PG Music Band in a Box - 2008.5 Windows Instruction Manual

®

Version 2008.5 for Windows

© Copyright PG Music Inc.1989-2008. All rights reserved.

PG Music Inc. License Agreement

CAREFULLY READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS BEFORE COMPLETING THE
INSTALLATION OF THIS SOFTWARE. USAGE OF THE SOFTWARE INDICATES YOUR ACCEPTANCE
OF THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

LICENSE

A. The program may only be used on a single machine.
B. You may transfer the program and license to another party if the other party agrees to accept the terms of

this Agreement. If you transfer the program, you must either transfer all copies, whether in printed or
machine readable form, to the same party, or, destroy all copies not transferred. This includes all
modifications and/or portions of the program merged into other programs.

C. You may receive the program in more than one media. Regardless of the type or size of media you receive,

you may install or use the media on a single machine.

D. The program (including any images, “applets,” photographs, animations, video, audio, music, and text

incorporated into the program) is owned by PG Music Inc. or its suppliers, and is protected by international
copyright laws and international treaty provisions.

You may not use, copy, or transfer the program, or any copy, modification or merged portio n of the program, in
whole or in part, except as expressly provided for in this license. If you transfer possession of any copy,
modification or merged portion of the program to another party, your license is automatically terminated.

LIMITATION OF REMEDIES

PG Music Inc.'s entire liability and your exclusive remedy shall be:

A. The replacement of any media not meeting PG Music Inc.'s “Limited Warranty,” which are returned to PG

Music Inc., or an authorized PG Music Inc. dealer, with a copy of your receipt.

B. If PG Music Inc. or the authorized dealer is unable to deliver replacement media which is free of defects in

materials or workmanship, you may terminate this agreement, and your money will be refunded.

In no event will PG Music Inc. be liable to you for any damages, including but not limited to lost profits, lost
savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or the inability to use such program,
even if PG Music Inc. or an authorized PG Music Inc. dealer has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or
for any claim by any other party.

TRADEMARKS

Band-in-a-Box®, CopyMe®, GuitarStar®, JazzU®, PG Music®, PowerTracks Pro®, and RealDrums® are the
registered trademarks of PG Music Inc. in the United States, Canada, and other countries. Microsoft® and
Windows® are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or
other countries. Apple®, the Apple logo, Macintosh®, Mac®, Panther®, Power Mac®, QuickTime®, Tiger™, and
TrueType® are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. IBM® is the
registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Roland® and “Roland” Logo, EDIROL®
and “EDIROL” Logo, GS® and “GS” Logo, are registered trademarks and “MIDI2” Logo, EDIROL Virtual Sound
Canvas Multi Pack, VSC-MP1™ are trademarks of Roland Corporation. ASIO is a trademark and software of
Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. Other brands
and their products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be noted as such.

PATENTS

Band-in-a-Box is protected under US Patent 5990407. The TC-Helicon Harmony feature in Ban d-in-a-Box and
PowerTracks Pro Audio is protected under US Patents 5567901, 564 1926, 5986198, 34583, 296.80.173.9,
PI9603819.5, 0368046, 0750776, 6,046,395, and patents pending.

Printed in Canada

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PG Music Inc. License Agreement

Table of Contents

PG MUSIC INC. LICENSE AGREEMENT.............................................................................................................2

TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................................3

CHAPTER 1: WELCOME TO BAND-IN-A-BOX!.................................................................................................7

WHAT IS BAND-IN-A-BOX?........................................................................................................................................7

INSTALLING BAND-IN-A-BOX FOR WINDOWS ............................................................................................................8

MIDI SETUP...............................................................................................................................................................8

AUDIO SETUP ...........................................................................................................................................................14

CHAPTER 2: QUICKSTART..................................................................................................................................17

STEP 1 – TYPING IN THE CHORDS .............................................................................................................................17

STEP 2 – CHOOSING A STYLE....................................................................................................................................20

STEP 3 – PLAY YOUR SONG!......................................................................................................................................22

CHAPTER 3: BAND-IN-A-BOX 2008.5 .................................................................................................................23

WELCOME TO BAND-IN-A-BOX 2008.5!...................................................................................................................23

SUMMARY OF NEW FEATURES IN BAND-IN-A-BOX 2008 .........................................................................................23

