Version 2010.5 for Windows ® © Copyright PG Music Inc.1989-2010. 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!...............................................................................................12 WHAT IS BAND-IN-A-BOX? ...................................
Floating Toolbars ................................................................................................................................................54 TITLE WINDOW ........................................................................................................................................................56 CHORDSHEET AREA .................................................................................................................................................58 Chord Entry ...
Audio Chord Wizard (Chords from MP3) .........................................................................................................101 Copy and Pasting Section of Chords .................................................................................................................101 Deleting Chords.................................................................................................................................................103 Previewing Chords ................................
LEAD SHEET NOTATION WINDOW ..........................................................................................................................161 Launching the Lead Sheet Window....................................................................................................................161 Multiple Tracks of Notation...............................................................................................................................162 Multiple lines of Lyrics on Fake Sheet............
LEAD SHEET WINDOW ...........................................................................................................................................221 Lead Sheet Options Dialog................................................................................................................................222 Fake Sheet Mode ...............................................................................................................................................
ABOUT BAND-IN-A-BOX AUDIO FILES ...................................................................................................................281 AUDIO TRACK ........................................................................................................................................................281 Audio Playback Settings ....................................................................................................................................281 PG Music Reverb..................
RHYTHM GUITAR CHORD TUTOR ...........................................................................................................................337 CHORD “BREAKS” ..................................................................................................................................................338 MIDI FILE TO STYLE WIZARD................................................................................................................................338 Using the MIDI File to Style Wizard .
MAKING REALDRUMS STYLES ...............................................................................................................................404 Introduction to RealDrums ................................................................................................................................404 Making A RealDrums Style Using An Existing Template ..................................................................................405 Elements of RealDrums Styles ................................
SOLOIST MENU .......................................................................................................................................................499 Utilities ..............................................................................................................................................................502 AUDIO MENU .........................................................................................................................................................
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/7. 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.
MIDI Setup Band-in-a-Box uses the multimedia drivers for your MIDI interface and/or sound card that are supported by the Windows operating system. To get sound playback you need to have a MIDI (and audio - for songs with digital audio, RealDrums, and RealTracks) driver installed. To start using the program you will need to make sure that your MIDI interface, audio driver, and Windows sound source is installed and configured. Run the program by double-clicking the program icon.
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. Output to Software Synthesizers (DXi and VSTi) Software synthesizers allow Band-in-a-Box to play high quality sounds directly through your computer sound card, without requiring any external MIDI hardware.
The Synth Track tab edits Synthesizer settings, and the Audio Track tab edits Band-in-aBox audio track DirectX plug-ins. Select your desired DXi synth in the top plug-in Insert Slot 1. To apply DirectX audio plug-ins to the synth, insert DX audio plug-ins to Insert Slots 2, 3, or 4. This can be useful to add EQ, Reverb, Compression, or Peak Limiting plug-ins, if the “raw sound” of the synthesizer needs sweetening.
Select Preset Menu Select a preset. You can also use the small Right/Left arrow buttons to step forward/backwards through the presets one at a time, to audition each preset. Note: Some very nice plug-ins, including some advanced synthesizer plug-ins, may only have one preset, but that single preset can be a doozy containing many settings. Even with single-preset plug-ins, you can Save/Load Presets or Banks. Rename Pst: Rename the currently selected Preset (in the plug-in's memory).
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. Band-in-a-Box automatically sets the latency for DXi and some other softsynths.
The choices are: - General MIDI 2 support: If you're using the Roland VSC3, or a newer Sound Canvas (i.e. newer than 1999, or newer than the Roland SC88), 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.
On the Preferences [Audio] tab, you’ll see the following options for “Audio Driver Type,” MME or ASIO. MME is the default Windows audio driver type. 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. Note: Many OEM or value sound cards do not include an ASIO driver, so you may not have an ASIO driver yet.
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. You may need to read your sound card’s instructions to determine the correct ports to use. Tip: The ASIO4All driver sometimes cannot connect if the Microsoft GS Wavetable synth is being used as a driver. So if this happens, you will get a message that ASIO will be silent, and the solution is to de-select the ASIO4All driver.
Depending on the speed of your computer, you may find that the playback has dropouts, clicks/pops, or other artifacts if you set the buffer sizes too small. This is because smaller buffers use more CPU power and if your computer can’t handle the low latency you will hear artifacts. If this happens, you would need to use larger buffer sizes. You may need to experiment to find what works well.
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.
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 chordsheet 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. Chords can be edited with a right-mouse click on the chord symbol. Edited chords are colored blue. Send the chords to Band-in-a-Box to make your own arrangement, tranpose to your key, and print 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 chordsheet 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 2010.5 Welcome to Band-in-a-Box 2010.5 There were over 50 cool new features added in Band-in-a-Box 2010, and now version 2010.5 adds 40 more! These include user wish list requests and enhancements to existing features, plus some wish list requests of our own. 40 New Features! The amazing RealTracks features in Band-in-a-Box keep growing more powerful. Many of the new features in Band-in-a-Box 2010.
tkc trc t125 - sets key signature to c, tkbb would set it to bb - transposes song to key of C - sets tempo to 125 - Quick-load a song by typing only. In chord entry mode (chordsheet or notation) type the word “song” followed by a file name or partial file name + Enter and the song will get loaded if it is in the current folder. Type “bossa” to load in the first song with bossa in the name AFTER the current song name in the current folder.
song. We added Multiple Undo support, up to 999 levels of Undo. There are new Reverb and Bass/Treble controls for each track, allowing you to add these to individual RealTracks. All settings are now saved with each song. The Details The New Features in Band-in-a-Box 2010 for Windows are... There now is a “Plug-in” mode for your favorite sequencer (RealBand, Sonar, Reaper, ProTools, FL-Studio, Nuendo and more).
Automatic Tempo swapping of similar RealTracks. If you have similar RealTracks available at different tempos, Band-in-a-Box will automatically choose the best one to use. For example, if you have a ballad loaded, with an Acoustic Bass RealTracks at a tempo of 60, and you speed up the tempo to 140, and press play, Band-in-a-Box will automatically choose an Acoustic Bass RealTracks closer to tempo of 140, if it is the same genre and feel.
RealTracks Set 83: LA Hard Rock This set provides you with four distinct Electric Guitar styles, two with a “crisp” tone and two with a “fuzzy” tone, so you're sure to find what you need for your song or section. Also included is the HardRockLA Bass style, a syncopated bass style with a big fat tone. As a bonus, we're also thowing in the HardRockLA RealDrums style! This style has 5 different substyle options, combined together for a total of 8 different style variations.
RealTracks Set 91: Smooth Jazz - Sax Soloing Five new additions to your Smmoth Jazz RealTracks collection: three alto saxes, a soprano, and a tenor. All of these styles show tasteful contrast with soothing melodies intertwined with fast jazz runs and phrases. This set also covers three avenues of smooth jazz: cool, poppy, and ballad. It offers a wide range of tempos ranging from dramatically slow to moderately fast.
these styles also feature RealCharts which means that not only are you hearing audio recordings of top studio musicians playing your song, you can SEE what they're playing too, in notation & on the on-screen piano keyboard! RealTracks Set 98: Unplugged, 12-String & Fiddle Three strummed acoustic 12-string guitar styles and two country boogie fiddle styles, all recorded over a wide tempo range. And with the superior stretching features in Band-in-a-Box, all the tempos in between are also covered.
QuickStart Tutorial for the Version 2010 and 2010.5 New Features Quick Song Settings These are enhancements for entering songs quickly.
1. 2. Window size of Band-in-a-Box changes to a small size (you can resize it to the size/position that you want, and it will remember that). Band-in-a-Box becomes always-on-top window (if this is option is set in Plug-In options). 3. You can now easily drag tracks from BB to your DAW, by mouse clicking on the part at the top (Bass, Piano etc.), and dragging to your DAW’s track. You can also drag files to other programs, besides DAWs, if they accept a drop of audio files (WAV, WMA) or MIDI files.
Forcing Generation of a Song that is Frozen Band-in-a-Box won’t touch tracks that are frozen. But if you want to change that, without having to Un-Freeze the tracks, you can do this easily. Hold down the Shift key as you press the [Play] button (the fly-by hint will remind you of that), or choose the menu command Play | Generate (even if tracks are frozen). When you do this, the song will regenerate, the tracks will get rewritten, and the song will stay frozen.
Soloist generated RealTracks are now saved with the song, so you will hear the RealTracks play the same solo when you reload the song. When you generate a solo using RealTracks, Band-in-a-Box will remember this, and when you go to save the song, Band-in-a-Box will ask you if you want to save that solo (and thereby freeze the Soloist track). If you say yes, then the solo will play instantly the same way when the song is reloaded. Of course you can freeze the soloist track yourself at any time.
At the top of the screen, there is an “A.Reverb” control (Audio Reverb). Click on an instrument radio button, and then set the Reverb for it. The Audio Reverb varies from 0 to 127. Clicking on the left hand side of the control allows you to enter a setting, or click on the up/down arrows. See the RealTracks and RealDrums chapter for more about this feature. Note that this only applies to RealTracks, since MIDI tracks have MIDI Reverb, which is set via a MIDI Reverb control.
Rendering Wav dialog enhanced. It has a simpler layout. The Render wav file doesn’t need to be in same folder – it can be in any folder/drive. The Render Dialog has a [Default] button. You can add a dB amount to the whole mix to make it louder or softer. There is automatic “peak-limiting” added, so that the music will not distort if you set it too high. New Favorite Songs/Styles Dialog There’s a new dialog for these favorites with separate lists of Recently Played and Favorite songs or styles.
The favorites list will start off as an empty one. But you can add songs as your favorites, by clicking the Add Favorite button (this button is also found in the StylePicker). Songs that are “Saved As” with a different name have the new name added to the Recently Played song dialog. Technical Note: The list of songs/style favorites is stored in a text file called SongFavorites.txt (or StyleFavorites.txt) in the BB folder. Also, a [Sort] button has been added to Favorite/Recent songs/styles dialog.
The favorite styles are the ones that you’ve identified as favorites, either by pressing the [Add Favorite] button in the Favorite Styles dialog, or the similar button in this StylePicker dialog. Note that an “F” appears beside the name of any style that is a favorite. You can make any style a favorite by clicking the [Add Favorite] button. If you want to remove it, click the button again. “Only Show favorites” will only show the favorite styles in any list that you have opened.
Band-in-a-Box Window is Sizable When size changes, chordsheet, notation, and other windows redraw in proportion to the new size. This allows you to have Band-in-a-Box open as a small window on screen with other programs, and you still see a full chordsheet. The screen size is remembered between sessions. To resize the Window, first un-maximize it. Then use the sizing control at the bottom right. The various Band-in-a-Box windows will scale as you do this.
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.
Alert messages You’ll see that many Band-in-a-Box messages appear as “yellow alerts” at the top right of screen. That way you don’t have to respond to the message, interrupting work flow. Personalizing the Main Screen Band-in-a-Box gives you many options to personalize the main screen. Screen Layout The Chordsheet 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.
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..
Options and Utilities These settings are found in the Opt. menu and the Opt. | Utilities submenu. 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 display in this dialog box. The new language will be displayed the next time Band-in-a-Box is launched. Edit Chord Shortcuts file (shortcut.txt) Add your own chord shortcuts.
Instruments and Parts: Part Settings: The Bass/Drum/Piano/Guitar/Strings/Melody/Soloist and Thru buttons refer to instrument parts. The MIDI parts in use for the current song and style are shown in yellow, RealTracks and RealDrums are colored green. When a RealTracks part is underlined it has RealCharts notation or tablature that displays in the Notation window and also on the piano keyboard or guitar fretboard. Parts that are not used are in white. The names of muted parts display in red.
Combo Settings When the combo button is selected you can choose one of your ten favorite preset instrument combos. The patches are set from the [Fav. Patches] button in the Preferences. 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. When a Combo is selected changes to volume, reverb, etc. will apply to all parts.
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. There are also Tone and Reverb controls for RealTracks. Click on the “Audio” label on-screen to open this dialog. Master Reverb and Tone can be set by clicking the Combo button, and then using the Audio Reverb and Tone controls. Harmony The Harmony area displays the current Melody and Thru Harmony.
Tip: You can also 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. 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).
The [Open] button is used to open (load) songs into the program from a standard Windows Open File dialog. 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.
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.
This button allows you to enter repeats, 1st and 2nd endings, DS al coda, DC al coda and more. The Auto-Find feature enters them automatically. The [Intro] allows you to generate and insert an intro into a song with a “press of the button.” 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.
The Song Title button generates a song title for the current song. Each time it is pressed a new title is generated. 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 [Style] button launches the StylePicker window. This window offers detailed information about each style. The [F] favorites button either a list of favorites or 150 recently played styles. 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.
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.
In the Chordsheet, typing special words, instead of chord names, will make the following settings: begin + Enter sets the beginning of the chorus to the current bar end + Enter sets the end of the song to the current bar chorusend + Enter sets the end of the chorus to the current bar tkc + Enter sets key signature to c, tkbb would set it to bb trc + Enter transposes song to key of C t125 + Enter sets tempo to 125 You can quick-load a song by typing only.
Add your own chord shortcuts. You can make your own shortcuts text file and name it \bb\shortcut.txt. This allows you to add new chord shortcuts. (Note that this file doesn't ship with Band-in-a-Box or it would overwrite your file.) If you find a chord that Band-in-a-Box won't accept like Csus2 (it expects C2), you can enter this on a single line (without the quotes) “Csus2@C2.” Then Band-in-a-Box will enter the chord C2 if you type in Csus2.
If a Chordsheet or Notation window transpose setting is in effect, a yellow hint message opens on bootup as a reminder. When the chordsheet is transposed, you can type in chords in the transposed key, and they will show up as you have entered them, instead of requiring you to enter the chords in the concert key. To try this out, go to [Prefs] and click on [Display] to open the Display Options dialog. For the “Transpose” setting, choose “Alto Sax +9.
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 19 and 20, and then press F10, and bars 19 and 20 will play looped.
Chapter 5: Playing Songs in Band-in-a-Box Opening Files The SongPicker is the commonly used feature for finding and opening Band-in-a-Box song files, but Band-in-a-Box also has helpful features for locating and opening all types of music files. Find File So many files, so little time? The Find File 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.
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. Choose the menu items File | File Utilities | Associate File types (songs, styles) with Windows… to associate the Band-in-a-Box file types, and Remove File Associations (songs, styles) with Windows… to remove the associations.
The Font Selection button lets you pick a font, size, and style for the dialog from any of the fonts installed in Windows. The Search button allows you to search for a file by its name or part of a name. The Favorite Folders button remembers the last few directories that you've used, allowing you to easily change between directories. Favorite Folders The menu command File | Favorite Folders launches the Favorite Folders dialog with a list of recently used folders.
The “Favorites” and “Recently Played” Radio buttons toggle between a list of your recently played songs (or styles), and your favorite songs (or styles). Favorite Song/Style lists can be edited, sorted, saved/loaded, and used with the jukebox. You can add an unlimited # of favorites. The favorites list will start off as an empty one. But you can add songs as your favorites, by clicking the Add Favorite button (this button is also found in the StylePicker).
If this is not selected, notation symbols (slurs, staccato, crescendos) will not be loaded from the song. The “Defaults for new songs” are settings from the Song Settings dialog. When “Vary Style in Middle Choruses” is selected (default) the song will play in substyle B throughout the middle choruses, playing substyle A for the first and last choruses only. If this setting is not selected the substyle changes will follow the part markers entered on the chordsheet.
In this section we will explain how to load and play existing Band-in-a-Box song files. Open any song file with the familiar Windows-style dialog box, just like any other file on your disk. Or use the Find File feature (File | Find File) to filter files by words found in the file name or any text in the file. Start song playback. The [Loop] button plays the highlighted section of the chordsheet or notation in an endless loop. Click and drag the mouse to highlight a section of bars to loop.
Folder Settings The folder settings are at the bottom of the SongPicker. The Current Folder name is displayed. The folder can be changed, either by: 1. Selecting the new folder. 2. Choosing a folder from recently used favorites folder. 3. Changing the current folder to the BB home folder. 4. Going “up” a folder (e.g. from c:\bb\styles to c:\bb). When the new folder is chosen, the song list for that folder will be displayed. The song list may need to be rebuilt; the program will do that automatically.
