitute RealDrums for MIDI styles. You can change the setting from 1 to 5. If set to 1, almost all MIDI drums will get substituted by RealDrums. If set to 5, only RealDrum styles that match the style perfectly will get substituted. Technical note: The text file a_pgmusic.
There are three ways that you can use RealTracks with Band-in-a-Box. 1. RealTracks in songs. The [Assign to Track] button in the RealTracks Settings dialog allows you to assign specific RealTracks instruments to a track in a song. It launches the Assign RealTracks to Track dialog, which also displays the current RealTracks that are assigned to each track. 2. RealStyles. These are Band-in-a-Box styles (.STY) that have at least one RealTrack. For example the style called “=GeorgeP.
Audio Chord Wizard (Chords from MP3) This feature analyzes a WAV, WMA, MP3, WMV, or CDA audio file and imports it to Band-in-a-Box. Using the Audio Chord Wizard is a great way to learn and practice popular songs as you play along and see the chords. There is a Chord Sheet window in the Audio Chord Wizard that shows the chords for the whole song on a single screen. This allows you to click on a bar on the chord sheet to jump to that area of the song.
This button opens the Harmony Maker, where you can customize Harmonists. You can search for a harmony by a keyword (i.e. typing in the first few letters of a harmony name) in either the Harmonies or Favorite Harmonies dialog. This button is to turn off any notes that are stuck on. (There shouldn’t be any.) Enter the number of the harmony you want to go to and press [Go To #]. Pressing either the [Fav] or the [F] button produces a list the 50 most recently loaded harmonies.
Note: Once the track is converted you should set the harmony to “None” or you will hear harmonies being applied to the harmony notes, i.e., “harmony-on-a-harmony.” Live Harmonies While Band-In-A-Box Is Stopped Normally, the Live Harmony feature is not active when Band-in-a-Box is stopped. But you can in fact use the Live Harmony even while a song is not playing. You need only to open the Harmony | Real Time MIDI Harmonies menu item.
When this dialog (shown above) is open, you can play a chord in the Left hand (below the split point set in the dialog), and the chord you play is and displayed in the dialog. Then, the notes that you play in the right hand will get harmonized according to this left-hand chord. If you set the Only Harmonize if Left hand chord held down you'll be able to control what notes get harmonized by holding down the chord when you want a note to be harmonized.
With the “Trade” feature, you can Trade 2’s, Trade 4’s, or Trade 8’s between your live playing and the Soloist. There is a dedicated function to vary the start times of notes on the Melody or Soloist tracks, with options for what notes to affect (harmony, chords, and amount of variance). Choose menu item Soloist | Edit Soloist Track | Utilities | Loosen Start Times.
2) Generate a Soloist and attach a Harmony such as “Big Band Brass” to create phenomenally quick and interesting Big Band Arrangements automatically. Generate a standard MIDI file or print them out (with PowerTracks Pro) for you and your friends. 3) Have the Soloist play a solo according to your accompaniment and arrangement (along with the other members of your Band-in-a-Box, of course!) 4) Trade 4’s in a call-response fashion with the Soloist (you solo for 4 bars, Band-in-a-Box solos for 4 bars, etc.
Standard Notation Window Band-in-a-Box Standard Notation window. The Standard Notation window can be used for notation display and the entry of chords and lyrics. Just type a chord name and it will be inserted at the current time line location (the black vertical stripe just under the tool bar.) Click on the instrument buttons to see the notation for the different parts: Bass, Drums, Piano, Guitar, Strings, and the Melody [M], or the Soloist [S]. Press the [Opt.
Band-in-a-Box Editable Notation window. This is the screen for step-entry of a melody or for editing existing parts. There are checkboxes for different note entry modes. The Note or Rest checkboxes determine whether a note or a rest will be inserted when the mouse is clicked. When the Mono checkbox is selected, the notation is entered as monophonic (one note only). This is useful for melodies that only have one note playing at a time.
Tip: The edits you make to Band-in-a-Box accompaniment parts will be overwritten when the [Play] button is pressed and the program generates a new arrangement. To hear the song play as edited, use the [Replay] button found next to the [Play] button. Edited songs can be permanently saved as a MIDI file with the [.MID] button. Staff Roll Notation Mode Click on the Staff Roll Notation button to go to Staff Roll Notation mode. Band-in-a-Box Staff Roll Notation window.
Track Selection Select the Track - Bass, Drums, Piano, Guitar, Strings, Melody, or Solo. It is most practical to edit the Melody and Solo tracks. The other tracks for the accompaniment are rewritten every time Band-in-a-Box rebuilds the song (every time you click the [Play] button). So if you edit a “backing track,” be sure to save as a MIDI file before rebuilding the song, or your edits will be lost. Keyboard Pitch Panel 1. 2. 3. 4.
2. Ctrl-drag a rectangle to toggle the selection of the notes in the rectangle. Graphic Event Panel Graphically display and edit non-note MIDI events. This panel only shows MIDI events specified in the Chan, View/Edit, and Controller Type controls. Zero-value events are drawn as small hollow squares, to make them easy to identify. When graphically inserting controller and pitch bend events the event density is adjustable from one event per 1 tick up to one event per 30 ticks.
View/Insert Channel If a track contains multiple channels, “All” will display MIDI events on all channels. Otherwise, select the channel that you need to see. If “All” is selected, new MIDI events are inserted on the Band-in-a-Box track's assigned channel. Except for perhaps multi-channel Guitar tracks, Band-in-a-Box plays all track events on the assigned track channel. Therefore, in almost all cases, the channel of track events does not matter.
Click or drag in the Chords Ruler to set the Insertion Point (useful if you wish to use the menu Edit/Paste (Ctrl+V) to paste into the Piano Roll). If a song is playing, a Chords Ruler click will stop playback. Double-click the Chords Ruler to start playback at the indicated bar. You can also set the Insertion Point and then tap Ctrl+G to start playback at the desired location. Notes can be selected with the Note Ruler.
Two graphic event mouse editing modes for editing graphic events: 1. Add Mode Add/subtract the same amount to all selected events. 2. Scale Mode Scale the selected events. Select one or more Graphic Events, and move the mouse over one of the events. Shift-drag vertically, and the events are scaled in a proportional fashion. Large-value events are scaled more than small-value events. This keeps the same shape of a gesture, but makes the gesture bigger or smaller.
Select All Note Events (Of Current Channel): (right-click the Graphic Event Panel or Graphic Event Ruler) If the “Chan” combo box is set to All, this item will select ALL GRAPHIC EVENTS of the CURRENT VIEW/EDIT TYPE on ALL CHANNELS. Otherwise, ALL GRAPHIC EVENTS of the CURRENT VIEW/EDIT TYPE are selected which match the CURRENT MIDI CHANNEL. For instance, you could select all channel 4 modulation events, then Delete, to easily remove all of those events from the track.
Re-Channel All Events to the Track Channel (Ch = xx) Re-channel all notes and graphic events (the entire track) to the MIDI Output channel assigned for this track. Sometimes this can come in handy to bring some “sanity” into Piano Roll editing. For instance, though the default Melody output channel might be channel 4, meaning that Band-in-a-Box transmits any events in the Melody track on channel 4. The actual events in the Melody track might be channel 1, or a mixture of several channels.
Lead Sheet Notation Window The Lead Sheet Notation window displays a full page of notation with lots of options such as a selectable number of staves per page, clefs to show, font size, margins, scroll-ahead notation, and lyrics. You can set it to a big font size and read the notation from across the room. Since the notation scrolls ahead, you can read ahead without waiting for a page turn.
bottom. For example, clicking on [M], and then on [P] and [B] with the Ctrl key held down would display and print the multi-stave staff system shown. Multiple tracks can also be printed like a score. Band-in-a-Box Lead Sheet Notation window displaying multiple parts. Multiple lines of Lyrics on Fake Sheet. If your song has 1st and 2nd endings or multiple verses of lyrics, multi-line lyrics can be displayed, so you’ll see all verses on the same fake sheet.
Open the Lead Sheet window and select the [Memo] button to launch the Lead Sheet Memo. Select any available font type, size, and style. Type text or copy and paste from other programs. The memo appears on the Lead Sheet and printout after the last line of notation. Lead Sheet Printing Click on the [Print] button to print your song as sheet music. There are print options for “# of copies to print” and “print specific page #.
The notation can also be copied as a bitmap to the Windows clipboard and then pasted into any application. This is done by clicking on the [Clipbd] button in the Print Preview screen. To print a specific page, press the [OK -Preview/Graphics] and [Print Page] buttons. Band-in-a-Box MultiTrack notation.
Multi-Channel Notation (Sequencer Mode) Normally you would want a single part on the Melody and Soloist tracks. But, since MIDI information can have separate channels, it is possible to store 16 separate parts on each of the Melody and Soloist parts. When one of these tracks has been set to “Multi (16)-Channel” we refer to this as sequencer mode.
Channel 3: Acoustic Piano (this is the patch name found on the track). 842 There are 842 events in the track; usually every note is an event. We have customized the piano track so that it can be heard (play=true), but not seen in notation (Show=false). There is a small button at the right of the track line that allows you to delete/ rechannel or merge the channel with another channel. You can also change the patch (instrument) for that track by using the instrument patch combo box.
Notice the various areas of the Guitar Window. - The top title bar states the key of the song is Cm, the Melody track is the track displayed, and the guitar is at the 8th position. - The fretboard is displayed with the highest notes of the guitar at the top, and the open position of the guitar on the left. - There are names for the open strings displayed on the left (E B G D A E). - There are fret positions marked at the bottom of the fretboard.
Guitar Fretboard To see the guitar neck displayed in DADGAD, choose Melody | Track Type | Guitar – DADGAD Tuning. When you open up the Guitar window and choose the Melody track, you’ll see the DADGAD tuning.
Any melody will now display in the chosen tuning. Similarly, you can set the Soloist track to an alternate guitar tuning with the Soloist | Track Type menu. The Guitar track (or Piano, Strings) is controlled by the style, and will only reflect the type of tuning stored in the style. Load in some alternate tuning styles included in Styles Set #44 – Requested 4 to see the chording on the guitar track in alternate tunings.
The examples above are for DADGAD tuning, but apply similarly to all 11 alternate tunings included. Some of the tunings are “Nashville High Strung.” These tuning have the lowest 3 strings tuned up an octave, to achieve a close sound. So a DADGAD High Strung tuning would have the lowest 3 strings “DAD” tuned up an octave. Listen to some style examples that use this tuning. One of the tutors uses 3 note Jazz voicings to simulate the famous BigBand chord guitar comping styles.
- The default settings for this feature can be customized by pressing the [Settings…] button. The Big Piano window displays a single track on the piano. The piano can be resized by dragging the bottom of the window to enlarge it vertically. The key of the song is displayed at the top. The range of the piano is set automatically (based on the actual notes in the track) to show the largest possible piano). The notes of the scale are circled on the piano, with the note names included.
Band-in-a-Box Jukebox options dialog. In the main screen, click on the [F] button to open the Favorite Songs list and make your own custom set lists for the Jukebox.
- Use the [Clear] button to blank the list. - Songs can be added or removed from the list with the [Insert], [Append], and [Delete] buttons. - Use the [Save Set..] button to save the list of selected songs. - The [Load Set] button loads a saved list of songs. - The [Juke..] button plays through the list of songs automatically, like a jukebox. This is a great feature for saving a list of current song projects, or for performing a live set with Band-in-a-Box accompaniment.
hear the MIDI file. When the file is saved, the extension will be MGX, allowing you to easily identify the BB songs that you have that contain entire MIDI files. Sequencer Mode There are 2 tracks in Band-in-a-Box to add your own recordings. These are the Melody and Soloist tracks. Normally you would want a single part on each of them. But, since MIDI information can have separate channels, it is possible to store 16 separate parts on each of the Melody and Soloist parts.
Choose Melodist settings in the Generate Chords and/or Melody dialog. Note: Band-in-a-Box also has a SoundTrack feature that allows you to generate music in the style you choose for any length of time you specify. Click on the SoundTrack toolbar button to launch this feature. Make Your Own Songs Now that you see how much fun it is to play music with Band-in-a-Box, you’ll be pleased to discover how easy it is to make songs of your own.
Choose a Key Click on the Key Select List and choose the key of your song instantly. It's easy to change the key by simply selecting another key from the list. Click on “YES” when the program asks, “OK to transpose WorkSheet” and Band-in-a-Box will automatically transpose the entire song into the chosen key. You can have multiple keys in a song by changing the key signature in the Edit Settings for bar dialog (F5 function key). The new key signature is shown on notation.
Use the arrows keys or the mouse to move the highlight cell to the destination bar where you want to paste the chords. Paste the copied section with press Ctrl+V command, or select the Edit | Paste menu item. The chords will then appear at the new location. Import Song Use the File | Import MGU Song menu command to easily import part or all of an existing Band-in-a-Box song to your current song, with options to specify source and destination range, type of information to import (chords, melody, lyrics, etc.
- Ending: Typically a 2 bar ending following all of the choruses. Note: We use the term “chorus” here as it is used in Jazz music. A chorus therefore means once through the entire form of the song. The typical length of a chorus is 32 bars. A song may have the form AABA where the A sections are verses and the B section is the Bridge. This entire form AABA is considered one chorus. Intro In Band-in-a-Box, you can select the beginning and ending bars of the chorus (see below).
Add variations in the Edit Settings for Current Bar dialog. Fade Out Song You can now quickly choose a fadeout ending in the Song Settings dialog. Just press the [Fade] button and Band-in-a-Box will fadeout the last “x” bars of the song (you can specify how many bars). Or customize the fadeout with precise values for each bar. Record a Melody Band-in-a-Box has two built-in sequencer tracks so you can record and edit your own melodies or solos.
A Sequencer Window dialog allows for easy editing of the channels and patches with commands for deleting and re-channeling. If you want a metronome to play while you are recording, you can select it in the Opt. | Preferences dialog. You can even have a visual metronome if you like. Press the [Rec] toolbar button to begin recording. This launches the Record Melody dialog box, which prompts you to set the position (bar and chorus) where you wish to start recording.
extra notes, vibrato, and other effects. Now you can have Band-in-a-Box do these automatically using the Embellisher. If you enable the Embellisher, any Melody will be embellished as it is played so that you hear a livelier and more realistic Melody - and it's different every time. The Embellisher button opens the Melody Embellisher dialog with many user options to control the embellishment settings. The Embellisher Presets allow you to choose a combination of common settings for the Embellisher quickly.
Viewing the Lyrics The big [L] button in the user configurable toolbar opens the Big Lyrics/Karaoke window. The font and colors are selectable, you can show or hide the chords, and words highlight as the music plays. Band-in-a-Box Big Lyrics window. Digital Audio Features There is a File | Open Audio command, to open WAV, WMA, MP3, WMV, or CD Audio files. Once opened, you can play the audio track along with a Band-in-a-Box song.
The Chord Sheet window in the Audio Chord Wizard shows the chords for the whole song on a single screen. This allows you to click on a bar on the chord sheet to jump to that area of the song. You can mark sections of the song using part markers, and the sections will begin on a new line with a line space between so they are clearly seen.
Once you have set the recording properties and tested the recording input levels, recording is easy. Simply tell Band-in-a-Box the place in the song where you want to start recording, whether or not you want to record the MIDI data along with your acoustic instrument, and press [Record]. If you choose to start recording from the beginning of the song, Band-in-a-Box will start with a lead-in count before the music starts playing. If you are starting from elsewhere in the song recording starts instantly.
Add Audio Effects You can add professional audio effects like reverb, echo, and compression by choosing a plug-in from the Audio menu (Audio | Plug-in). Band-in-a-Box comes with a large selection of high quality audio effects built-in, and DirectX plug-ins are supported.
The plug-ins apply audio effects or utilities such as compression to the already recorded audio part. A typical plugin dialog is shown. The [Preview] button will play a short sample of the processed track, and the Edit | Undo command will restore the original track if applied before another edit is performed.
Use the Batch feature to convert an entire folder of Band-in-a-Box songs to audio files. There is an option to name the resultant audio files based either on the original file name or the song title name.
Another option resets the DXi synth after each render. This insures that no audio (stuck notes etc.) from previous file is retained. Burn Your Own Audio-CD You can burn your Band-in-a-Box composition directly to an audio CD. The resulting CD will play in any standard CD player. To burn your CD: Press the [.WAV] button to open the Render to Audio File window. Then press the [Burn to Audio CD] button.
Built-in Miniburn program for burning audio CDs. Congratulations! You have completed the full process of song production in Band-in-a-Box. You can now produce a complete song in Band-in-a-Box with a melody, solo, and harmonies plus RealDrums and RealTracks and your own audio track with harmonies and professional effects. You can print out beautiful notation in a professional Jazz font, complete with chord symbols, lyrics and your own text markers and annotations.
Chapter 6: Band-in-a-Box PowerGuide This chapter is a guide to the advanced settings in Band-in-a-Box. When you’re ready to go beyond the basics to utilize the full potential of Band-in-a-Box, this is where to start to become a Band-in-a-Box power user. Descriptive Hints The pop-up hints make it “too easy” to become a power user. They are comprehensive fly-by hints that appear when you move over an item, including hints for the dialog boxes and various windows. Go to Opt.
The listing stays between sessions, so you can then take your time to explore all the files that Band-in-a-Box offers matching your find term. File Associations Go to the menu item File | File Utilities to associate the file types for Band-in-a-Box songs and styles in Windows. Once set, this means that you can double click on a song or style and Band-in-a-Box will open up with that song or style.
Custom File Selection Dialog The custom Open File dialog opens if you press Ctrl+Shift+F3 to load a song. You can make it the default dialog if you go to Opt. | Preferences and select “Use custom filename dialog” under the - Environment Options in the Preferences dialog. Then the [Open] button, or the menu command File | Open, or the F3 key will launch the custom Open File dialog.
Hold the Shift key as you click the [Open] button. This will launch the Favorite Folders dialog, allowing you to pick the folder. This saves you the time needed to navigate through the Explorer-style folder choice, which can be time consuming if you’re hopping back and forth between folders. Similarly, Shift-clicking on the [Save As] button will allow you to choose a favorite folder prior to seeing the Save As dialog.
Tip: To view a list of chords recognized by Band-in-a-Box refer to the Chord List topic in the Help file. To start typing in chords: - Go to the top (Bar 1) of the chord sheet. The [Home] key will go there. - Blank the Chord Sheet (if necessary) by clicking on the [New] button. This is the chord highlight cell. Chords will be entered wherever this is placed. You may move this around by cursor keys, the Enter key, or a mouse pointer click. The chord highlight bar moves 2 beats at a time (½ a bar).
In the Import Band-in-a-Box Song dialog, choose the range that you want to import (Import from Bar and # of bars), and the destination bar (Import to Bar). You can also choose which information to import, and the insert mode (Insert/Overwrite). Copy and Pasting Section of Chords Copying of sections or selections can be done using drag-and-drop, simply drag regions around the chord sheet to quickly rearrange your song. Hold down the Ctrl key for finer control about insert/overwrite etc.
Another way to copy chords is to launch the Copy Chords and/or melody dialog by pressing Alt+C. This allows you to copy chords/ melody/ soloist/ lyrics for a range of bars by entering the From and To locations and the number of bars to copy. Select the checkboxes for the items you want to include in the copy. Insert Bars at destination If selected prior to the Copy bars will be inserted onto the Chord Sheet at the destination chosen.
Previewing Chords This feature allows you to hear chords as you to type them in. After you type a chord name onto the Chord Sheet (or notation window), press the Shift+Enter keys. This enters the chord onto the chord sheet and then plays the chord for you, using the patches on the Piano part and Bass Part. You can also listen to a chord that has already been entered, by just pressing the Shift+Enter keys after moving to that bar with the chord.
Advanced Chord Entry and Editing Features “Nudge” Chords feature allows moving a range of chords by a number of bars/beats. For example, let’s say that you have entered a complete song chord progression, and you then realize that all of the chords starting at bar 23 are 1 beat too late (maybe due to a time signature change). You can move all of the chords 1 beat earlier, by setting the nudge at bar 23, beat 1, and duration of the nudge to -1 (minus 1) beats.
Part Markers and Substyles Part Markers Part Markers are placed on the chord sheet to indicate a new part of the song, to insert a substyle change, or to insert drum fills. They typically occur every 8 bars or so, but may be placed at the beginning of any bar. Double lines are drawn on the chord sheet at the bar before a part marker. Section Paragraphs When you’re reading a book, a new section begins on a new line, with space between. Band-in-a-Box does that for chords too.
Play song Loop selection Replay song Stop playback Pause (Hold) Play from any bar You can also use the Play menu commands or keystrokes. Lead-In Counts and Metronome These settings are made in the Preferences dialog. Click on the [Count-in/Met.] button to open the Count-in and Metronome Options. The default count-in is two bars, but there is an option to shorten it to a 1 bar lead-in. You can select any drum instrument for the count-in and choose different count-in rhythms (e.g.
Play Selected Area as a Loop Click on the [Loop] button, Shift-click on the [Play] button, or press F10 (Play Selected Area as Loop) and the program will play a selected region, and loop the selection. For example, you can select bars 10 and 11, and then press F10, and bars 10 and 11 will play looped. To use this function, select a region on the Chord Sheet. Choose Play | Play (loop) Highlighted Section (or press F10). The selected region will then play, and continues looping until STOP is pressed.