SUMMARY OF NEW FEATURES ADDED IN BAND-IN-A-BOX 2008.5..........................................................................29

CHAPTER 4: THE MAIN SCREEN.......................................................................................................................39

MAIN SCREEN OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................................39

STATUS BAR.............................................................................................................................................................41

SYNTH WINDOW / PIANO KEYBOARD.......................................................................................................................42

TITLE WINDOW ........................................................................................................................................................48

CHORD SHEET AREA ................................................................................................................................................50

CHAPTER 5: GUIDED TOUR OF BAND-IN-A-BOX .........................................................................................53

LOADING AND PLAYING BAND-IN-A-BOX SONGS ....................................................................................................53

THE CONDUCTOR WINDOW......................................................................................................................................61

ADD REAL INSTRUMENTS – REALDRUMS AND REALTRACKS ..................................................................................62

ADD A MELODY – MIDI AND/OR AUDIO..................................................................................................................64

ADD A SOLO - “THE SOLOIST”..................................................................................................................................68

VIEW AND PRINT NOTATION ....................................................................................................................................70

PIANO ROLL WINDOW..............................................................................................................................................73

LEAD SHEET NOTATION WINDOW............................................................................................................................81

THE GUITAR WINDOW .............................................................................................................................................86

BIG PIANO WINDOW.................................................................................................................................................90

PLAY THE JUKEBOX..................................................................................................................................................91

IMPORT A MIDI FILE................................................................................................................................................ 93

AUTOMATIC SONGS - “THE MELODIST”...................................................................................................................94

MAKE YOUR OWN SONGS........................................................................................................................................95

SAVING YOUR WORK.............................................................................................................................................106

BURN YOUR OWN AUDIO-CD................................................................................................................................108

CHAPTER 6: BAND-IN-A-BOX POWERGUIDE ..............................................................................................110

OPENING FILES.......................................................................................................................................................110

GLOBAL SONG OVERRIDES ....................................................................................................................................113

CHORD ENTRY .......................................................................................................................................................113

PART MARKERS AND SUBSTYLES...........................................................................................................................119

REPEATS AND ENDINGS..........................................................................................................................................119

Table of Contents

3

PLAYING/PAUSING/STOPPING SONGS .....................................................................................................................119

ADDITIONAL PATCHES ...........................................................................................................................................123

CHANGING VOLUME, PANNING, REVERB, CHORUS, BANK.....................................................................................126

EDIT FUNCTIONS ....................................................................................................................................................127

APPLYING STYLES..................................................................................................................................................138

MULTISTYLES IN STYLES (“+” STYLES).................................................................................................................139

MULTISTYLES IN SONGS ........................................................................................................................................140

REALDRUMS STYLES .............................................................................................................................................147

BREAKS - RESTS, SHOTS, AND HELD CHORDS........................................................................................................151

SONG SETTINGS DIALOG ........................................................................................................................................154

SAVING SONGS.......................................................................................................................................................157

THE MEDLEY MAKER.............................................................................................................................................164

THE JUKEBOX.........................................................................................................................................................165

THE CONDUCTOR ...................................................................................................................................................167

CHAPTER 7: NOTATION AND PRINTING......................................................................................................173

STANDARD NOTATION WINDOW ............................................................................................................................174

EDITABLE NOTATION MODE ..................................................................................................................................175

STAFF ROLL NOTATION MODE...............................................................................................................................181

NOTATION WINDOW OPTIONS................................................................................................................................182

LEAD SHEET WINDOW ...........................................................................................................................................191

LYRICS ...................................................................................................................................................................198

PRINTING................................................................................................................................................................204

CHAPTER 8: AUTOMATIC MUSIC FEATURES.............................................................................................214

AUTOMATIC MEDLEYS - “THE MEDLEY MAKER”..................................................................................................214

AUTOMATIC SONGS – “THE MELODIST” ................................................................................................................215

AUTOMATIC SOUND TRACK GENERATOR - “SOUNDTRACK” .................................................................................219

AUTOMATIC SOLO GENERATION – “THE SOLOIST”................................................................................................221

AUTO PIANO HAND-SPLITTING...............................................................................................................................230

AUTOMATIC GUITAR SOLOS – “THE GUITARIST”...................................................................................................231

