User Guide

Chapter 6: Making Songs in Band-in-a-Box
133
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.
Import a MIDI File
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.
You could also use the powerful music making features of Band-in-a-Box to create new accompaniments, add
harmonies, add soloing, and embellish the melody. And when you're finished, you can always resave your song as a
MIDI file again.
MIDI File Chord Interpretation Wizard
You can open up any MIDI file in Band-in-a-Box, and Band-in-a-Box will automatically figure out the chords of the
song for you. It automatically analyzes the MIDI file, figures out where the bass, piano, melody and other tracks
are, and then figures out the chord changes for the song. The chords are written onto the Band-in-a-Box Chordsheet
like any other song. You can also read tracks into the Melody and Soloist tracks.
To interpret a MIDI file, go to File | Import Chords from MIDI file or use the keystroke combination Ctrl+Alt+I.
This launches the Interpret Chords from MIDI file dialog where either user settings or presets can be applied to
specify how the chords should be interpreted.