Presets are available to set the loop points to Introduction, First / Middle /Last Choruses or First & Middle, Middle & Last combinations, Ending, or All. As the different buttons are selected you will see the “Loop Range of Bars” settings update. Hot keys are also available for these, look in the Play menu under the Looping submenu. Loop Keystroke Commands (useful for live performance) NUMPAD 1 Toggle looping on/off. NUMPAD 2 Open Loop Section Settings dialog.
Additional Patches A “patch” is a MIDI instrument name. Examples of patches are Acoustic Bass, Electric Piano and Violin. Patches are used to emulate real instruments through MIDI playback. Band-in-a-Box defaults to using the standard bank of General MIDI patches used by all MIDI manufacturers, but many MIDI synthesizers and sound cards have additional patches available as alternatives to the basic GM list. These sounds are typically found on higher banks in memory.
To narrow your sound search you can do one or all of the following: - Open the patch list and select an instrument (i.e. Electric Bass, Acoustic Piano, etc.) - Click on the “Include Family” checkbox to have other offerings of similar type shown. (i.e., all bass family patches, all keyboard family patches, etc.) - Find a patch by keyword by clicking the [Search…] button and typing some letters that you know are in the name (e.g., “mando” will find your mandolin patch and any others containing “mando”).
This will open the Patches on Higher Banks dialog. Note: If a .PAT file has not been previously selected, a File Open dialog will appear. Select a .PAT file from the \bb directory to launch the Patches on Higher Banks dialog. Press the [Open INI/INS…] button to launch the BB File open dialog. Choose the file c:\pt\patches.INI. You’ll then see a menu of synths stored in the patches.INI file. Select one to convert. Create a name for the .PAT file (e.g. My Patch List.PAT) and save it to c:\bb.
General MIDI 2 support: If you're using the Roland VSC3, or a newer Sound Canvas then choose this GM2 support. Roland GS (older Modules): “Older” Sound Canvases (SC55/SC88) support GS, but not GM2. The good news is that they have the same patches available, just at different locations. So if you choose this option, Band-in-a-Box will find the patches at the “GS” locations instead of the “GM2” locations. If you have a newer GS module like the SC8820 that supports both GM2 and GS you should likely choose GM2.
Solo an Instrument Part While listening to Band-in-a-Box, you can easily solo (isolate) a certain part by holding the Ctrl key and mouse clicking (left or right) on the instrument at the top of the screen. For example, if you want to hear only the Piano part, Ctrl+click on the Piano part. If you want to use hot keys for this, you can press Alt+2 (Mute-All) and then Alt-+4 (Unmute Piano).
This allows you to copy Chords, Melody, Soloist, and Lyrics for a range of bars. If you're copying the Melody/Soloist you'll need to specify which chorus you wish to copy. If you want to extend the song by inserting a new section by copying an existing range of bars, then select the “Insert Bars at destination” checkbox to insert the extra bars. ”K” Quick Copy Method By simply typing “K” at a bar followed by the Enter key you can instantly copy the last 8 bars to the current position.
With this dialog, you have complete control over erasing a number of bars of chords and/or the Melody, Soloist, and Lyrics. If you're erasing the Melody, Soloist, or Lyrics you need to specify which chorus you wish to erase. Intro Bars – Auto Generate (or Remove) To generate an intro, press the [Intro] button (or choose the Edit | Intro Bars… menu item). The Generate Chords for Intro dialog opens. With a single press of a button you can auto-generate a 2, 4, or 8 bar intro for any song.
Repeats/codas/1st-2nd endings Most lead sheet-style printouts contain 1st/2nd endings, repeats, coda, tag, and sign markings. Band-in-a-Box now supports entry, display, and printout of song forms using these symbols. This command launches the Edit Repeats and Endings dialog where you can enter repeats, 1st and 2nd endings, DC, DS al coda and more.
For example, to have one bar (bar 13) of 5/4, select Edit | Set Time Signature… and toggle the 5/4 button. Then, type in the bar beginning and ending range in the space provided. (In this case, 13 and 1.) Transpose This submenu lets you transpose the entire song by a number of semitones, or specify a range to transpose with the Transpose From.. To.. command. To transpose part of a song, simply highlight the area you wish to transpose and select Transpose From.. To.. in the submenu.
If the “Summary” checkbox is selected, you’ll see an additional window that automatically displays a full summary of the song (title/tempo/patches used in the song), as well as other special features, such as substyle patch changes or harmonies. Auto-Generate Song Title allows you to generate a title for a song. There is also a button on the main screen for this. ‘Jazz Up’ The chords This will “Jazz Up” the chords by changing chords like C and Cmaj to 7th and 6th chords.
You can enter pedal bass with any chord. For example, if you are in the Key of F, and would like a pedal on a C note for 2 bars (on an Fm7 chord), then type in the settings as shown. This will play the rhythm specified – in this case the pattern will play on beat 2 and 4.
Settings for Current Bar The number of beats per bar, tempo changes, patch, style, and harmony changes can be made by selecting the Settings For Current Bar option on the Edit menu or by pressing F5 after you have selected a bar to edit. Settings Apply to Chorus # You can specify the changes you make to happen for every chorus and/or a specific chorus. This applies to bar settings like tempo changes, style changes, RealDrums changes, patch changes, volume changes, and harmony changes.
Example: A song in 4/4 time with a single bar of 6/4 time. The maximum # beats per bar is =4, so we’ll split the 6/4 bar into 2 bars, a 4/4 bar and a 2/4 bar. Insert a # beats per bar =2 at the beginning of the 2/4 bar, then restore the time signature to 4/4 by assigning # beats per bar =4 for the next bar. Tempo Change If you want to change the tempo at a certain bar of the song, then use this dialog box to type in the new tempo in beats per minute.
Individual styles have instrument patches assigned to them. “Send Patch changes with style change” allows the option to send those assigned patches at the current bar. If you would like to keep the patches that had been previously used in the song, deselect this option. Notation - Start a New Line You can set the notation to start a new line at any bar.
Here, you can choose from song settings such as chorus variations, chord embellishments, tag jumps, and endings, to make your song interesting and varied. The [S] button on the main screen will also bring up the Song Settings dialog. You can quickly choose a fadeout ending, just press the [Fade] button in Song Settings, and Band-in-a-Box will fadeout the last “x” bars of the song (you can specify how many bars). Or customize the fadeout with precise values for each bar.
Edit Chord Shortcuts file (shortcut.txt) Add your own chord shortcuts. Have you found a chord that Band-in-a-Box doesn't recognize? If so, you can make a text file called \bb\shortcut.txt for your own shortcuts. (Note that this file doesn't ship with Band-in-a-Box or it would overwrite your file!) The file \bb\pgshortc.txt is only for shortcuts supplied by PG Music. Refresh Chord Shortcuts… When you have saved your shortcuts file click on Refresh Chord Shortcuts… to start using them.
2. MultiStyles for specific song only. MultiStyles in Styles (“+” Styles) Styles can be made that have multiple substyles, and you can choose the various substyles using the letters a, b, c, d, etc. up to “x” for 24 substyles. Our naming convention for MultiStyles is to use a + sign at the end of the style name. For example, MyStyle+.STY would be a MultiStyle. You can use these substyles easily, just enter the StylePicker and find the category “Styles With MultiStyles,” or search for the “+” character.
MultiStyles in Songs If you have a song, you can also use more than 2 substyles for that song. For example, let’s say we have a song that is a Bossa Nova and you want to have a Jazz Swing section. Rather than finding a MultiStyle that has this exact combination, we can make one, in the song, for this song only as follows: Load a song like c:\bb\styles0\zzbossa.mg4 Right click on a bar number, and choose “Define c/d.” Then choose ZZJAZZ.STY from the StylePicker.
There are filters to display only styles of a certain “Feel” or “Tempo” or only the styles of a certain Styles Set number, as well as displaying the name of the Styles Set. To select this, open the StylePicker, and choose “Only Show Styles Set #.” When you pick Styles Set #, you can then see only that Styles Set listed, regardless of the category you are in. Styles can have different instruments (patches) for the “a” and “b” substyle.
Or use the [Best] button, which will show you RealDrums that match the feel of the currently selected style. Or force MIDI drums for this song. There is a new hot key combination to turn RealDrums on/off (Ctrl+Shift+F6). This also works while the song is playing. When you open the StylePicker window, it shows you which styles would work best in your song, highlighting all styles that have a similar tempo, genre, and feel to your song.
get loaded in if you have selected “Auto Change Melody/Soloist Patch.” So when you load in a “Chopin Piano Style” the Melody patch of your song will change to Piano. This allows the song to blend in with the new style. This will copy the Styles List to the clipboard so that it can then be printed as a text file from any word processor. If you have added new styles to Band-in-a-Box (or edited the BBW.LST file) the StylePicker’s [ReBuild] button will update the styles list.
1. 2. Name of the Style (8 characters maximum + .STY). You can type in the style name, or press the Choose button to pick a style name from the \bb folder. If the style doesn’t exist, a will appear in the style list beside the style name (as it does for the NONAME.STY). Press the [Choose] button and choose NEWONE.STY. Long Name of the style. This is a descriptive name that appears on the StyleMaker, and can be up to 32 characters. Enter “A Brand New Jazz Style.” 3. Memo and Examples.
to select which patch types will get sent out. Here we choose “Jazz Patches” for our NEWONE.STY We’re finished adding the NEWONE.STY. We could now continue adding new styles, and categories, for all of our new styles that are not in the list. But let’s see our added style on the StylePicker. Press the [OK – Save] button. This exits the dialog, returning to the StylePicker. The StylePicker will recommend rebuilding the style list for the added styles. Answer “Yes” to this.
You can also erase an .LS3 file from disk. Third party added styles are also stored in .LS3 files. Band-in-a-Box will load in all of the .LS3 files that are in the \bb folder (in alphabetical order), and append them to the StylePicker list. Technical Information about the BBW.LST file The Help topics “Select Style with information” and “LS3 files” have information about adding styles to the Styles List.
Here's a summary of the style data line (on the next 4 lines) ; stylename,soloist# to use (1-255),soloist type to use (see list on web),double time OK (false/true), ; time sign.
With “Enable RealDrums” checked RealDrums may be used rather than MIDI. There is also a hot key combination to turn RealDrums on/off (Ctrl+Shift+F6). The hot keys also work while the song is playing. This will substitute RealDrums for MIDI styles. You can change the setting from 1 to 5. If set to 1, almost all MIDI drums will get substituted by RealDrums. If set to 5, only RealDrum styles that match the style perfectly will get substituted. Technical note: The text file a_pgmusic.
In the RealDrums Settings dialog, there are now buttons that will, for a chosen RealDrums style, enable you to (1) play the RealDrums demo song, (2) show a menu of BB styles that would work with the Real Drum style and (3) play a song demo of various BB styles that work with the Real Drum style. INSTALL button. When this is pressed, WAV files will be created from any RealDrums styles that are still WMA files.
And when you have found a new favorite style, just change the alias. You can also load or save sets of “Alias” files and share them with others. To type in a style name that you don't have, use the [Custom...] button. 1. To create a new alias, click on an empty spot (i.e. no alias defined) in the alias list, or click on the alias you wish to edit if you wish to change an existing alias. 2. Press the [Choose …] button below the Original style box and select the style you wish to be replaced. 3.
Breaks - Rests, Shots, and Held Chords Breaks are points in a song when one or more of the instruments rests, plays a shot, or holds a chord. - Rests can specify any, some, or all instruments to rest at any bar. For example, you could rest all instruments except the bass for the first 4 bars, and then add the piano for 4 bars, and then add the entire band for the rest of the song. You may optionally disable the rests in the middle or final choruses (e.g.
Other settings for how chords play are made in the Edit menu. You can choose Edit | Settings (for This Song) to open the Song Settings dialog and set the rests (breaks) to happen only in the first, middle, or last choruses. There are also settings to allow pushes, pedal bass, and chord embellishment. Pushes ”Pushes” (also called anticipations) are chords that are played before the beat.
There is always a part marker at bar 1 so that Band-in-a-Box knows which substyle to begin with. The song continues to play in one substyle until it encounters a new part marker. The substyle will change automatically on second choruses when the “Vary Style in Middle Choruses” song setting is selected. Placing Part Markers - Move the highlight cell to the bar where you want to place the part market. Then press the P key on the computer keyboard.
With the Section Paragraphs feature you’ll see each section on a new line so that the form of the lead sheet is easier to see. The feature is configurable and optional with the “New line for every section (part marker)” setting in the Display Options dialog (Opt. | Preferences [Display] button). Song Settings Dialog The [S] button on the main screen will bring up the Song Settings dialog. The keystrokes Ctrl+N key or the Edit | Settings (for This Song)… menu command also brings up this window.
These are additional song settings that are saved with the song. Vary Style in Middle Choruses If set to “Yes,” the song will play in substyle “b” throughout the Middle Choruses. The Middle Choruses are considered all choruses except the first and last ones. For example, in the Jazz Swing Style, since the “b” substyle is Swing, all of the middle choruses will have swing bass. (Whereas the “a” substyle is playing half notes on the bass.
Allow Embellishment of Chords The Jazz styles include embellishment of chords. This means that if you type a C7 chord, the piano part may play a C13 or a C7b9. This makes the arrangement sound more authentic, as this is a common practice in Jazz playing. It also means that you don't have to worry about inputting these types of extensions into your arrangements, since they will turn up automatically if this feature is enabled.
Allow Any Slides If you want the slides to occur, then set this to YES. Humanize Slides If set to YES, the slides will be humanized to slide the track a different amount for each note. The amount varies from 0 ticks (none) to the slide setting for the instrument. - Press the [Default] button to fill the tracks with default slide values. - Press the [Zeros] button to 'zero-out' the slide values for all tracks. - Press the [Update] button to affect your changes and hear the result instantly.
b) Press the [Fill w/Patches] button. This will fill the patch number boxes with the current patch settings showing on your main screen instrument panel. Use the checkboxes to choose which instruments you would like to save and whether you would like to save the Melody and Thru harmony assignments and the Soloist selected to play on the song. You can also save the instruments as “On” or “Off” for each song. For example, you could have a song with no piano part.
Saving MIDI and Karaoke Files Your Band-in-a-Box songs can be saved as Type 0 and Type 1 MIDI files as well as Karaoke files and General MIDI lyrics. Click on the [.MID] button to launch the dialog.
Select the type of MIDI file you want to save in the dropdown “MIDI File type” combo box. By default, Band-in-a-Box writes Type 1 multiple track Standard MIDI Files. You can also save Type 0 MIDI files, they have all of the parts on a single track and are used by many hardware modules and other devices that play MIDI files because they are simpler to play (since they only have 1 track). Karaoke files (.
For example, at bar 3, there is an “A, Chorus 1” marker, to indicate a part marker “a” substyle and chorus 1. Text markers are also read in from MIDI files, and displayed as Section Markers on the Notation. Include 2 bar lead-in in MIDI file If you don't want to create a MIDI file containing the first 2 bars of the 1—2—1-2-3-4 count-in you can select this option. If there is a Melody pickup, then the 2 bar lead-in will remain in the file.
Set range of bars for MIDI files. When making a MIDI file, you can select a range of bars to be included. Highlight any range of bars, and the MIDI file will be made for just that range. For example, you could select Chorus #2 if that is the chorus that you want. The resultant MIDI file will be made from the selected range. Alternatively, without selecting a range on the chord sheet, you can make a MIDI file for a partial range by pressing the MIDI file button, and then the “Set Range” button.
Save Options [File on Disk] saves a MIDI file to your hard drive or floppy disk. You can then load the MIDI file into your sequencer for further editing. [Clipboard] copies the MIDI file to the Windows Clipboard as a Standard MIDI File. This feature allows clipboard enabled programs to Edit | Paste the Band-in-a-Box MIDI file directly into the program. For example, you can clipboard-paste Band-in-a-Box MIDI data to PowerTracks Pro Audio, CakeWalk, Musicator, etc.
Click on the [Vocalist] button if you have such a device connected to your MIDI system. Band-in-a-Box will then send it the appropriate chord information automatically as your song is playing (e.g., root position triads). The Medley Maker Would you like Band-in-a-Box to make a medley of various Band-in-a-Box songs (MGU)? This is easily done with the new Medley Maker. Inside the Medley Maker, simply select the songs that you want, and Band-in-a-Box will make the medley for you.
To make a medley, - add songs by pressing the [Append] or [Insert] button. - remove songs using [Delete]. - change the order of the songs using [Move Up], [Move Down]. - for any song, customize using the “Settings for this song” group box, including changing the style, tempo, key, start bar, # of bars, and # of transition bars. Press [Update] after customizing to see your changes in the medley list. - choose the type of information to include with your medley (styles, key signature changes, lyrics, etc.
Harmony Settings: Set the Change Harmony box to true/enabled if you would like harmonies in a given number range to be randomly assigned for use with the Melody and Soloist/Thru tracks (if applicable to the song). Generate Solos: Set this option to “On” to permit the Soloist to play a Solo over all the songs selected for Jukebox Playback. 1. Change to this directory by loading/opening a song from the c:\bb\solodemo directory. 2. Instead of playing the song you have loaded, press the [Juke] button. 3.
Check “Loop Jukebox at end” for continuous jukebox play rather than stopping at the end of the list. Change Directory: You can change the directory before starting the Juke Box with the [Change Directory] button. You can also type a folder name directly, instead of using the folder dialog. Favorite Songs The Favorite Songs window is accessed by the [F] button, found on the main screen beside the [Song] button.
The Conductor is launched with the Conductor button on the toolbar, or the tilde (~) hot key, or menu option Window | Conductor Window. You must enable the QWERTY keys to be active for the Conductor during playback. This is done by selecting the “Enable Control by QWERTY keys” checkbox on the Conductor window. If you want to control the Conductor using the MIDI keyboard, you need to enable this by selecting the checkbox “Enable control by MIDI keyboard.
Bb1 Turn MIDI Conductor ON B1 Turn MIDI Conductor ON only as note is held down Here are the various functions available using the Conductor. The MIDI key and QWERTY hot key are shown.
D6 Audio Mute F6 to D7 Jump to Sections 1-10 of the song 1-9 and 0 Eb7 Loop Current Chorus a E7 Loop Current Section s F7 Loop Current Bar z F#7 Loop Current 4 Bars x G7 Loop current Part c Ab7 Looping ON, previous setting v A7 Looping OFF b Bb7 Go Back 1 Chorus Ctrl a B7 Go Back 1 Section Ctrl s C8 Go Back 1 Screen Ctrl d Db8 Go Back 1 Bar Ctrl z D8 Go Back 4 Bars Ctrl x Eb8 Go Back 1 Part marker Ctrl c E8 Go Ahead 1 Chorus Shift A F8 Go Ahead 1 Section Shif
The section numbers are saved with the song. Once you have defined the sections, you can jump to a certain section of the song as the song is playing, simply by: 1. Pressing the 1-9 or 0 key on the QWERTY keyboard or, 2. Opening the Conductor window (~ hot key) and clicking on the section button or, 3. Pressing MIDI keys 77-86 (F6 to D7) corresponding to sections 1-10. Mode (when to do the action). By pressing a QWERTY hot key prior to an action, you can control when the action will take place.
Note: Pressing the Y sets the mode to do the action at the end of the current chorus These actions can also be done with the MIDI keyboard. See the MIDI keyboard mapping diagram for details. Example using the MIDI keyboard. Assume Charlie is a piano player who uses his MIDI keyboard with Band-ina-Box, and would like to play his keyboard, but also use it to control Band-in-a-Box. He sets the conductor to allow his MIDI keyboard lowest notes A/Bb/B to turn the Conductor mode OFF/ON/Toggled-when held.
Chapter 7: Notation and Printing Band-in-a-Box offers a variety of notation and printing features, both for viewing parts on-screen as they play and for printing them as sheet music. To view the notation, open the Notation window by pressing the notation button on the main screen. Close the Notation window by pressing the notation button again. Band-in-a-Box Notation screen displaying the melody track in Standard Notation mode.
Note / Rest checkboxes These determine whether a Note or a Rest will be inserted when the mouse is clicked. Mono Mode When this is selected, the notation is entered as monophonic (one note only) to avoid extra notes in a single note melody line. Clean Notation The Clean Notation Mode cleans up the notation by eliminating display of redundant grace notes and glitches for easier reading.
- As the notation plays, the notes that are sounding are highlighted in red. This helps with sight reading or following the music. You can set the notation to scroll either 1 or 2 bars ahead of the music without interfering with your view of the current notation. Handles Jazz eighth notes and triplet figures correctly. Automatic options such as auto durations, clean notation, mono display, minimize rests, hard rests, and engraver spacing produce very musical and readable notation.
Band-in-a-Box Editable Notation window. This is the screen for step-entry of a melody or for editing existing parts. Notice the grid of vertical lines, which sub-divide each beat. These lines indicate where the notes will be placed according to the resolution of the song. When mousing over notes in this window, summary information about the note is displayed (pitch/channel/velocity/duration). To enable this feature, click on the [More..
Setting the Treble Clef Resolution for this beat to 5 allows a group of five notes to be placed on one beat. Tip: Although you can edit any track (e.g., Bass track), your edits to Band-in-a-Box instrument parts will be lost if you press [Play] and the song arrangement is regenerated. To save edits to accompaniment parts, save your song as a MIDI file for export. Entering Notes To insert a new note on the staff move the mouse to the location that you want.
will show up in blue in the editable notation window and can be removed by holding the [DEL] key and clicking on the rest. Moving a note in time. If you want to change the start time of a note, drag the note with the left mouse button to the new location. This is a simple way to move the note. Alternatively, you could edit the note numerically with the right mouse button. Changing the pitch of a note.