AUTOMATIC EMBELLISHMENTS – “THE EMBELLISHER”.........................................................................................234

CHAPTER 9: WORKING WITH MIDI...............................................................................................................238

RECORDING LIVE IN REAL TIME.............................................................................................................................238

ENTERING NOTES MANUALLY ...............................................................................................................................239

RECORDING WITH THE WIZARD FEATURE ..............................................................................................................240

MELODY/SOLOIST SEQUENCER ..............................................................................................................................241

IMPORT A BAND-IN-A-BOX SONG...........................................................................................................................244

IMPORTING MIDI FILES..........................................................................................................................................244

EDITING THE MELODY TRACK................................................................................................................................246

CHAPTER 10: WORKING WITH AUDIO .........................................................................................................252

ABOUT BAND-IN-A-BOX AUDIO FILES...................................................................................................................252

AUDIO TRACK ........................................................................................................................................................252

RECORD AUDIO......................................................................................................................................................254

PLAYING THE AUDIO FILE......................................................................................................................................257

EDIT THE AUDIO FILE.............................................................................................................................................258

AUDIO HARMONIES................................................................................................................................................259

PITCH STYLES PRESET DETAILS (ONE PER VOICE)..................................................................................................264

APPLYING AUDIO PLUG-INS...................................................................................................................................265

REALTRACKS .........................................................................................................................................................269

WHAT ARE REALTRACKS?.....................................................................................................................................269

USING REALTRACKS IN SONGS ..............................................................................................................................270

RENDERING AUDIO FILES.......................................................................................................................................274

BURN YOUR OWN AUDIO-CD.................................................................................................................................281

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER 11: USER PROGRAMMABLE FUNCTIONS.................................................................................285

THE STYLEMAKER.................................................................................................................................................285

MAKING REALDRUMS STYLES...............................................................................................................................322

THE HARMONY MAKER..........................................................................................................................................342

THE SOLOIST MAKER .............................................................................................................................................345

THE MELODIST MAKER..........................................................................................................................................349

THE GUITARIST MAKER .........................................................................................................................................351

CHAPTER 12: TUTORS, WIZARDS, AND PRACTICE AIDS ........................................................................355

AUDIO CHORD WIZARD (“CHORDS FROM MP3”)...................................................................................................355

MIDI FILE CHORD INTERPRETATION WIZARD .......................................................................................................365

PRACTICE WINDOW................................................................................................................................................371

EAR TRAINING TUTOR............................................................................................................................................372

EAR TRAINING GAMES ...........................................................................................................................................376

VOCAL WIZARD .....................................................................................................................................................377

REHARMONIST (CHORDS FOR A MELODY)..............................................................................................................380

CHORD SUBSTITUTION WIZARD .............................................................................................................................382

CHORD BUILDER ....................................................................................................................................................385

RHYTHM GUITAR CHORD TUTOR ...........................................................................................................................385

CHORD “BREAKS”..................................................................................................................................................387

MIDI FILE TO STYLE WIZARD................................................................................................................................387

REPEATS AND ENDINGS WIZARD............................................................................................................................ 392

CHAPTER 13: TOOLS AND UTILITIES............................................................................................................396

FIND FILE ...............................................................................................................................................................396

ROLAND VSC3 VIRTUAL SOUND CANVAS.............................................................................................................397

TRANZPORT SUPPORT - WIRELESS REMOTE CONTROL ..........................................................................................397

GUITAR TUNER.......................................................................................................................................................399

DYNAMIC 3D DRUM KIT WINDOW.........................................................................................................................400

MIDI MONITOR......................................................................................................................................................403

SOUND BLASTER SUPPORT.....................................................................................................................................406

EVENT LIST EDITOR ...............................................................................................................................................406

PG VINYL DIRECTX PLUG-IN.................................................................................................................................408

PG RTA DIRECTX PLUG-IN...................................................................................................................................412

PG VOCAL REMOVER PLUG-IN ..............................................................................................................................413

CHAPTER 14: REFERENCE................................................................................................................................415

BAND-IN-A-BOX MENU DESCRIPTIONS..................................................................................................................415

FILE MENU.............................................................................................................................................................415

EDIT MENU ............................................................................................................................................................419

STYLES MENU........................................................................................................................................................425