The SongPicker lists if any RealDrums or RealTracks were not found, in a separate column (“d” indicates missing RealDrums and “t” indicates missing RealTracks). If you want to disable this feature, you can make a file named c:\bb\AlsoReadStylesWithSongListBuildUp_False.txt (contents irrelevant). Check “Play when chosen” to automatically play the selected song. Once you’ve loaded a song you’ll see the chords on-screen in the chordsheet so you can follow the chord changes and play along with the band.
There are right mouse menu options on the Chordsheet. They give quick access to frequently used edit functions and features including “Play from bar and chorus #.” Change the Style Try different styles by clicking on the [Style] button to choose from a list of the styles available in the StylePicker window. Styles that have the same feel (triplets, eighths, sixteenths) and a similar tempo range to the current prototype will be indicated with an (*) asterisk.
You can select RealDrums styles within the StylePicker. Highlight a MIDI style that you like, and press the RealDrums [Best] button, to see a list of the most compatible RealDrums styles for that style, or the [RealDrums] button to select from all available RealDrums. You can also change the style at any bar in the song, so you could use a few similar styles to add variety while keeping the same feel.
The Band-in-a-Box Synth window controls instrument settings. Patch Changes Patch changes are embedded in the Band-in-a-Box styles and these patches are loaded with songs by default. They can be disabled in the MIDI Options dialog found in the Preferences. Alternate patches can be saved with a song (Alt+F2). Change the instrument patch by scrolling through the 128 General MIDI instrument names in the Instrument box, even while the song is playing.
When you select the instrument from this menu, it will make the bank settings (Bank0 and LSB) for you. You can also change the bank #s directly, and the patch in the box will change. GM2 patches can also be selected elsewhere in the program, such as the Edit Settings for Current Bar dialog and the StyleMaker. 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.
Click on this button to go to the PG Music web page where you can download more patch files from http://www.pgmusic.com/support_miscellaneous.htm. Converting Synthesizer Patch Lists in Band-in-a-Box Band-in-a-Box can read a patch file list generated by PowerTracks Pro Audio or Cakewalk, and convert it to a .PAT file for use in Band-in-a-Box. Converting PowerTracks patch list to Band-in-a-Box .Pat files. PowerTracks stores its patch lists in a single file, called PATCHES.INI.
This is done using the same process described above for PowerTracks, except that you open the individual .INS file instead of a PATCHES.INI file. For example, if you have a Cakewalk file called “My Synth.INS” you would select this file name. You would then save that converted list to c:\bb\My Synth.PAT.
You can double click on any bar to start playback at that location. There is also an option in the Preferences dialog to start and stop playback with the spacebar. The spacebar or double click can be used on an ending bar (or a bar in the tag), and it will play from the ending (or tag). 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.
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.
To enter settings manually in this dialog, you start by choosing either “Loop a Single Screen of Notation” or “Loop Range of Bars.” “Loop a Single Screen of Notation” (Ctrl+NUMPAD 7) loops a single screen of notation at the current song location. The length of the loop is determined by the number of “Bars/Screen” specified in the Notation Window Options.
“Conductor”- Live Looping/Playback control. As the song is playing, many “single key” hot keys are now available to control the playback and looping of the song. 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.
Thru channel MIDI keyboard will be played through the Wizard. C, E, G, and Bb will be mapped to chord tones while D, F, A, and B will be passing tones. Changing Instruments / Settings for the Wizard As a play along instrument, the Wizard uses the Thru instrument part. To change the instrument patch, volume, reverb, etc. for the Wizard select the Thru instrument in the synth window. MIDI Normalize If performing a live set, or at a jam session, it helps to have the volume of all of the songs be similar.
Styles (.STY) can have RealDrums (e.g. “–ZZJAZZ.STY”). This setting is found in the StyleMaker’s Misc. Style Settings dialog. You can set the RealDrum style inside the StyleMaker, by pressing the [Misc] button, and then typing the name of the RealDrum style. RealDrums can be substituted for MIDI drums on existing styles in the RealDrums Settings dialog, which opens with Ctrl+click on the RealDrums toolbar button or with the [RealDrums] button in the Preferences dialog.
RealDrums are normally saved with songs, unless you have unchecked “Save all Settings with Songs” in the Assign Instruments and Harmonies to Song dialog. In that case, you can select and save a RealDrums style with your song by going to File | Save Song with Patches & Harmony (Alt+F2) to assign a RealDrums style.
The dialog allows you to assign a specific RealTracks instruments to a track in a song. It also displays any RealTracks that are currently assigned to each track. Tip: RealTracks in styles are assigned in the StyleMaker. Press the [Misc.] button or use the StyleMaker menu command Style | Misc. Settings to go to the Misc. Style Settings dialog, then click on the [More] button for the More Settings dialog. To use the dialog, first select the track that you want to assign.
Freeze Tracks Freezing (locking) MIDI or RealTracks/RealDrums Any track can be frozen (MIDI or RealTracks). When frozen, it won’t get changed or re-generated. This saves time when replaying previous songs, and allows you to freeze an arrangement that you like. If you freeze the whole song, you don’t have to wait at all for the song to regenerate. Next time you play, it is ready to go.
Forcing Generation of a Song that is Frozen Band-in-a-Box won’t touch tracks that are frozen. But if you want to change that, without having to Un-Freeze the tracks, you can do this easily. Hold down the Shift key as you press the [Play] button (the fly-by hint will remind you of that), or choose the menu command Play | Generate (even if tracks are frozen). When you do this, the song will regenerate, the tracks will get rewritten, and the song will stay frozen.
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.
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.” When this setting is enabled, any MIDI input will be interpreted as a hot key for the Conductor, and you won’t hear MIDI thru.
C# D3 Eb3 E3 F3 F#3 G3 G#3 A3 Bb3 B3 C4(48) Db4 D4 Eb4 E4 F4 F#4 G4 G#4 A4 Bb4 B4 C5(60) Db5 D5 Eb5 E5 F5 F#5 G5 G#5 A5 Bb5 B5 C6 Db6 D6 F6 to D7 Eb7 E7 F7 F#7 Half Speed Tempo Ctrl Quarter Speed Tempo Eighth Speed Tempo Loop Section Enabled NUMPAD 1 Play with last chorus looped Ctrl-NUMPAD 1 Play with middle choruses looped Ctrl-NUMPAD 2 Play with middle and last choruses looped Ctrl-NUMPAD 3 Jump to last chorus (no loop) Ctrl-NUMPAD 4 Jump to ending (no loop) Ctrl-NUMPAD 5 Loop notation screen Decrease T
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 Shift S F#8 Go Ahead 1 Screen Shift D G8 Go Ahead 1 Bar Shift Z Ab8 Go Ahead 4 Bars Shift X A8 Go Ahead 1 Part marker Shift C Customizing the Sections Sections: This allows you to define up to 10 points in the song that
By pressing a QWERTY hot key prior to an action, you can control when the action will take place. If no mode hot key is pressed prior to an action, the default mode will occur. The default is set in the “Default Mode for section change” or “Default Mode for going back or ahead” combo box.
Jukebox Options Only Play song with melodies: If set to YES, the program plays only songs with melodies, that is, songs with an .MG? file extension. If NO, the Jukebox will include ALL songs in the subdirectory. Change Melody instrument: If you set this option to “Yes,” then the program will randomly change the melody instrument among your favorite 10 Melody instruments. Random order Playback: If set to “Yes,” the songs will be played in random order (though not repeating a song).
Preview: The Jukebox Preview mode will optionally play just one chorus of each song, or play a set number of bars of each song (e.g. 8 bars). To access this, press the [Juke] button, and select the Preview checkbox. Set the # of bars to use for the preview, a setting of 99 plays one chorus of each song. Delay between songs: The user can set a selectable time delay (in seconds) between songs.
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 Medley Maker. Inside the Medley Maker, simply select the songs that you want, and Band-in-a-Box will make the medley for you. A medley is not simply joining songs together. A good medley uses a “transition” area between songs to introduce the new style, key, and tempo.
Chapter 6: Making Songs in Band-in-a-Box Make Your Own Songs Now that you’ve seen how much fun it is to play music with Band-in-a-Box, we’ll show you how easy it is to make songs of your own. This section gives you step-by-step instructions from start to finish. Getting Started Clear the Chordsheet Click on the [New] button to blank the Chordsheet. Name the Song Enter the title of the song by clicking in the title area and typing in the name.
- sets the beginning of the chorus to the current bar begin + Enter sets the end of the chorus to the current bar chorusend + Enter - sets the end of the song to the current bar end + Enter Another option is to right-click a bar in the chordsheet to set it as the beginning or end of the chorus or the end of the song from the settings in the context menu. For example, these settings are available with a right-click on bar 16.
An option (in Prefs-Display) for “11th chords” allows display of “9sus” chords as “11” (e.g., Bb11 instead of Bb9sus). This only affects how the chord is displayed, not how it is stored, and you can type either C11 or C9sus to enter the same chord. Press Ctrl+F2 or right click on a chord, and an Edit control allows you to see and edit the current chords. Enter Chords From MIDI Keyboard You can also enter chords from an external MIDI keyboard using the Window | MIDI chord detection… feature.
For example, if you have an 8-bar section at bar 9: To copy it to bar 23, and insert the 8 bars at that location drag the bar # and drop it at bar 23. To copy it to bar 23, and OVERWRITE the 8 bars at that location hold down the Ctrl key, and drag the bar # and drop it at bar 23. In the dialog that appears, just press OK. Another way to copy chords is to launch the Copy Chords and/or melody dialog by pressing Alt+C.
Assuming you have already copied some chords to the clipboard you then paste them into the chordsheet by: 1. Move the highlight cell to the bar to begin the paste of chords. 2. Click on the Paste button or choose Paste from the Edit menu. Tip: Remember that the copied section remains in the clipboard and can be repeatedly used. Example: If you're inputting a song with verse, verse, bridge, verse you can just copy the first verse to the clipboard, and then repeatedly paste in the other verses.
For example, the chord Gm7 in the key of F would be displayed as IIm7 in Roman Numeral Notation, 2m7 in Nashville Notation, and Rem7 in Solfeggio. “Fixed Do” Notation In Italy and other parts of Europe, chords like C7 are always referred to by the Solfeggio name (“Do 7” for C7) regardless of the key signature. These systems are very useful for learning or analyzing tunes, since they are independent of the key signature.
A Search/Replace Chords feature will search and replace chords, including support for asterisks (*) as wildcards. Search and Replace can be used with Roman numerals or numbers for chord names. So you can replace the V chord with V7, or the 5m chord to 5m7. Since these are remembered between songs, this feature is useful if you are changing multiple songs. A “Simpler Jazz” option will simplify chords like C13#11#5 to simply C9.
Breaks can also be set in the Chord Options dialog. Chord Options Chord options include rests, pushes, and pedal bass. The Chord Options dialog opens with the C7 toolbar button, or from the right-click contextual menu in the Chordsheet. Normally, when a “shot” or a “held” chord is assigned, the instruments that are excluded from the shot/held chord play normally. There is an additional option for those excluded instruments to stay silent.
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 chordsheet 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. 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.
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. Sections can be as short as 2 bars. 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). Applying Styles There are many styles available for use with the Band-in-a-Box program. Styles refer to styles of music like Jazz Swing, Latin, Blues, Pop, Rock, or Country.
The [F] button opens a window with tabs for lists of Favorites and Recently Played styles. The StylePicker Window The StylePicker window is opened by pressing the [Style] button or the Shift+F9 keys. It lists all of the styles that are present in the \bb folder. The StylePicker window allows easy selection of styles by category or from a complete list of all styles. For example, you can select Jazz styles and see a list of all of your Jazz styles.
The favorite styles are the ones that you’ve identified as favorites, either by pressing the [Add Favorite] button in the Favorite Styles dialog, or the similar button in this StylePicker dialog. Filters As well as only showing favorite styles, 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 #.
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 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.
If the Prompt With Preview item is set, the program will ask you if you want to change the feel of the song's melody, or auto-reduce/expand the chord durations when the styles change. When a new style is previewed, patches appropriate to the new style 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.
Note: For this example, we’ll add a Jazz style called NEWONE.STY. This style is included in the C:\bb folder. This information includes: 1. Name of the Style (8 characters maximum + .STY). 2. 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.
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.
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. If you are technically minded and want to modify the styles list file then read on. The Styles List is built from a text file called BBW.LST. You should only edit this file if you want to change the list of styles, or add styles that you have created. Technical Information about the BBW.
Favorite Styles Button Another way to load a style is with the favorite styles [F] button, located to the right of the StylePicker button. This opens a dialog with separate lists of Recently Played and Favorite styles. You’ll see “Favorites” and “Recently Played” Radio buttons that toggle between lists of recently played styles and your favorite styles. The favorites list will start off as an empty one. You can add styles as your favorites by clicking the [Add Fav] button.
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.
Using MultiStyles Band-in-a-Box MultiStyles are styles that can have up to 24 substyles; original Band-in-a-Box styles had two substyles, “a” and “b.” Band-in-a-Box MultiStyles typically have four substyles, but may have up to twenty-four, selected by using part markers “a” through “x.” You can easily make your own MultiStyles, either from scratch, or combining parts from existing styles to make a MultiStyle.
If you’d like more substyles, add more styles separated by semicolons (e.g. “zzjazz;z5bossa;c_george”). Then you’d have 8 substyles from “a” to “h.” Note that each of these styles can have a specific RealDrums style, either stored in the style itself (Misc. Style Settings “RealDrums Settings”), or substituted via MIDI substitutions in RealDrums settings. MultiStyles in Songs If you have a song, you can also use more than 2 substyles for that song.
1. 2. - or 3. Clicking on the RealTracks toolbar button and selecting RealTracks Picker Dialog. Right-clicking or double clicking on an instrument name at the top of the Band-in-a-Box main screen and choosing Assign RealTracks in the menu. 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 any RealTracks that are currently assigned to each track.
Tip: RealTracks in styles are assigned in the StyleMaker. Press the [Misc.] button or use the StyleMaker menu command Style | Misc. Settings to go to the Misc. Style Settings dialog, then click on the [More] button for the More Settings dialog. 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. Using RealDrums in Songs There are several ways to hear RealDrums with new or existing Band-in-a-Box songs.
The RealDrums Picker can also be opened directly by clicking on the toolbar button. This action selects a RealDrums for the current song. It does not change the RealDrums set used in the style. RealDrums Styles There is a separate category in the StylePicker for styles with 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. Styles (.STY) can have RealDrums (e.g. “–ZZJAZZ.STY”).
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.
Arranging Your Song Note: The chapter titled The Main Screen has additional information on the settings described here. Setting the tempo The tempo is displayed under the title. Tempo is set based on Style when choosing File | New. The tempo is set to the best tempo for the current style. Let’s say you wanted to change the tempo to 160 beats per minute (bpm). Click the mouse on the arrow buttons to adjust the tempo. - LEFT mouse click to change by 5 beats per minute at a time.
This button opens a dialog box where the song’s title and its main settings can be typed in. These settings are usually made in the main screen title window. This buttons opens the Edit Settings for Current Bar dialog. This button opens the Chord Options dialog where you can edit chords and add rests and pushes. 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.) If set to “No” the middle choruses will play A and B substyles exactly as they appear in the song as outlined by the part markers.
Arrangement Options dialog. Set the “Allow any Endings” checkbox = “Off” (cleared). Fade Out Song You can now quickly choose a fadeout ending, just press the [Fade] button in Song Settings, and Bandin-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. Sections on a new line (for this song) is an option to enable/disable the Section Paragraphs feature for this particular song.
Add a Melody – MIDI and/or Audio Record a MIDI Melody Band-in-a-Box is much more than an intelligent arranger and accompanist. You can record your live MIDI performance to the Melody or Soloist track, enter a melody in the Notation note-by-note, or use the Wizard feature to record with either your computer keyboard or a connected MIDI keyboard controller. If you want a metronome to play while you are recording, you can select it in the Opt. | Preferences dialog.
This is done from the Melody (or Soloist) menu, or can be done by pressing the Sequencer button. Now, when you are in this multi-channel mode, output from the Melody part will be on whatever MIDI channel the information is stored on, and will not be using the Melody MIDI channel. Both the Melody and Soloist tracks can be set to multi-channel play, for at total of 32 channels.