Select a notation symbol from those listed and the Notation Event dialog will open. In this dialog you can further define the event and its precise location, then press [OK - Insert Event] to insert it into the notation. Use the [OK Remove Event] to delete an existing event that is no longer needed. The Event Type list box lets you choose the event type (slur, decrescendo, etc.). The Length of Event field determines the length of a slur, crescendo, or decrescendo.
Cleanup Orphaned Notation Controller Events This command will remove notation symbol events (such as staccato) that are no longer close enough to a note to display properly. Chord height adjustment Use this to adjust the height of a certain chord by adjusting the “Offset:” value in the Notation Event dialog. Note that a positive value moves the chord symbol lower, and vice versa. Modes Clicking on another notation mode will change to that screen while staying at the same location in the song.
Staff Roll Notation Mode Click on the Staff Roll notation mode button to enter the Staff Roll mode. This mode is similar to the Editable Notation Mode, except that the beats begin right on the bar line. You can see the duration of the note visually represented by a horizontal blue line and the note’s velocity displayed as a vertical blue line. Tip: If you can't see these lines, press the [Opt.] button to check that “Show Note Durations, Show Velocity Lines,” and “Show Bar/Beat Lines” options are enabled.
Notation Window Options Press the [Opt.] button in a notation window to bring up the Notation Window Options dialog box: Track Type Normally you'd leave the track type set to Single Channel, but you can also set it to Multi-Channel, Guitar, or Piano. Multi (16) All MIDI channel assignments are preserved and output on playback. This would be useful for -Channel: importing an entire MIDI file, and playing it from the Melody channel using a silent style.
Snap to grid lines If the Snap To Grid Lines checkbox is checked, the inserted note will be lined up with the closest grid line. This is similar to the way a graphics or typesetting program aligns elements accurately on a page. This means that you don't have to click exactly on the beat to have the note inserted precisely on the beat. Scroll Ahead The Notation window can be set to scroll 1 or 2 bars ahead of the music without interfering with your view of the current notation.
Note Names There is an option to display note names in the center of the note head. You can display absolute note names (A, Bb etc.) or you can display numbers relative to the key or the current chord. This is helpful for learning to read music. Combined with the ability to display large font sizes, this achieves the big note look common to “EZ-2-Play” music books. Channel numbers can also be displayed on the notation. When editing notes, it is often helpful to see the channel number of each note.
Jazz Chord Symbol Graphics (circles, triangles) Jazz and Pop music often use certain non-alphabetic symbols for chord types. These include a delta (triangle) for major chords, a circle for diminished, and a circle with a slash for half-diminished. Also, tensions like b9 and b13 are stacked vertically and contained in brackets. You can now select this option, and see these symbols for display/printout on the Chord Sheet, Notation, and Lead Sheet windows.
Tab When set, the Guitar and Bass parts will print tablature notation. Show fret #s on chord diagrams This will display the fret numbers for each string on the guitar chord diagrams. Load notation layout w/songs When this box is checked your Notation Option settings will be saved with the song and restored the next time you load the song. Show Key Signature If turned off, you won't have the key signature box displayed on the Notation Screen. This will save some space on the screen.
Enharmonics for passing tones are based on chords if “Use Chord Scale Enharmonics” is set to true. For example, on an F#7 chord in the key of Eb, the Ab note is part of the F#7 scale (as a G#, the 2nd of the scale), but is also part of the Eb key of the song. If you want to display based on the chord scale, setting “Use chord scale enharmonics” will display the note as a G# instead of an Ab.
Bar Number Font and % Select any installed font for the bar numbers and adjust its size in a percentage range from 10% to 1000%. These settings affect the notation, lead sheet, and printout. Display Font Size % To select the notation font size for display, enter the Display Font Size as a percentage, either more or less than 100%. The same setting is available in the Lead Sheet window and the Print dialog. Chord Vertical Position This controls how high the chords will be written above the staff.
[More] button The [More..] button opens the Other Notation Options dialog. Inserted Note Defaults These settings determine the default values for notes that you enter manually. Duration % Notes are not always played for their full duration. If a whole note is inserted with a duration of 80%, the note would play for 80% of 4 beats = 3.2 beats. Velocity The loudest possible note has a velocity of 127; a velocity of 0 is silent. Channel Assign the MIDI channel of the inserted notes.
Glitch Duration in MS and Glitch Velocity When set properly, “Glitches” will not be shown on the notation. Any note less than a certain length of time or less than a certain velocity can be filtered out. Line Thickness Settings These settings allow you to control the thickness of various line elements of the notation. For example, if you set the Bar Line width to 200%, the bar lines will be twice as wide, and easier to see. This affects display and printout.
- Right click on the track at the point that you want to enter the section text. Answer YES to the question “Would you like to enter Section Text?” This launches the Section Text Event dialog box that allows you to type in the text. You can set the Text Event Type to “Boxed” or “Regular.” Scrub Mode on Notation Scrub mode allows you to move the mouse over a group of notes and hear them playing. To enable the scrub mode, press the Scrub button in the Notation window toolbar.
As the notation scrolls ahead, you can read ahead without waiting for a page turn. During playback, red rectangles highlight the current bar. If the bar is empty (or in Fake Sheet mode), the Lead Sheet will draw the staff lines and bar lines in red. The Lead Sheet is also useful as a kind of “Print Preview” feature, as it offers you the ability to correlate the onscreen notation to a printout. You can move around the Lead Sheet window in various ways.
Lead Sheet window showing multiple parts. Lead Sheet Options Dialog Pressing the [Opt.] button in the Lead Sheet window or the [Leadsheet] button in the Preferences dialog launches the Lead Sheet Options dialog. The settings in this dialog are applicable to the Lead Sheet window only. If you want to set options that are shared by the Lead Sheet window and the Notation window, press the [Notation Options…] button.
Fake Sheet displays multiple lines of lyrics shows lyrics for 1st and 2nd endings or multiple choruses stacked as multiple lines on the fake sheet. Fakesheet bars/line You can set a custom number of bars to display on each row of the fake sheet. For example, enter “4,6,4” in the Lead Sheet Window options and the program will use 4 bars for the first row, 6 for the second, and 4 for the rest. Fakesheet include ending bars Fakesheets can optionally include the 2-bar song ending.
You can control the volume of the selected harmony voice relative to the other voices in the harmony. The Play Volume of harmony voice setting can be set to: - Normal Harmony plays as normal. - Solo Only the selected voice will play. - 50% Solo Selected voice is much louder than other voices. - Quiet Selected Voice is much quieter than other voices. - Muted Selected Voice is muted. These settings are useful to sight-read along on harmonies, and learn to hear inner voices of a harmony.
Load in the song c:\bb\ Tutorial - BB 2005\Listen Multi-line lyrics Demo.MGU. Open the Lead Sheet and select “Fake Sheet Mode.” This song has a 1st/2nd ending entered, with separate lyrics for each ending. Multiple lines of lyrics will also appear if there are lyrics in multiple verses (choruses). In the Notation Window Options, “Lyric Position” allows you to vertically position the height of the lyrics. Lead Sheet Memo You can enter a memo to add to the Lead Sheet printout.
Press the [Choose Font] button to select the font you would like for the memo. A text block will be appended to the Lead Sheet window and printout. This could be song lyrics that you want appended to the end, multiple verses of lyrics, or any other text. Harmony Notation Display Harmonies can be displayed on the Lead Sheet window (or printed) with separate notation tracks for each harmony voice. View each harmony on a separate track, or view/print a single harmony voice.
Four-part harmony on four separate staves. Press the [Print] button to print out “Voice 2.” If needed, press the notation “Transpose Options” to first visually transpose the instrument to Eb for an “Alto Sax” chart. Multi-Channel Notation (Sequencer Mode) Normally you would want a single part on the Melody and Soloist tracks. But, since MIDI information can have separate channels, it is possible to store 16 separate parts on each of the Melody and Soloist parts.
Note-based Lyrics Note-based lyrics offer accurate placement of lyrics by placing a word under each note. As you enter the lyrics, the note is highlighted. Pressing the Tab or Enter key moves to the next note. Note-based lyrics are saved with the MIDI file, so you can use them in your other MIDI programs. You can enter note-based lyrics by pressing Ctrl+L keys or pressing the [L] button on the Notation toolbar. You will see [Line] and [Para] buttons.
From here, you can Edit lyrics, Insert new lyrics, Append lyrics to the end of the track, or Delete lyrics. A single lyric event can be 128 characters. The Lyrics Menu The complete list of Lyrics functions is found in the Lyrics menu. Enter Lyrics at current bar - Big Lyrics Window - Lyric Document Window - Copy Lyrics to Clipboard - Copy 1st chorus Lyrics to whole song - Erase all Lyrics - Opens the Lyric entry box at the current location of the timeline or highlight cell.
Edit Lyrics as Event List - Opens the Edit Lyrics dialog with Edit, Insert, Append, and Delete functions. Line-based Lyrics opens a submenu with additional features. Copy Line Lyrics to Note Lyrics converts line-based lyrics to note based lyrics. It is imprecise, because the linebased lyrics don't correspond to individual notes. But you can edit the positions of the note-based lyrics using the event list or the Move Lyric back/ahead to time line functions discussed above.
The Lyric Document window displays a full screen of fully formatted lyrics so you can easily copy and paste lyrics to and from your favorite word processor. If you have the lyrics available you can quickly paste them into Band-ina-Box. You may already have the lyrics to your song typed into a word processor, nicely formatted with font/color/bold choices etc. Previously, you would need to retype them into Band-in-a-Box and would lose your formatting.
You can also select the color for the chords in the options dialog. With this option selected the Big Lyrics scroll a page at a time. When the lyric cursor reaches the next-to-last line of the lyrics it will scroll to the top of the page, allowing uninterrupted reading of lyrics. If you have the Lyrics window option “Auto-open lyrics window for songs with lyrics” selected, and a MIDI file (or .KAR) containing lyrics is opened, the lyrics window will open to show the lyrics.
You can choose to have a background to the window, either a moving one, or fixed picture. These pictures are in the c:\bb\KaraokeBMP folder, and you can add your own BMP or JPG image to that folder. The Big Lyrics window’s [Print] button opens the Options for Copy Lyrics to Clipboard dialog. This function allows you to copy a song's lyrics (and/or the chords) to the standard Windows clipboard. By pasting this data into a word processor, you can print out the lyrics in the font of your choice.
You can easily make and print out a custom fake book of all of your tunes. Instantly transpose and print parts for brass or reed instruments. Print options include title, bar numbers, composer, style, and copyright information. Print Options Pressing the printer button launches the Print Options dialog box. Print options include title, bar numbers, composer, style, and copyright.
Customize your printed sheet music in the Print Options dialog box. Chords If selected, this will include the chords of the song on the lead sheet. Remember that you can set the height that the chords will appear in a different dialog box (the Options Dialog box). Notes If you want only a chord lead sheet with no Notes, then turn this off. Otherwise it should be ON. Staff Lines Set to off (uncheck) to print a “chords only” fake sheet with chord symbols and bar lines but no staff lines or notation.
Show Bar #s There are options to include the bar # on the printout (e.g., every bar, every part marker, every row, every page). Template There are print templates in the print dialog to achieve various printout styles - Normal/Lyrics Only/Chords and Lyrics/Chords Only/Blank Paper. In the print dialog, select the desired print template. To return to default settings choose the “Normal” template Bar #s Below By This sets the vertical position of the bar numbers in the printout between 1 and 7.
Staves per page Band-in-a-Box will automatically auto-fit on 1 page, use this to override the auto setting. Remember that the title takes up 1 stave. The “Auto-Set” option will set the number automatically, and will try to fit the lead sheet on a single page. Click here to set margins. You can also select the Always fill tempo option, which automatically writes the current tempo on the song sheet.
In the Preview Options you can set the exact number of pixels to display for the print preview, the same settings are also used if you choose to save the pages to a graphics file in the popular .JPG, .TIF, or .BMP file types. Printing your song to a graphics file allows you to embed your notation in a document, or in an HTML file for use on your web site. This feature is only limited by available memory. This allows high resolution BMP’s like 2400 x 3000. A BMP of 2400x3000 is 300 dpi for an 8”x10” image.
Chords-Only Lead Sheet Display and Printout Need a simple fake book style chord chart? You can display just the chords in the Lead Sheet window or print out a lead sheet with just chord symbols. To print a chords-only lead sheet, uncheck the Staff lines checkbox in the Print Options dialog. Band-in-a-Box chords-only Lead Sheet. There are print templates in the Print Options dialog to achieve various printout styles - Normal/Lyrics Only/Chords and Lyrics/Chords Only/Blank Paper.
Print Preview of Band-in-a-Box multipart notation including guitar chord diagrams. Print Multiple Songs To print out a single song you use the [Print] button in the Notation window. If you want to print out several songs, use the Print Multiple Songs feature to print them all out at once.
This allows you to print all of the songs in a subdirectory with one command. This feature is accessed from the File | Print Multiple Songs menu item. You can set options to refine which songs will get printed. For example, you might want to only print songs in a certain style (e.g. Bossa Novas ), or only songs beginning with letters R to Z, or only songs with melodies.
Waltz (Old) 3/4 8 Bouncy 12/8 K Pop Ballad 9 Irish L Shuffle Rock A Pop Ballad 12/8 L Light Rock B Country old 12/8 M Medium Rock C Reggae N If your printer requires loading each sheet, you might want the program to beep after each printed song. The “Beep after each printed song” setting is useful to monitor the printout if you aren't near your printer, because if it stops beeping, then printout has stopped, and you may be out of paper.
Chapter 8: Automatic Music Features Automatic Medleys - “The Medley Maker” Would you like to make a medley of various Band-in-a-Box songs (MGU) using Band-in-a-Box? This is easily done with the new Medley Maker. Inside the Medley Maker, simply select the songs that you want, and Band-in-aBox will make the medley for you. A medley is not simply joining songs together. A good medley uses a transition between songs to introduce the new style, key, and tempo.
The maximum size of the medley is 255 bars (about 7 minutes). The current size and time of your medley is displayed in the Length label. You can have multiple choruses, so if you had 3 choruses of a 250 bar medley, it would last 750 bars. Tip: Your medley will use RealDrums if you have RealDrums enabled. If so, you should keep the various tempos of the songs within a close range.
The left side of this screen displays the list of the Melodists available, including Pop, Swing, Bossa, Waltz, Rock, Bebop, and Jazz Ballad. Selecting the “All” checkbox displays all available Melodists, or they can be filtered by genre (e.g. Dixieland) to show only melodists in that genre. To filter the Melodists, de-select the “All” checkbox and then check on the genre that you are interested in. You can also filter to show/not show melodists from Melodist sets that you don’t have.
Insert Bass Pedals When selected, a Pedal Bass figure will be inserted during the intro and at the end of sections. Solo in Middle Choruses This will generate an improvisation in the middle choruses of the song. Any Soloist can be selected. Allow Style Changes When selected, this option allows a Melodist to load in an associated style. If you don't want Melodists to change the current style that you have loaded, then de-select this option.
Tip: If you'd like to remove the current Intro, Melody, or Soloist Track, press the [Kill Intro], [Kill Melody] or [Kill Soloist] button. Press the [Search] button and type in part of a Melodist name, memo, style name, or other text associated with a Melodist. This will cause the Melodist selection to change to the next item containing the text. Similarly, you can type in a # of a Melodist and press the [Go To #] button.
Automatic Intro – Song Intros With a single button you can generate a 2, 4, or 8-bar intro for any song. The chords will be different each time, and you can keep pressing until you get the progression that you want. The intro generated is an appropriate chord progression in the chosen style of music (e.g. Jazz/Pop), with optional pedal bass, and leads correctly to the first chord of the song. Intros can also be removed. Press the [Intro] button or select Edit | Intro Bars to generate an intro.
The SoundTrack feature allows you to generate music in the style you choose for any length of time you specify. As the “producer,” you select the genre, length of time, instruments, and fade-in/fade-out options. The SoundTrack adjusts the tempo and duration to match the settings, and then allows you to save the file as a WAV, WMA (Windows Media Audio), or MP3 file for further use in your own projects.
You can load in existing songs, song demos that we have provided for the styles, or songs that have RealDrums, or finally there is a button to load in any song. Please note, if using an existing song (composed by someone else), make sure that you have sufficient rights to use the song for your project. Once you have loaded in a song, you can now choose a portion of the song to use for your project. Assume that you want a 30 second clip of music. Set the desired duration to 30 seconds.
Pick a type of Soloist in the “Soloist type” list box and choose the appropriate style, or enable the “Auto” checkbox and press the [Suggest] button next to it. This brings up a list of Soloists in that style; simply choose which one you like. You can select genres of soloists (e.g. Modern Jazz) and see only soloists in that genre. To do this, de-select the “All Genres” checkbox, and then check on the genre that you are interested in.
The [Clear] buttons will remove the currently selected Instrument, Harmony, or Style. Use the [Choose(1)] button to select an instrument and automatically set the soloist note range for that instrument. For a harmonized solo, choose a harmony from the Harmony list. Use the [Choose(2)] button to select any style from the \bb folder.
Around Melody To solo around the Melody, do the following: - Open up a song that has a Melody, preferably a sparse Melody with some space in it so that a Soloist might be able to “jump in.” - Press the [Soloist] button. Select the Solo Mode “Around Melody.” - Set the Soloist to play in All Choruses, and uncheck the “Mute Melody in Middle” option. - Press [OK] and the Solo will be generated, playing riffs at times when the Melody isn't playing.
Load/Save settings w/song These settings allow the saving and loading of Soloist settings. Enable these checkboxes if you with to load and save these settings with a song. Force to # of Choruses Allows you to set a song to a definable number of choruses (e.g. 5) so that there are enough choruses for everyone to take a turn Soloing.
Enable Melody Influenced Soloist – enables melody influenced soloing when selected (true). Overall strength – how much you want the melody to influence the solo. First melody note MUST match riff – the first note of the riff must match the pitch of the melody at this point in the song. Last melody note MUST match riff - the last note of the riff must match the ptich of the melody at this point in the song.
This dialog can also be accessed from the Opt. | Preferences [Soloist] button. Set “Use MIDI Volume for Soloing Wizard” to true if you want MIDI velocity information sent to the Soloing Wizard. If you have a velocity sensitive MIDI device attached to your computer and you want to control the dynamics of the Soloist, you should enable this feature. Set the “Trigger Playback Early” to true to enable song playback to start before the Soloist has actually completed composing a solo.
Choosing the Refresh Soloist option is like telling the soloist “It's O.K., you can play whatever you like, even if it's something that you played 5 minutes ago...” It's a good idea to refresh the Soloist regularly to ensure maximum “idea” availability. 3. The Soloist menu contains many options. It has all of the same editing options found in the melody menu, so you can treat the Soloist track as a 2nd melody track.
You may also select an instrument from the “Patch Change” window, but selecting an instrument with the [Choose] button also fills in the specific note range for that instrument. If you wish to have a harmonized solo, select the harmony type by clicking on the Harmony box and choosing from the drop-down list. “Change Instrument” allows you to quickly set how the Soloing will “take turns” with other instruments. Use this option to change instruments every chorus, every 4, 8, 16 bars, etc. Press the [Set..
The Increase Velocity setting will increase the velocity of each note in the solo by the value entered, or DECREASE the velocity if a negative value is entered. You can control the maximum number of notes per quarter note that the Soloist will use. For example, you can set a “Rock Guitar” Soloist to use nothing shorter than 16th notes. This would produce less “guitar hero” solos with bursts of 32nd notes etc.
Automatic Guitar Solos – “The Guitarist” The Guitarist allows you to generate a guitar chord solo for any melody. Band-in-a-Box will intelligently arrange the melody to a guitar chord solo by inserting real guitar voicings throughout the piece. You can select from among many “Guitarists” in order to create your arrangement. You can also define your own Guitarists; choosing parameters such as strum speed, types of voicings (Pop/Jazz), embellishments, and much more.
Here are the steps to generate a Guitar Chord Solo: Select the Guitarist to use. In the main list at the left of the Window, you see the list of the Guitarists that are already defined. For example, you can see that Guitarist #2 is called “Jazz Guitar, single position.” That will create chord solos that stick to a single position on the guitar neck whenever possible. Select Melody (or Soloist) track.
position for the chord solo to be played. If you wanted the solo to be in the 12th position, you could de-select the “Auto-Set” and then set the guitar position to 12th position. If you already have a guitar track that has guitar channels (if it was played on a guitar controller as a single string guitar part), then you might want to tell Band-in-a-Box not to change the guitar positions of the notes that it finds. Otherwise set “OK to change existing guitar channels” to true. Press OK to generate the Solo.
Automatic Embellishments – “The Embellisher” Overview When musicians see a lead sheet that has a melody written out, they almost never play it exactly as written. They change the timing to add syncopation, change durations to achieve staccato or legato playing, add grace notes, slurs, extra notes, vibrato and other effects. You can have Band-in-a-Box do these automatically using the Embellisher so that you hear a livelier, more realistic Melody - and it's different every time.
on the main page checkbox. If enabled, embellishment will occur during every playback. If disabled, embellishment will not occur unless you choose the [Embellish NOW] button in the dialog. Embellisher Settings The settings that affect the embellishment can be turned on and off, and given a percentage strength. Humanize The velocities, durations (legato), and timing of the notes are humanized. The original velocities etc. of the notes are ignored.
Quarter note doubled. Unembellished. Extra Notes Extra notes are added between melody notes. Unembellished. With extra notes added. Note Turns With a note turn, a single note is replaced by a group of notes that include the original note and semitone or scale tones above and below the note. In this “before and after” example, the C note is replaced by a turn of 3 notes with a note a scale tone above the C. Unembellished. Embellished with turn.