OPT. MENU.............................................................................................................................................................427

PLAY MENU ...........................................................................................................................................................465

LYRICS MENU ........................................................................................................................................................467

MELODY MENU......................................................................................................................................................469

SOLOIST MENU.......................................................................................................................................................475

AUDIO MENU .........................................................................................................................................................479

GM MENU..............................................................................................................................................................482

HARMONY MENU ...................................................................................................................................................485

NOTATION MENU ...................................................................................................................................................487

WINDOW MENU .....................................................................................................................................................488

HELP MENU............................................................................................................................................................491

KEYSTROKE COMMANDS - HOT KEYS....................................................................................................................494

CHORD LIST ...........................................................................................................................................................497

BAND-IN-A-BOX FILES ...........................................................................................................................................498

Table of Contents

5

PG MUSIC INC.......................................................................................................................................................500

INDEX ......................................................................................................................................................................501

PG MUSIC REGISTRATION FORM ..................................................................................................................511

HOW TO REGISTER.................................................................................................................................................511

6

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.
Just type in the chords for any song using standard chord symbols (like
C, Fm7, or C13b9), choose the style you’d like, and Band-in-a-Box
does the rest, automatically generating a complete professional-quality
arrangement of piano, bass, drums, guitar, and strings in a wide variety
of popular styles.

Band-in-a-Box is so easy to use!

Just type in the chords to any song (like C or Fm7b5), pick a musical style from the hundreds available, and click the
[Play] button. Band-in-a-Box then automatically generates a full backing arrangement of piano, bass, drums, guitar,
and strings plus optional live audio tracks with RealDrums and RealTracks.

And that’s not all...

Band-in-a-Box is a powerful and creative music composition tool for exploring and developing musical ideas with
near-instantaneous feedback. Over the years many features have been added to Band-in-a-Box – Notation and
Lyrics, Piano Roll, 16-channel MIDI Multitracks, Harmonization, the StyleMaker and StylePicker, a live
performance Conductor window, Medley Maker, and 24 –substyle Multistyles. The Soloist and the Melodist are
popular “intelligent” features that generate professional solos or even create whole new songs from scratch.
RealDrums adds the human element of a live drummer while RealTracks add even more live session musicians,
bringing the entire Band-in-a-Box arrangement to life. The Audio Chord Wizard has the amazing abilit y to analyze,
extract, and show the chords from audio recordings on-screen and then write them to the Band-in-a-Box chord sheet.

The inclusion of digital audio features makes Band-in-a-Box the perfect tool for creating, playing, and recording
your music with MIDI, vocals, and acoustic instruments. Band-in-a-Box for Windows
instrument or voice to add to the composition, with processing through its own DirectX audio effects. Its built-in
TC Helicon audio harmonies will turn your audio track into multiple harmony parts or adjust its pitch, with vibrato
and scooping effects for realistic vocal styles and up to sixteen choral parts.

You can print out your finished creation with lyrics, chords, repeats and endings, DC markings and codas, or save it
as a graphics file for web publication or to e-mail to a friend. And when you're ready to let others hear your
composition, you can burn it directly to an audio CD. Or save your composition as a Windows Media File (or in
any other compressed formats you have) for a file that’s “Internet ready.”

You’ll have even more fun making automatic medleys, playing your favorite song lists in the Band-in-a-Box
Jukebox, and singing along to your Karaoke files with CDG graphics.

Let’s get started!

This is a comprehensive guide to the program. It includes information not found in the printed manual. To start, it
describes the basic steps to get you making great music with Band-in-a-Box in a matter of minutes. We’ll begin
with the easy installation and setup procedure.

®

can also record an acoustic

Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!

7

Installing Band-in-a-Box for Windows®

Minimum System Requirements

- Windows® 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista.

- 256 MB of available RAM.

- Digital audio features require a Pentium-class system.

- Minimum 400 MB available hard drive space. More space is require d fo r Real Drums, 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. This could be a sound card, a MIDI keyboard, MIDI sound module, or

software synthesizer. The high quality Roland VSC-DXi software synthesizer is included with Band-in-a-Box.

Installing the Program

Use any of the following three methods to install the program files into the Band-in-a-Box directory. By default this
directory is C:\bb; you may choose another location.

Method 1 – Auto Run.

