Upgrade Manual

Chapter 10: Big Piano Window 61
Chapter 10: Big Piano Window
Big Piano Window Overview
Big Piano Window
. We've added a new Big Piano Window, showing you the
notes of any track on a piano keyboard. You can set the size of the Window,
range of the piano, and number of octaves to display. You can also display notes
names, or guide notes showing the scale notes of the current key. Notes can be
displayed using a different color for each note. There's an "Auto-Octave" setting
that will scan the track to be displayed, and auto-size the piano to the largest size
that would display all of the notes. This 'Big Piano' makes it easier to learn piano
parts from within Band-in-a-Box.
The Big Piano Window is launched (or closed) by pressing the Piano Icon
on the toolbar at the right middle of the screen, or pressing Ctrl-Shift-N, or
choosing Notation-Big Piano Window.
Once launched, you'll see the Big Piano Window.
These are the default settings for the Big Piano Window. (These can be
customized using the Settings button.)
The Big Piano Window displays a single track on the piano. The piano can be
sized, by dragging the bottom of the Window to enlarge it vertically. The key of
the song (in this case Eb) 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 (in this case Eb) are circled on the piano,
with the note names included. The root of the scale is colored in red. As the song
plays, scale tones are colored green, other notes are colored yellow. The name of
the note that the mouse cursor is over is highlighted at the top of the window.
Clicking on the Big Piano plays a note (using the THRU part) and this can be
recorded, or sent to the Notation Window when entering notation. You can
select the track to use by clicking the BDPGSMS line of buttons.
The Settings dialog allows you to set the various options on the Big Piano.