Embellisher Presets The presets allow you to quickly choose common combinations of settings for the Embellisher. The Embellisher Memo describes the current embellishment, with statistics counting the number of embellished notes. If the song is playing and the Embellisher is enabled, you can update the embellishment by pressing this button. This is useful if you've changed settings, and want to hear what the new embellishment sounds like. The [Defaults] button reverts to the original Embellisher settings.
Chapter 9: Working With MIDI Band-in-a-Box has two built-in MIDI sequencer tracks. They are named the Melody and Soloist tracks, but they can be used to record any MIDI part you like – such as drum overdubs or layered accompaniments. MIDI can be recorded in Band-in-a-Box - Live with a MIDI keyboard, MIDI guitar, or MIDI wind controller. - In step time by entering notes in the Notation window with the mouse. - Using the Wizard feature to “play” notes with your QWERTY keyboard.
OK - Keep Take (yes/no) saves the take you just recorded. Remember that it’s easy to fix small glitches in the Editable Notation window or in the Event List editor. Take Again lets you quickly reject a take and start the recording again. Press the “A” key to do this with a keystroke. Cancel ends the recording session; nothing is saved. To start again press the [Rec.] button or the [R] key.
Enter the Editable Notation mode from the Standard Notation screen with a single mouse click on the Editable Notation button. In the Editable Notation mode you can enter, move, and edit notes and rests using standard mouse techniques – point and click, drag and drop, and right click to open the Note Edit dialog box. Conirmation dialogs prevent accidental entry of a duplicate note (same pitch near same time) and accidental entry of a very high or very low note (large # of ledger lines).
The Wizard is useful for entering notation quickly. If you can’t play piano well, play the wizard in the correct rhythm. The pitches will be wrong, but you can fix them in notation later, and the durations, volume, and timing are already correct. Melody/Soloist Sequencer There are 2 tracks in Band-in-a-Box to add your own recordings. These are the Melody and Soloist tracks. Normally you would want a single part on each of them.
If you click on the Lead Sheet window, you’ll see the entire MIDI file displayed on separate tracks of notation. Since this represents 6 separate tracks (in the case of violet.MID), this is likely “too much information” for you to read, unless you are a symphony conductor. To customize the notation display for sequencer mode, press the lead sheet options button, and see the settings for Multi-Channel Tracks. Press the “CUSTOM channels play/display” buttons to launch the Sequencer window.
There is a small button at the right of the track line that allows you to delete/ rechannel or merge the channel with another channel. You can also change the patch (instrument) for that track by using the instrument patch combo box. So now that we’ve customized the display, we are seeing the bass and trumpet on the notation, and hearing the entire track.
2. 3. Record a Melody part. At the end of the recording, pick a channel for the part that is not already used by Band-in-a-Box. BB uses channels 2-10, so channels 11 to 16 are available for your counter melody parts. Repeat step 2 by recording additional melody parts. Assign patches to the Melody parts using the 4. Sequencer Window.
2. Melody | Import MIDI File from Clipboard - when the MIDI data is already copied from another program to the Windows clipboard. The clipboard option will be grayed out if there is no MIDI data in the clipboard. Once chosen, the Import MIDI File - Options dialog box opens. Import Which Channel(s)? You'll need to know which channel(s) of your MIDI file the melody is on. You then select these channels for Bandin-a-Box to read-in.
Press [Play] to hear the MIDI file play on the Melody track. Additional Options for Melody/Soloist Track Choose Melody | Edit Melody Track | Time Shift Melody. This will move (slide) the melody a certain # ticks. There are 120 ticks per quarter note. For example, to give the song a more laid-back feel, shift the melody about 10 ticks ahead. In the same submenu, choose Insert Beats or Melody | Delete Beats to insert or delete beats in the Melody.
Different colors are used for different event types in the event list, to visually distinguish notes, patch changes, etc. The Event list for the notation colors the events differently as follows: - Notes starting near the beat boundary are dark pink. - Notes starting on the off-beat are light pink. - Patch changes are cyan. - Controller changes are yellow. - Pitch Bends are grey.
The track will then display with the program changes only. The Event Type to Edit dialog opens when either the [Insert] or [Append] buttons are pressed in the Event List Editor. This dialog allows you to select which type of event to insert or append - note, controller, pitch bend, etc. – and then opens the selected edit dialog. Notation Window Editing You can often get better results by using the Notation Window to edit notes instead of the Event List window.
For precise note editing, right mouse click on the note you want to edit and choose “Edit Note” in the contextual menu. This opens the Note dialog where all of the parameters of the note can be addressed. Piano Roll Window Editing The Piano Roll window enables precise graphic editing of note timing and duration. You can also graphically edit note velocity, controllers, program changes, channel aftertouch, or pitch bend.
- Click on individual notes to select. - Shift+click on individual notes to add to the selection. - Ctrl+click on a note to invert (toggle) its selection. Overlapping notes are displayed in bold Aqua color, making them easy to identify. Overlapped notes can be eliminated from the right-click menu in this window. Click on white space and then drag a rectangle around notes to select a group of notes. Only notes that start within the rectangle are selected.
Pencil Tool: Move the cursor over white space and hold the Shift+Ctrl keys. A Pencil Tool appears. Shift+Ctrldrag to freehand-draw a curve. If you don't get the curve quite right on the first pass, just keep holding the mouse button and move the mouse back-and-forth to draw your desired freehand curve. When the mouse button is released, a series of events are inserted to follow the freehand curve. The maximum event density is one event per 10 ticks. Repeated events of the same value are not inserted.
Chapter 10: Working With Audio About Band-in-a-Box Audio Files The File | Open menu command shows and opens all available file types including audio files (WAV, WMA, MP3, and CDA). And it remembers your preference, so you can restrict it to a certain file type. If MySong.MGU is loaded, and a same named audio file (MySong.WMA, MySong.MP3, MySong.WAV, etc.) is present, Band-in-a-Box will open the audio file to the audio track.
Choose the menu item Audio | Import Audio (WAV, WMA, MP3, WMV…). You then choose an audio file to import. The Import Audio File dialog is then displayed, which allows selection of the point to insert the audio file, and whether to merge or overwrite existing audio in the range. Audio files can also be opened from the File menu with the command Open Audio (WAV, WMA, MP3, WMV). Open an MP3/WAV/WMA or audio CD track, and play back at 1/2, 1/4, or 1/8 speed. This is great for transcribing or analyzing audio.
recording. Audio Offset The Audio Offset feature allows you to synchronize any point of the audio file with bar 1 of the Band-in-a-Box song – usually to sync the audio file with the rest of the song. Let’s say you have a home recording of a live performance of one of your songs, saved as a WAV file (or MP3/WMA). File | Open Audio will load the song into Band-in-a-Box.
The panel displayed here is the typical panel that sound cards use. Different makes and models may not look exactly like the example, but the basic layout and operation is the same. From this panel, you can set the recording level for the items you want to record. Let’s take the example of recording live with a microphone. - We select the check box to record the microphone. - Then, we set the level of the recording input for the microphone with the aid of the built-in VU meters in Band-ina-Box.
The green area represents normal levels, while red indicates an overload. Ideally, the sounds should remain in the green and avoid the red altogether. Unlike analog recording, where it's good to get a “hot” high signal, digital recordings need to absolutely avoid high levels since any overload of the signal will result in clipping and a ruined recording. Press the [R.Aud] button to start recording audio. The Record Audio dialog will open. This dialog displays the mono/stereo status of the recording.
Also Record MIDI? In most cases you will only be recording audio, so you should set this to “No MIDI recording.” But if you want to record MIDI at the same time (in a situation where you were playing a MIDI piano at the same time as you are singing for example), then you could set this setting to “Also Record MIDI to Melody” (assuming that you wanted the MIDI to get recorded to the Melody track - use the Soloist setting if you want it recorded to the Soloist track).
Once the song is saved, the wave file will be called with the same name as the song, which is MY FIRST SONG.WAV. If you ever need to work with the .WAV file in another program, you can just directly edit the wave file. If you do this, make sure the .WAV stays a 44K mono .WAV file. Edit the Audio File In the Audio Edit window you can edit audio data using Copy, Cut, and Paste. Launch the Audio Edit window by the Audio | Audio Edit Window menu item or pressing the Ctrl+Shift+A keys.
you save the song, the changes get written to the MySong.WAV audio file, but if you don’t save, the original file is preserved. Audio Harmonies You can apply a harmony to the audio part – allowing you to automatically create up to 4-part vocal harmonies from your singing.
Then select Harmony type “131 Four Freshmen 4 part Vocal Harmony.” This is a 4 part harmony that includes the melody, and one of the voices is above the melody. Since we want to harmonize the entire song, choose “Whole Song.” The output can be mono or stereo. Since we’re making a 4-part harmony, and we want to hear the voices panned across our stereo speakers, we choose STEREO here.
Try out the preview with the octave on 0, and then again on –1, you’ll hear all of the voices an octave lower on the – 1 setting. Leave it at 0 for this demo. There are 3 Humanization settings (timing, pitch, and portamento) that affect the sounds of the individual voices. Timing controls how “tight” the group sounds, with a setting of zero being perfectly synced start/stop times. Let’s set it to about 20, to give some natural looseness to the group. Pitch controls how steady the pitch will be.
Now, choose Harmonies – Audio Harmonies, and select “Melody Pitch Tracking” and press OK to again launch the TC-Helicon Harmony Dialog. Now, we’re going to be changing the vocal track into a different vocal track that instead is matching the pitches of the MIDI melody (without any harmony). So the dialog reflects this, by only showing one of the columns with a track name, and it is “Melody (BB).
Choir Effect In the TC-Helicon dialog, you can select a choir effect, from none/small/medium/large. A “large” choir effect makes each voice sound like 4 people singing, so if you use a 4 voice harmony, you will hear the effect as if 16 people are singing. Audio Harmonies Pitch Styles (automatic “Vibrato” and “Scooping”) When you generate audio harmonies to your recorded vocal tracks, you can select Pitch Styles, which adds vibrato and scooping effects to the vocal harmonies.
Pitch Styles Preset Details (one per voice) Each of the four voice banks has a Pitch Styles preset selection list. This control allows pitch scooping and vibrato effects to be added to the harmony voices. These effects can be used to increase the naturalness of vocals processed by melody pitch tracking, produce a more polished, professional sound in the harmonies, and even to create strange special effects.
because the vibrato isn’t triggered on short notes. 23 Slow Gospel Vibrato The big sound of the southern US Gospel singer. 24 Smooth Pop Vibrato A smoother Pop vibrato. 25 Soprano Vibrato The vibrato sound of a Classical soprano. 26 Tremolo Vibrato No pitch modulation, just amplitude modulation. 27 Warm Vibe Vibrato A warm and quick vibrato sound. 28 Memphis Scoop Vibrato A style typical in ballads of a certain singer from Memphis. Long scoops into some notes, and a strong, slow vibrato.
Important! This feature requires that you have Microsoft DirectX installed. You can download the latest version of Microsoft DirectX from www.microsoft.com. Real time DirectX or VST Audio Plug-ins You can real time-process the Band-in-a-Box audio track using DirectX or VST Audio plug-ins. This is useful to “non-destructively” apply EQ, Echo, Reverb, Dynamics, and other effects to a Band-in-a-Box audio track.
The Edit radio buttons let you chose which of the four in-line effects to edit. The Bypass checkboxes let you bypass any of the four effects in a group. In the above picture, four DX plug-ins are applied to the Band-in-a-Box audio track. First, PG Dynamics to balance input levels, PG Ten Band EQ for tone polishing, PG Reverb to add ambiance, and PG Peak Limit to boost and level the amplitude.
The [Edit DX Exclusion List] button lets you edit the list of plug-ins to include or exclude in the DirectX editor. This is useful if you have plug-ins installed, which are not compatible with Band-in-a-Box. If you edit the exclusion list, you’ll see a dialog box with the left side displaying the included plug-ins and the right side displaying the excluded plug-ins: The [<] button lets you move a plug-in from the excluded list to the included list.
The [Run DirectX Diagnostic Tool] button runs the Microsoft Direct X Diagnostic Tool. This is a Microsoft program, which checks for problems with DirectX. [Remove VST Plugin (from list)…] opens a separate list where you can remove VST or VSTi plug-ins. NOTE: The number of real time effects that you can expect to activate at a time without stressing the system depends on the speed of your computer. The more effects you chain together, the more CPU power will be required.
2. RealStyles. These are Band-in-a-Box styles (.STY) that have at least one RealTrack. For example the style called “=GeorgeP.sty” is a RealStyle because it uses RealPedalSteel for the Strings part, as well as other instruments (MIDI bass, MIDI piano, MIDI guitar, RealDrums). Technical note: You can add a RealTrack to an existing style in the StyleMaker, using [Misc] [More] “Assign RealTracks to style.” The RealTracks gets generated on one of the Band-in-a-Box style tracks (Piano, Guitar, or Strings). 3.
This dialog is launched by 3. Right-clicking on an instrument name at the top of the Band-in-a-Box main screen and choosing Add/Remove RealTracks in the menu. - or 4. Press the [Assign to Track…] Button in the RealTracks Settings dialog. The dialog allows you to assign a specific RealTracks instruments to a track in a song. It also displays the current RealTracks that are assigned to each track. RealTracks can either be assigned from the style, or from the song.
Disable RealTracks for this track. Select this track if you want to have no RealTracks instrument for this track, even if the Style specifies a RealTracks. Defaults sets the dialog to default values Settings launches the RealTracks Settings dialog. The “Save Style” button saves the current style, but with RealTracks assigned to the style equal to the current song’s RealTracks. The volumes used in the style will match the volumes set on the main screen in Band-in-a-Box (compared to a default of 90).
You will see that the Strings part at the top of the screen is highlighted in green. That indicates that this is a RealTrack. To play the song, just press [Play]. You’ll then hear pedal steel guitar on the String part. You can adjust the volume of the pedal steel part with the Volume control for the String part, just as with any Band-in-a-Box part, or mute it by right clicking on the String part.
The RealTracks settings dialog also allows you to Enable/Disable the RealTracks feature, and apply an overall Global Volume Adjust to the RealTracks. If they are too loud generally, set a Global Volume Adjust of about -10 dB. The installation routine for Band-in-a-Box usually installs (decompresses) the audio files to WAV files. But if you decided not to decompress them at install time, you can press the Install button to complete that process.
This shows the directory where the rendered wave file will be saved. You can use the [Choose] button to specify the directory for the rendered wave file, but remember that the file chosen must reside in the same directory as the current one. If you have selected a DXi synthesizer for your MIDI output in the Opt. | MIDI Driver Setup dialog, one click on [DXi - Direct Render] will quickly convert your song to a .WAV file, normally in a few seconds. You can direct render to audio as separate tracks.
Batch convert a folder of songs to audio files (MP3, WAV, or WMA). Do you need to convert an entire folder of Band-in-a-Box songs to audio files? This can be done easily by a single command with an option to name the resultant audio files based either on the original file name or the song title name. Press the [Batch] button to Batch create audio files. Select the folder that you want to use (e.g. C:\bb\my songs). Add a suffix for each file name. For example, if the suffix is _Demo, then MySong.
Select the file type for the output file from the “Audio File Type” group box. When rendering to WMA or MP3 files there is an option to also write WAV files. Note: For rendering MP3 files the program uses whatever MP3 codec and bit rate you already have installed in Windows. Option added to reset the DXi synth after each render. This insures that no audio (stuck notes etc.) from previous file is retained.
Press the [AUDIO-CONV] button, and then choose the location and name for the WAV file to save. We suggest that you name the files with the suffix _VSC3, so that if your song is called “Violet Song” then you could name it Violet Song_VSC3.WAV, but of course you can call it anything you want. Tip: If your song uses GM2 patches you need to turn on GM2 in the VSC3. The WAV file will then be saved as a 44K stereo wave file in a matter of seconds.
Real Time Audio Rendering The process of converting a MIDI file performance in Band-in-a-Box into an audio wave file is referred to as “rendering.” It involves recording the real time MIDI performance as a stereo .WAV file. Pressing this button or choosing the menu item Audio | Render MIDI to Stereo .WAV file etc… enables you to render a MIDI file into an audio .WAV file.
Audio File dialog. 3. Test the file. You can then use the [Test WAV] button to test the WAV file. For testing, Band-in-a-Box uses Windows Media Player (MPLAYER.EXE) to play the wave file, compressing the WAV file using the Windows Audio Compression Manager (ACM Drivers). Using the Audio Rendered Stereo .WAV file with other programs. In our example we rendered a stereo 44K wave file. To read this file directly into other programs such as Windows Media Player you would choose File | Open.
There are options to save the file to a specific file name and destination folder, select a resolution (quality) for the file, and even a space to fill in the appropriate Title, Author, Copyright, and Song Description credits. This information will be embedded into the WMA file and will be viewable when the file is played in an appropriate media player.
Burn Time indicates the sum of all the burn list track times. Avail Time indicates the time available on the blank CD-R in the CD Burner. If no disc has been inserted, Avail Time reads “No Disc.” If an unwritable disc has been inserted (CD-ROM disc or already-finalized CD-R, CD-RW), Avail Time reads “UnWritable.” Add Files to the Burn List Wave files can be added three ways: 1. Use the menu item File/Add Track… 2. Right-click on the Burn List and select “Add Track” from the pop-up menu. 3.
Audition Tracks in the Burn List Left-click to select a track in the Burn List, then right-click and pick “Play Selected File” from the pop-up menu. To stop playback, right-click the Burn List and pick “Stop” from the pop-up menu. It is not necessary to stop a wave file before playing a new wave file. It is not necessary to stop playback before burning. Playback stops automatically before burning begins. Burner Controls Eject: Open the drive tray using the menu item CD Recorder | Eject.
Note: Be sure to use ‘Burn CD + Finalize’ or ‘Finalize Only’ when you add the final track(s) to a multi-session Audio CD. When adding tracks to an “Un-Finalized” audio CD, the Available Time field displays the “empty” time remaining on the CDR (the disc currently loaded in your burner). Example: If you have already recorded 40 minutes to a 74 minute CDR, MiniBurn will display about 34 minutes of Available Time. Take care not to add more tracks than will properly fit on the CD’s remaining empty space.
Chapter 11: User Programmable Functions The StyleMaker™ The StyleMaker is the section of the program that allows you to create brand new styles or edit existing styles. This is done by recording patterns for each of the drums, bass, piano, guitar and strings parts, or by entering these parts in the StyleMaker Pattern Editor notation window. If you don't want an instrument in a style you don't need to record any patterns for it.
Main screen, as the F4 key will not play the song, it will play the StyleMaker pattern. Play Pattern on Chord This plays back a pattern as it would sound in a song on a certain chord. This is useful to see the effects of smooth voice leading or macro notes in a pattern. (F8) Record Pattern Records a pattern. For drums it enters the STEP EDIT Drum Editor. For the other instruments, it starts a real time record ( 2 bar lead in then record 2 bar pattern) .
Import Instr. from Style Import an instrument from one style into another. See Import Instrument dialog box. (Alt +F3) Import Drums from .MID to Drum Kit Since you can define a custom drum kit for the grid editor, this function allows you to use the instruments that are found in a MIDI file. A quick way of building up a kit. For example, if you are making a Latin style called “mambo” you could load in a Mambo MIDI file that you made, and then the StyleMaker’s “Style | Import notes from .
StyleMaker Toolbar Buttons These options are also available from the StyleMaker window pull-down menus. Saves and overwrites existing style using current name. Saves the style, but allows you to rename it first. Plays the current pattern. Stops the playback of the current pattern. Plays the current pattern over a specific chord. Allows creation or editing of a drum grid pattern. (Drum Grid Editor) Begins live recording of a Bass/Piano/Guitar/Strings pattern after a 2-bar intro.
Band-in-a-Box StyleMaker window showing Drums patterns window. The StyleMaker always opens to the Drums window, as indicated by the highlighted button to the left of Drums. Other parts are selected by clicking on their buttons, just as in the main Band-in-a-Box screen. The rows of cells are for the musical patterns that have been recorded for the style. Each numbered cell is a pattern; the blank cells are for new patterns.
Defining a Custom Drum Kit To set up a custom drum kit, select the menu item Style | Define Custom Drum Kit in the StyleMaker window to launch the Define Custom Drum Kit dialog. You can choose the 18 drum instruments to be used on the drum grid. Any of the GM instruments may be chosen. Kits may be saved and loaded to disk In defining a custom drum kit in the StyleMaker, you can use the drum notes found in a MIDI file.
.MID…]function would extract the drum notes from the MIDI file, and put them on the drum grid. Drum Screen Alternate Notes What are alternate notes? Alternate notes can be entered for any note. This tells Band-in-a-Box to randomly choose a different note to the one specified. For example - you might want a note to be a closed high hat 80% of the time, and an open high hat 20% of the time. - you might want a note to be high conga 60% and low conga 40% of the time.
Playback Bar Mask (Usual Setting =0) Playback Bar Mask determines on what bars of the song the pattern will play. The bar #s are counted relative to the last part marker. Bar 1 is the first bar after a part marker for example. A bar mask setting of 0 is the default. This lets the pattern be played at any time.
RealDrums Styles RealDrums are actual recordings of studio drummers, pieced together by Band-in-a-Box to create a unique “real” drum track that is played along with the MIDI tracks created by Band-in-a-Box styles. It is possible to assign RealDrums (audio drums) to a particular Band-in-a-Box style in the Misc. Style Settings dialog.