1. Insert the program CD-ROM into the CD drive.

2. In a few seconds, a browser window will open with a list of the CD contents.

3. Double click on SETUP.EXE to run the installation program.

Method 2 – My Computer.

1. Insert the program CD-ROM into the CD drive.

Access your CD-ROM drive from the Windows desktop by double clicking on the My Computer icon.

2.

3.

Then, double-click on the CD-ROM drive icon and double-click again on the SETUP.EXE program found in
the root or main folder of the CD-ROM.

Method 3 – Start Menu.

1. Insert the program CD-ROM into the CD drive.

2. From the Windows [Start] button select Run.

3. Type D:\SETUP in the “Open:” command line box. If your CD-ROM drive uses another drive letter type

the appropriate letter, for example E:\SETUP.

4. If you don’t know the drive letter for your CD-ROM you can use the [Browse…] button to find it.
SETUP.EXE will copy all of the program files to your Band-in-a-Box subdirectory (usually C:\bb) and install
icons to a Band-in-a-Box program group. Click on the Band-in-a-Box icon or launch bbw.exe to open the
program and configure the setup.

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) 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 first dialog you should
encounter is a MIDI Output Driver
message similar to this one:

The program sets your initial MIDI output
driver automatically. Note which driver
has been selected and press [OK] to
continue.

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Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!

The next dialog you encounter is the MIDI Driver Setup.

If the driver that was selected is not the best choice, simply make an alternate selection from the MIDI Driver
Setup dialog. Select a MIDI Output Driver to use for MIDI sound playback and optionally a MIDI Input Driver if
you are using an external MIDI controller keyboard or guitar. If the setup is panned to mono, the program offers to
change it to stereo.

Perhaps the easiest way to configure Band-in-a-Box is to pre ss the [Run Driver

Wizard..] button in the Opt. | MIDI driver setup window.
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.

DirectX Instrument Synthesizer (DXi plug-in) Support

Software synthesizers allow Band-in-a-Box to play high quality sounds directly through your computer sound card,

Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!

9

without requiring any external MIDI hardware. Most new software synthesizers are released as “DXi plug-ins,” so
they will work in a standard way with many programs. Connecting Band-in-a-Box to the software synth as a plug-in
provides several advantages over the previous method of connecting as a MIDI driver. The plug-in allows Band-in­a-Box to merge/synch in any existing audio file (vocals etc.) with the synth output. You can also directly render
your performance to a .WAV file using the DXi plug-in . Sampler-based synths allow you to assemble a huge,
customized library of instrument samples to use with Band-in-a-Box. Examples of popular DXi synths include the
RolandED VSC-DXi and Coyote’s ForteDXi.

To use DXi with Band-in-a-Box, you should think of the DXi as a type of “MIDI Out Driver.” As such, you visit
either the Opt. | MIDI driver setup or click on [Pref] [MIDI Driver] and select the “Use DXi Synth” checkbox.
When you do this, you can select the type of DXi to use (from a list of installed DXi, if any), and also will see a
panel display of the DXi that allows you to make settings directly for your DXi synth.

The DXi will convert the MIDI information to audio, which Band-in-a-Box will playback through your sound card
to audio speakers.

You can select DirectX DXi Software Synthesizers as the MIDI destination, and also apply DirectX Audio plug-ins
to the Band-in-a-Box audio track.

Check the Use DXi Synth checkbox to enable DXi playback. While using
DXi or VSTi, all playback information is routed to the DXi/VSTi, including
the option to route the THRU part from your MIDI keyboard to the DXi/VSTi
synth.

Note: To use this option, you must have a polyphonic DXi synthesizer installed on your computer, such as the
Roland/Edirol VSC DXi. It will also be most convenient if your DXi synthesizer can use General MIDI or GM2 patches.

To select the DXi synthesizer, click the [DXi Synth Settings] button, which will open the DirectX Plugins window.

The Synth Track tab edits Synthesizer
settings, and the Audio Track tab edits Band-
in-a-Box 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.

VST Instrument Synthesizer (VST plug-in)

To add VSTi synthesizer plug-ins, please make sure the Synth Track tab is selected, and use the plug-in menu on the
top synthesizer slot.

VST plug-ins appear at the bottom of the plug-in list below the DirectX plug-ins. VST plug-ins and synthesizers
have the text “<VST>“ prefixed to the name of the plug-in or synthesizer.