Click on the [R.Aud] button to prepare to record and audio track. The VU Meters will also open automatically when the Record Audio dialog is opened. The VU Meters will close or stay open when the dialog is exited depending on the “Leave VU Meters open” setting in the Record Audio dialog. The VU meters show the average strength of the signal, with a dB scale, and a clip indicator. Clipping indicates that the signal has overloaded, and will sound distorted (clipped).
Set the start point for the recording. You can record from the Start of the song, somewhere in the middle, or punch in by choosing a bar and chorus # to start recording. Press [Record]. Audio recording begins. If you've set the “Show VU Meter while recording” option, then the Recording VU Meter will open up and display during recording so you can monitor the VU meters. Press [Stop] or press the [Esc] key. You will then see the “Keep Take?” dialog.
play along and see the chords. There is a Chordsheet 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 chordsheet 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.
When adding a harmony to the Melody (or Soloist) you can use the option to loosen up start times of for the harmony notes to achieve a more natural, richer harmony sound. Choose menu item Melody | Edit | Utilities | Loosen Start Times. You can select the range of adjustments. For example, if you want the notes to be played earlier, use a negative number. A setting of minus 5 to positive 6 would cause the start times to be varied up to 5 ticks early and 6 ticks late.
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.
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. Play Along with the Wizard The Wizard is an intelligent play along feature that is controlled with the bottom two rows of your computer’s QWERTY keyboard. The bottom row of keys plays chord tones; the second row plays passing tones.
MIDI Keyboard Wizard By turning on this Wizard setting in the Opt. | Preferences Transpose dialog, notes played on a Thru channel MIDI keyboard will be played through the Wizard. C, E, G, and Bb will be mapped to chord tones while D, F, A, and B will be passing tones. Changing Instruments and Settings for the Wizard As a play along instrument, the Wizard uses the Thru instrument part. To change the instrument patch, volume, reverb, etc. for the Wizard select the Thru instrument in the synth window.
You can open an entire MIDI file into Band-in-a-Box. The chords will be automatically interpreted by the Chord Wizard and the MIDI file will play and display on the Melody track. A “silent” style will be loaded so you'll only 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. Add a Solo - “The Soloist” That’s right! Band-in-a-Box can “solo like a pro” in hundreds of styles.
RealTracks solos are saved with the song, so you will hear the RealTracks play the same solo when you reload the song. When you generate a solo using RealTracks, Band-in-a-Box will remember this, and when you go to save the song, Band-in-a-Box will ask you if you want to save that solo (and thereby freeze the Soloist track). If you say yes, then the solo will play instantly the same way when the song is reloaded. Of course you can freeze the soloist track yourself at any time.
Automatic Songs - “The Melodist” Feel like composing a brand new song? With Band-in-a-Box you can compose a new song, in the style of your choice complete with intro, chords, melody, arrangement, and improvisations, all created by the program! All you have to do is pick from one of the “Melodists” and press [OK] - the program then automatically generates the intro, chords, melody, and arrangement in the chosen style.
Launching the Melodist To launch the Melodist, press the [Melodist] button on the main screen, or use the Shift+F5 hot keys. Melodists can be filtered by “Genre” (e.g. EZ listening) to show only Melodists in that genre. You can also filter to show/not show Melodists from Melodist sets that you don’t have. Check “Show if N/A” to list all Melodists, even if they are not present in the :\bb folder.
Pasting Chords from the Windows Clipboard Assuming you have already copied some chords to the Clipboard (see previous topic), you are then ready to paste the copied chords into another part of your chordsheet. - Move the highlight cell to the bar to begin the paste of chords. - Click on the Paste button or choose Paste from the Edit Menu. Tip: The copied section remains in the clipboard and can be used repeatedly.
Erase From.. To.. To erase bars with additional control for erasing the Melody, Soloist, and/or Lyrics, choose Edit | Erase From.. To.. to launch the Erase Chords and / or melody dialog box: 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.
- Choose Edit | Delete Bars and the program will ask you to type in the number of bars you wish to delete. Nudge Chords/Melody The “Nudge” feature allows moving a range of chords by any 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).
Set Time Signature (range of bars) Under the Edit | Set Time Signature (range of bars) menu item, 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 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.
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. The [Clear All] button erases all Rests/Shots/Pushes/Pedal Bass from a song.
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. The tempo change takes effect at the beginning of the bar and remains until a new tempo change at another bar is inserted. Alternatively, you can specify a percentage change in tempo. Key Signature Change You can have multiple keys in the same song with the new key signature shown on notation.
Style Changes To choose a new style for this bar you can select the style from the StylePicker by pressing [.STY] or from the \bb folder by pressing [Open]. The [Preview] button in the StylePicker allows you to listen to the style before loading it. This allows you to hear what the selected style will sound like in your song. When chosen, the name of the style change for the current bar will be displayed. Click on [Clear STY] if you want no style change to occur.
Style, tempo, keysignature, volume, patch, and harmony changes will be recorded on your song worksheet indicated by a small red square around the bar that will be affected. Changes remain in effect from that bar forward until new changes are recorded or until the next chorus if you have set the changes to apply only to the current chorus. Piano Roll Window You can edit your tracks using the “Piano Roll” window, similar to the type found in many sequencer programs.
Keyboard Pitch Panel 1. Click on a single note of the keyboard to select all notes of the clicked pitch. 2. Click-drag on the keyboard to select all notes in a pitch range. 3. Shift-click-drag to add another set of notes to the selection. 4. Ctrl-click-drag to invert a pitch selection. For instance, you could drag C5 thru C6 to select an octave of notes. Then Shift-click A3 to add all A3 notes to the selection. Then Ctrl-click F5 to remove all F5 notes from the selection.
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. With events such as pitch bend or controllers like modulation and sustain, it is important to take care to end a “gesture” with a zero-value event.
useful when viewing multi-channel tracks. View/Edit Graphic Data Determine what graphic data to view or edit in the bottom Graphic Data panel. Choose Velocity, Controller, Program Change, Channel Aftertouch, and Pitch Bend. If Chan is not set to “All,” only the selected channel events will be displayed. Controller Type If “View/Edit” is set to “Control,” the Controller Type control becomes visible. The Graphic Data panel will display the chosen controller type.
Note Editing Edit Note Time Stamp (start time): Move the cursor over the left of a note. An east-west cursor appears. Then click-drag the note to a new time (horizontal dragging). If multiple events are selected, and you want to move all selected events, use Shift-click-drag. Otherwise a click on a note will deselect the previous selection, and it will only select/edit the clicked note. Edit Note Pitch: Move the cursor over the middle of a note. A north-south cursor appears.
Edit Events Edit Event Value: Move the cursor over the top half of an event. A north-south cursor appears. Click-drag vertically to scale event values. To scale a selected group of events, Shift-click-drag vertically on one of the events in the selection. Edit Event Time: Move the cursor over the bottom half of an event. An east-west cursor appears. Click-drag horizontally to slide the event in time. To slide a selected group of events, Click-drag horizontally on one of the events in the selection.
Select All Note Events (Of Current Channel): (right-click the Note Panel or Note Ruler) If the Chan combo box is set to All, this item will select ALL NOTES on ALL CHANNELS, but it will not select any non-note events. Otherwise, ALL NOTES are selected which match the CURRENT MIDI CHANNEL.
When editing a multi-channel guitar part or editing an imported multi-channel MIDI file, this command may be useful. Beware that it might initially appear confusing. For instance, one might set the view channel to ALL, and make a selection (intending to set these events to Ch 12). Then set the view channel to 12, and of course the selected events disappear (if the events had some other MIDI Channel).
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.
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.
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. In addition to the editing features of the Editable Notation mode, in Staff Roll mode the velocity (vertical line) and duration (horizontal line) of notes can be edited with the mouse. Adding Note-Based Lyrics to Your Song Open the Notation window by pressing the notation button. Press the [L] button on the Notation toolbar.
The [Section Text] button enters the text in the lyric box as section text at the current bar. The [Edit] button opens the Edit Lyrics dialog where lyrics and section text can be edited. 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.
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. Multiple Tracks of Notation Multiple tracks of notation can be viewed together in the Lead Sheet window. To select tracks, hold down the Ctrl key and click on the part buttons at the top of the screen in the order that the tracks should appear from top to bottom.
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 “Lyric Text Block” A large text block can now be appended to the Lead Sheet window and printout.
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 #.” In the Print Preview screen the notation can be saved as a graphics file to be imported to a document or uploaded to an Internet page. Choose the file type that you'd like to save to. If you want an exact rendition of the screen, choose MONO BMP, since bitmap files are saved without any loss of quality.
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.
Note: These settings are only visible when the track type for the Melody or Soloist is set to Multi (16) – Channel. Select “CUSTOM channels play/display” and press the [Set…] button to launch the Sequencer Window (Multichannel track on Melody/Soloist) dialog. Then you can customize which channels will play and display. This dialog can also be opened by clicking on the [SEQ] button on the toolbar.
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. Open an MP3/WAV/WMA or audio CD track, and play back at 1/2, 1/4, or 1/8 speed without affecting pitch. This is great for transcribing or analyzing audio. To play it at a slower speed, choose the desired speed on the Play | Tempo menu.
If we want to renumber the bars, right click on the waveform timeline at the place that you would like to be bar 1, and choose “Set Bar One.” To change the # of bars per row, or rows per screen, right click on the chordsheet. The +/- buttons at the bottom right of the window also change the row height. Chords may be edited in the Audio Chord Wizard with a right mouse click on the chord. When Edit Chord is selected, a highlight cell opens at the chord location.
Record a Vocal or Any Live Instrument To start recording audio, plug your instrument or microphone into the computer’s sound card. The Line Out from electronic instruments or amplifiers can be plugged directly into the Line In jack. To record your voice, or an acoustic instrument such as a flute, plug a microphone into the Mic jack. If you have a Sound Blaster card, this button is used to select the Microphone input and/or Line In input to record digital audio.
Press the Esc key or click on [Stop] to stop recording. Band-in-a-Box will prompt you to keep the take or take again. When you get a take you like, press the [OK – Keep Take] button to save your recording. Use the Options to record one Chorus and then copy it to the whole song, to overdub underlying audio on the track, and to retain audio past the new take just recorded (punch out).
Once you have recorded a vocal part into Band-in-a-Box, you can use this feature in many ways, including: - Record yourself singing into a Band-in-a-Box file. Create a vocal harmony for part or all of the song by selecting a Band-in-a-Box harmony and choosing the Generate Audio Harmonies option (Harmony | Audio Harmonies & Pitch Tracking or Audio | Audio Harmonies & Pitch Tracking).
More 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.
A medley is not simply joining songs together. A good medley uses a “transition” area between songs to introduce the new style, key, and tempo. The Medley Maker automatically creates a nice transition area for you, writing in chords that would smoothly modulate to the next song, style, key, and tempo! To open the Medley Maker, click on the [A+B] button on the toolbar or choose File | Medley Maker. This launches the Medley Maker dialog.
This includes RealTracks, RealDrums, and RealTracks solos as well as Patches, Volume, Audio and MIDI Reverb, Tone, Panning, Bank, Harmony (both Melody and Thru), and the Soloist. If you have some custom items that you don’t want to save with the song you can uncheck the “Save all Settings” box and use this dialog to save only the settings you want to keep. To save certain patches with a song: a) Choose the patch (instrument) that you would like from the dropdown patch list.
This dialog box is usually used in combination with and not instead of saving a song. To save a song with this embedded information to your hard drive, you therefore: 1. Choose File | Save with Patches and Harmony (Alt+F2). 2. Choose the patch and other settings that you want to embed. 3. Press the [Save] button to save the song to disk.
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 (.KAR) are a special type of sing-along MIDI file with text events for the lyrics and a specific order for the tracks.
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. Write Lyrics in General MIDI format The GM specification has agreed upon specific requirements for writing lyrics in MIDI files, which are supported, so that lyrics that you save in Band-in-a-Box should show up identically in other MIDI programs.
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 chordsheet, you can make a MIDI file for a partial range by pressing the MIDI file button, and then the “Set Range” button. Batch convert a folder of songs to MIDI files.
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.
The Render to Audio File dialog box permits you to save your file as a wave file (*.wav), a Windows Media Audio (*.wma) file, or other compressed audio formats supported by your system. You can direct render “MIDI only” songs into high quality wave files with the included Roland VSC DXi or any other DXi or VST softsynth you have. The MIDI parts are converted directly to audio without being rendered (recorded) in real time, usually in just a few seconds.
Choose the menu item Opt. | Save Preferences As to save a configuration or Options | Open Preference to load a saved configuration. Burn Your Own Audio-CD You can burn your Band-in-a-Box composition directly to an audio CD that 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.
Chapter 7: RealTracks and RealDrums RealTracks What are RealTracks? RealTracks create Band-in-a-Box tracks with live audio recordings of top studio musicians and recording artists. These tracks take the place of the MIDI track for that instrument, but can still be controlled just like the MIDI instrument (volume changes, muting, etc.). Best of all, they follow the chord progression that you have entered, so that you hear an authentic audio accompaniment to your song.
In the RealTracks Settings dialog you can Enable/Disable the RealTracks feature. RealCharts (notation from some RealTracks) Most RealTracks now display notation, i.e. RealCharts, showing the notes that are being played. Some Guitar RealTracks also show tablature and an accurate on-screen fretboard guitar display to show what is being played on guitar. To see which instruments have RealCharts, visit the Assign RealTracks to Tracks dialog and sort column 11, “Chart.
RealTracks Folder The RealTracks styles are stored in c:\bb\RealTracks (assuming that c:\bb is your Band-in-a-Box folder). You can choose an alternate location by pressing on the folder button and picking an alternate folder. Then, click on the [Update] button to confirm the new location. You don’t need to visit this folder when using RealTracks; it is used internally by Band-in-a-Box, so you shouldn’t add or remove files from this RealTracks folder unless you “know what you’re doing.
You can then substitute all four parts by pressing the RealTracks toolbar button and then clicking on Select better RealTracks for this tempo. The Tempo Swapping (TS) column of the RealTracks Assign dialog shows which RealTracks are eligible for Tempo Swapping. The tempo swapping only occurs if you have the RealTracks in your installation. This “speed up” feature works automatically and uses CPU resources during playback.
[Assign to Track] launches the Assign RealTracks to Track dialog, where RealTracks instruments are listed and assigned to Band-in-a-Box tracks. Save the new settings you have made in this dialog by pressing the [Update] button. Most changes will take effect the next time you press [Play]. The installation routine for Band-in-a-Box usually installs (decompresses) the audio files to WAV files.
Tip: You can quickly go to Soloist 362 by typing 362 and pressing “Go To #” or using the Favorites if you’ve previously chosen this soloist. Using RealTracks in Songs - Assign RealTracks to Track Dialog The Assign RealTracks to Track dialog assigns a RealTracks instrument to any of the Band-in-a-Box instrumental tracks. It also shows any RealTracks that are assigned to Band-in-a-Box tracks. Note: RealTracks can either be assigned from the style or from the song.
Tip: RealTracks in styles are assigned in the StyleMaker. Press the [Misc.] button or use the StyleMaker menu command Style | Misc. Settings to go to the Misc. Style Settings dialog, then click on the [More] button for the More Settings dialog. 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. The list can be sorted by clicking on any column heading.
- The letter “Y” in the “TS” column means that Tempo Swapping is supported for the instrument. If you have similar RealTracks available at different tempos, Band-in-a-Box automatically chooses the best one to use. - “Holds” indicates whether that RealTrack supports shots, holds, and pushes. If there is a number there (other than a blank field), then they are all supported.
Tip: Opt. | What add-ons do I have? will tell you what RealTracks sets you have. Some RealTracks have variations available, such as the Acoustic Jazz Bass, which has variations that play in “2” only, in “4” only, or in “2”and “4” (for “a” and “b” substyles). Normally you will want to “Show RealTracks Variations.” Use “Show if Tempo is out of Range” checkbox to show/hide RealTracks that are out of compatible tempo range. A filter is available. Type a filter text, (e.g.
- Have different instruments play different styles. For example, the Bass could be generated using Reggae, then Frozen, and then the rest of the instruments generated using a Techno style. Un-Freezing a Track(s) This is also done with the Freeze button. Choose a frozen track to un-freeze it, or choose “Un-Freeze all tracks.” Using RealTracks in Styles. For this discussion, we will assume that we are using RealPedalSteel, in the style “=GeorgeP.sty.” Note: We use this naming convention for Real Styles.