A new pattern can be created by selecting an empty cell in the StyleMaker grid and then opening the StyleMaker Pattern Editor window to enter notes with your mouse. A quicker way to make a new pattern is to record it live from a MIDI keyboard or any other MIDI controller that is connected to your computer. Recording a New Pattern New patterns are recorded by playing them live in real time as the StyleMaker plays an accompaniment on the drums and other instrument parts for the style.
Bass Pattern Options Relative Weight (Usual Setting = 5) Set this # higher/lower if you want the pattern to be played more/less often than the other patterns on the same row. This number is also displayed on the main StyleMaker screen. A setting of 9 (always) is a special setting that instructs the pattern to always be played instead of the other patterns on the same row. These patterns always have other options set which specify the times that this pattern would be eligible to be played.
ticks, 120 ticks = 1 beat) to push the pattern. The pattern only plays pushed in the song, not when played in the StyleMaker window. OK to use Macro Notes (Bass Usual Setting = No) Bass macros are special notes that you record. When they are played back they are replaced by a function. List of Bass Macro Notes Note# 72 (C): Pop Walking Note(s). Playback with the [F8] key and note #72 will be replaced by up to 4 intelligent notes per pattern walking in a Pop/Country mode to the next chord.
Assign Instruments to Style Dialog Box The [Pat.] button opens the Assign Instruments to Style dialog. When the song is played back using the style, these patch changes will be sent to your synthesizer. General MIDI instrument patch numbers are used, and if your synthesizer or sound card supports GM2 patches they can be selected by clicking on the [+] button. Check “Use separate patches for ‘a’ and ‘b’ substyle” to have the patches change when the substyle changes.
Resolution Styles can either have Triplet (swing eighth notes) Straight (even eighth or sixteenth notes) resolution. Use Latin Drum Kit Check to use a Latin drum kit in this style with instruments like maracas, casaba, and agog. Velocity Boost of pushes Pushes can get a velocity boost, so that they are played louder than other patterns. A usual setting would be 10. # ticks to push Styles can be pushed with the StyleMaker.
‘Riff’ voicing type uses chord tones This is an option for piano, guitar, and string patterns. If selected, voicing modifies to match the chord and scale. Deselect for a simple transpose ignoring chord type. Press the [More..] button for the additional Settings for Rests, Pushes dialog. Since rests can be “shots” that play a chord on beat 1, the style can define what instrument to use for this, and at what volume.
Guitar Macros These settings determine what type of guitar chords will be used, and only apply if the patterns are recorded using the guitar macro notes, and if the pattern is set to use guitar macro notes. Allow Late Notes This opens the Settings for Making Late notes quieter dialog. Notes played near the end of a pattern will usually conflict with the next chord. So it’s best to prevent notes near the end of a pattern from playing. There is a global setting for this in Opt. | Preferences | Prefs2.
Playback Bar Mask (Usual Setting =0) Playback Bar Mask determines on what bars of the song the pattern will play. The bar #s are counted relative to the last part marker, and range from 1-8. Bar 1 is the first bar after a part marker for example.
MIDI Note # 85 C# Pop Chord Diatonic Above MIDI Note # 88 E Jazz Chord Chromatic Below MIDI Note # 89 F Jazz Chord MIDI Note # 90 F# Jazz Chord Chromatic Above Remember that to get macro notes working you must: - Hit the right note # (you may be out by an octave). - Set OK to use macros to Yes. - Playback the pattern with [F8] key or [CHORD] button. The [F4] playback key gives you a literal playback with strange sounding high macro notes.
The styles can be set to use different types of voicings for guitar. For example, there are Jazz, Pop, and Folk (open position) voicings. Also, some of the styles allow the guitar to play advanced chords and inversions. Some of the styles play chord patterns, so the chord in the song might be F7, but the guitar plays a “walking-chord” pattern of F7,Cm7/G, Abdim, F7/A on each beat. There can be fingerpicking styles that have a lowest note alternate between root and 5th.
In the dropdown “Guitar Chord Types to Use” combo box, set the type of chords to use: Jazz, Pop, Folk, Half Note (sax), Ukulele, Mandolin, 5-string Banjo or alternate guitar tunings. Set the complexity of the chords to use. These can be single chords, chords with variations, inversions, and chord “walking” patterns. If you want a simple guitar style, set the first one to 100%, and the rest to 0%. Set the strum speed and fret range that should be played on the guitar.
Guitar Macro Notes Tip: Middle C is C5 or note number 60 The main Guitar Macro notes to use are: Strummed Chords C6 note Plays a guitar chord, with a slow strum. D6 Plays a guitar chord, with a faster strum. For example, if you want a simple 4-in-the-bar pattern that plays a slow-fast-slow-fast strumming pattern, play the notes C6 D6 C6 D6 for the pattern. Additional strumming macros are: F#6 Back strum, chromatic below. G6 Back strum. G#6 Back strum, chromatic above.
Check the “Over-ride Guitar Settings for this pattern only” checkbox to set new parameters for this pattern only. Guitar Chord Types to Use Use this feature to set the type of guitar chords to use for this pattern from the list, which includes alternate tunings. Single Chords CHD1 The Single Chords feature will play the chord as intended in the pattern for the percentage value entered.
Faster Strum Speed (ms) The Faster Strum Speed setting affect the rate in which the guitar chord is strummed. Note that a lower setting in ms equals a faster strum. Include Highest Note in Strummed Chord Check to include the highest note (for Strummed Macros) when played as a macro. Include Highest Note in Finger Picking Check to include the highest note (for Single String Macros) when played as a macro. Only include first chord of pattern Check to play the first chord only.
Velocity Boost of pushes Pushes can get a velocity boost, so that they are played louder than other patterns. A usual setting would be 10. # ticks to push Styles can be pushed with the StyleMaker. This will cause the patterns to be played a little ahead of the beat, a certain % of time, which gives your arrangement a more human (musical) feel. Band-in-a-Box uses a resolution of 120 PPQ, i.e., 120 ticks to a quarter note.
Allow Volume Changes with Style (Usually = No) Usually you don't want specific volume changes in a style. But if you decide to change the volume of instruments, you can do it by setting this to YES and then entering the Volumes you want in the settings below. (A better way to change the volume of a part is to use Pattern | Volume Adjust (Alt+W) to set the volume of each pattern individually.) ‘Riff’ voicing type uses chord tones This is an option for piano, guitar, and string patterns.
Styles can have multiple RealTracks. For example, you could have RealPedalSteel and RealAcousticGuitar. And also RealDrums. Styles can also use MIDI soloists. For example, make a style with a banjo part that has the same quality as the Band-in-a-Box Banjo Soloist. Here we are assigning an Earl Scruggs Bluegrass solo to the Strings part.
Choose “Vary ^ styles with each play” to hear a different variation each time [Play] is pressed, so the song sounds fresh each time. One time you’ll hear it with brushes, the next time with sticks and ride cymbals, etc. Assign Instruments to Style Dialog Box Select the [Pat.] button in the StyleMaker tool bar to open the Assign Instruments to Style dialog. This dialog box allows you to assign instruments to a style.
Advanced Editing Of Patterns Patterns can be “tweaked” with the other advanced features in the StyleMaker - Trim Pattern, Late Notes, and the Event List Editor. Trim Pattern The Trim Pattern routine deletes notes past the end of a pattern, or (optionally) a specified distance from the end of a pattern. This can be accessed from the Pattern | Trim Pattern(s), row(s) command. In the dialog displayed, we are trimming 50 ticks from an 8 beat pattern.
The global setting for late notes in Opt. | Preferences [Arrange] will reduce the volume of the late notes for a smoother transition from one chord to another. Event List Editor The [#] button in the StyleMaker Pattern Editor notation window opens an event list for editing, inserting, or deleting notes in the patterns. Style Log Options For people making styles, the Style Log text file shows exactly which pattern was used in the song generation for every instrument and bar/beat.
Then, a file called BBStyleLog##.txt will be displayed. Here is a sample: Bass: Bar 1 Beat=1, Row= 1, Col=12, Location=13, Chord= C Piano , Bar 1 Beat=1, Row= 1, Col=17, Location=140, Chord= C Guitar , Bar 1 Beat=1, Row= 5, Col=8, Location=287, Chord= C Strings, Bar 1 Beat=1, Row= 5, Col=23, Location=274, Chord= C This tells you that when the song was generated, for the bass track, at bar 1 the pattern found in row 1, column 12 of the StyleMaker was chosen.
Importing Instruments from Other Styles This is a great way to have fun with the StyleMaker, and to create great new styles in no time. The dialog is accessed from the Style | Import Instrument menu item. Choose the instrument you want to import and select the desired options. Click on [OK] and a standard Windows Open dialog will be launched so you can select any style on your computer as the source for the instrument. Mix and match instruments from different styles to create fresh new arrangements.
Convert Track to C7 chord Choose Melody | Edit Melody Track | Map Melody track to C7 chord. The purpose of this function is to allow you to quickly import any MIDI file track into the StyleMaker and make a style from it. Once you choose the option, you select whether it is a bass track to import, or a piano track (actually any part other than bass or drums). A bass track uses notes below C4 (MIDI note #48) and above the lowest note you select in the dialog.
Editing Patterns Slide Pattern X ticks This is another option available on the StyleMaker menu. This allows a pattern to be time shifted any number of ticks, based on a PPQ setting of 120. The StyleMaker screen displays the number of patterns, which combined with the map to C7 function, allows you to quickly import any MIDI file track into the StyleMaker and make a style from it.
The chords for the MIDI file are interpreted and written on the Chord Sheet. The “part markers” for the file are displayed on the Chord Sheet. For Violet.MID, the Style Wizard has found the correct part markers – by looking for drum fills and other signs of a part change – and has assigned substyle “a” to all of them. We'll change some of them to “b” later. The channels used in the MIDI file are displayed in the dialog, with the patches used and # of notes played on each channel. (For Violet.
In the Snapshots area of the Style Wizard: - Enter “1-20” for the bars for the “A” Substyle. - Enter “21-28, 37-68” for the “B” Substyle. - Enter “12, 20” for the “A” Drum Fills. - Enter “28, 36, 44, 52, 60, and 68” for the “B” Drum Fills. Note: Of course you don't need to enter this much detail. You could just enter a single range like 1-20 for the “a” substyle and make a quickie style. We're illustrating “advanced” style-generation here.
There are 2 sections to this dialog, Advanced Instrument Settings and Preferences. Advanced Instrument Settings The advanced instrument settings allow settings for the instruments (drums / bass / piano / guitar / strings) to be included in the style. The settings are: The “Substyles” determines whether the instrument is included in the “A,” “B,” or both “A&B” substyles. For example, if you want to make a style that only uses the strings on the “B” substyle, set the strings instrument part to “B” only.
Piano, Guitar, and Strings Voicings determine how the Piano patterns will be voiced. The choices are Auto, Include Full Voicings, Tritones only (3rd/7ths), Power Chords (Root/5th), Chord Mask Half Octave, and Chord Mask Full Octave. The auto-setting usually uses the “Include full voicings.” If the part uses 2-note chords, you should over-ride this setting to “use tritones” so that the most important notes of the chord (the tritone) will get included.
If set, after generating the style, the StyleMaker is left open for you to examine/edit the style directly. Auto-interpret MIDI file. (Default = Yes) When set, the Style Creation Wizard will set the channels, BB Parts, and snapshots for you. Normally this setting should be left on. Delete existing patterns (when adding to the style).
“RealDrums style groups” are multiple RealDrums styles that have the same basic feel, but were recorded at different tempos. In the example above, “JazzBrushes” is the group, and “JazzBrushes_120_Style” is the style.
20-25 – normal playing 26 – Fill 27 – PostFill 28-33 – normal playing 34 – Fill 35-36 – ending, lasting two bars (usually the second bar ends on the downbeat, with a cymbal decaying) 2. 32_bars_of_drumming_with_shots.txt This is exactly the same as 1, with these bars added: 37 – single drum hit, which will be used for “shots” in Band-in-a-Box 38 – single drum hit, which will be used for “pushes” in Band-in-a-Box 3. 32_bars_of_drumming_with_shots_two_endings.txt bar# 1-2 – count-in for two bars (i.e.
20-25 – normal playing 26 – Fill 27 – PostFill 28-33 – normal playing 34 – Fill Bars 35-66 will use a slightly different groove (‘B’ section) than 3-18 35 – PostFill 36-41 – normal playing 42 – Fill 43 – PostFill 44-49 – normal playing 50 – Fill 51 – PostFill 52-57 – normal playing 58 – Fill 59 – PostFill 60-65 – normal playing 66 – Fill 67-68 – ending, lasting two bars (usually the second bar ends on the downbeat, with a cymbal decaying) 5. 64_bars_of_drumming_with_shots.
38-43 – normal playing 44 – Fill 45 – PostFill 46-51 – normal playing 52 – Fill 53 – PostFill 54-59 – normal playing 60 – Fill 61 – PostFill 62-67 – normal playing 68 – Fill 69-70 – 2 bar ending 71 – single drum hit, which will be used for “shots” in Band-in-a-Box 72 – single drum hit, which will be used for “pushes” in Band-in-a-Box Editing the text file For the most part, the text files are ready-to-go.
(either by selecting Opt. | Preferences | RealDrums or by pressing the RealDrums toolbar button) and make sure RealDrums are enabled. Put a checkmark beside “For this song only, use this RealDrum style”, and then select your style from the “RD” button. When you close the dialog and play your song, your RealDrums style should be playing as well. To make sure that it is playing, you can look at the Band-in-a-Box title bar. If your style is “MyFunkyStyle_070_Style”, you should see [RealDrums=MyFunkyStyle_070].
Example 1: Wave form of an entire RealDrums style wave file Elements of the Text File The text file contains three main portions, global settings, pattern definition, and shots definition. We’ll examine each one separately. Global Settings Wavename=x.wav The first line of the text file must be “wavename=x.wav”, where “x” is the name of the filename. For example, the first line of the JazzBrushes_120 text file is “wavename=JazzBrushes_120_Style.wav”.
Example 2: The left edge of the highlighted area represents the beginning of the drum hit that occurs at bar 15, and the right edge of the highlighted area represents the actual downbeat of bar 15. dbadjust=x If a value is entered here, when the RealDrums track is played in Band-in-a-Box, the volume will be raised (or lowered if a negative value is entered) by the amount entered. This is used to balance the RealDrums against the other DXi instruments.
is a 20% chance that it will eliminate 1-bar patterns as possibilities. If “MultibarPatternPercent=80” is entered, then every time there will be an 80% chance that 1-bar patterns will be eliminated as possibilities. If such an instance occurs, but no multi-bar patterns will fit in the Band-in-a-Box bar in question, a 1-bar pattern will be allowed. If no amount is entered here, then Band-in-a-Box simply always picks between all possible patterns based on their relative weights.
It is important, however, to not enter both of these lines. If you do this, Band-in-a-Box will not be able to find any patterns at all, and you will get an error message. MSSlide=x This shifts the entire drum part either forwards or backwards by x number of milliseconds in relation to the MIDI parts. A negative amount will make it play slightly before the MIDI parts, while a positive amount will make it play slightly after the MIDI parts.
As the name implies, PostFills bars occur after Fills. That means that PostFill bars always occur in bars in which there are part markers. Typically, PostFill bars are generally bars that have a cymbal crash on the downbeat, which is intended as a completion to the fill that occurred in the previous bar. PostFills can be any number of bars long.
to occur only when the preceding bar is ‘A’ or ‘B’. Instead of “0”, you would enter “Aending” or “Bending”. Just remember that if you do this, you need to cover both eventualities. If you enter a “0” ending, this on it’s own covers both cases.
• • pattern,Normal,A,7,3,2,13: 0% pattern,Normal,A,2,1,1,20: 0% It is therefore important that you are very careful when using a weight of 9. It is usually used in conjunction with a mask (masks will be explained in greater detail below). For example, if you had a mask that stated that a normal pattern could only be played 7 bars after a part marker, if you then gave it a weight of 9, any time Band-in-a-Box needed to find a pattern 7 bars after a part marker it would always use that pattern.
to cover all possibilities. If you have only patterns with “1” masks, and no patterns with “2” masks, then Band-in-aBox will not be able to find any patterns for even bars. The safest thing to do is to use a mask of “0”, but this may not be the most musical approach. A mask of 4 is often used for more subtle fills that would highlight 4 bar phrases. Masks higher than 8 are not commonly used, as it would mean that the pattern would be played very rarely. Example 7: Normal pattern needed for bar 13.
A good rule to follow is to try and have at least one 1-bar PostFill, Normal, and Fill patterns for each subsection, just to make sure that all possible circumstances will be covered. Once you have that, you can determine what other patterns will work well based on the phrasing of the drummer. 6. Location The final element in pattern definition is the location of the pattern in the style wave file.
3. Tick adjust The shots do not necessarily have to occur at the bar lines, and the tick adjust can be used to tell Band-in-a-Box exactly where the shot starts. Simply measure the number of ticks from the downbeat of the bar number entered to the start of the shot, and that is the number that should be entered here. If the shot starts before the bar number that was entered, a negative number should be entered here.
Additional Entries in the Text File Bars Blocked During the testing of your style, you may come across instances where a particular bar from the style wave file simply does not sound good going into another specific bar from the style wave file. When this happens, you can enter a “BarsBlocked” line into your text file to ensure that these bars are never played back-to-back.
with one addition. For the style in which the tempo is different in the text file then it is in the wave file filename, you would need to add the “ForceWavTempo=“ line to the text file. For example, if you have a “MyFunkyStyle_90” Style, the following files would be present: C:\BB\Drums\MyFunkyStyle\MyFunkyStyle_090_Style.txt C:\BB\Drums\MyFunkyStyle\MyFunkyStyle_090_Style.wav For an expanded style, you could create this file: C:\BB\Drums\MyFunkyStyleEXP\MyFunkyStyleEXP_180_Style.
• • ;Shot,0,83,188,1151,1,90 ;Shot,0,85,380,1058,3,90 Band-in-a-Box will therefore ignore those lines, and you will only hear the first shot. You can then adjust the volume level until you have it right, then do the same with the second shot, etc. Developer Mode It is also extremely useful when testing RealDrums styles to use “Developer mode.” This is a checkbox in the RealDrums settings. When it is turned on, Band-in-a-Box does two things. First of all it spell-checks your text file when you play a song.
6. WavBar=x This tells you the bar of the actual style wave file that was used for the current Band-in-a-Box bar. Remember that this is using –1 based numbering. 7. Candidates=x This tells you how many possible patterns there were for Band-in-a-Box to choose from for the current bar. If there were 3 or less possible candidates, this line appears instead as “FEWCandidates=“. This lets you know that perhaps there are not enough of a certain type of pattern.
file, but with this particular Band-in-a-Box style you want it a bit higher or lower, you can enter a setting here. There are also fields for adjusting the ‘A’ or ‘B’ subsection volumes only. You can also remove the check mark from either “Allow ‘a’ substyle RealDrums” or “Allow ‘b’ substyle RealDrums”, which means that for this style, the one with the checkmark remaining will be used for the entire song, regardless of what substyle is currently called for in the song.
Tip: When you want to hear the harmony as you are developing it, have a song with a melody playing before you enter the Harmony Maker. After you have made changes to the harmony, hear the changes by pressing the [Update] button. Settings For Each Voice Chan. A 1-instrument harmony will use Channel A only. Additional instruments can use Channel B and C.
Additional Harmony Options Press the [More…] button to launch the Additional Harmony Options dialog. Use Close Harmony This only applies to 2 and 3 part harmonies. If set to = 0 it will use only close harmonies, mainly 3rds for 2 part harmonies. If set to = 1 it will use mostly 3rds, with some 6ths for 2 part harmonies. If set to = 99 it will use mostly 6ths, with some 3rds for 2 part harmonies. If set to = 100 it will use only wide harmonies, mainly 6ths for 2 part harmonies.
Use Guitar Harmony Voicings Harmony Maker will use real guitar chord voicings that display correctly on the guitar fretboard. Selecting this checkbox means that guitar chord voicings will be used, instead of any other voicings specified in the Harmony Maker. Check out Harmony #32 (J Pass) for an example of this Use voicings in 4ths Modern Jazz harmonies often voice chords in 4ths. For example, a C chord with C melody might be voiced C, G, D, A, E.
Insert the title of your ‘soloist’ in the Title box, and any memo note you wish to add. (The Num field will be filled in for you.) For the Memo box, you can put in information like “extra legato, straighter 8th notes, on top of the beat, laid back, etc. The “Soloist is” box allows you to define what type of notes the Soloist will play (i.e. swing 8th notes, straight 8th notes, 16th notes, etc.) There are several databases of Solo ideas to choose from. Select the database (*.
You may also select an instrument from the “Patch Change” window, but selecting an instrument with the [Choose] button also fills in the specific note range for that instrument. If you wish to have a harmonized solo, select the harmony type by clicking on the Harmony box and choosing from the drop-down list. To Modify (if required) the “Phrase Length,” “Space Length,” and “Outside Range” parameters, simply click in the box you wish to change and type-in the new number.
For example, you can set a “Rock Guitar” Soloist to use nothing shorter than 16th notes. This would produce less “guitar hero” solos with bursts of 32nd notes etc. Or you could create a Jazz solo that uses only quarter notes or longer to help with sight-reading or student study. 10 easy steps to make a Soloist 1. Bring up the Soloist window by pressing the [Soloist] Button. 2. Select a blank spot in your list of soloists and press the [Edit] button. 3.
generation can be used with different soloists, so you can use a “tenor sax jazz” soloist for a few bars, and then insert a custom “bluegrass banjo” soloist for four bars and so on. Tip: Band-in-a-Box even solos over the “slash chords.” The Band-in-a-Box Soloist feature analyzes slash chords like C/Bb to determine the best scale type to use (e.g. Bb Lydian).