To select a VST plug-in for the first time, select the “Add VST plug-in...” item at the bottom of the plug-in Menu.
Select a VST plug-in .dll file in the following Select a VST plug-in dialog, and it is added to the plug-in list. After
you add each VST, the plug-in is permanently added to the list. You only have to add each plug-in one time.

Note: Some VST host programs scan for all available plug-ins every time they start up. We decided not to use that
method, because the scanning can take a long time if there are many plug-ins on your system. Additionally, a badly-written
or corrupt plug-in could cause program malfunctions. Therefore, we feel the method of selecting only the plug-ins you wish
to use is both safer and faster.

VST/VSTi Additional Panel Controls
VST is necessarily different from DirectX/DXi, and some extra controls are available for VST plug-ins .

DirectX/DXi plug-ins save their presets to the Windows Registry and only one setting is “alive” at a time.

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Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!

VST/VSTi plug-ins save their presets to disk files. VST/VSTi plug-ins contain a bank of presets in memory. You
can switch between presets while editing, and each edited preset is remembered in the current bank. If you save the
bank, it will save all the presets you have edited. You can save individual presets, or you can build a custo m ban k
by loading individual preset files into different preset slots, and then save the new bank file.

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).
Save Preset: Save the currently selected Preset. VST/VSTi preset files use the “.fxp” extension.
Load Preset: A Select Preset To Replace dialog appears where you should pick which preset in memory to

replace. Then select the desired Preset file in the following File dialog.
Save Bank: Save a Bank file of all the current presets in the plug-in. VST/VSTi bank files us e the “.fxb” extension.
Load Bank: Load an entire bank of presets. Different plug-ins have different bank sizes. One plug-in might

contain 10 presets in a bank, but another plug-in might have 128 presets in a bank.
VST Generic User Interface
VST/VSTi plug-ins are not required to have a fancy graphic control panel. There are many “faceless” VST plug-ins

which have many adjustable parameters, but no fancy control panel. When you open such a plug-in, the control
panel will look like this example. Band-in-a-Box presents one “generic” slider for each adjustable parameter in the
plug-in.

Parameter Name: Simply the name of each adjustable parameter.
Value Slider: Move the slider to adjust the parameter value
Value Indication Text: Displays the value of the slider, as interpreted by the plug-in. In the above example,

Parameter 0: Bright is interpreted as an ON/OFF switch, but Parameter 1: Volume is interpreted as a value from 0 to

10.

Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!

11

Options: Remove VST Plug-In (from list)

This feature allows the removal of unwanted plug-ins from the Band-in-a-Box VST/VSTi plug-in lists.

Driver Latency

Software synthesizers have some inherent latency, which is the delay between the time a note is played and it is
processed by the computer. Older softsynt hs had noticeable latency, whereas a DXi synth using ASI O 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.

12

The [Latency Adjust…] button opens the SoftSynth Latency Adjust dialog where you
can manually adjust the latency.

Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!

Alternate Patch Maps

You can choose the patch map (instrument list) that matches your synthesizer keyboard or sound module. Original
equipment sound cards or integrated sound chips are General MIDI (GM) compatible.

We have made preset drum/patch files for many
synthesizers and sound cards including the Roland VSC
and VSC DXi.

If your synth is not listed you should use the General
MIDI Instrument Misc. patch kit (default).

You can probably omit this step unless you're using an
old synth that is not General MIDI compatible. If your
non-GM synthesizer or sound card is not listed you can
easily make your own patch map with the [Patch Map]
button in Opt. | Preferences.

General MIDI 2 (GM2) Support

General MIDI 2 patches are supported for 128 additional
instruments. The type of GM2 support is set in this dialog.

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 Can vases (SC55/SC88) support GS, but not GM2. The good

news is that they have the same patches available, just at different locations. So if you choose this option,
Band-in-a-Box will find the patches at the “GS” locations instead of the “GM2” locations. If you have a
newer GS module like the SC8820, it supports both GM2 and GS - you should likely choose GM2.

- No GM2 support: Some sound cards don't have GM2 support but they do support the original 128

General MIDI sounds. Band-in-a-Box will use the closest instrument in these cases.

Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!