New styles can be created with RealTracks and RealDrums in the StyleMaker, and existing styles can also have RealTracks or RealDrums substituted for the original MIDI tracks. See the StyleMaker topic in the chapter titled User Programmable Functions. Using RealTracks in Solos. Press the Soloist button (Shift+F4) and launch the Select Soloist dialog. Get to Soloists in the range 361and higher. You can do that either by: 1. 2. 3. Typing 361 and pressing [Go To #].
RealDrums The RealDrums feature replaces MIDI drums with audio drums. A single click on the toolbar button opens a menu with selections for the RealDrums Picker Dialog and the RealDrums Preferences. Shift+click on the RealTracks toolbar button to go directly to the RealDrums Picker, or Ctrl+click to open the RealDrums Settings dialog. Why do RealDrums sound better than MIDI Drums? The RealDrums are recordings of top studio drummers, playing multi-bar patterns.
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.
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.
A filter is available. Type a filter text, (e.g. bossa) and press [Update], and you will then see the list filtered to show only RealDrums that have the word bossa somewhere in the title, memo, genre etc. Pressing [Show All] will cancel the filter, and show all RealDrums again. Multiple search terms work with the RealDrums Picker. If you separate terms with a space, each term is searched for separately.
“Memo” is a memo description of the style. These are stored in bb\RDPGMemos.txt file. You can also add your own memos in the User Comments box below. The “Artist Bio” shows brief summaries of the careers of the top drummers featured in RealDrums. This shows the current RealDrums for this song. This can either come from the style, or a specific RealDrums for this song, set in this dialog. Tip: RealDrums in styles are assigned in the StyleMaker. Press the [Misc.] button or use the menu command Style | Misc.
RealDrums styles ending in a caret (^) have variations available. They are listed here. Where there are two instruments shown, such as Brushes/Sticks, the first one plays in the “a” substyle and the second in the “b” substyle. [RD Demo] loads and plays a demo of the chosen RealDrum style. [SongDemo] shows Band-in-a-Box styles that will use this RealDrums style if “Substitute RealDrums” is selected. The song demo for the style will get loaded.
Audio Controls for RealTracks and RealDrums Tone Control There is a bass/treble Tone control for individual tracks with RealTracks or RealDrums, so you can easily adjust the bass/treble EQ for any RealTrack. The Tone settings save with the song. Choose an instrument and then use the tone control to adjust the tone from -18 (maximum bass) to +18 (maximum treble). Default is 0. Audio Reverb Control The A.
Reverb Settings The default is a “room” type of reverb but you can also set the type of reverb. To do this, press the Audio Reverb toolbar button, and adjust the various parameters in the PG Music Reverb dialog. You can enable/disable the audio reverb. If you disable it, this will save some CPU cycles, so this might be advisable on an older/slower machine if you hear that the audio is clicking or not keeping up. Click on the green Select a Preset button to open the list of presets.
Mix the proportion of original signal to the reverb signal. Output adjusts the final level of the plug-in. Typical Reverb Settings - A large hall might have long Pre-Delay, long Decay, and moderate Density. - A hard large space such as a Gymnasium, might have long Pre-Delay, high Density and high HF Roll off. - A soft large space such as a concert hall with carpet, padded seats, hangings, might have medium Density and low HF Roll off.
Chapter 8: 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 Mono Mode Clean Notation Loop Screen Track Select Event List Editor Lyrics Button Zoom Buttons Section Text Scrub Mode These determine whether a Note or a Rest will be inserted when the mouse is clicked. When this is selected, the notation is entered as monophonic (one note only) to avoid extra notes in a single note melody line. 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.
Editable Notation Mode Enter the Editable Notation mode from the 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. Band-in-a-Box Editable Notation window. This is the screen for step-entry of a melody or for editing existing parts.
Beat Resolution The user can manually set the resolution for any beat in the Beat Resolution dialog, which opens with a right click on the black vertical time line. 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.
on the [Rests] button and then click on the notation at the location that you'd like a 16th note rest. The Hard Rest 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.
Notation Symbols for Expression and Articulation The Notation Symbols are entered from the Notation Event dialog, which is accessed from the right-click menu in the Editable Notation window. This dialog lets you insert (or remove) notation symbols such as, Slurs Accents Crescendo - Legato Decrescendo - Marcato Staccato - Staccatissimo Select a notation symbol from those listed and the Notation Event dialog will open.
the pop-up menu that launches this dialog). For example, if you had right clicked on the treble clef, then this will be set to treble. When Snap to notes toward beginning / end of range is enabled slurs, crescendos, and decrescendos will be based on notes that exist at the beginning and end of the specified range. The Offset field, if present, lets you adjust make adjustments to the vertical position of an event, e.g. slurs or chord height.
Select a region of notation to edit To select a region of the notation you can Shift+click on the end point to easily select a large area. - Select a small region by dragging the mouse.* - Enlarge the region by Shift-clicking on the end point. *Note: Shift-click is also used to enter a sharp (#) note, so the selection via Shift-click requires that a small region be already selected.
Piano Roll Window For advanced editing of notes plus graphic controller editing, go to the Piano Roll window, either by selecting the Piano Roll button on the toolbar, or the Window | Piano Roll Window menu item. 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.
The [Update] button applies the changes made to the Notation Window Options. Pressing [OK] will have the same effect. 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.
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 Chordsheet, 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. Play Inserted Notes When checked, notes that you insert will sound briefly as they are inserted. This lets you hear that the note you inserted sounds correct. Advanced Notation Settings These advanced settings give you control over the clean notation features. Chord Note Separation in MS and Chord Total Separation in MS This lets you set the width of chords. Band-in-a-Box will display a new group of notes on the notation for every chord.
4. Use the cursor left/right keys to change the note's start time, duration, channel, or velocity (depending on the setting of the “Right/ Left Cursor Edits” field in the Notation Options Dialog. Press the Esc key or [Stop] button when you're done. Section Text for Notation You can add custom Section Text and Boxed Text messages at any position in the notation track, with optional box to appear around the text.
Lead Sheet Window The Lead Sheet window displays a full screen of notation with one or more parts. Other options include a selectable number of staffs per page, clefs to show, font size, margin, scroll-ahead notation, guitar chord diagrams, and lyrics. If you like to sight-read along with Band-in-a-Box, this is the window for you. Launch the Lead Sheet window from the main screen by pressing the Lead Sheet button (or Alt+W keys), or with the Window | Lead Sheet Window menu option.
Selecting Parts in the Lead Sheet Click on the track selection toolbar to select a different track. The tracks are [B]ass, [D]rums, [P]iano, [G]uitar, [S]trings, [M]elody, and [S]oloist. To view multiple parts, click first on the button for the top part you want to view, and then hold down the Ctrl key and click on the other parts you want to view in the order you want to see them, from top to bottom. You will then see a group of tracks, displayed in the order that you requested them.
Band-in-a-Box have multiple keys in a song, the new key signature is shown on notation. Band-in-a-Box Lead Sheet Options dialog Chords and Staff Lines Both are shown by default. Uncheck this box if you don’t want them to display. Show Bar #s Choose whether the bar numbers will be shown for each bar, only at part markers, or not at all.
Margins Set margins for the Lead Sheet window, just like the margins in a word processor. For example, if you want the lead sheet window to only take up the top part of the screen, set a bottom margin (of, say, 2 inches) and then make the lead sheet window smaller by pulling the bottom up. This feature has no effect on printout; the Print dialog has its own margin settings.
Fake Sheet Mode The Lead Sheet window has its own Fake Sheet Mode checkbox. When it is NOT selected, the lead sheet will work as it always has (in linear mode). When Fake Sheet Mode IS selected, the form will show like a lead sheet, with only one chorus showing, and 1st/2nd endings and repeats displayed. The Fake Sheet can show multiple lines of lyrics for 1st and 2nd endings or several verses stacked in multiple lines. Multiple lines of Lyrics on Fake Sheet.
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. Click on the [Memo] button in the Lead Sheet to open the Lead Sheet Memo window. You can copy/paste from/to this memo.
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. To examine the harmony display features, load in the song “Night_T.MGU.” The melody of this song was previously converted to a harmony using the Melody | Edit | Convert Melody to Harmony option, so this song contains a harmony on the Melody part.
For example, you can see the first Bb note has the other harmony voices playing G (drop 2), F, and D. 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.
Note-based Lyrics Note-based lyrics offer accurate placement of lyrics by placing a word under each note. You can enter note-based lyrics by pressing Ctrl+L keys or pressing the [L] button on the Notation toolbar to open the Lyric Edit window. Lyric Edit Window The [Line] button enters a forward slash “/” line break marker in the current lyric. The [Para] button enters a backslash “ \” paragraph break marker in the current lyric.
The Lyrics Menu The complete list of Lyrics functions is found in the Lyrics menu.
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. Move Line lyrics to Note Lyrics works like the Copy Line lyrics to Note Lyrics function, except it erases the Linebased lyrics.
you can simply Copy/Paste them to/from your word processor. This allows you to quickly add lyrics to any Bandin-a-Box song, and they will display in the Big Lyrics window. You can open this window by choosing Window | Lyric Document Window, or pressing Ctrl+Alt+Shift+L. In addition, if “Auto-open lyrics window for songs with lyrics” is set to true in the Lyric Window Options dialog (Opt.
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. The popular Karaoke file format (.KAR) can be opened directly into Band-in-a-Box just like MIDI files. Chord symbols are displayed (Band-in-a-Box intelligently analyzes the chords of the song), as well as the lyrics from the Karaoke files.
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.
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.
Click here to set margins. You can also select the Always fill tempo option, which automatically writes the current tempo on the song sheet. On print out, if “Include ‘a’ / ’b’ part markers” is set bar numbers will include “a” or “b” after them (the name of the substyle). Use “Offset Bar Numbers by” to offset the display of bar numbers on the prinout or lead sheet. For example, if you want bar 1 to display as bar 17, enter an offset of 16.
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.
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 9: 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 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. Because the quality of the RealDrums stretching would go down if a song in the medley had a much lower tempo than the previous one, it is tempos that slow down to avoid.
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.
A2 Transpose In songs with an AABA form, it is common for the second “A” section to be transposed. For example, the first “A” section might be in the key of Eb, and the second would be transposed up to the key of Gb. Melodists store these settings, and some Melodists are set to transpose the A2 sections. If you don't want to allow Melodists to transpose the form in this way, set the A2 transpose to none.
The Favorites button in the Generate Chords and/or Melody dialog allows you to pick a Melodist that you've used recently. The Favorite Melodists dialog keeps track of the last 50 melodists that you've used, so you can easily recall them. Highlight the melodist you want to use and press the [OK] button, or double-click on the selection you would like to make.
Automatic Song Title Generation The Song Title generator names every song that the Melodist writes, if the Auto-Titles checkbox is selected. This feature can be used on its own to suggest titles for your own compositions. It will keep making titles until you get one you like. Press the [TITLE] button to generate a song title , a new title will appear immediately in the title area of the screen. Click again for another one. Select Edit | Undo Title to go back one title.
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.
You can choose which instruments to include in the arrangement. Use the [Play] and [Stop] buttons to hear the work-in-progress. You can also loop the song playback. Now, generate your SoundTrack file. This will save a file in WAV, WMA, or MP3 format. Set Fade-in, Fade-Out options in seconds for the audio clip. You can hear your finished audio clip by pressing the [Preview] button.
The pre-made Soloists may set the style, instrument, and harmony, but you can change these settings to your own choices. 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.
3. Choose the Genre “RealTracks (audio soloists)” from the list of genres to see all available Soloists that use RealTracks. As with other Soloists, press the [All Solo] button to make sure that the Soloist will be generated for all choruses, or [Melody and Solo] if you just want the Soloist for a certain chorus. Your RealTracks solo will be saved with the song and the Soloist track will be frozen and marked with an asterisk (*).
Custom Solo Generation The [Custom] button located on the Soloist Selection dialog launches the Generate Solo for a Specific Range of Bars dialog. This allows you to set the range for the solo: Tip: You can have these values preset to the values you'd like by first selecting/highlighting the range of bars that you'd like from the Chordsheet screen, then clicking on the Soloist button. In real life, a Soloist tends to play a couple of extra notes after the solo section ends.
A strength (%) setting allows you to control how much the solo will be influenced by the melody. Choose the melody influence (%), and one of several presets to control the type of influence (pitches/rhythms/note density, etc.). To generate a solo that is influenced by the Melody, select the Enabled checkbox in the “Melody Influences Solo” group box. Then choose the type of influence by choosing a strength (0 to 100%) and a type.
Target Phrase Anchor Point score – phrase anchor points are points where both the pitch and timing of the Melody note and the riff match each other. Rhythm Matches – per cent of time that a melody note is found at the same time as the note in the riff at the same point (pitch is irrelevant). Density -# of Notes Matches – the number of notes in the melody compared to the number of notes in the solo. For example, 8 melody, 10 solo = 80%. Note: If set to exactly 49, 59, 69 etc.
5. Concentrate separately on different aspects of your playing with assistance from the “Wizard.” From soloing with proper phrasing and “feel” (the best notes are included automatically) to accompanying a soloist with confidence and authority Tip: Try muting out one of the accompaniment parts such as the piano or guitar part and play along to the Soloist in a supportive role - its fun! 6. Use the Soloist track to record another part in addition to the Melody and other parts provided by Band-in-aBox.
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.
The Sub-Soloist checkboxes are for use ONLY with add-on hybrid soloists such as the ones found on the SOLOISTPAK for Band-in-a-Box. These checkboxes can be used to “sub” a different instrument and playing style in a Soloist which contains more than one playing style, such as BG_BAND.ST2 found on Soloist Disk Set #5. For more information on additional Soloist Disk Sets and the additional features available with them, contact PG Music.
When this is done, the left hand will be stored on channel 8, and the right hand on channel 9, on the Melody track. You can export the MIDI file to a sequencer, and these 8/9 channel assignments will be preserved. 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.
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.
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. The option to only humanize the timing of the music if the timing was “stiff” to begin with allows the Embellisher to leave the timing of human input melodies alone, and humanize only the ones that were entered in step-time.
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 10: 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).
To use the Melody Wizard, make sure the Keyboard Wizard is enabled on the main screen. This will also enable the MIDI Wizard on the QWERTY keys. If you also want to use the Melody Wizard on MIDI notes, go to Preferences [Transpose] and enable “Allow Melody Wizard on THRU part” in the Settings for transposing songs when loaded or “Do it Now” dialog. *.MGU Then, choose a song that has a Melody track. Mute the Melody track by right clicking on the Melody track (Alt+9). Play the song.
This is done from the Melody menu, or can be done by pressing the Sequencer button. Now, when you are in this multi-channel mode, output from the Melody part will be on whatever MIDI channel the information is stored on, and will not be using the Melody MIDI Channel. You can examine the track to see the channels by looking at the event list, which you can access by pressing the [#] button on the Notation window.
In the example picture, we have set Channel 2 (Bass) and Channel 4 (Trumpet) to show on the notation, and have set all of the channels to play (to hear them). For a specific channel, (e.g. channel 3: piano), we see the following information. Channel 3: Acoustic Piano (this is the patch name found on the track). 843 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).
Recording Your Own Parts To The Melody Sequencer Normally you would record your parts to the Melody, and not be concerned about what MIDI channel they are using, because Band-in-a-Box uses the Melody channel (usually channel 4) for this. But if you have set the Track type to be multi-channel, the output on the Melody part will be whatever channel is stored in the tracks.
Importing MIDI Files Importing MIDI Files to the Melody or Soloist Tracks Standard MIDI files can be read in to the Melody or Soloist tracks from MIDI files or from the Windows clipboard. You can read in all of a MIDI file, or selected channels and a specific range of bars.
1. 2. Melody | Import MIDI File – to select a MIDI file from disk using the Windows Open File dialog. 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.
As you can see, we have broken down the Humanize effect into 5 main categories: tempo, lateness, 8th note spacing, legato, and feel. The best way to learn how these parameters combine is to try them (you can always press the UNDO button if you don't like the results.) For example, try changing the tempo of a song to see the changes that this will make to the 8th note spacing and lateness. Press the [Quantize NOW] button to apply your changes to your song.
or in the Notation window by pressing the event list button (#). 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 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. To do this, open the Notation window in either Editable Notation or Staff Roll Notation mode.