The Patch Change area allows you to select an instrument and Harmony, and to set Change Instrument setting for when you would like to change to a new Melody patch (e.g. Each Chorus). In the Change Style to .. window you can choose a style for the Melodist, and specify the feel for the style in the .STY is box. Legato Boost % changes the legato (length) of the notes generated. Instruments like Saxophone have longer legato phrasing.
Number of Variations to Choose From As the Melodist is determining what type of phrase to generate, it will narrow the possibilities to the number of variations set in this variable. Setting a higher number results in more interesting melodies, but the chord progressions are more unusual. Default = 15. Tempo Range / Auto Tempo The Tempo Range setting determines the tempo range that the tune will be created with (it will be a random tempo in the range).
Force Open Position This option forces all of the guitar voicings to the open position. The exception is when the Melody notes are so high that they can't be played using open position voicings. If the Melody is in a high range, and you want a “forced open position” you should likely transpose the Melody to a lower octave prior to generating the solo. The settings for Note Duration thresholds to get a chord refer to how long a note must be before a chord will be generated. (Quarter note = 120 ticks.
- Similar interpretations for notes occurring on “Beat 2, 3 and 4.” You can see that the threshold is higher for notes on beat 2 and 4, which is how a guitar player makes chord solos. “Passing notes” are defined as short duration notes that aren't on the beat, and are followed by a note that is on the beat. In this example, passing notes will never be voiced as chords since the tick threshold is set to zero. A further threshold is applied to the possibility that a note is voiced to a chord.
Chords that require the index finger to be played in a Barre position. Barre chords If set to Never, no chords that require and open string will be played. Include Open Strings (Never/ Sometimes/ Favor) If set to Favor, it will play open strings whenever possible. Sometimes is a “middle ground” setting. Include Chords with this # of Notes You can select the # of notes for chords to be included in the chord solo. In the example above, chords with 2-6 notes will be included.
Chapter 12: Tutors, Wizards, and Practice Aids Audio Chord Wizard (“Chords from MP3”) This amazing wizard automatically figures out the chords from any MP3, WAV, or WMA (Windows Media Audio) file and displays them in Band-in-a-Box. Just load an audio file and you’ll instantly see the chords. Using the Audio Chord Wizard is a great way to learn and practice popular songs as you play along and see the chords.
To change the # of bars per row, or rows per screen, right click on the chord sheet. The +/- buttons at the bottom right also change the row height. The Audio Chord Wizard is a great way to learn the chords of songs. And now that you can add section markers and divide the song logically into sections, it is also a great way to learn the “form” of the song, an essential part of learning popular songs.
Audio Chord Wizard Window Primary Program Controls Toggle Play/Pause (Space bar or Play/Pause key). Stop play, rewind to start with Esc key. Moves nearest bar line to current play position. F8 or Enter keysalso set bar lines. Song time signature, 2/4 to 12/8 supported. Average tempo, right-click for options. Song key signature.
Use to correct pitch of song if necessary. Exit and send chords to Band-in-a-Box. Exit without sending chords to Band-in-a-Box. Chord Detection Chord Detection accuracy depends on the accuracy of the bar lines. If bar lines are not well-aligned then the Chord Detection can be expected to be rather poor. It is quick and easy to align the bar lines on most songs, once you get the hang of it. The first task is to locate the beginning of Bar One.
When satisfied with the Bar lines and Chords, click the [OK] button to return the Chords and Tempo Map to Bandin-a-Box. Keyboard Shortcuts Keyboard shortcuts make it easier to navigate the song and tap in barlines without having to work the mouse with start/stop/scroll actions.
Sometimes Audio Chord Wizard will guess double or half of the tempo you might prefer. Slightly Wrong: Sometimes syncopated songs can have musical anticipations which make ACW guess a tempo slightly too fast or slightly too slow. Completely, Horribly Wrong: Some songs have rhythms difficult for a computer to understand.
The Fine Tune control is calibrated in cents, 1/100th of a semitone. Therefore, if a song is perfectly in the key of C, but if you set Fine Tune to +100 Cents, ACW would display chords in the key of B. Similarly, if you set Fine Tune to -100 Cents, it would display that song's chords in the key of C#. That simple use of the Fine Tune control is just a backwards way to transpose the Chords.
Odd Length Bars and Drastic Tempo Changes If a 4/4 song contains occasional bars of 3/4, 5/4, or whatever, or if there are sections where the music has an extreme ritard or accelerando, sometimes you can just Tap Bar Lines to adjust it. But it is sometimes more convenient to manually add or delete bar lines. The following example song has an overall Time Signature of 4/4, but Bar 9 should have a time signature of 2/4.
Change Bar 10 to its desired duration. Hover the mouse over the red triangle marker at Bar 11, and the mouse cursor becomes a drag cursor. Click and drag the barline to the location marked 11:3 Now we have edited bar 9 to have its proper 2/4 Time Signature and preserved the song tempo on both sides of the 2/4 bar. Notes Display The Notes Display looks like a MIDI Piano Roll, but it is not exactly the same as a MIDI Piano Roll.
Audio Chord Wizard Utilities Dialog The Audio Chord Wizard Utilities dialog box can be launched at any time from the menu item (File- Audio Chord Wizard Utilities, or Audio – Audio Chord Wizard Utilities). It is also launched automatically after returning from the Audio Chord Wizard Automatic detection of key signature based on the chords only. This is useful for a song from the Audio Chord Wizard, where you forgot to set the key signature or for any song without the key signature set.
This erases the audio track from BB. If you have loaded in an MP3 file, the audio track isn’t the MP3 file, it is the WAV file copy that BB has made of it. So you wouldn’t be erasing your MP3 file! Note that you also have to SAVE the BB file to have the erasure be complete. If you enable the MIDI style, you’ll be hearing the audio file as well as the BB MIDI style. Otherwise you can mute the BB style by disabling it here.
Press the [Open (Change)…] Button to select the MIDI file that you'd like to import. Once you've selected the file, you can press the [INTERPRET CHORDS NOW] button. When you do that, the chords will be interpreted from the MIDI file, and written onto the chord sheet. Prior to pressing the [INTERPRET CHORDS NOW] button, you might want to make some custom settings. When you load in the MIDI file, Band-in-a-Box interprets many things from the MIDI file for you automatically.
It has automatically determined that the “Violet Song.MID” file - has 2 bars of lead-in. - has 103 bars of chords. - is in the key of F with a 4/4 time signature, and a tempo of 120. - has the Bass Part on channel 2. - has the chording (comping) parts on Channels 3, 6 and 7. - has the Melody on Channel 4. - has no other parts like the Melody to put on the Soloist track.
Once you have done that, you should choose one of the Presets, to quickly put the settings to the type of song that we are trying to interpret. Chord Options When you choose one of these presets, it makes a number of settings in the Chord Options section of the dialog. You can override them in this dialog. Chord Resolution This is the minimum number of beats for a chord.
Delay Lowest Bass Note Usually a bass player plays the root of the chord at or near the time when the chord changes. But in solo piano playing or some bass styles, the bass doesn't state the root until later on, and this setting should be set to “delayed” in a solo piano style of this type. Primary Style Set the primary style of the song to Jazz or Pop using the Lead Sheet Method combo box. Using the Chord Options Presets to quickly make settings For the song “Violet Song.
As you can see, by comparing the two sets of chords, the Chord Wizard got almost all of the chords correct in this example. The Chord Wizard purposely avoids chords like “C13.” It will put a simpler “C7” instead, since this is more like a typical lead sheet. If you've read in the entire MIDI file, you have 103 bars of chords on the Chord Sheet. This actually contains 3 choruses of the song.
Practice Window The Practice Window allows convenient “1-click” access to many Band-in-a-Box features that help you with practicing. These include the Ear Training dialog, games (Pitch Invasion etc.), Metronome, CopyMe, Sight Reading, 101 Riffs series, and more. To launch the Practice Window, press the [P] practice button on the toolbar, or choose Window | Practice Window (hot keys Alt+Shift+L). There are several purposes for the Practice Window.
One button access to many other PG Music educational programs and lessons. Most of these items are “add-on” products, available separately, and are not included in the Band-in-a-Box program. If you have these items installed to your hard drive, the Practice Window will find them if they are installed them to the default directories, and if not, you will be able to point the program to the location of the program, which will be remembered in future sessions.
Jazz and Pop music is further enhanced by ear training exercises to recognize common chord types (e.g., Major, Minor, Dominant, etc.). For example, Band-in-a-Box will play a chord and you will have to identify the correct root and chord type. Your score can be tracked, allowing you to monitor your progress. Clicking on the various chord types lets you instantly hear the differences between various chords. Other options include “types of roots and chords to use,” and “voicing types” (open, closed, etc.
Start the game by pressing the [Guess Interval] button. You can control the starting note and the second note in the dialog. Once the game starts, click on the interval that you think is being played. Chord Tutor Click on the [Chord Tutor] button to enter the Chord Tutor module. - 374 Press the [Play Tonic] button to familiarize yourself with the root note of the scale as a reference point. Click on any of the other note names to hear that root. Click on any of the chord extensions to hear that sound.
Guessing the root You can test yourself on roots only or root AND extension. Press “Guess a New Root” and you'll hear a root played. Press this button to hear the root-to-guess replayed. If you need help, press [Play Tonic – C] to hear the root again. When you think you know the root, press the root name on the list of note names at the left. If you guess incorrectly, you'll see a message that says “Wrong Root.” You'll then hear the note that you guessed playing, followed by the root-to-guess note again.
In this mode, you need to guess both the Root and the Extension. You can guess them in any order. Click on the root, and when you get it correct you can move on to the extension. Types of Roots to Include For the Roots, you can choose which types of roots to include. This can be any of the 12 semitones, or just the scale tones, or just the 1-4-5 of the scale. Extension to Include For the extensions, you can include all of the extensions listed in the dialog, or just the subset that are common extensions.
For Pitch Invasion, choose a level that will specify the # of note types that will be invading. The LEVEL determines the speed of the notes. To shoot the aliens, click on the on-screen keyboard, MIDI keyboard or QWERTY keys. The program settings allow you to customize the game. Press the HELP button for more information. Music Replay Music Replay develops your pitch, rhythm, and melody recognition by replaying what the program plays, in note, rhythm, or melodic modes.
for that song. Options available to “include/exclude falsetto range,” “restrict choices to these keys […],” and “transpose now.” Before we enter the Vocal Wizard, we’re going to load in the song Old Folks at Home (present in the c:\bb\Tutorial - BB 2005 folder). The song Old Folks at Home is in the key of F, we’ll use the Vocal Wizard to find the best key for a baritone. To enter the Vocal Wizard, choose the menu item Window | Vocal Wizard, or press the Vocal Wizard button on the toolbar.
2. 3. 4. Selecting the keys that would be “allowable.” Most musicians have favorite keys, so this area allows selection of keys that would be acceptable for the Vocal Wizard to choose. For example, if we choose “Jazz” keys, we’ll see that the Vocal Wizard now recommends the key of C instead of D. Setting the range of the song to analyze (usually the whole song). Normally you’d want to analyze the whole song, but this allows you to select a partial range. Selecting the track to analyze.
In the example Old Folks at Home, you can see that D is the best key (“green”), but any of the keys from G to Db are also good keys in the selected vocal range. The area in black at the bottom gives an analysis of the vocal range if the song was transposed to the chosen key. Now that the Vocal Wizard has told us the best key for this song, we can either close the dialog, or transpose it now to the recommended key (or any other key that we have selected with the radio buttons.
The first thing you should do is set the “Genre” for the reharmonization. For example, if you want “Jazz Swing” genre, choose that in the genre drop down. You’ll then get typical Jazz chords. Verify that the key is correct. Band-in-a-Box analyzes the melody, and gives its best guess as to the best key for the song. If it is different than the current key, Band-in-a-Box will suggest the new key, and you can press the button to set the key to the new key.
Choose a chord progression, and press [Do-Reharmonize NOW] and the program will insert that progression. The progressions are sorted in alphabetical order, or from “best to worst” depending on this setting. Chord Substitution Wizard Reharmonizing a song with the Chord Substitution Wizard is a fun and educational way to perform or practice a familiar song in a brand new way.
Chord Substitution Dialog This dialog depends on what chords were present at the bar that was currently highlighted. This bar number is shown in the dialog and may be changed. In the example shown, the chord was an F7 chord, so the substitutions shown are for an F7 chord. The substitutions shown may work for up to 4 bars, depending on the substitution. In the examples above, the substitutions work for 2 bars.
Auto Chord Substitutions You can quickly auto-generate substitutions for an entire song, or portion of a song using the auto-substitution dialog, which is accessed with the menu command Window | Auto Generate Chord Substitutions. For example, we can generate substitutions for the !Freddie.MGU song. Here is the original chord progression.
If you'd like Band-in-a-Box to only generate chords for a certain range of bars, you should highlight that range of bars in the chord sheet first, and then launch the dialog. The Range will then be set to “Part of Song” and the “Bar” and “# bars” settings will also be set. You can override these settings with manual settings, if necessary.
Tip: The Tutor uses the MIDI THRU part to playback on. You can control volume, panning, etc. by using the THRU settings on the main Band-in-a-Box screen. Guitar Patch You can select the patch to use directly from the Tutor dialog. Type of chords to display The tutor will display Jazz, Pop, and Folk voicings in easy, medium, and advanced forms. The advanced forms use inversions, and changing patterns of chords, while the easier ones just stick to the common “campfire” chords.
Show muted high note of 3 note comping One of the tutors uses 3 note Jazz voicings to simulate the famous Big Band chord guitar comping styles. If you use this, you'll only see 3 notes in the chords of course. Since it sometimes helps to see the entire 4 chord voicing in this case, there is the option to show the muted note as well. Note: This applies to the guitar tutor. There is also the option to show this for the guitar styles. This option is present in the Guitar Options dialog.
Using the MIDI File to Style Wizard The Style Wizard converts any MIDI file to a Band-in-a-Box style. In this tutorial, we're going to load in the Violet.MID found in the \bb folder and convert it to a style - which we'll call Violet.STY. Start with a new song and press the Style Wizard button or choose Styles | Style Wizard to launch the Style Wizard. The dialog is largely empty because we haven't chosen a MIDI file yet. Press the [Open] button and load in the file c:\bb\violet.MID.
Usually you'll want to customize these snapshot bars to control which bars get included in the “a” or “b” substyle. In the Violet.MID style, the Style Wizard has offered to include Bars 9-101 (inclusive) and wants to put them all on the “a” substyle. Continuing on, we want to make a great sounding style, so it is important that we have the following two items correct: The “BB Parts” have to be correct.
Mute the Melody (Alt+9 or right-click on the Melody part at the top of the screen). The next thing is the Enable the Style, by choosing Style | Style is Enabled so that this item has a checkbox. Auto Endings for Styles without Endings If you‘ve made a style, and haven’t included an ending, a 2-bar ending can be generated automatically, based on the style. This makes it easier to make complete styles using the Style Wizard. To hear an example, load in the song c:\bb\Tutorial – BB 2005\No Ending.MGU.
Drums (“voicings”): Whether the patterns will use live or grid style patterns. Default mode is “auto,” which normally uses live patterns, but you can force it to use live or grid style patterns. Live patterns have higher resolution and can use more instruments, so in general are the better choice. Bass (“voicings”) determine if the bass part will use All notes / Scale tones only / Root 3rd, 5th,7th / Root, 3rd, 5th / Root and 5th / or just the Root.
Save settings with songs The song will be saved as an MGX file, since the Melody track type is Multichannel and contains the MIDI file. If you select this, the Style Wizard settings are all saved with the MGX file. Leave StyleMaker open after creating style If set, after generating the style, the StyleMaker is left open for you to examine/edit the style directly. Auto-interpret MIDI file. (Default = Yes) When set, the Style Creation Wizard will set the channels, BB Parts, and snapshots for you.
Load in the Song “Miles1 Tutorial (no repeats yet)” from the Tutorial – Repeats and Endings folder. You’ll notice that this is a 1-32 bar form. There are no repeats and endings entered for this song. We’ll be adding them now. First of all, when you load in a song, you’ll notice some new “Form Marker” features that happen for any Band-in-aBox song. Repeat symbols are drawn at the beginning and end of the entire form (bars 1, 32 in this song) and “end” is written on bar 33, which is the ending.
Click on the 1st/2nd endings radio button, and enter the following. - Repeat begins at bar 1. - 1st ending begins at bar 9. - 1st ending lasts for 8 bars. - Type of Repeat/Ending = 1st/2nd endings. By entering this data we’ve defined the complete 1st and 2nd ending. If the 1st ending begins at bar 9 and lasts for 8 bars, the 2nd ending must begin at bar 17+8=25 (there’s an 8 bar repeated section from bar 1 to 8). Now, this was a pre-existing song, and it already has all of the bars laid out.
This shows all of the 32 bars, including the bars that are part of the repeat – these are highlighted in gray. Exposing these bars shows the linear view of the song, the way the song would be played. It also allows you to enter custom information for any of the bars, including the bars in the “gray area.” For example, if you wanted the chord at bar 21 to be an Em9 instead of an Em7, just type it in, even though it’s in the repeated section leading to the 2nd ending.
Chapter 13: Tools and Utilities Find File So many files, so little time? This feature is a “Swiss Army Knife” that allows you to find a Band-in-a-Box song (or any file that Band-in-a-Box can open), including filtering by words found in the file name or any text in the file. Example uses: You can: - Get a listing of all BB songs on your PC with the word “Blues” in the title. - Get a listing of all BB songs in the BB folder with the word “Reggae” in them. This produces a list of over 50 songs in the MegaPak.
Roland VSC3 Virtual Sound Canvas An important part of Band-in-a-Box is the band that you actually hear. This is determined by the MIDI driver that you use for output. The Roland Virtual Sound Canvas (VSC) is a top-quality software synthesizer. You should install both the Roland VSC and VSC DXi, which are separate installations from the Band-in-a-Box program. When you install the VSC, you'll see a “Roland VSC” MIDI Output driver listed in the Band-in-a-Box MIDI Driver Setup dialog (Opt. | MIDI driver setup.
Now, make sure that the TranzPort is installed and working. You can determine that it is installed and working by running Band-in-a-Box, and looking at the list of MIDI Drivers (Options-MIDI Drivers). If “TranzPort” appears on the list of MIDI-IN and MIDI-OUT drivers, then the TranzPort is installed correctly. Important: DO NOT SELECT the TranzPort drivers, since it is not a sound module. Band-in-a-Box will automatically find the TranzPort unit to send/ receive data.
7| G | Gm The * marks the current bar (bar 5), which is a D chord. The screen always scrolls to show you 2 bars ahead of the current time. TranzPort Dialog There is a TranzPort Settings dialog inside Band-in-a-Box with additional settings. If you are a non-concert instrument player, you can set the transpose display in Pref | TranzPort. For example, an Alto sax player would press the “Eb Alto” button, and then the TranzPort display would show chords transposed to his key.
Master Tuning This function allows you to tune your sound card or module to another instrument, as well as adding a testing function to see if your sound card supports Master Tuning. This is useful if you're playing along with an instrument or recording that can't easily be re-tuned like an acoustic piano. A setting of 0 is the default A = 440. Select the GM | Master Tuning menu item to launch the Master Tune dialog. Tip: Not all sound cards/modules support the Master Tuning feature.
The onscreen instruments may be played by mouse clicking or by pressing the appropriate computer keys. There is an option to display all the QWERTY names on the drums at the same time, so that you can see what keys to hit without having to mouse over the instrument. When playing by mouse click or computer keys, the Shift key can be used to switch the velocity between two user-specified levels (i.e. loud=100 and soft=50). The drums that you play show up in green; the computer played drums are red.
Computer “QWERTY” Keys Numeric keypad Press computer keys to play drums. Drums are grouped on the computer keyboard by category. The kick, snare, and hihat sounds are on the lowest keyboard row. The lower-middle row contains toms and cymbals. The upper-middle row contains Latin drums, and the top row contains Latin hand percussion. The Numpad keys contain the rest of the Latin hand percussion plus the electronic tones. Multi - Note Instruments Kick Drum - Ac.
Drum window is always on top Use this checkbox to keep the Drums window on top of other program windows. Note Velocity When playing drums with a mouse or computer keys, the shift key toggles between two levels of note velocity. The two velocity levels can be set any way desired. For instance, if you want the shift key to send quieter notes you can set the shift velocity lower than the non-shift velocity. Randomize Use this checkbox to enable the program to send random velocity levels when playing the drums.
The MIDI Monitor main window. Tip: To display the data received from the computer MIDI Input, the MIDI THRU option must be enabled in Band-in-a-Box. The MIDI Monitor has options for 1-based patch numbering and patch name display. Quick View Filter presets (such as “Notes Only,” “Controllers Only,” “Program Changes Only,” “Programs including Bank Changes”). MIDI Monitor- Main Window MIDI Display Controls Event The current event number since the display was last cleared.
Current Time - The millisecond count since the timer was last started. Click anywhere in the Timer area to clear the Current time, setting it to zero. Channel Activity Panel This panel has an array of “LEDs” to show which channels are active. MIDI Display Area The MIDI Display area at the bottom of the main window, displays the data generated by Band-in-a-Box and/or data received at the computer MIDI input. Each row is a single MIDI event. Event number, starting from when the display was last cleared.