13

Audio Setup

Band-in-a-Box performs the audio setup automatically using the installed system audio components

To restore or modify this set up click on the Preferences button and then select the
[Audio] button to launch the Audio Settings dialog.

To reset the default MME driver settings click on [Get from soundcard…] and

Band-in-a-Box will analyze the sound card and enter the correct audio settings.

If your computer has ASIO capability you can use these drivers instead of the default MME drivers.

ASIO Audio/Software Synth Drivers

By using an ASIO audio driver, software synths like the Roland VSC (DXi or VSC) will play with almost no
latency (delay is only 5-10ms). So you’ll hear the sounds instantly, and be able to play along using MIDI Thru with
the same ultra-low latency.

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. In this
case, you’ll need to get an ASIO driver from the Internet.

This ASIO Audio Drivers dialog lets you choose an ASIO driver. You can arrive at this dialog in 3 different ways:

1) If you haven’t used ASIO drivers, but Band-in-a-Box detected them, and you answered “Yes” when Band-

in-a-Box asked if you want to use an ASIO driver.

2) If, within the Audio Settings, you change the “Audio Driver Type” from MME to ASIO.

14

Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!

3) If the ‘Audio Driver Type’ is already set to ASIO, but you later press the [Audio Drivers…] button in the

Audio Settings.

The Select one ASIO Driver list box lets you select an ASIO driver to use. You can only select one ASIO driver at
a time.

Once you have selected an ASIO driver, you will see the Input Port and Output Port list boxes filled with your
driver’s input and output ports. By default, the first of each will be selected. You are allowed to select different
ports (but only one input and one output port at a time can be selected). The ports you selected will be available for
output within Band-in-a-Box. If you do not hear input or output, th en 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.

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 smaller the buffer size, the lower the latency, and
the faster the response. Smaller buffers require more CPU power and if you hear dropouts or artifacts, you may
need to increase the buffer size. See the Understanding Latency section that follows.

Since many ASIO drivers do not support multiple sample rates, Band-in-a-Box has a built-in resampler which lets
you play and record songs that have a different sampling rate than the rate(s) directly supported by your ASIO
driver. For example, if the driver does not support 44.1K sampling rate, but supports 48K, then Band-in-a-Box will
use the resampler to convert to 48K when playing back, and to convert FROM 48K when recording. The

Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!

15

Resampler Quality combo lets you choose Fast, Good, Better, or Best. Fast is the quickest, but is the lowest of the
four levels of quality. Best is the slowest (uses more CPU time), but the most transparent and accurate quality.

The ASIO Driver’s Control Panel button launches a settings dialog specifically provided by your driver
manufacturer. This usually lets you adjust the latency, and usually you will have a choice between buffer sizes in
milliseconds. See the Understanding Latency section later below.

Show Warning for Untested Soundcard Formats is an optional setting that shows a warning if your ASIO driver
format has not been tested in Band-in-a-Box. This message does not necessarily mean your driver will not work,
and it can be disabled if you want.

The Driver Info field shows various characteristics of your driver.
The Name is the driver’s name.
The Version is the version number of your driver.
Input Channels is the total number of mono input channels that your sound card has. (Note: Band-in-a-Box groups

each into a stereo pair.)
Output Channels is the total number of mono output channels that your sound card has. (Note: Band-in-a-Box

groups each port into a stereo pair.)
The Allowed Sample Rates field shows the sample rates are allowed by your sound card’s ASIO driver. Band-in-a-

Box has a built-in resampler which lets you play and record files that aren’t directly supported by your ASIO driver.
The Buffer Sizes In Samples shows the range of allowed buffer sizes. The “Pref” is the preferred size, and this is

the size that Band-in-a-Box uses. Your driver may alter the preferred size if you’ve launched the ASIO Driver
Control Panel and have selected a new buffer size from within the driver’s Control Panel. If your driver changes the
preferred size, then Band-in-a-Box will be aware of the new preferred size.

Understanding Latency

Latency is based on the buffer sizes. The smaller the buffer sizes the lower the latency. Lower latency allows you
to hear mixer volume changes very quickly, as well as hear MIDI thru echoed out via a DXi soft synth practically in
real time.

The latency, in MS is determined by the buffer size in samples, as well as the driver’s sampling rate.