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. The Piano Roll may be opened as a movable window, which floats above the Band-in-a-Box main window, or opened embedded in the same position as the Chordsheet/Notation panels in the Band-in-a-Box main window. Note Panel Horizontal bars represent notes.
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 it bigger or smaller. Note Velocity Line Tool - With Add Mode, note velocities will exactly match the slope of your drawn line.
With events such as pitch bend or controllers like modulation and sustain, it is important to end a “gesture” with a zero-value event. Otherwise, subsequent notes will be affected, with “hanging” permanent pitch bend, permanent vibrato, or sustain pedal locked down. Event Selection Graphic Event Ruler Time Selections: Selected Events are red. The Graphic Event Ruler will only select nonnote events.
Chapter 11: 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.
Master Tone and Reverb Master Reverb and Tone for all parts can be set by clicking the Combo button, and then using the Audio Reverb and Tone controls. The audio reverb type is settable in the PG Music Reverb window. PG Music Reverb To make your own reverb settings, press the Audio Reverb toolbar button, and adjust the various parameters in the PG Music Reverb dialog. You can enable/disable the audio reverb.
HF Roll off is the rate at which the high frequencies die away as the reverb decays. Rooms with hard surfaces are typically bright, but rooms with soft surfaces are usually darker. It is adjustable between 1 KHz (dark) to 11 KHz (bright). Density is the density of low-level echoes near the end of the reverb tail. High Density settings add a sheen to the sound. Mix the proportion of original signal to the reverb signal. Output adjusts the final level of the plug-in.
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. If you load in an audio song (WAV file, MP3), when the song plays you can: - change the tempo of the audio to slow/speed up the song. - press Ctrl+[-] for half speed, Ctrl+[=] for full speed. - highlight an area of the Audio Edit window and press [Play Selected Area].
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. Now open up the Audio Edit window, and when you hear the point in the file that you would like to be considered bar 1, right click at that point, and answer YES to “would you like this point to be bar 1.” Then, as the song is playing, use the tap tempo feature (the minus key, pressed 4 times in tempo) to set the tempo of the piece.
Audio VU meters These show the Record and Playback levels for audio, allowing adjustment of microphone and speaker levels. VU Meters can be launched by pressing the VU Meters button on the toolbar. The VU Meters will also open automatically when the Record Audio dialog is opened. The VU Meters will close or stay open when the dialog is exited depending on the “Leave VU Meters open” setting in the Record Audio dialog.
Set the start point for the recording. You can record from the Start of the song, somewhere in the middle, or punch in by choosing a bar and chorus # to start recording. Punch-In Recording Punch-in audio recording allows you to punch-in record or overdub a section of audio. You can select a section to punch-in by highlighting it in the Audio Edit window. You can also hear the existing audio part when you are overdubbing. This is automatic.
Press [Stop] or press the [Esc] key. You will then see the “Keep Take?” dialog. If you are happy with your recording, you should choose [OK -Keep Take] and the audio will be added to the Audio track. You can listen to the results by pressing [Play]. If you are not happy with the results, you can choose Edit | Undo Keep Audio Take and you will be back to where you were prior to the recording. You can also choose the option to [Take Again], which reopens the Recording dialog.
Audio Edit Window Toolbar These buttons zoom in and out to the audio window. The 100% button sets the Audio Window to display about 8 bars per screen. This button zooms to the sample level so that you can see the actual sine waves present. The [100%] button restores the wave view. This setting allows you to select audio by snapping to a 16th note (or a triplet in swing styles). This button plays the selected area, and then stops. The other instruments are all muted; you just hear the audio.
Audio Harmonies Tutorial Note: All of the demo songs are located in the Tutorial - Audio Harmonies folder in the Band-in-a-Box (C:\bb) folder. Let’s load in the song “Listen.MGU.” First off, play the song “Listen” – it has an audio track, so you’ll be hearing a male vocal track lasting about 16 bars (since WAV files are big, we only include a small 16 bar sample of the WAV file). We’re going to apply some audio harmony to this “Listen” demo.
Let’s examine the various sliders on this dialog, as they apply to our “Listen 4 part Harmony” File. The “Dry Voice Level” slider is the level of our original voice. We can make the harmony to include more of our original voice by raising this slider. Set it half way up (to 12dB). The 4 columns labeled Melody, Voice 2, Voice 3, and Voice 4- 8va are the 4 part MIDI harmony that will be transformed to an audio harmony using our original voice. The “8va” tells you that Voice 4 will be above the melody.
choose a type of “pitch effect” (combination of vibrato and scooping) called a Pitch Style to be applied to each harmony voice. In the example screenshot, we have chosen “Crooner,” “Lite Jazz,” “Lounge,” and “Head Voice” – somewhat similar vibrato types, but different for each harmony voice. The Pitch Styles are especially useful for harmonies generated from MIDI tracks, because these lack any vibrato. Now by applying these pitch effects, you can get a natural sounding vibrato for these harmonies.
Chordal Harmony For the last example on “Listen,” we’ll do an example of the “Chordal Harmony.” This is a 4 part harmony based only on the chords, when we don’t have a MIDI melody available. Load in Listen.MGU. Save the file as “Listen – Chordal Harmony.MGU.” Now erase the Melody (just to convince yourself that the Melody is not going to be used). Melody-Edit-Kill Entire Melody. Now choose Harmony-Audio Harmonies to open the dialog, and then choose Chordal Harmonies.
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. Choose from many vibrato/pitch presets, including “Ballad,” “Broadway,” “Pop Diva” and more! When you launch the TC-Helicon Audio Harmony dialog, you can see that there is a new drop down combo list at the bottom of each voice.
17 Opera Tenor Vibrato 18 Tenor Delayed Vibrato 19 Pop Diva Vibrato 20 Pop Diva XT Vibrato 21 R&B Vibrato 22 Slow Ballad Vibrato 23 Slow Gospel Vibrato 24 Smooth Pop Vibrato 25 Soprano Vibrato 26 Tremolo Vibrato 27 Warm Vibe Vibrato 28 Memphis Scoop Vibrato 29 Changing Scoop Vibrato 30 Country Scoop Vibrato 31 Jungle Vibrato 32 Landing Vibrato 33 Motorbike Vibrato 34 Nervous Vibrato 35 Sheep Vibrato 36 Siren Vibrato 37 Slicer Vibrato 38 UFO Vibrato The sound of a Classical Tenor singer.
To use real time DirectX or VST audio plug-ins, open the Band-in-a-Box Audio Settings dialog with the Preferences [Audio] buttons. Check “Use Realtime DX Audio Plugins” to enable this feature. DX/VST audio plug-ins are not enabled by default, in case an older/slower computer might have trouble with DirectX. If your computer misbehaves with DX/VST audio plug-ins, simply make sure this option is unchecked.
The [Load Preset] and [Save Preset] buttons let you save and load presets for the current effect (such as PG Reverb). The [Delete Preset] button lets you remove a preset from the list of already saved presets. The [Options] button brings up DX/VST Options (useful utility functions you may occasionally need).
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.
Rendering Audio Files Rendering WAV Files Audio rendering means converting a MIDI song to audio format, usually to a WAV file. Press the [.WAV] button on the main Band-in-a-Box screen to launch the Render to Audio File dialog. This shows the directory where the rendered wave file will be saved. You can use the [Choose] button to specify any folder on any drive for the rendered wave file. If you have selected a DXi or VSTi synthesizer for your MIDI output in the Opt.
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.
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 “Go” button to render all of the Band-in-a-Box files in the folder to the selected audio format. There is a [Cancel] button in the Batch Rendering screen. Rendering in Other Audio Formats Band-in-a-Box has enhanced audio support for saving in Windows Media Player format.
Click [Yes] to render the file. If RealTracks are present, they will be generated for the song and then all tracks will be rendered to a WAV file. Next, a dialog will open where you select the audio format for your file. From this dialog, you can choose the type of compression that is appropriate (from the available installed codecs). You can save your settings as named presets by using the [Save As] button. You will see a progress screen during rendering, followed by a completion message.
Rendering Options Merge in Audio Track Rendering of songs to .WAV files always includes the MIDI tracks. If this option is checked, the audio track will be merged with the MIDI tracks in the wave file. Use “Adjust Audio Track volume by” a number of dBs to balance the audio track with the level of the rendered MIDI tracks. A setting of 6 dB is double the volume, -6 dB is half the volume. “Boost All Files Ampliturde by” adds a dB amount to the whole mix, so that the mix will be louder or softer.
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.
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. Of course you can also press the eject button on the CD drive. Close the Drive Tray: Close the drive tray using the menu item CD Recorder | Close Tray.
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 12: Tutors, Wizards, and Fun 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 chordsheet. The +/- buttons at the bottom right of the window also change the row height. Chords may be edited in the Audio Chord Wizard with a right mouse click on the chord. When Edit Chord is selected, a highlight cell opens at the chord location. Type in the name of the new chord using standard Band-in-a-Box chord entry characters and press the Enter key to make the edit. The edited chord name is blue in color.
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. Chord Edits Chords may be edited in the Audio Chord Wizard with a right mouse click on the chord. When Edit Chord is selected, a highlight cell opens at the chord location. Type in the name of the new chord using standard Band-in-a-Box chord entry characters and press the Enter key to make the edit.
Jump Forward Four Bars- PAGE DOWN key, or DOWN ARROW key, or MultiMedia keyboard NEXT TRACK key Jump Back Four Bars- PAGE UP key, or UP ARROW key, or Multimedia keyboard PREVIOUS TRACK key Special Cases Time Signature: If a song is not in the default 4/4 time signature, set the Time Signature very early before you do anything else. Bad Initial Tempo Estimates Double/Half Tempo: Sometimes Audio Chord Wizard will guess double or half of the tempo you might prefer.
If you are playing along with a song on your keyboard, you might decide to make an ear-estimate of how far out-oftune is the song: For instance, you could adjust the fine-tuning control on your keyboard until your keyboard matches the song's pitch (according to your ear). Then you could look at your keyboard's tuning readout, and adjust ACW's Fine Tune Control to match. Either click-drag ACW's Fine Tune control (like a slider control), or right-click the Fine Tune control then type in a number.
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.
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. You can revisit the Audio Chord Wizard by pressing this button (this can also be done from the Audio menu). Revisiting the AudioChordWizard is useful to refine the bar lines.
Importing Chords You can import the chords from a MIDI file. To do this, first blank the chordsheet by choosing File | New. Then select the menu item File | Import Chords from MIDI file to launch the Interpret Chords from MIDI file dialog. 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 chordsheet.
- 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. Now, after loading in the MIDI files, you'd normally have a look at these settings above, to see if they seem reasonable for your MIDI file. If not, you can change the settings.
Bass Part Type You can set this to “Root,” “Root-3-5,” or “Walking Bass.” If you choose “Root,” the chord Wizard will assume that any bass note is the root of the chord. Choosing “Root-3-5” will cause the Chord Wizard to assume that the bass pattern is mainly on the root, 3rd and 5th of the chord. If you choose “Walking bass,” it will assume that the bass notes can be changing and can include many notes beside the root.
So that we can see how well the Chord Wizard did, we can compare it to the “correct chords” of the song, input by a musician listening to the 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 Chordsheet.
The setting for “Write Chord Summary Notes to Soloist Track” is only used for diagnostic or special purposes. When set, the Soloist track will contain a special track that has a chord written every 2 beats (or whatever the setting for chord resolution is) that contains every note found for the chord. This shows you the type of logic that the Chord Wizard is basing its decisions on.
Handy buttons for on-screen transposition for non-concert instruments. One button access to many of the Band-in-a-Box add-ons “101 Riffs” series and “Master Solos.” 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.
After the list of Practice Folders, you see a list of “Favorite Folders” – these are the folders that you have visited recently. Once you have selected a folder, you then press the [Songs] button, and you’ll see a pop-up menu of the file names for that folder, with the current song having a check mark. Load in a song by choosing the menu item. Ear Training Tutor Ear training is an important exercise for all musicians. Now you can practice your ear training with help from Bandin-a-Box.
2. The Chord Tutor plays chords (root + extension) for you to identify. Interval Tutor Click on the [Interval Tutor] button to launch the Interval Tutor module. Click on the intervals to hear them. For example, click on “Minor 3” to hear a minor 3rd interval. Set the interval types to guess. Pressing the [Easy] button will set it to the easiest (within one octave, second note is always higher, etc.). Start the game by pressing the [Guess Interval] button.
Chord Tutor Click on the [Chord Tutor] button to enter the Chord Tutor module. - 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.
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. If you guess correctly, you'll see a confirmation of that, and can play again. Press the [Stop] button to stop the game.
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 Music Replay, choose the MODE of the game. There are three modes: 1. Note Replay 2. Rhythm Replay 3. Melody Replay Set the Level to make the game harder. Press the HELP button for more information. Vocal Wizard The “Vocal Wizard” displays the best song keys for your vocal range! This feature helps you choose the best song key for your vocal range. Open the Vocal Wizard, enter your vocal type (baritone, tenor, etc.), or choose a custom range.
You can see from the screenshot that the Vocal Wizard has picked the key of D (colored green) as the best key for the song, using the baritone vocal range. Other recommended keys are colored yellow. Un-recommended keys are colored grey, and include the current key of the song (F). Let’s explore the areas of the Vocal Wizard screen. There are 4 areas that require your input. 1. Entering your Vocal Range. Here you enter your “comfortable” vocal range, from lowest note to highest note.
3. 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. 4. Selecting the track to analyze. You’d usually pick the Melody track, but can also choose the Soloist track. You can then analyze the Melody by pressing the [Analyze] button. Most functions automatically re-analyze the song, but pressing the [Analyze] button forces a re- analysis of the song. This displays the analysis of the song. 1.
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 Vocal Wizard can also work in an automatic mode, transposing a song to the best key as soon as it is loaded, without having to visit the Vocal Wizard dialog. This is done by checking the “Auto-transpose” checkbox.
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. Set the region of the song that you want reaharmonized. Usually this will be the “Whole Song.” Press [OK-Reharmonize]. You’ll now get a brand new chord progression for the melody.
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. For example, if you had chords such as “Dm7 G7 Cmaj7,” a list of substitutions including the tritone substitution “Dm7 Db7b5 Cmaj7” would be offered to you for use in your song. There are 2 ways to get chord substitutions 1.
Types of Subs. to include This combo box will filter the substitutions to include only the best substitutions or all of them. Recompile The [Recompile] button is only used if you have edited the CHORDSUB.TXT file to add your own substitutions. This recompiles the file and takes about 1 to 2 minutes. Do Substitution NOW Press this button once you see a substitution that you like so that you can enter it onto the worksheet directly. Double clicking on the substitution line will also accomplish the same.
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 chordsheet 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.
If you are happy with the sound of the chord, you can press the [Enter Chord] button to enter the chord at the bar and beat specified. If you would like the chord to be inserted automatically when you click on the note/extension names, select the “Enter chord when clicked” option. This will advance the Bar/Beat position. You can change the Bar/Beat settings to move to a different bar. Rhythm Guitar Chord Tutor Use the Guitar Tutor to analyze any song.
Half Note (sax) chords use the advanced Jazz Guitar “highest-4-strings-comping mode.” This usually plays on the 4 highest strings, and it plays several chords over a single chord. For example, for 2 bars of Cmaj7 it might play Cmaj7-Dm7-Ebdim-Em7 all played as half notes. There are also tutors for the alternate tunings like DADGAD, Open G, etc. They can be selected from this dropdown list.
− Picking the channels to use for the BB Parts. − Picking the snapshot bars for the “a” and “b” substyle. − Pressing the [Generate NEW style…] button. This section will discuss the various items in the Style Wizard dialog and the Style Wizard Additional Settings. The Style Wizard is used to generate a Band-in-a-Box Style from a MIDI file. The Style Wizard does this by analyzing the file and creating patterns emulating the notes and rhythms for the style. First off, you'd need to get a MIDI file to use.