Tip: Virtually any combination of display events can be selected in the filter. It is therefore possible to select combinations that do not display any MIDI events at all. The MIDI Monitor will warn you about the more obvious “nil” combinations, but if you find that you are not receiving what you expected, carefully re-examine these filter settings. Sound Blaster Support There is direct support for the Sound Blaster series of sound cards.
Event List Filter There is a filter for the Event List Editor, allowing you to, for example, quickly spot all patch changes. For example, to examine all of the patch changes on the Melody track. Choose “Use Event Filter,” and then press the [Filter…] button. In the Event List Filter select the type of information you want to display. In this case, it is program changes (patches) only. The track will then display with the program changes only.
The Event Type to Edit dialog opens when either the [Insert] or [Append] buttons are pressed in the Event List Editor. This dialog allows you to select which type of event to insert or append - note, controller, pitch bend, etc. – and then opens the selected edit dialog. PG Vinyl DirectX Plug-In Remove clicks and pops from your old vinyl record collection with the new PG Vinyl plug-in. If you no longer have a phono preamp, just attach your turntable to your mixer console.
against the inevitable vinyl pops, clicks, and surface noise. Pre-emphasis also prevents low frequency signals from bouncing the stylus out of the groove. When you play a record, the preamp's RIAA de-emphasis will reverse the EQ. High frequencies are cut, and low frequencies are boosted. If you do not apply RIAA de-emphasis, either with a phono preamp or in the software, vinyl will sound too bright and shallow.
results with less than one percent of DeCrackle Activity. Strive to mute only the minimum necessary to clean your record. NOTE: If DeCrackle is set outrageously high, the DeCrackle Activity reading can exceed 100 percent. This is not a bug. The DeCrackle section does three processing passes in progressively lower frequency bands. It might happen that the first pass will “heal” a click, but subsequent bands will “heal” the left-over residue of that click.
As you increase the Fill Gaps knob, PG Vinyl Tool extrapolates the midrange signal in the vicinity of the click, synthesizing a guess of what the signal might have been in the tiny muted region. If you set Fill Gaps to 100, it will insert this extrapolated guess at the same level as the original signal. This allows many clicks to be snipped from a dirty record, without reducing the mid-frequency content. On many recordings, the extrapolated guesses are quite good.
minimum music level is exterminated. Be sure to check the DeNoise Amount against the quietest parts of the recording, because the quiet locations are most likely to be affected if the DeNoise Amount has been set too high. Conclusion PG Vinyl Tool offers many tools which can clean vinyl records. But there is a limit what can be done for severely damaged discs (without investing in very expensive tools).
Channel View Channel View is only meaningful when metering a stereo track, or Aux/Master inserts (which are almost always stereo). The Channel View setting has no effect on a mono track. If metering a stereo insert, select the Left+Right button to view the summed frequency response of both the Left and Right channels. Select the Left or Right buttons to view only one of the channels. Zoom In/Out (Adjust the vertical amplitude resolution in dB.
between center and side channels, so no processing takes place unless there is a significant difference between the loudness of the center versus side channels. Vocal is not the only sound which can trigger the compressor. Any loud midrange center instrument could trigger the compressor, so if you crank the Amount too high, snare drum or other loud center instruments may unpleasantly “pump” the side channels. Reduce Reverb Attack Slider Works like a compressor Attack control.
Chapter 14: Reference Band-in-a-Box Menu Descriptions This chapter gives line-by-line descriptions for all Band-in-a-Box menus. File Menu New is used to blank the chord sheet and start a new song. Open shows and opens all available file types (MGU, WAV, WMA, MP3, MID, KAR, CDG, and CDA). And it remembers your preference, so you can restrict it to a certain file type. Open MIDI file loads a MIDI file into Band-in-a-Box and the MIDI file will play with the chords intelligently interpreted on-screen.
Launch Audio Chord Wizard… (WAV, WMA, MP3, WMV, CDA) will open the Audio Chord Wizard to analyze chords in an existing Band-in-a-Box song (that has a WAV file on the audio track). Audio Chord Wizard Utilities opens a dialog with handy options to - Make/Remove tempo map in Band-in-a-Box - Remove audio file from song. - Auto-set Key signature, with button present in the Audio Chord Wizard. - Enable/disable the BB MIDI style.
File utilities… opens a sub-directory of file utilities. Change Directory (Path) opens the Browse Folder window where a new directory can be selected. Run Explorer in Current Directory launches Explorer. Pressing Ctrl+Shift+F3 is the usual way to get to this item, and will quickly open Explorer. Once Explorer is open, you could double click on a song or style to load it in. (Assuming that there is a file association for Band-in-a-Box songs and styles made in Explorer.
There is also an option to save Drums on separate tracks. This is a special type 1 MIDI file with each individual drum instrument - such as kick drum, snare, and hi-hat - on its own separate track. When you load this type of MIDI file into a sequencer, like PowerTracks Pro Audio, it’s easy to fine-tune the level of each percussion instrument in the drum kit. This button saves a MIDI File to Disk. You can then load the MIDI File into your sequencer for further editing.
Edit Menu Edit | Undo and Edit | Redo allow you to undo or redo most operations. Edit | Cut functions like a delete command to remove bars from a song. Edit | Copy and Edit | Paste are to copy chords. Copying a section of chords can be done in the same manner as copying text in a Windows word processor.
Pasting Chords from the Windows Clipboard Assuming you have already copied some chords to the clipboard, you are then ready to paste the copied chords into another part of your chord sheet. Move the highlight cell to the bar to begin the paste of chords. Copy the chords at the highlighted bar with the on-screen paste, the keystrokes Ctrl+V, or choose the Edit | Paste menu item. Tip: The copied section remains in the clipboard and can be used repeatedly.
Inside the dialog, you should choose the “Source Track” and the destination track to Copy/Move selected channels to. Source track can be any of the Band-in-a-Box tracks – Bass, Drums, Piano, Guitar, Strings, Melody, or Soloist. The track to “Copy/Move selected channels to ->“ can be Melody or Soloist (since these are the only tracks that are editable in Band-in-a-Box). For copying from Melody or Soloist track, you can also specify which channels to include in the copy, or delete or move certain channels.
Reduce (durations of chords by 1/2) cuts chord durations by 50% (e.g., 4beats>>2beats; 2beats>>1beat). Expand (durations of chords by 2) doubles the durations of chords (e.g., 1beat>>2beats; 2beats>>4beats). Unfold (convert to 1 BIG chorus) Choose this command to unfold a multi-chorus song into one BIG chorus. When selected, Band-in-a-Box will display all choruses and verses of a song without loops or repeats.
Set Time Signature (range of bars) In Edit | Set Time Signature (range of bars) you can assign a specific time signature at any bar and apply it to a range of bars, as often as you want. For example, to have one 5/4 bar, bar 13, select this menu item, and toggle the 5/4 button. Then, type in the bar beginning (13) and number of bars (1) in the space provided. Time signature changes are printed on the Notation and Lead Sheet.
Song Memo… A song memo of up to 2000 characters may be added. When a song has a memo associated with it the word Memo highlights in pink. Clicking on the [Memo] button launches the Song Memo dialog, where you can type or edit a memo about the song and select an “Auto-open” option that will show the memo each time the song is loaded. The Song Memo has an option to close automatically during playback.
Also a “simplify Jazz chords” option will simplify chords like C13#11#5 to simply C9. Chord Settings… This launches the Chord Options dialog box, where you can put in rests and pushes. You can launch the Preview, Chord Builder, or Chord-Substitution Functions from this window. The Chord Options dialog box can also be opened with the chord options button, with the keystrokes Alt+F5 or with a right mouse button click on the chord sheet.
StyleMaker This opens a submenu with three StyleMaker options. New - Make A New Style This function allows you to begin to create a new style, using the StyleMaker feature. See online Tutorial #6: StyleMaker - Making a New Style. Edit a Style This allows you to edit an existing style (*.STY) from disk. The resulting style can then be saved with the same name or a different name. This function uses the StyleMaker. See online Tutorial #5: StyleMaker – Editing Styles.
Load Previous Style, Load Next Style. This function, like the Load Next Song function, loads in the previous (or next) style in alphabetical order of the file name. These functions are in the Styles menu, and accessible with the hot keys Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F8 (or Alt+Shift+F8). Style Aliases You can create an alias so that when Band-in-a-Box looks for a style, it will load its alias instead, so when you have found a new favorite style just change the alias and you don’t have to change all of your songs.
Return to Factory Settings Choosing this command will reset all settings to the default at the time of shipping. Return to Factory Settings also offers to nuke the drum kit and MIDI Driver choice, making the return to factory settings complete. If you choose MOST settings, the patch map and drum kit will be left intact, and not reset. If you choose ALL settings, all settings will be reset to factory.
Display General MIDI Patch Numbers This opens the General MIDI Patch List for reference. Send a SysEx file (*.SYX) is a command that sends SysEx information to your MIDI device. Whether you want to load different patches (or ones you have “tweaked” with a patch editor/librarian such as the SC-Pro Editor/Librarian) into your MIDI device or whether you have a synth that requires a SysEx to set it to a certain mode, you can easily send SysEx files with a configurable delay (the default is 100 ms).
Some basic soundcards don't have volume responsive drums. The result of this limitation can be rather unpleasant, since the drums might be too loud and there is no way of lowering the volume. Band-in-a-Box overcomes this so that you can boost or reduce the velocity of the drums on virtually any sound source. To adjust the drum velocity, access Opt | Utilities | Make an Advanced Patch map and tick the option to “Enable Advanced Settings.
Language Selection This item in the Opt. menu allows you to change language from English to another language for display. If there are other languages supported by your version of Band-in-a-Box, then they will be displayed in this dialog box. International language versions are available for download from www.bandin-a-box.com. Preferences… The Preferences dialog box allows you to set various settings that are saved in the Band-in-a-Box for Windows configuration file called INTRFACE.BBW.
loaded. The last settings that are in effect on the main screen instrument panel when you save the song will be recorded. Individual settings can be enabled/disabled in the File | Save Song w/Patches and Harmony menu item. OK to Prompt to Reduce/Expand Song If a style is changed with a different feel (16th notes instead of 8th notes), Band-in-a-Box will automatically offer to expand or reduce the duration of the chords, and change the tempo to accommodate the new style.
Text Hints Choose to enable or disable the fly-by text hints, the comprehensive program hints, and/or the dialog box hints. Set the time delay in ms before the hint pops up, and the length of time it will display. Preferences Buttons Most program settings and options can be accessed from the rows of buttons at the top of the Preferences dialog. Display Options Windows Themes Band-in-a-Box supports for Windows “Themes.
Toolbars Toolbar mode settings are for the main toolbar. The Normal mode shows toolbar icons with text labels. Options are Text only, Icons only, or No toolbar. Show on-screen piano shows or hides the on-screen piano. Floating Toolbars Always Show Text toggles floating toolbar text off or on. Song Title area font allows the selection of any installed font the song title. Chord Sheet Enable display of Repeats/Endings allows repeats signs and 1st/2nd ending markers to be shown on the chord sheet.
Arrangement Options The [Arrange] button opens the Arrangement Options dialog. Boost Velocity of pushes by The pushes in Band-in-a-Box are the chords that get played before the beat. Typically pushes are played a little louder than other patterns. You can leave this setting at 0, or set it to between 0 and 10. Boost shots by Shots can be accented with this setting. Boost ‘Holds’ by Use this setting to boost the velocity of held chords. Allow Any Rests You can disable the rests feature.
Lowest Bass Note Styles will normally play bass notes (down to the low E) if the pattern won't go below a low E note. This happens with all styles automatically, but there is also an option to set the lowest note that the bass can go real low (so you can get a low C if you want to!). Prevent “too low” guitar notes For styles using a guitar patch on the Guitar, Piano, or Strings part this will prevent any note from being lower than the low E on a guitar.
This feature is great for practicing tempo control. Select the # of bars, and Band-in-a-Box will play for, say 4 bars (selectable), and then will rest all instruments for the next 4 bars. Once set, this feature works automatically with all songs until you turn it off. Count-in and Metronome Options This Preferences button opens the Count-in and Metronome Options dialog.
Instrument/ Pattern You can select any drum instrument for the count in. You can choose different count-in rhythms, e.g., tap on 2 and 4 instead of 1-2-3-4. There's a new “smart lead-in” option to silence the drum count-in if a melody lead-in has begun. Smart Lead-in A smart lead-in avoids playing the count-in drum sound during a Melody pickup. Lead-in drum count if drums muted/disabled Previously, when the drum track was muted (or disabled in a song), the count-in drum click wouldn't play.
Write Harmony To MIDI File If set to YES, the harmony will be written to the MIDI file. If not, just the melody will be written to the MIDI file. MIDI File Harmony on separate tracks If set to YES, the harmony will be written to the MIDI file on separate tracks for each voice. You could use this to print out individual parts to your printer for example.
MIDI Output Driver Select a Driver For MIDI Output. This also includes Sound Card output (like Sound Blaster). Perhaps the easiest way to configure Band-in-a-Box is to press the [Run Driver Wizard..] button. This launches the MIDI Output Driver Wizard. The MIDI Output Driver Wizard dialog will take you step-by-step through the process of auditioning and selecting an appropriate driver. This assumes that the appropriate Windows sound drivers are installed and correctly configured.
To select the DXi synthesizer, click the [DXi Synth Settings] button, which will open the DirectX Plugins window. Select your DXi synth and apply real time DirectX effects. Driver Latency Software synths (like the Roland VSC) have a specific timing issue associated with them; “latency.” This means that it takes about 430ms from the time Band-in-a-Box sends the MIDI information to the Virtual Synthesizer to generate and hear the sound. To keep everything (i.e. the notation display, etc.
Boost THRU Velocity by When playing along on a keyboard to the Band-in-a-Box “band,” if the sound of your keyboard is too quiet and increasing the THRU Volume doesn't help enough, use this option to boost the THRU velocity and make your THRU playing louder. Output Sync/Start info: Syncs Band-in-a-Box with an external sequencer. Send Extra Note Offs: Leave this option set to “No” unless you are having trouble with “Stuck Notes” when you press [Stop].
MIDI Channels: Range 0 to 16. If set to 0 the part will be Off/Disabled, which is not the same as muted. Octave: Adjusts the octave of the part. Range (-2 to +2). Usually set to 0. (Bass is usually set to -1 for most General MIDI (GM) instruments.) Patch: Range 0 to 128. These are General MIDI patch numbers. Volume: Range 0 to 127. Average volume setting is = 90. This can also be set from the main screen. Note: Only General MIDI, XG, and GS instruments respond to Reverb, Chorus, and Bank changes.
If they don’t the harmony sounds dissonant. Leave this setting to YES, unless you have a specific reason to disable it. The harmony is changed by moving the voices to the nearest chord tone. Overall Harmony Volume Adjust Sets a level for the overall harmony in a range of -128 to 128, with 0 leaving the settings as programmed in the Harmony file. Harmony Channels Band-in-a-Box already uses 7 channels (Bass, Drums, Piano, Guitar, Strings, Melody and Thru channels).
Set the “Trigger Playback Early” to true to enable song playback to start before the Soloist has actually completed composing a solo. Otherwise, Band-in-a-Box will completely compose a solo before song playback begins. Soloist – Prefer Long Phrases Set this checkbox to “True” (enabled) if you would like the Soloist to use the longest musical phrases it “knows.” This setting is normally used in conjunction with the Use Large Soloist files setting. Note: This option may also increase Soloist creation times.
Patch Map This opens the General MIDI Patch Edit dialog, where you can make a customized General MIDI patch map. Type in the patch number that your synth uses for each instrument listed. For example, if your sound source has its Acoustic Piano at patch location 41select the box to the left of Acoustic Piano and type 41. Do the same for all of the instruments in the General MIDI patch list. If your synth doesn't have an exact match, use a close sounding patch that it does have.
Type the MIDI note numbers for the various instruments as you find them on your drum machine or keyboard. Press the [Save] button to save the kit as MYSETUP.DK. If you are making a kit to save under a different name then save the kit under Opt. | Utilities | Save Alternate Patch/Drum Kit. Customize the Relative Volumes of the Drum Kit Instruments. Perhaps when you listen to Band-in-a-Box you feel that the crash cymbal is too loud or the kick drum is too quiet.
The default settings are to change the volumes by 0 %, which would leave them as they are. If there were a drum note with a velocity of 50, it would be affected as follows: +40% would change it from 50 to 50+(40%x50)=70 -40% would change it from 50 to 50-(40%x50)=30 The current settings for your drum velocities are saved in the intrface.bbw configuration file.
Favorite Instruments This button opens the Favorite Instruments dialog. For each of the Band-in-a-Box parts you can assign up to 10 “favorite” General MIDI instruments. Note: If you use a custom patch map it will convert your synth’s non-GM patch numbers, always enter GM patch numbers for the favorite instruments. The [Patch List] button displays the General MIDI Patch List of instrument names and patch numbers. The [Combos] button opens the Favorite Combos dialog.
The Favorite Combos dialog box allows you to save up to 10 of your favorite instrument combos. For example, you could setup Combo #1 to be an Acoustic Jazz combo which would send out patches like Acoustic Bass, Acoustic Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Flute, etc. After you have finished typing in the instrument patch numbers select the [Save] button. Output Chords on Channel The Preferences [OutputCh.] button opens the Output Chords on Channel dialog.
When playing along on your MIDI keyboard, you can set the Thru transpose to transpose semitones or octaves. You can define a “favorite key” and Band-in-a-Box will optionally transpose any and all loaded songs to that key. This is a great feature for practicing in a certain key. You can also set the THRU transpose to the favorite key to transpose the THRU part so that you can always play along in your favorite key (regardless of the actual key of the song).
These settings are described in the Notation chapter and in the online Help. Lead Sheet Options The [Lead sheet] button opens the Lead Sheet Options dialog. If the Lead Sheet window is not open the program will open it. These settings are described in the Notation chapter and in the online Help.
Audio Settings The Preferences [Audio] button opens the Audio Settings dialog. Audio Driver Type You’ll see the following options for Audio Driver Type: MME or ASIO. MME is the default audio driver type that is used in Windows. MME is good, but there is latency (delay) associated with MME drivers. For this reason, Steinberg developed a faster type of audio driver system, called ASIO. It allows for much lower latency than ordinary MME drivers do.
Once you have selected an ASIO driver, you will see the Input Port and Output Port list boxes filled with your driver’s input and output ports. By default, the first of each will be selected. You are allowed to select different ports (but only one input and one output port at a time can be selected). The ports you selected will be available for output within Band-in-a-Box. If you do not hear input or output, then you may need to try different ports than the defaults.
The ASIO Driver’s Control Panel button launches a settings dialog specifically provided by your driver manufacturer. This usually lets you adjust the latency, and usually you will have a choice between buffer sizes in milliseconds. Show Warning for Untested Soundcard Formats can be unchecked if you do not want to see the warning message for ASIO drivers that have not been tested in Band-in-a-Box. The Driver Info field shows various characteristics of your driver. The Name is the driver’s name.
Audio Track Type for THIS song You can choose between mono and stereo for the audio track. Tracks can be edited in either format, and converted from stereo to mono or vice versa. You can change a project from mono to stereo at any time. For example, if you have already recorded a mono track, changing the setting will convert the track to stereo for you. Note: The built-in audio plug-ins work for either mono or stereo tracks. Preferred default track type for new songs.
The Guitar Settings dialog allows you the ability to adjust various parameters on the virtual guitar fretboard so that music can be displayed effectively (and easily) on this window, regardless of the original instrument intended for the track data. It also offers the ability to enter notation using the virtual guitar and play back track data in specific fretboard positions for educational and sight-reading purposes. Click on the [Help] button for detailed online descriptions.
Individual color elements can be picked, or choose one of the presets. Display Chord Symbols will interleave the chord symbols with the lyrics. Show chord symbols above the lyrics will show the chords on a separate line. With the Scroll lyrics a page at a time option selected the Big Lyrics scroll a page at a time. When the lyric cursor reaches the next-to-last line of the lyrics it will scroll to the top of the page, allowing uninterrupted reading of lyrics.
These options are described in the Notation chapter and in the online Help. Overrides Global Song overrides allow you to set the overall song looping (always OFF, always ON, or as set in the song). For example, if you want every song loaded to have looping set to on, then set “Always set loop to ON.” But if you are going out on a playing job, and don’t want any songs to loop, then set it to “Always set loop to OFF.
Similar overrides are available to see which other information gets loaded from a file, such as patches, harmonies, volume/reverb/chorus/panning/banks. For example, you can set every song to load with looping ON, and don’t load any reverb settings from songs. RealDrums The RealDrums button opens the RealDrums Settings dialog. Select the “Enable RealDrums” checkbox to hear RealDrums. Tip: Try turning off the RealDrums by de-selecting “Enable RealDrums.” You can do this even while the song is playing.
There are several ways to hear RealDrums with your Band-in-a-Box songs. Styles (.STY) can have RealDrums (e.g. “–ZZJAZZ.STY”). This is in the StyleMaker’s Misc. Style Settings dialog. We provide many styles that already have RealDrums. These styles can be identified by the style name beginning with a minus sign. For example “-ZZJAZZ.STY” is a version of the ZZJAZZ.STY that uses RealDrums.
When “Enable RealDrum changes at any bar” is checked the RealDrum style can be changed at any bar by choosing a new style in the Edit Settings for Bar dialog (F5 function key). The RealTracks Settings dialog lets you control the RealTracks. Enable RealTracks turns the RealTracks feature on or off. If turned off, Band-in-a-Box will not generate any RealTracks. Global Volume Adjust adjusts the volume of any RealTracks part by a dB (decibel) amount.
If you want lyrics to display on the TranzPort during playback, set these options. Players of non-concert pitched instruments can use “Transpose the display.” For example, an Alto sax player would press the “Eb Alto” button, and then the TranzPort display would show chords transposed to his key. Practice The Practice Window allows convenient “1-click” access to many Band-in-a-Box features that help you with practicing. There are several purposes for the Practice Window.
Handy buttons for on-screen transposition for non-concert instruments. One button access to many of the Band-ina-Box add-ons “101 Riffs” series and “Master Solos.” N/A indicates other Band-in-a-Box add-ons that are available, but not installed on your computer. One button access to many other PG Music educational programs and lessons. This button opens a page with more information about each of the stand-alone programs and add-ons referred to in this dialog. Internet access is required.
Play Menu Note: Most commands in the Play menu are performed by onscreen buttons, or by the keystrokes listed to the right of the menu command. Play Stop Playback - Hold (pause) - Replay - Play (loop) Highlited Section Play From Bar… - Play From Current Position Go (Open and Play) - Step Advance submenu - - - Generates a new arrangement and plays the song. Stops playback.
Slide Tracks - This allows you to move any of the Bass, Drums, Piano, Guitar, Strings or Melody track ahead or behind by a certain amount. You could, for example, slide the Bass track so it plays a little ahead of the rest of the band. This has the effect of making the bass player “drive the band,” and is useful in Jazz styles to make the music sound more exciting. Looping - You can loop any section of the song.
Wizard uses “Smart” notes - Panic! Panic should also Reset DXi synth - Wizard is only active during playback. Toggle this on so the Wizard will only play notes based on the chord/key of the song. Toggle “Smart” notes OFF (unchecked) to have the Wizard provide you access to the chromatic scale. Select this if your MIDI notes are stuck ON and it’s driving you crazy! When selected hung DXi/VSTi notes are also cleared by the Panic feature.
- Select from a list box to kill lyrics in the selected chorus. Move Lyric ahead to time line Move Lyric back to time line - If you have a note-based lyric that you want to time shift ahead or back, you can click on the time line at the destination that you want, and then choose this item. You can also shift lyric times using the Lyric Event list. Timeshift Lyrics (ticks) Insert Beat(s) in Lyrics Delete Beat(s) from Lyrics - These are functions that apply to the entire lyric track.
Melody Menu Track Type Normally you'd leave the track type set to Single. But you can set it to: - Multi (16) -Channel – All channels get preserved, and outputted on the channels, this would be useful for importing an entire MIDI file, and playing it from the Melody channel (using a silent style). - Guitar – Channels 11 to 16 will display on the guitar as strings 11 to 16, TAB will show, the notation will be up an octave, and the MIDI file will contain the channels preserved.
Sequencer Window for multi-Channel Melody There are 2 tracks in Band-in-a-Box to add your own recordings. These are the Melody and Soloist tracks. Normally you would want a single part on each of them. But, since MIDI information can have separate channels, it is possible to store 16 separate parts on each of the Melody and Soloist parts. When the Melody or Soloist track has been set to “Multi (16)-Channel” we refer to this as “Sequencer Mode.” Selecting this command will then launch the Sequencer Window.
Edit Melody Track submenu Import Melody from MIDI File allows you to import MIDI data from a file (*.MID) into the Melody track. Import Melody from Clipboard allows you to import MIDI data that has been pasted into the clipboard (e.g., from a sequencer such as PowerTracks). Record Melody launches the Record Melody dialog to record a MIDI melody. Record melody From any bar starts recording at the current location of the highlight cell after playing a two bar lead-in.
- Resolution. Choose the division you would like the track quantized to. Choosing 16 will Quantize to 16th notes. - Starting at Bar# and Chorus #. Quantization will begin at the place you select and applied for the number of bars. % strength. Choose 100% if you want the notes quantized exactly to the division. Otherwise, the notes will be moved the % toward the target quantization. Quantize Start Times. By default, this option is set to “Yes.
Adjust Level of melody allows you to increase or decrease the volume (velocity) of the Melody track without affecting the other tracks. Timeshift Melody (ticks) allows you to move the Melody forwards or backwards in small increments relative to the rest of the song tracks. (Measured in ticks or parts per quarter, PPQ.) Insert Beat(s) in Melody allows you to insert a blank beat or beats into the song relative to the current time signature.
Change Pitch Bend Range… lets you set the range in semitones. Insert Guitar Bend events when pitch bend found… will insert controllers so the guitar will display bends. Transpose One Octave DOWN / Transpose One Octave UP transposes the Melody part one octave in either direction. This is often useful if the Melody instrument has been changed. Transposing can be done while the song plays. Piano Hand-Split manually splits a piano part on a Melody or Soloist track using the intelligent hand-splitting routines.
Soloist Menu Track Type Normally you'd leave the track type set to Single. But you can set it to: - - - Multi (16) -Channel – All channels get preserved, and outputted on the channels, this would be useful for importing an entire MIDI file, and playing it from the Melody channel (using a silent style). Guitar – Channels 11 to 16 will display on the guitar as strings 11 to 16, TAB will show, the notation will be up an octave, and the MIDI file will contain the channels preserved.
saxophone), extra legato playing, playing more on top of the beat, playing straighter 8th notes than usual swing 8th notes. In addition, you can set phrasing options, such as how long the phrase should be, and how much “space” to leave between phrases. You can also set how “outside” the playing should be. Edit Current Soloists File opens the Select Soloist dialog with the currently installed Soloists file. Refresh Soloist allows the Soloist full access to all solo ideas contained in its database.
We have customized the piano track so that it can be heard (Play=True), but not seen in notation (Show=False). There is a small button at the right of the track line that allows you to delete/ rechannel or merge the channel with another channel. You can increase or decrease the velocity of the track and move it to the Melody track. You can also change the patch (instrument) for that track by using the instrument patch combo box.
Quantize Soloist opens the Quantize Soloist Options dialog. The Humanize Soloist Part… feature is an advanced version of this function. Humanize Soloist Part w/Straight Feel / …/Swing Feel. Band-in-a-Box uses intelligent humanization routines, which can humanize a Soloist from one feel to another, from one tempo to another, and vary the amount of swing in 8th notes (but not randomly). The results are very musical, with natural sounding MIDI solos.
Loosen up Start times Loosen up Start Times is a dedicated function to vary the start times of notes on the Melody or Soloist tracks, with options for what notes to affect (harmony, chords, and amount of variance). Transpose One Octave DOWN / Transpose One Octave UP transposes the Soloist part one octave in either direction. This is often useful if the Soloist instrument has been changed. Transposing can be done while the song plays.
The next two items, Record Audio and MIDI (Melody) and Record Audio and MIDI (Soloist) refer to the situation where you want to simultaneously record an audio track (vocals etc.) as well as a MIDI piano part. You can record the MIDI to the Melody or Soloist track. The Plugin menu command refers to running a plug-in audio effect. This applies an audio effect such as Reverb or Chorus to the already recorded audio part.
Insert Beat(s) in Audio and Delete Beat(s) from Audio are used to insert, silence, or remove parts of the audio track. You can specify the region to use. For example, if you decide to add an extra 2 bars to the intro in Band-in-aBox, and you've already recorded an audio track, you should insert 2 bars (8 beats in a 4/4 time signature) into the audio track as well. Mute Audio is a toggle switch to mute and unmute the audio track. Render MIDI to Stereo .
Audio Harmonies & Pitch Tracking opens the Generate Audio Harmonies dialog. There are three uses of the Audio Harmonies in Band-in-a-Box, namely: - Pitch tracking (fixing) of the melody. - Harmonizing your voice using Band-in-a-Box harmonies (when a MIDI melody is present). - Harmonizing your voice to the chords of the song (when no MIDI melody is present). DXi Synth Settings opens the DirectX Plugins dialog to the Synth Track where you can select a DXi synth and apply real time effects to its audio output.
Reset Roland GS (Quick) and Reset GS (all ID’s) reset the module to factory settings. Set Reverb Type or Set Chorus Type (GS Module): Roland GS instruments allow different type of reverb and chorus settings. These settings boxes allow you to select them. Assign Part/Channel etc. for GS Module The GS Part settings are for GS compatible synthesizers only. These synthesizers have 16 parts. The default is for part 1 to be channel 1, part 2 channel 2 etc., but you can change a part to another channel.
Master (Combo) Volume Adjust submenu Master Volume uses MIDI messages instead of GS/GM SysEx should be set by all users except if you have a Roland GS synth, Roland Sound Canvas, or Roland VSC. If set, the Combo settings will allow Master Volume and other MIDI settings to work. This submenu allows you to set whether to use Roland - GS or General MIDI for Master Volume messages. Unless you have a Roland you should select General MIDI.
Run Other Application… and Choose [Other Application…] allows you to specify and run any other application (mixer application, PowerTracks etc.). Run DLL or &EXE plugin… and Choose DLL or EXE PlugIn… allows you to run a plug-in that has been made specifically for a PG Music product. Convert Patch list from PowerTracks or Cakewalk… This will let you convert a PowerTracks Pro Audio .INI file or a Cakewalk .INS file to a Band-in-a-Box .PAT file.
Save Harmony with this song Toggle this option “On” to allow Band-in-a-Box to embed the harmony settings for the current song so that they may be recalled automatically at a later time. Change Harmony with new chord Toggle this option “On” to allow the program to vary the harmony characteristics (i.e. inversions) each time a new chord is encountered in the song. Allow Melody Harmony Toggle this option “On” to allow harmonies on the Melody MIDI channels.
Notation Menu Notation/edit/note roll mode moves the notation window through its various entry modes. Print... brings up the print dialog box. Note Insert mode Toggling this to “on” allows you to insert notes graphically with your mouse or keyboard on the notation window. Mono Entry Mode Toggle this “on” if you are inserting single notes (not chords) on the notation window.
Window Menu Notation (or chords) Window toggles between the notation and the chord sheet views. Movable Notation Window opens a movable and resizable notation window. Lead Sheet Window launches the lead sheet notation. Big Lyrics Window launches a window that displays lyrics in a Karaoke format. Lyric Document Window displays a full screen of formatted lyrics. Easily copy and paste lyrics to and from your favorite word processor.
Moveable Audio Edit Window opens the regular Audio Edit Window but lets you reposition it on the screen. Piano Roll Window launches the Piano Roll window where you can edit the Melody or Soloist track in a traditional piano roll format. Moveable Piano Roll Window opens the regular Piano Roll window, but lets you move and reposition it on the screen. Put Notation/Chords on Top moves the notation window to the top of the main screen and moves the piano roll at the bottom of the main screen.
Chord Builder submenu Chord Builder… Allows you to build up chords using mouse clicks. Play Current Chord Sheet Chord This function plays the current chord on the chord sheet. It is most commonly accessed by pressing Shift+Enter on the chord sheet. MIDI Chord Detection… This Window menu command brings up a submenu for entering chords from a keyboard. Select MIDI Chord Detection… and play any chord on your MIDI keyboard.
Help Menu Index Lists all of the Help topics. Type in a keyword under the “Index” tab to go to the topic you want.
Opens the Help file where you can search the Table of Contents or the Index, or use the Search feature to find your topic. Using help Has Windows tips for using Help files. How to… Opens a categorized list of topics. It’s a fast way to find out about a particular feature or operation. Basics Goes directly to the “Basics” introduction to Band-in-a-Box. Tutorials Provide detailed, step-by-step instructions for Band-in-a-Box.
About Band-in-a-Box launches a dialog with key information such as the version number you are running and computer system information.
Keystroke Commands - Hot Keys It’s often faster to use keystrokes instead of using the mouse. For example, there are keystroke “hot keys” to mute instruments or to adjust volume, panning, reverb, chorus, or bank of instruments.
Looping / Song Navigation Keystrokes NUMPAD 1 Toggle looping on/off. NUMPAD 2 Open Loop Section Settings dialog. Ctrl+NUMPAD 1 Play with last chorus looped. Ctrl+NUMPAD 2 Play with middle choruses looped. Ctrl+NUMPAD 3 Play with middle and last choruses looped. Ctrl+NUMPAD 4 Jump to last chorus. Ctrl+NUMPAD 5 Jump to ending. Ctrl+NUMPAD 7 Loop Notation screen. NUMPAD [DEL] Advances the notation, lead sheet, and guitar window by one chord (group of notes).
F8 Play pattern on chord F10 Edit pattern options F6 or Shift+F6 Change instrument Cursor Keys Move around screen Alt+F4 Quit the StyleMaker StyleMaker Drum Screen Hot Keys F5 Drum alternate notes Bottom row (ZXCVBNM,. /) Drum note entry F6 Time base F10 or Alt+F4 Exit Additional Keystrokes There are additional keystrokes available, listed on the pull down menus beside the function.
Select Melody Harmony Alt+F10 Favorite Melody Harmonies Ctrl+F10 Allow Melody Harmony Shift+F10 Select Thru Harmony Alt+F11 Favorite Thru Harmonies Ctrl+F11 Allow Thru Harmony Shift+F11 Turn song Embellisher on/off. Ctrl+Alt+E Import chords from MIDI file. Ctrl+Alt+I Send GM mode on message. Ctrl+Alt+Q Set tempo. Ctrl+Alt+T Open the Preferences dialog. Ctrl+E Open the Song Settings dialog. Ctrl+N Launch Chord Builder. Ctrl+Shift+B Edit current bar options. F5 Save MIDI file.
C7susb5, C13susb5, C7susb5b13, C9susb5, C9susb5b13, C7susb5b9, C13susb5b9, C7susb5b9b13, C7susb5#9, C13susb5#9, C7susb5#9b13, C7sus#5, C13sus#5, C7sus#5#11, C13sus#5#11, C9sus#5, C9sus#5#11, C7sus#5b9, C13sus#5b9, C7sus#5b9#11, C13sus#5b9#11, C7sus#5#9, C13sus#5#9#11, C7sus#5#9#11, C13sus#5#9#11, Notes: - It is not necessary to type upper or lower case. The program will sort this out for you. - Any chord may be entered with an alternate root (“Slash Chord”) e.g.: C7/E = C7 with E bass.
PGJAZZ_.TTF PG Music Jazz font. PGMUS.TTF PG Music notation font. PGTEXT.TTF PG Music text font. ZZ*.STY Band-in-a-Box needs Style Files for the built-in Styles. A_PGMUSIC.DS Lists the RealDrums styles to use. Transferring Files Among Computer Platforms (IBM to Mac) Many of the Band-in-a-Box song/style and patch map files are directly compatible. Any Macintosh file automatically gets a 128-byte header added on to it by the Macintosh system.
PG Music Inc. Band-in-a-Box ® is protected by copyright and is the property of PG Music Inc. and its licensors. Copyright © 1989-2008 PG Music Inc. All rights reserved. PG MUSIC INC. 29 Cadillac Avenue Victoria, BC V8Z 1T3 Canada Contacts: E-mail: info@pgmusic.com Phone: toll free in the United States and Canada 1-800-268-6272, 1-888-PG-MUSIC (746-8742), Or 1-250-475-2874 (tolls apply) Universal International Freephone Service: Outside of the United States and Canada (where available).
Index 1st/2nd Endings, 392, 393, 394 more features, 103, 356 A2 Transpose, 217 notes display, 363 Alias substitutions, 427 settings, 355 Alternate Guitar Tunings, 87 special cases, 359 Guitar Tutor, 89 drastic tempo changes, 362 selecting, 88 odd length bars, 362 ASIO, 14 zoom, 363 control panel, 15, 454 Audio Features driver dialog, 14, 453 Applying Plugins, 265 resampler, 15, 454 Audio Harmonies, 104 audible drum count-in, 438 harmonize to chords, 262 Audio, 252, 258 harmonize to MI
Setting, 443 Conductor window, 168 Chord customize sections, 170 Copy and Paste, 127 MIDI keys, 169 Entry, 113 mode, 171 Extensions, 374, 375 patch changes, 169 Outputting to external device, 164 QWERTY keys, 169 preview, 117 uses, 171 shortcuts, 51, 498 Convert patch lists Tutor, 374 Cakewalk to BB, 125 Chord Breaks, 387 PowerTracks to BB, 124 Chord Builder, 385 Copyright, 500 enter chords, 385 custom file selection, 112 Chord Entry, 51 Descriptive hints, 110 Chord List, 497 Digi
Favorite Guitar Tutor alternate tunings, 386 Combos, 449 Styles, 146, 149 chord tutor, 385 Favorite song folders, 112 Guitar Window Toolbar, 90 Favorite Songs, 93 Guitarist File Associations, 111 Dialog, 231 file selection Harmonize to Chords, 262 Harmonize to MIDI Melody, 259 no extension, 112 Files Harmony, 43, 66 essential, 498 creating, 342 transferring to Mac, 499 octave doubling, 342 filter styles, 141 Find File, 396 selecting, 43 Forced Rests, 177 test chord, 343 form markers, 3
display, 42 settings, 61, 121 Keystroke List, 494 Looping Kill keystroke commands, 122 Intro, 218 Screen, 174 Melodist, 218 Song, 50 Soloist, 218 looping status, 122 Latency Lyrics, 201 soft synth adjust, 12 document window, 202 understanding latency, 16 Event List, 199 Lead sheet line-based lyrics, 468 Options, 193 Menu, 198, 200 Lead Sheet, 206 Notebased Lyrics, 199 Fake Sheet Mode, 195 Lyrics enhancements memo, 196 Karaoke file lyrics, 203 show title, 193 MIDI file lyrics, 20
Auto-Tempo, 217 MIDI drivers genres, 94, 216 wizard, 9 Go To #, 218 MIDI drivers, 8 Insert Bass Pedals, 217 MIDI File Jukebox, 218 Karaoke, 160 Kill Intro, 218 MIDI File Chord Wizard, 365 Kill Melody, 218 MIDI File to Style Wizard, 387 Kill Soloist, 218 MIDI Keyboard Wizard, 58, 240 Memo, 218 MIDI normalize, 60, 167, 436 Number of Choruses, 217 Minimize Rests, 177 Replace Thru Form, 217 MultiStyles Solo in Middle Choruses, 217 + styles, 139 Song Form, 217 in songs, 59, 140 Tempo, 2
toolbar buttons, 173 graphic event panel, 75, 251 Transposing, 186 horizontal scroll bar, 80 Note insert events, 78, 250 duration, 177 keyboard pitch panel, 74 edit, 180 note editing, 77 mouse edit, 181 note panel, 74, 249 Names, 184 note selection, 74, 249 Offs, 442 note time ruler, 76 Nudge, 118 right-click contextual menu, 78 Octave, 343, 443 track selection, 74 Overdubbing, 238 vertical scroll bar, 80 Panic Button, 46 window, 73, 249 Panning, 443 zoom button, 80 Parameters, 246
MIDI Driver Setup, 439 settings dialog, 273 MIDI File Options, 438 using in solos, 273 MIDI Options, 441 using in styles, 272 MIDI Settings, 442 Recording More Soloist and Melodist Settings, 444 manual note entry, 239 Notation Window Options, 451 Melodies, 238 Output Chords on Channel, 450 real time, 238 Practice Window, 463 Wizard, 240 Print Options, 458 ReFresh Soloist, 228 RealDrums, 460 Registration Form, 511 Record Filter, 451 Reharmonist, 380 text hints, 432 new progression, 380
Shots Part Markers, 51, 119, 152 options, 151 Patches Soft Synth latency adjust, 12 Allowing, 442 Solo One Instrument, 60, 127 Saving With, 158 Soloist pause, 119 Custom Solo Generation, 348 play, 119 Editor, 226, 228 playing, 22 Exporting, 345 save MIDI file, 159 filter, 222 save with patches, 157 genres, 222 saving, 106 Maker, 226, 228 Settings, 136, 137, 154 melody influence, 225 stop, 119 Mode, 223 Substyles ReFresh, 228 Changing, 152 Slash Chords, 349 Tempo Style, 222 Cha
part markers, 318, 388 choir mode, 263 snapshots, 318, 388, 389 unison, 262 tutorial, 317, 388 TC-Helicon Harmony, 260 StyleMaker dry voice, 260 assignments, 309 level, 260 bass patterns, 293 octave, 260 drum patterns, 289 preview, 261 hot keys, 495 voices, 260 hybrid styles, 314 Technical Support, 500 making RealDrums, 322 Tempo overview, 285 Change at bar, 135 patterns Tempo Control, 49 editing, 312 Thru erasing, 288 Setting, 441 recording, 294 Thru velocity boost, 57, 442 ve
main screen, 34 Volume menus, 34 Allowing Changes, 442 QuickStart, 31 Changes, 126 RealDrums, 31 Setting, 443 understanding latency, 16 VST unmute drum count-in, 438 add plug-ins, 10 Velocity Lines, 186 control panel, 10 visual metronome, 438 select, 10 Vocal Wizard, 377 Window Menu, 488 auto-transpose, 380 Chord Builder, 490 key, 379 Windows Media/WMA, 281 range of song, 379 Wizard, 44 transpose, 380 MIDI keyboard, 58, 68, 240 vocal range, 378 Worksheet, 51 Voicings, 303, 386 5
PG Music Registration Form Please register your program. Registering your PG Music software entitles you to free, unlimited technical support, advance notice of product upgrades, and news about new product releases. If you haven't registered your PG Music software yet, please take a few moments and do so now. How To Register Mail to PG Music Inc., 29 Cadillac Avenue, Victoria, BC V8Z 1T3, Canada Fax to 1-250-475-2937 or toll-free to 1-877-475-1444. On-line at www.pgmusic.