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.MID you can see that channels 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 10 are used.) The Style Wizard analyzes the parts and guesses at which Bandin-a-Box part - Bass, Piano, Drums, Guitar, or Strings to use for each track. Band-in-a-Box has correctly assigned 5 instruments – not assigning a part to the Melody. The Style Wizard suggests which bars (“snapshots”) to include in the style.
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.
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). (Default = No) If this option is set when you create style patterns to add to an existing style, the entire instrument will first be erased in the style for any instrument used in the new style.
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. Bars past the end of the song are colored gray. These form markers are present for every song, unless you disable them by Preferences | Display. These are not the type of repeats/endings we’re referring to here however.
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 DAW Plug-In Mode Band-in-a-Box has a “plug-in” mode for your favorite sequencer (RealBand, Sonar, Reaper, ProTools, FLStudio, Nuendo and more). With the plug-in mode, Band-in-a-Box is open as a small always-on-top window, and acts as a plug-in for your favorite DAW/sequencer, so that you can drag-and-drop MIDI and audio (WAV) tracks from Band-in-a-Box to your favorite sequencer.
can set this in Plug-in Options. 5. It is also possible to drag and drop selected regions of a track. If you would like to transfer only a portion of the performance, you can do this by selecting the region in Band-in-a-Box, and then dragging from the instrument part at the top of the screen (don’t drag the selected region). You will then get just the selected region dragged to your DAW.
You will then see the plug-in options. Many of them have been explained above. Allow Drag n Drop (Default=true). If disabled, the Drag Drop feature will not work. There shouldn’t be a reason to disable this. “Drag Individual MIDI tracks as audio (using VST/DXi)” (default=false). When enabled, the chosen MIDI tracks get converted to audio, using your currently selected VST/DXi (e.g. Roland VSC, or Forte) Drag Combo track as audio (using VST/DXi) (default=true).
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. So you can quickly choose from them and know that, if you’re a reggae lover, you haven’t missed out on any BB songs/styles with Reggae. A similar listing for “Blues” reports 454 files.
a wireless Karaoke session! The TranzPort also works “right-out-of-the-box” with other popular music software, including Sonar™, Logic®, and many others. Note: the TranzPort is sold separately by PG Music Inc. www.pgmusic.com Using TranzPort with Band-in-a-Box. First, you need to purchase a TranzPort unit, and install it. Now, make sure that the TranzPort is installed and working.
- UNDO is panic button (turn MIDI notes off) Playback Display During playback, you will see the chords (and/or lyrics) to the song, scrolling along in time to the music. For example, you might see this… *5| D | D7 | 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.
The Guitar Tuner must be able to receive audio from your instrument via the line-in or microphone input of your sound card. Please make sure that either the Microphone In or Line-In is enabled in the Recording Properties of the Windows Mixer (or the appropriate Mixer application for your sound card). 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.
The Drum Kit window can be resized to tile or fit with other windows of interest, or the drums can be moved offscreen. The window looks best if your computer display is in High Color (16 bit) or True Color (32 bit) video mode. 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.
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 The current event number since the display was last cleared.
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. Evt # Time (mS) The time in milliseconds of the event, from when the timer 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.
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. Sometimes a bad click might be repaired in multiple processing stages, until the defect can no longer be detected.
On many recordings, the extrapolated guesses are quite good. Frequent clicks can often be removed without audible side-effects. One might encounter a badly damaged record where the audio is so damaged that the guesses are not good enough to be completely transparent. In these problem cases, you could try setting Fill Gaps to 70, or 50, filling the gaps with lower-amplitude guesses, which may sound less obnoxious. Set Fill Gaps to 100, unless it sounds bad.
But there is a limit what can be done for severely damaged discs (without investing in very expensive tools). On very damaged records, you may be forced to decide between a “natural” sound which contains a few residual defects, versus a more heavily processed sound which has collected new annoying artifacts to replace the old annoying defects.
Zoom In to see the best amplitude resolution. For instance, in the screenshot above, the display was zoomed to 3 dB per ruler line, which emphasizes the differences between loud and quiet frequency bands. View Range Scroll Adjust the Scrollbar to center the display to taste. When zoomed-in on a quiet track (as in the screenshot above), you would scroll down to get a good view of the frequency distribution.
Adjusting Reverb Reduction Experiment to get a feel for what works. There may be some songs where the reverb can't be improved, and in those cases just disable the Reduce Reverb Checkbox. Some vocals have short pre-delay and reverb tails. Short attack and release would make sense. Some songs (especially ballads) have loud “balloon” reverb tails with long pre-delay.
Chapter 14: 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.
(F8) Record Pattern (F3) Options (F10) Quantize Pattern (Alt+Q) Slide Pattern Volume adjust (this pattern) (Ctrl+Alt+W) Volume adjust (this row) (Alt+V) Volume Adjust (all patterns) (Alt+J) Legato Adjust Transpose Pattern see the effects of smooth voice leading or macro notes in a 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) .
.MID to Drum Kit 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 .MID to Drum Grid…” menu command would extract the drum notes from the MIDI file, and put them on the drum grid.
Help These menu items are quick links to the main Help, and to StyleMaker topics in particular. Index (F1) Topic Search (Ctrl+F1) StyleMaker Overview Tutorial 5 Editing an Existing Style Tutorial 6 Making a New Style Drum Patterns Bass Patterns Piano/Guitar/String Patterns How To (Shift+F1) 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.
Exploring the StyleMaker To become familiar with the StyleMaker it is easiest to begin with an existing style and examine its makeup. This example uses ZZLITROK.STY, a basic Light Rock style. Patterns are played back from the main StyleMaker screen: The StyleMaker displays current patch numbers for the parts on the main window. 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.
You can easily create new patterns of your own by selecting an empty box in a row of patterns and then clicking the [Rec] button to open a blank Drum Pattern Editor grid. To hear the pattern you have made click on the [Play] button. Click on the [Help] button for more tips and details. 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.
In defining a custom drum kit in the StyleMaker, you can use the drum notes found in a MIDI file. 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 [Import notes from .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.
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.
It is possible to assign RealDrums (audio drums) to a particular Band-in-a-Box style in the Misc. Style Settings dialog. RealDrums Settings (Audio Drums, instead of MIDI drums) Enable “Style uses RealDrums (audio drums)” in order to designate a RealDrums style, then press the [RD] button to select your RealDrums style. Whenever the current style is played, it will use your RealDrums style provided that RealDrums are enabled in the RealDrums Settings dialog. There are also additional volume controls here.
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. If you don’t want to hear other parts - say you just want to play along to the drums – any part can be muted with a right mouse click on the instrument name in the Band-in-a-Box main screen. Go to the correct row for the length of the pattern you want to record (8 beat, 4 beat, etc.) and click on an empty cell.
- Bar 5 of 8 - Bar 6 of 8 - Bar 7 of 8 - Bar 8 of 8 Special Bar Masks - pre-fill - refers to the bar before a fill - fill - refers to the bar of a fill (this allows you to put in “bass fills” for example) - post-fill - refers to the bar after a fill, which is the same as the first bar after a part marker. Playback Beat Mask (Usual Setting = 0) Set the beat mask to a beat from 1-4 if you want the pattern to only be played on certain beat #s. 1= Beat 1, 2= Beat 2 , 3= Beat 3 , 4= Beat 4.
Chord Selection Dialog Box This section is accessed by the [Chord] button, the F8 key or by choosing Pattern | Play Pattern on Chord from the pull-down menu. This plays back a pattern on a specific chord that you choose in either the key of C or the key of F. You can hear what patterns will sound like in a style by “trying them out” on certain songs. Macro notes recorded in a pattern will play their corresponding chords, smooth voice leading is demonstrated etc. Just choose a chord and press OK.
Waltz? If you want to make a waltz with the StyleMaker, check the “Waltz?” checkbox in the Misc. Style Settings dialog. Then the StyleMaker will record, and play patterns in 3/4 time. The “8 beat row” will record “6 beat” ( 2 bar patterns), the “4 beat” will record 3 beat (1 bar) patterns. The “2 beat” and “1 beat” still record 2 and 1 beat patterns. The new style is made as a waltz, and will play with a 3/4 lead in. There is no need to put a 3/4 time signature change in bar 1.
‘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.
The Lowest Bass Note setting defaults to the low E on the bass guitar or acoustic bass. It can be changed to match the range of other bass instruments, such as a tuba, or to extend the range of the bass for keyboards or 5-string and 6string basses. 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.
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. 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.
Guitar Parts use channels 11 to 16 for the notes, corresponding to strings 1 to 6 of the guitar. When you make a MIDI file, the notes will all get written on a single guitar channel. Sequencers like PowerTracks Pro Audio will recognize guitar parts on all 6 channels, so if you want to write the MIDI file from an intelligent guitar style, you can set Band-in-a-Box to do this from the Opt | Preferences… | Write Guitar part on 6 channels option.
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. The Guitar styles have an option to keep the same chord for the whole pattern when using databases that have changing chords within the pattern.
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. A6 Back strum, chromatic above, fast strum.
Single Chords CHD1 The Single Chords feature will play the chord as intended in the pattern for the percentage value entered. Single Chord - slight variation CHD2 This will play a slight variation of the specified chord for the percentage value entered. Chord with 5th in bass (inversion) INV0 This feature will play your chord with a 5th in the bass. Chord with inversion later in pattern INV1 This feature will play your chord with inversion later in the pattern.
Jazz Style? This lets Band-in-a-Box know if the style you've made is a Jazz style or not. If it’s a Jazz style it will use the Jazz Snare/Bass Drum instead of the Pop Snare/Bass Drum, and also makes some other decisions based on this setting. Tempo This allows you to set the default tempo for the Style. This is stored with the style. You can also change this tempo by the tempo button on the StyleMaker main screen. Tempos can also be changed by the [ and ] keys.
Band-in-a-Box uses a resolution of 120 PPQ, i.e., 120 ticks to a quarter note. - 30 ticks = sixteenth note - 40 ticks = triplet eighth note (Swing) - 60 ticks = eighth note Choose the number of ticks for each push to use. Substyle Pushes The % of notes that are pushed can be set separately for each instrument part and for the “a” and “b” substyles. In this example, the Bass part patterns will get pushed (randomly) 10% of the time in the “a” substyle and 20% of the time in the “b” substyle.
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. Similarly, each push is accompanied by a drum stab, and the style can define what instrument to use and at what volume. The Lowest Bass Note setting defaults to the low E on the bass guitar or acoustic bass. It can be changed to match the range of other bass instruments, such as a tuba, or to extend the range of the bass for keyboards or 5-string and 6string basses.
RealDrums Settings (Audio Drums, instead of MIDI drums) It is also possible to assign RealDrums (audio drums) to a particular Band-in-a-Box style. Enable “Style uses RealDrums (audio drums)” in order to designate a RealDrums style, then press the [RD] button to select your RealDrums style. Whenever the current style is played, it will use your RealDrums style provided that RealDrums are enabled in the RealDrums Settings dialog. There are also additional volume controls here.
patch numbers of your synth (unless you have a General MIDI synth). If you don't require a specific instrument for the style, leave the setting at 0 < No Patch Change >. Styles can have different instruments (patches) for the “a” and “b” substyle. For example, you can have drum brushes on the “a” substyle, and sticks on the “b” substyle, or acoustic piano for the “a” and electric piano for the bridge.
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 “part markers” for the file are displayed on the Chordsheet. 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.MID you can see that channels 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 10 are used.
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.
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). (Default = No) If this option is set when you create style patterns to add to an existing style, the entire instrument will first be erased in the style for any instrument used in the new style.
JazzBrushes_045_Style JazzBrushes_060_Style JazzBrushes_070_Style JazzBrushes_100_Style JazzBrushes_120_Style JazzBrushes_145_Style JazzBrushes_175_Style JazzBrushes_210_Style JazzBrushes_250_Style JazzBrushes_300_Style The easiest way to make a style is to use a text-file template. Making A RealDrums Style Using An Existing Template Templates are available for download from http://nn.pgmusic.com/pgfiles/realdrums_stylemaking_templates.zip.
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.
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.txt This is exactly the same as 5, with these bars added: 69 – single drum hit, which will be used for “shots” in Band-in-a-Box 70 – single drum hit, which will be used for “pushes” in Band-in-a-Box 6. 64_bars_of_drumming_with_shots_two_endings.txt bar# 1-2 – count-in for two bars (i.e.
The last thing you would need to do would be that if your style were a waltz (3:4) style, you would need to change “TimeSig=4” to “TimeSig=3”. If, however, you are making a 4:4 style, your style is ready to be used! Additional Changes There are a few additional changes that could be made to fine-tune your style. The first is to enter a different value in the “Offset=“ line.
half of the drum bars, and then the groove can change and should remain basically the same through to the end. Keep in mind also when you either record or piece together your wave file, that in each “substyle”, there need to be examples of fill, normal bars, and post-fills (bars specifically designed to come after fills, often containing a crash cymbal which completes a fill). You also need at least one 2-bar ending. After the bars of drumming should be a short section of single drum hits.
between the start of the drum hits and the actual bar line. The highest example would be entered as the offset amount. In example 2, the beginning of the drum hit at bar 15 occurs at 14:04:118, or 2 ticks before the downbeat of bar 15. If all other bars were similar, you would enter an offset of –2. 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.
For example, if “MultibarPatternPercent=20” is entered, then every time Band-in-a-Box searches for a pattern, there 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.
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. This can be used to make slight changes to the overall feel of the drummer.
• • • pattern,PostFill,A,8,0,8,1 pattern,PostFill,A,5,0,1,9 pattern,PostFill,B,4,0,2,17 PreFills PreFill bars occur immediately before Fills. PreFills are not essential for a style to work, but can be useful in situations where a drummer begins an elaborate fill a bar early. When Band-in-a-Box picks patterns for bars that precede fills, it picks from among the pool of normal and prefill patterns. PreFills can either be 1 or 2 bars long.
• pattern,PostFill,A,5,0,1,9 • pattern,PreFill,A,4,0,2,7 • pattern,Normal,A,2,0,1,3 • pattern,Normal,A,5,3,2,11 Here are some examples of ‘B’ patterns: • pattern,Fill,B,6,0,1,32 • pattern,Fill,B,5,0,1,58 • pattern,PostFill,B,4,0,2,17 • pattern,PreFill,B,7,0,1,57 • pattern,Normal,B,5,1,2,75 • pattern,Normal,B,2,5,2,64 Here are some examples of ‘0’ patterns: • pattern,Count-in,0,5,0,2,-1 • pattern,ending,0,1,0,1,33 Here are some examples of special-case endings: • pattern,ending,Aending,5,0,2,37 • pattern,end
The other special case is a 0 weight. This is only used for fills. When Band-in-a-Box finds possible patterns, if a particular pattern is going to end where a fill is required due to the part-marker placement, then the pattern will only be included as a possibility if that bar in the style wave file has been designated as a fill at some point in the text file. Likewise, a pattern that ends with a fill will not be considered a possibility if the fill doesn’t match up in the Bandin-a-Box song.
Example 7: Normal pattern needed for bar 13. In example 7, if Band-in-a-Box is trying to find a normal pattern for bar 13, it will look for patterns with a mask of 0, 1 (because it is an even number of bars from the part marker) or 5. If it were trying to find a normal pattern for bar 14, it would look for patterns with a mask of 0, 2, or 6. 5. Duration PostFill and Normal patterns can be any number of bars long, however there is a practical range that is commonly used.
If this is confusing to you, there are two ways you can simplify this. Some audio editors allow you to designate bar “1” at any point in a wave file. Simply go to bar 3 and designate that as bar 1. Then, any bar number you see will directly match what needs to be entered into the text file.
Example 10: Here the shot begins at bar 171 (173-2), at the third beat, or 240 ticks into the bar. 4. Duration Unlike patterns, which use numbers of bars for durations, the shots use ticks for durations. So, for example, if a shot lasts for three beats, you would enter 360 (3 beats * 120 ticks per beat).
If you type a semicolon into the text file, whether it’s at the beginning of a line, or at the end of a pattern definition, and text that is typed after the semicolon is ignored, which allows you to type comments. For example: • ;this entire line will be ignored by Band-in-a-Box • pattern,normal,A,5,0,4,15;this text will also be ignored by Band-in-a-Box Pascal-style comments are comments that are enclosed by { and } characters. Any text enclosed by these characters will also be ignored by Band-in-a-Box.
The other things you need to take into account are the count-in and endings. The count-in will be different for the two tempos, so it’s best to record two completely different count-ins. The alternate one can be pasted onto the end of the file if necessary. For endings, it’s also good to simply record two versions of them, which also can be at the end of your file.
The next information it displays is a separate line for every bar of the song. The first item for every bar is the actual bar number in the song, but the type of information that is displayed after that depends on whether the bar represents the start of a pattern, or a subsequent bar in a multi-bar pattern. If the file c:\bbNumberedDeveloperFiles.txt exists, the DrumAudioResults.txt file with information gets numbered and written to c:\bb\Results folder Note: You need to create a c:\bb\Results folder first.
text file, and the current pattern is ending with that Fill. The other message you may see is “*** BB song has no fill, but WAV has a fill ***(Could be Error2 if mask0)” This means that Band-in-a-Box has recognized that a bar that is designated as a Fill occurred within the pattern, but not at a place where a Fill is required. Fills often sound good 4 bars into phrases, even if no fill has been designated, so in these cases, this could be fine.
You'll see the voices down the left side of the dialog box. Each harmony can use up to 3 channels. Harmony Channel A, B, and C. If your harmony only has one instrument, then you will use Channel A for all the voices. If your harmony uses Flute and Bass, then you could use Flute on Channel A and Bass on Channel B. 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.
Tip: These channels are set to numbers in the Harmony Channels Dialog box, accessible by selecting the [Harmony] button under the Opt | MIDI Channels, options… menu. Octave This allows the harmony to “drop-down” or “go up” by a number of octaves. This octave change will only happen in a certain range, as chosen in the LOW, HIGH settings. Tip: There is also an Overall Harmony Octave setting that changes the octave of the entire harmony setting (accessible by pressing the [More] button). O.
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.
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. Embellish Chords Embellish how often: Allows you to specify the frequency of embellishment.
Chapter 15: 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 chordsheet 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.
Favorite Folders… opens a list of recently used folders for quick access. 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.
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 chordsheet. 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 blue. 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.
The “Jazz Up” and “Jazz Down” functions are also available from the dialog. Pressing this button will help to normalize a chord progression to the nine most popular chords for Pop or Jazz. RealTracks play better with these “normal” chords. The “Simpler Jazz” 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.
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.
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. - To create a new alias, click on an empty spot in the Alias list, or click on the alias you wish to edit if you wish to change an existing alias. - Press the [Choose] button below the Original Style box and select the style you wish to be replaced.
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. What add-ons do I have?… An intelligent dialog, also accessible from the Help menu that will search your directory to tell you which add-ons you have and which you don’t. Utilities Edit Chord Shortcuts file (shortcut.
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). If you would like to send a SysEx file to your MIDI device automatically at the start of each session, you need to make a file called STARTUP.SYX, and put it in your c:\bb directory.
have some great string sounds on your synth on Bank 4, Controller 32. With this feature you can save them as part of your Band-in-a-Box setup by clicking the [Save] button. This will append your MYSETUP.DK file to include all of the patches you like to use, regardless of where they are on your synth. 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.
Note: Items that were previously found in the Preferences (2) dialog are now included in the Preferences dialog (Opt. | Preferences). Other Preferences (2) settings are now found in dialogs such as the MIDI Options Dialog, Arrangement Options Dialog, and Display Options Dialog. Keystroke Shortcuts You can open the dialogs with keystrokes by typing the underlined letter shown on the tabs.
allows Band-in-a-Box to visually flash the window title bar to get your attention, instead of generating an audible “beep.” Always save songs with “U” extension Older Band-in-a-Box songs had additional extensions for last letter (1-9, A-O) to indicate style type. Setting this will resave those old songs with a “U” extension, MGU or SGU (if no melody is present). At program boot up… On session start, you can elect to automatically load the last song or style that was used. Or not.
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. Chordsheet Enable display of Repeats/Endings allows repeats signs and 1st/2nd ending markers to be shown on the chordsheet.
This option allows display of “9sus” chords as “11” (e.g., Bb11 instead of Bb9sus). This only affects how the chord is displayed, not how it is stored. And you can type either C11 or C9sus to enter the same chord. For Roman Numerals of Chords in minor keys, use relative major For minor keys, base roman numerals on the relative major. For example in key of Am, Am is either the Im chord or the VIm chord. Chordsheet Font You can choose the font to use for the chordsheet.
Allow Any Rests You can disable the rests feature. You might want to do this if you’ve got a song with a lot of rests in it, and are then having difficulty recording a melody because you don’t hear the drums providing the beat (due to the drums resting). If so, you can temporarily disable the rests so that you can record and listen to the drums. Allow Any Pushes If for some reason you don't want a style or a song to have pushes, you can set this to no.
Drum Brushes Most GM modules have brushes available on patch 41 on the drums. On some Sound Blasters you need to load a GS sound font for this to occur, and you need to use the Sound Blaster software to do this (AWE Control Panel). On the Yamaha XG, you likely need to send a “GS mode on” message from the GM menu in Band-in-a-Box. But if your module just doesn't have brushes available, then you can set this option, and the style will remap the notes to different drum instruments that don't have brushes.
Play Lead-In Even If Intro Present If a song has an intro, it’s usually not necessary to play the 2 bar lead-in count. There's a new option to always OMIT the lead-in if an intro is present. Lead-in type This can be drum patterns instead of “1-2-1234.” You can specify to play two bars of drum patterns instead of the count-in. You may prefer hearing the drum beat to a simple count-in, since it provides more information about the upcoming groove.
(1234, 1-3, 1---, or –2-4). Seeing a metronome on-screen is a great way for a student to learn to keep on the beat, and with a settable size, students can view this from across the room. Audible Metronome The three settings for the audible metronome are None, During Record, or During Record and Play. MIDI File Options The Preferences [MIDI File] button opens the MIDI file options dialog. Include Patch Changes in MIDI files will include the patch (instrument) changes.
Include Forced Channel Meta Event This will include the forced channel META event. It is recognized by PowerTracks Pro Audio and other PG Music Inc. programs only. Include Guitar Position Controller This will insert a controller 84 which PG Music uses to indicate the fret position. Since some synths also use this for Portamento Control, you should use this setting with caution. Write Soloist Part On Channel 5 Normally the program writes the Soloist part on channel 8.
To use this option, you must have a polyphonic VSTi or DXi synthesizer installed on your computer, such as the Roland/Edirol VSC DXi or VSTi, or the Coyote ForteDXi. It will also be most convenient if your VSTi/DXi synthesizer can use General MIDI or GM2 patches. Route MIDI Thru to MIDI Driver If this is unchecked, MIDI Thru (live playing) will be routed to the DXi synth rather than the MIDI Thru drive while the song is playing. (Applies with MME audio drivers only.
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, it supports both GM2 and GS - you should likely choose GM2. - No GM2 support: Most sound cards (Sound Blasters etc.) don't have GM2 support yet, so just support the 128 sounds. Band-in-a-Box will use the closest instrument in these cases. The [Audio Settings] button opens the Audio Settings dialog to set up audio drivers.
Allow Any Patch Changes: Set to “No” to disable All Patch changes. Song Patch Changes: Songs can be saved with patch changes. If you want to prevent specific instruments loading for a given song, set this option to “No.” Style Patch Changes: Styles contain patch change information for the instruments that were used when the Style was created. To use your own instrument selection, not the original instruments, change this setting to “No.” Drum Patch Changes: To disable patch changes in Drums, set to NO.
These can use either Controller 0 (Bank 0), which is also know as MSB for Most Significant Byte, or Controller 32, also called LSB for Least Significant Byte, or combinations of the two controllers. Harmony The [Harmony] button opens the Harmony Channels and Settings dialog where settings for the harmonies are made. Harmony Settings OK to Load Harmonies With Songs If set to YES, the harmony settings for each song will be loaded and saved with each song.
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. Otherwise, Band-in-a-Box will completely compose a solo before song playback begins.
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.
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.
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.
Transpose The Preferences [Transpose] button opens the Settings for transposing songs when loaded or “Do it Now” 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.
Record Filter supports all MIDI controllers and sustain pedal. You can record any type of MIDI information to the melody or soloist tracks by using the Record Filter feature to select which types to include. With this window you can choose what types of MIDI information Band-in-a-Box will record. Notation The [Notation] button opens the Notation Window Options. If the Notation window is not open the program will launch it. These settings are described in the Notation chapter and in the online Help.
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. Note: Most low-end sound cards do not include an ASIO driver, so you may not have an ASIO driver yet. In this case, you’ll need to get an ASIO driver from the Internet. ASIO Audio Driver When you select ASIO the ASIO Audio Drivers dialog will open. This ASIO driver dialog lets you choose an ASIO driver.
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. You may need to read your sound card’s instructions to determine the correct ports to use. The ASIO Driver’s Control Panel button launches the Control Panel for your driver. This usually lets you adjust the latency by letting you choose different buffer sizes in milliseconds. Some drivers might let you choose the buffer size in samples, which is less convenient than milliseconds.
The DMA Size and DMA Offset settings are set automatically by the auto-testing of the sound card. This test can be repeated by pressing the [Get from sound card…] button. The default value for all of these settings is 0 (zero). You can override these settings if required, but it is usually not necessary. The Offset in mS is not a setting that gets set automatically. It defaults to zero. This allows you to adjust the timing that the sound card plays audio in relation to MIDI.
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.
- If “Note Guides” is selected guide notes will be shown on the keyboard. The guide notes can be scale tones, chord tones, or roots only. Note Names and Note Colors can be used as in the Notation settings. There is an option to Show Out-of-Scale notes in Yellow. The size of the piano keyboard can be entered in pixels, or set with the preset buttons, or set by dragging the bottom border of the window. Lyric Window Options The [BigLyrics] button opens the Lyric Window Options.
Print Options The [Print] button opens the Print Options dialog. 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.
When “Vary Style in Middle Choruses” is selected (default) the song will play in substyle B throughout the middle choruses, playing substyle A for the first and last choruses only. If this setting is not selected the substyle changes will follow the part markers entered on the chordsheet. When “Allow Embellishment of Chords” is selected (default) Jazz styles can play embellished chords. For example, C7 might play as C13 or C7b9 for a more authentic sound.
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). RealTracks The RealTracks Settings dialog lets you control the RealTracks. In the RealTracks Settings dialog you can Enable/Disable the RealTracks feature. RealCharts (notation from some RealTracks) Most RealTracks now display notation, i.e. RealCharts, showing the notes that are being played.
RealCharts are optional and are selected in the RealTracks Settings dialog. ; “Show RealCharts notation from styles and songs” will show RealCharts that have been generated from styles or songs stored with RealTracks. ; “Show RealCharts notation for Soloists” will show RealCharts that have been generated from the Select Soloist dialog. ; “Save RealCharts in MIDI files” will save the RealChart to a MIDI track so you can analyze it in other programs.
“Allow soloing to crescendo” can be applied to some RealTracks to have the intensity of the solo building up, with the flashiest part of the solos playing as the solo builds. If you have similar RealTracks available at different tempos, Band-ina-Box will automatically choose the best one to use.
Many Jazz comping styles play triads (instead of 7ths) when simple triads are entered, instead of “jazzing them up” to 7ths chords. Enable this setting if you prefer to have triads automatically “jazzed up” when comping using Jazz RealTracks. The [Demos] button displays a menu of song demos with RealTracks in the bb\RealTracks – Demos folder. [Assign to Track] launches the Assign RealTracks to Track dialog, where RealTracks instruments are listed and assigned to Band-in-a-Box tracks.
First, make sure that the TranzPort is installed and working. This can be determined by running Band-in-a-Box, and looking at the list of MIDI Drivers (Opt. | MIDI/Audio driver setup). If “TranzPort” appears on the list of MIDI-IN and MIDI-OUT drivers, then the TranzPort is installed correctly. Enable TranzPort support for Band-in-a-Box in the Tranzport Settings dialog. If you want lyrics to display on the TranzPort during playback, set these options.
One-click access to many of the educationrelated features of Band-in-a-Box (play along soloing, Ear Training, games). 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.
You can enable/disable the audio reverb. If you disable it, this will save some CPU cycles, so this might be advisable on an older/slower machine if you hear that the audio is clicking or not keeping up. Click on the green Select a Preset button to open the list of presets. This list will show only the “Band-in-aBox Default Reverb” until you save some presets of your own. As you adjust the settings they will be applied to the current song.
Allow Drag n Drop (Default=true). If disabled, the Drag Drop feature will not work. There shouldn’t be a reason to disable this. “Drag Individual MIDI tracks as audio (using VST/DXi)” (default=false). When enabled, the chosen MIDI tracks get converted to audio, using your currently selected VST/DXi (e.g. Roland VSC, or Forte) Drag Combo track as audio (using VST/DXi) (default=true). When enabled, the entire arrangement gets converted to audio using your currently selected VST/DXi (e.g.
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) - Generate (even if tracks are frozen) - Generates a new arrangement and plays the song. Stops playback. To resume either use the Play From Current Position command or the [From] button the play from the start of the current bar, or use the [Play] or Replay [+] buttons to play from the start of the song. Pauses the song.
Tracks (and mute tracks) Un-Render Song from Audio Tracks (Enables tracks, erase audio track) Freeze all tracks - Use to erase a rendered Audio track and restore MIDI playback. - Freezes all tracks – MIDI, RealTracks and RealDrums – for fast replay without regenerating tracks. Unfreezes tracks to allow normal regeneration. allows the selection of a single track to freeze. Drag the mouse cursor to select a region of bars in the chordsheet and then use this command to play the selected region as a loop.
dialog will then display; see its online Help for detailed instructions. The remaining commands in this submenu are also found in the Loop Section Settings dialog. Tempo Juke Box Play Previous Juke Box Song / Next JukeBox song Wizard Play Along feature - When a new song is started the tempo is set based on Style. This is the tempo that is embedded in the style file. It can be reset to any tempo.
Enter Lyrics at current bar - Opens the Lyric entry box at the current location of the timeline or highlight cell. Big Lyrics Window - Opens the Big Lyrics window for viewing lyrics and, optionally, chord symbols. Lyric Document Window - Displays a full screen of formatted lyrics. Easily copy and paste lyrics to and from your favorite word processor. The lyrics will then display in the Big Lyrics window.
Auto-Update all songs in folder to Note-based Lyrics will update an entire folder worth of songs, copying the Line Lyrics to Note Lyrics. Only Note-based lyrics get displayed in the Big Lyrics Dialog, so this feature will allow you to see these lyrics in the Big Lyrics window. Move Lyrics Up or down row(s)… moves a line of line-based lyrics up/down a number of rows. Erase Line-based Lyrics only erases only the line-based lyrics, preserving the note-based lyrics.
Embellish Melody during playback launches the Embellisher dialog. This optionally embellishes the Melody during playback. Embellish Melody Dialog allows you to customize the settings of the Embellisher, choose an embellisher type from presets, and make a particular Embellishment permanent. Mute Melody during Middle Choruses to allow for soloing. 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.
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 Soloist track. 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.
- - - - - 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.
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. 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.
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.
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. Use to refresh after several Soloists have been made. OK to Load Soloists w/Songs.
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. So now that we’ve customized the display, we are seeing the bass and trumpet on the notation, and hearing the entire track. Edit Soloist Track is a submenu of editing options.
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. Humanize Soloist Part… opens the Soloist: Quantize to New Tempo or Feel dialog. The humanize effect is broken down into 5 main categories: Tempo, Lateness, 8th Note Spacing, Legato, and Feel.
Eliminate Note Overlap – Preserve Double Stops / Eliminate Note Overlap – Remove Double Stops opens a Choose Range dialog to select the range of bars where note overlap will be eliminated while double stops are either preserved or eliminated. 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).
Audio Menu The Record Audio function is used to Record Audio using a microphone plugged into your sound card or a guitar (or mixer) plugged into the line-in on your sound card. This launches the Record Audio Dialog and the Record Audio – Keep Take dialog. 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.
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. Band-in-a-Box comes with a large selection of high quality audio effects built-in, such as Compressor, Gate, Distortion, Reverb, Echo, Chorus, Flanger, Ring Mod, Tremolo, Tone Control, Graphic EQ, Parametric EQ, Gain Change, De-Ess, Auto-Wah, Pitch Shift, Exciter, Enhancer and Hum Filter.
Box, 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 .WAV file etc… This command launches the dialog that allows you to Render (convert) the Band-in-a-Box song (with or without an audio track) to a stereo .WAV file.
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.
Roland GS submenu 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.
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 chordsheet 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. The lyrics will also display in the Big Lyrics window.
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 Chordsheet Chord This function plays the current chord on the chordsheet. It is most commonly accessed by pressing Shift+Enter on the chordsheet. 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.
Plug-in Mode for DAW puts Band-in-a-Box into plug-in mode, open as a small always-on-top window that acts as a plug-in for your favorite DAW/sequencer so that you can drag-and-drop MIDI and audio (WAV) tracks from BB to your favorite sequencer. The DAW Plug-in mode is a mode within the regular Band-in-a-Box program. This mode allows you to transfer tracks, or parts of tracks, to other DAW Sequencers easily, by simply dragging the track icons from Band-in-a-Box (BB) to the tracks window of your DAW.
Help Menu Index Lists all of the Help topics. Type in a keyword under the “Index” tab to go to the topic you want. Topic Search 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.
Tips are limited to 255 characters per tip. Band-in-a-Box automatically compiles the BBW.TIP file at startup of the program to a binary file called BBW.TPB. What add-ons do I have?… One of the greatest strengths of Band-in-a-Box is the ability to add-on and enhance the program through add-on Styles, Soloist, and Melodist disks. The “What Add-ons” feature in the Help menu scans your computer's Band-ina-Box directory and displays what add-ons are and aren't found. To see the latest add-ons click on the [www.
Shortcuts: Keystroke Commands - Hot Keys Quick Song Settings Typing special words, instead of chord names, will make the following settings: begin + Enter Sets the beginning of the chorus to the current bar chorusend + Enter Sets the end of the chorus to the current bar end + Enter Sets the end of the song to the current bar tkc + Enter Sets key signature to c, tkbb would set it to bb trc + Enter Transposes song to key of C t125 + Enter Sets tempo to 125 Quick-Load Songs and Styles You can quick-load a son
Use Ctrl+Shift together with the 1-9 and 0 keys on the keyboard to select Favorite Instruments. For example, let’s change the Piano part to Rhodes Piano. 1. Press Ctrl+4 to select the Piano part. 2. Press Ctrl+Shift+2 to select the Favorite #2. That is Rhodes Piano. Use Ctrl+Shift and the [-] and [=] keys to decrease/increase the patch by 1. Volume Settings Ctrl+Alt+Shift+R Ctrl+Alt+A Ctrl+Alt+S Ctrl+Alt+D Ctrl+Alt+Shift Q Ctrl+Alt+Shift W Ctrl+Alt+Shift E Set current part’s volume.
Ctrl+Shift+D Ctrl+Shift+G Ctrl+Shift+J Ctrl+Shift+L Ctrl+Shift+N Ctrl+Shift+S Alt+Shift+L Ctrl+Alt+Shift+L Drum Kit window. Guitar window. Ear training window. Big Lyrics window. Big Piano window. Plug-in mode for DAW. Practice window. Lyric Document window. StyleMaker Hot Keys F1, Shift+F1, Ctrl+F1 F2 Alt+F2 R or F3 or F4 F8 F10 F6 or Shift+F6 Cursor Keys Alt+F4 Help Save style Save style as ...
Shift+F8 Ctrl+Shift+F8 Alt+Shift+F8 Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F8 Alt+S then E Alt+S then W F7 F9 Ctrl+F5 Ctrl+Shift+F5 Ctrl+F9 Shift+F9 Alt+F9 Ctrl+Shift+F9 Shift+F7 Alt+F10 Ctrl+F10 Shift+F10 Alt+F11 Ctrl+F11 Shift+F11 Ctrl+Alt+E Ctrl+Alt+I Ctrl+Alt+Q Ctrl+Alt+T Ctrl+E Ctrl+N Ctrl+Shift+B Ctrl+Shift+F6 F5 F6 Alt+F4 Load next file (alphabetical by file name). Load previous (alphabetical by file name). Load next style. (in alphabetical order). Load previous style. (in alphabetical order). Enable/disable style.
Dominant 7th Chords C7, 7+, C9+, C13+, C13, C7b13, C7#11, C13#11, C7#11b13, C9, C9b13, C9#11, C13#11, C9#11b13, C7b9, C13b9, C7b9b13, C7b9#11, C13b9#11, C7b9#11b13, C7#9, C13#9, C7#9b13, C9#11, C13#9#11, C7#9#11b13 C7b5, C13b5, C7b5b13, C9b5, C9b5b13, C7b5b9, C13b5b9, C7b5b9b13, C7b5#9, C13b5#9, C7b5#9b13, C7#5, C13#5, C7#5#11, C13#5#11, C9#5, C9#5#11, C7#5b9, C13#5b9, C7#5b9#11, C13#5b9#11, C7#5#9, C13#5#9#11, C7#5#9#11, C13#5#9#11 Suspended 4 Chords Csus, C7sus, C9sus, C13sus, C7susb13, C7sus#11, C13sus#1
BBWDLL16.DLL DLL handling playback. BBW.EXE Executable file. BBW.LST This is the text file for the Style List information. BBWRES.DLL DLL required for some graphics. CPALETTE.DLL Required DLL. DEFAULT.HAR These are the default Harmonies. DEFAULT.GIT The default Guitarists. DEFAULT.MEL The default Melodists. DEFAULT.SOL The default Soloists. GP5.DLL Required DLL. PGCHORDS.TTF PG Music chord font. PGJAZZ_.TTF PG Music Jazz font. PGMUS.TTF PG Music notation font. PGTEXT.TTF PG Music text font. ZZ*.
PG Music Inc. Band-in-a-Box ® is protected by copyright and is the property of PG Music Inc. and its licensors. Copyright © 1989-2010 PG Music Inc. All rights reserved. PG MUSIC INC. 29 Cadillac Avenue Victoria, BC V8Z 1T3 Canada Internet: www.pgmusic.com International Pages and Forums: www.bandinabox.com Contacts: E-mail: info@pgmusic.
Appendix: RealTracks Sets There are one hundred and one sets of RealTracks available for Band-in-a-Box! The basic Band-in-a-Box Pro package includes a basic set of RealCombos for Pop, Country and Jazz. In addition, there are hundreds more RealTracks instruments available in one hundred and one different sets. RealTracks Set 1: The Originals, New and Improved Improved versions of the original RealTracks – Tenor Sax, Tenor Sax (Bluesy), Pedal Steel, and Acoustic Guitar.
This authentic sounding Latin-Jazz set includes a balance of piano, acoustic bass, and electric guitar RealTracks for use in all keys. Combine with RealTracks Set 17: Bossa - Soloists for your dream Bossa band! RealTracks Set 17: Bossa - Soloists This set includes hours of trumpet, trombone, alto sax, and even acoustic bass soloing. You'll have all the tools available to generate a killer Bossa solo with the most authentic sounds available.
RealTracks RealTracks Set 33: Bluegrass (Medium Tempo) All you need to play a medium tempo Bluegrass song. This set of RealTracks is full of awesome features like A and B substyles for the fiddle and banjo as well as RealCharts for the acoustic guitar soloist. RealTracks RealTracks Set 34: Country Train Beat Solid train rhythm that doesn't miss a beat plus RealCharts to see the notation for all of the instruments.
and the 3, which is one of the most common ways to play pop music. The alternate, 'PopHalfNotesPush is the same basic pattern, but doesn't restate the note on beat 3, driving the song with a pushed feel. RealTracks Set 47: Slow and Fast Pop - Harmonica & Organ Covering the whole even 8ths tempo spectrum, our B3 Organ styles can provide that growling B3 sound whether you've written a slow ballad, or a rockin' fast pop tune. For the fast tunes, we've also got a background Pop Harmonica style.
With RealTracks Set 58, we provide both Jazz and Pop Waltz styles. On the Jazz front, a Tenor Sax soloist is included, which can be used with some of our previously released Jazz Waltz rhythm section instruments. For the Pop fans, we've provided Acoustic Bass and Piano styles playing a slow even 8ths Pop Waltz. RealTracks Set 59: Crossover The RealTracks you need for the popular sound of Swing 16ths Crossover between Country Music and Hip Hop.
Northern Rock and classic 80s Texas Blues-Rock grooves. 8 different guitar styles include quarter-note variations, strummed patterns, offbeat & syncopated grooves. A variety of guitar tones are employed including mellow fuzz, an edgy, gritty sound, and different registers of that Texas Rock ‘n’ Roll sound. All styles are equipped with RealCharts, so you can see the notes you're hearing either in TAB, notation, or on the on-screen guitar fretboard.
choose from with the Electrics too, with both clean and distorted guitars, playing syncopated patterns, classic riffs, palm-mute, and twangy variations. All of these styles are equipped with RealCharts, so you can see exactly what's being played by these world-class studio musicians! RealTracks Set 80: Fast Country Boogie This set features 6 up-tempo Country Boogie guitar RealTracks including 2 acoustic guitars and 4 electrics.
RealTracks Set 88: 12-String Electric RealTracks Set 88 offers some unique, clean 12-string electric guitar tones. The styles are split into two main categories: strumming and fingerpicking. The strumming styles offer a silky, sustained, solid rhythm while the fingerpicking styles deliver an open and bright feel that fills in the eighth notes.
RealTracks Set 95: Jazz Rhythm Guitar: Bossa and Swing Included are four electric guitar styles that cover a large range of tempos, as well as two bossa styles, and a fast “Freddie” Acoustic Guitar. The Electrics are split into “FreeComp” and “GrooveComp” styles. The FreeComp styles are intended to be the sole comping instrument (no piano) featuring sophisticated rhythms and harmonies.
style. The fiddle and guitar have the added bonus of having RealCharts enabled, which allows you to view the notes being played in notation, on the on-screen piano keyboard, and on an on-screen guitar-fretboard. More about RealTracks For full descriptions of all of the RealTracks sets, please go to www.pgmusic.com and see the RealTracks page, http://www.pgmusic.com/products_realtracks.htm. While you’re there be sure to check for new releases.
Index notes display, 315 settings, 168, 307 special cases, 312 drastic tempo changes, 314 odd length bars, 314 zoom, 315 Audio Controls, 199 Audio Features Applying Plugins, 295 Audio Harmonies, 170 harmonize to chords, 293 harmonize to MIDI, 290 melody pitch tracking, 292 Audio Harmony Pitch Styles, 291, 294 Audio Menu, 504 Edit Audio, 505 plug-ins, 505 Audio Playback, 284 Audio Rendering batch convert, 300 Audio Settings, 472 Auto Song Memo, 58, 445 Auto-endings, 341, 401 Automatic Intro, 247 Automatic So
MIDI keys, 92 mode, 95 patch changes, 93 QWERTY keys, 92 uses, 95 Convert patch lists Cakewalk to BB, 76 PowerTracks to BB, 75 Copyright, 525 Count-in and Metronome options, 457 Custom file selection, 64 Descriptive hints, 47 Digitech Vocalist, 81 DirectX Plug-Ins PG Real Time Analyzer, 366 Display options, 453 Display Options, 46 Drag and drop, 37, 348 Drum Fills, 61, 107 Window, 357 Drum Kit, 467 Drum Volumes, 467 Drums count-in, 458 DXi, 15 select synth, 15 Ear Training Tutor, 324 Ear-training games, 327
Macros, 387 pitch bends on fretboard, 87 Styles, 385 Comping, 338 Guitar Macros strummed chords, 388 Guitar Settings, 475 Guitar Style options, 388 override, 388 Guitar Tutor alternate tunings, 338 chord tutor, 337 Guitar Window Toolbar, 90 Guitarist Dialog, 259 Hard drive version, 13 Harmonize to Chords, 293 Harmonize to MIDI Melody, 290 Harmony, 52, 133, 464 creating, 422 octave doubling, 422 selecting, 51 test chord, 424 velocity boost, 424 Harmony Menu, 510 Held chords options, 106 Help Menu, 517 show h
checkbox, 78 enable, 78 looping status, 79 Presets, 79 settings, 78 Looping keystroke commands, 79 Screen, 203 Song, 58 looping status, 79 Lyric Window Options, 477 Lyrics, 231 document window, 231 Event List, 229 line-based lyrics, 492 lyric edit window, 43, 160, 229 menu, 230 Menu, 228 Notebased Lyrics, 229 Lyrics enhancements Karaoke file lyrics, 233 MIDI file lyrics, 233 multiple lines, 162 Lyrics Menu, 230, 492 line-based lyrics, 230, 492 Lyrics options, 232 Main Chordsheet font size, 46 number of rows
Local On, 462 Note Offs, 462 Sync, 462 Thru, 337 Controllers, 462 Setting, 462 MIDI drivers wizard, 14 MIDI drivers, 14 MIDI File Karaoke, 176 MIDI File Chord Wizard, 317 MIDI file options, 459 MIDI File to Style Wizard, 338 MIDI Keyboard Wizard, 269 MIDI normalize, 81, 457 MIDI options, 462 MIDI/Audio drivers setup, 460 Minimize Rests, 206 MultiStyles + styles, 119 in songs, 72, 120 making, 119 Music Replay, 328 Mute All, 76 New features embellisher selective humanize, 263 New Features, 30 tutorial, 36 Not
PG Vocal Remover plug-in, 367 Piano Hand-Split, 217 manual, 258 Piano roll enhancements, 151, 157 eraser tool, 154, 279 graphic editing modes, 154, 278 Piano Roll chord ruler, 153 delete events, 155, 279 edit events, 155, 279 event selection, 152, 280 graphic event panel, 151, 279 horizontal scroll bar, 157 insert events, 155, 279 keyboard pitch panel, 151 note editing, 154 note panel, 151, 278 note selection, 151, 278 note time ruler, 153 right-click contextual menu, 155 track selection, 150 vertical scrol
options, 234 printer setup, 237 range, 236 Pushes, 106 keystrokes, 106 Quantize, 274 QuickStart, 23 QWERTY, 356 Randomization, 274 RealCharts, 183, 481 RealDrums, 193, 479 edit text, 407 how to hear, 81, 122 recording wave, 405 settings, 82 style changes, 149 style template, 405 testing user style, 408 tutorial, 404 RealTracks, 83, 182 3 ways to use, 186 Assign RealTracks, 187 assign to tracks, 83 auto reverb, 201 base tempo, 188 freeze, 85, 190 in Band-in-a-Box, 187 list, 32, 526 more, 192 saving, 192 sett
Exporting, 426 filter, 250 genres, 250 Maker, 255, 256 melody influence, 253 Mode, 252 ReFresh, 256 Slash Chords, 430 Style, 250 Technical Notes, 256 trade bars, 252 velocities, 252 Soloist Maker, 426 10 steps, 429 phrasing, 426 Soloist Menu, 499 Edit Soloist Track, 501 Soloist Maker, 499 track type, 499 Utilities, 502 Soloist note density, 258, 429 Song arranging, 125 automatic intro, 247 automatic title, 248 Chorus Begin and end, 58 drum fills, 108 Embellishment, 127 Entering, 23 framing, 99, 125 Loading,
patterns editing, 394 erasing, 373 recording, 378 velocity adjust, 394 Patterns Sliding, 399 piano, guitar, string patterns, 383 toolbar, 372 StylePicker, 110 favorites, 110 filter, 111 prototype, 110, 112 RealDrums, 111 RealStyles, 111 RealTracks, 111 recently played, 110 style log, 395 StylePicker Editor add new style, 113 rebuild list, 115 Styles choosing, 26 disable, 118, 447 enable, 118, 447 favorites, 117 load next, 109, 447 load previous, 109, 447 Styles menu, 446 Substitutions, 334 SubStyles Changin
controls, 352 dialog, 353 using, 352 TranzPort Settings, 484 TranzPort®, 351 preview, 292 voices, 291 Technical Support, 525 Tempo Change at bar, 148 Tempo Control, 57 Thru Setting, 462 Thru velocity boost, 80, 462 Ticks, 274 Time line, 268 Time Signature, 145, 147, 444 Timeshift, 274 Title Window, 56 chorus settings, 57 key signature, 57 loop section, 52 song title, 57 tempo setting, 57 Titles automatic, 248 Toolbars dockable, 54 floating, 54 main, 52 Trademarks, 2 Transport Controls, 53 Transpose THRU Pa
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.