Note: If your ASIO driver’s control panel lets you select the buffer size in MS, then you don’t have to pay much attention to
the part of discussion below about converting samples to MS.

Converting Samples to MS: For example, suppose the driver’s sample rate is 48K. A 48K sampling rate means
that it is playing at 48,000 samples per second. If the buffer size were 48000 samples, then the latency would be 1
second, or 1000ms (which is very large and slow, and usually not allowed in ASIO). If the buffer size were 4800
samples, which is 1/10
1/20 second, the latency would be 50 ms. If the buffer size were 240 samples, which is 1/200

second, then the latency would be 100ms. If the buffer size were 2400 samples, which is

second, the latency

would be a mere 5ms which is incredibly low and very fast.
Normally, you can change your driver’s latency by pressing the Launch ASIO Driver’s Control Panel button.

Normally, the driver specifies the buffer sizes in milliseconds which is equal to the latency.

Low latency is faster and more responsive, but uses more CPU power.

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. You may be able to use smaller buffers with songs that
don’t have a lot of tracks and effects, but may find that you need to use larger buffers with songs that have more
tracks and use more effects. This is because more tracks and more effects use more CPU power, which leaves less
CPU power available for the audio routines to keep up with lower latencies.

Now you’re ready to have fun with Band-in-a-Box!

16

Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!

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. Importing chords from an audio file (WAV, MP3, WMA, WMV) with the Audio Chord Wizard.

6. Loading an Existing Band-in-a-Box format song.
On the main screen of the program, you’ll see an area called the chord sheet.

Band-in-a-Box main screen showing chord sheet.

Each of the numbered cells on the chord sheet represents a bar. In this example, we see that there is an E chord in
the first bar of this song, an A chord in bar 5, and later in the song, an E7 in bar 12. Notice the box in the first half
of bar 1. This is the highlight cell, and it represents the bar you are currently working on. You can move the
highlight cell around using the cursor keys, or select a specific bar using the mouse.

Enter Chords Using the Computer Keyboard

To enter a specific chord, move the highlight cell to where you want to place the chord. For example, to add (or
change) a chord in bar 10, you would highlight bar 10 on the chord sheet. Next, type in your chords. If you want an
A chord at bar 10, type the A key on your keyboard, and press [Enter]. Notice that when you use the enter key, the
highlight cell moves to the second half of the bar. You could then enter another chord at beat 3. Chords names are
normally typed using standard chord symbols (like C or Fm7 or Bb7 or Bb13#9/E), but you can enter them in any of

Chapter 2: QuickStart

17

the supported chord symbol display formats like Roman Numerals, Nashville Notation, Solfeggio, and Fixed Do
(popular in Italy and other parts of Europe).

Enter Chords Using a MIDI Controller Keyboard

If you have a MIDI controller keyboard, you can use it to enter chords into Band-in-a-Box. Play a chord on your
MIDI keyboard, and then type Ctrl+Enter. The chord will be entered into the chord sheet at the current highlight
cell position. Another method allows you to choose alternate chords. From the Window | MIDI Chord Detection
menu item, you’ll see this window:

When you play chords, Band-in-a-Box shows you the chord name and suggests alternates that you can choose from.
Typing Ctrl+Enter enters the first selection, and advances the highlight cell by ½ bar.

Enter Chords Using the Chord Builder

Press the Chord Builder button. This opens the Chord Builder dialog with a list of chord roots and their
extensions.

To enter a chord at the current bar, select the chord root from the left pane, and then the extension on the right pane.
Pressing [Enter Chord] or using the arrow keys will enter the chord and advance the highlight cell to the next half
bar.

Import Chords from a MIDI File

You can have Band-in-a-Box import chords from an existing MIDI file. Choose Import Chords from MIDI File on
the File menu.

When the dialog opens, press the [Open (Change)…] button to choose a MIDI file that you want Band-in-a-Box to
interpret the chords from. To help Band-in-a-Box interpret the chords better, you should choose a genre (Preset) for
the song. Choose from among such genres as Pop, Rock, or Jazz Standard.

Tip: It helps if you’ve previously listened to the MIDI file, in order that you can choose a genre most appropriate to the
song.

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Chapter 2: QuickStart

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.).

Chapter 2: QuickStart

19

You can make adjustments for the start of bar 1 and individual bar lines and also mark sections of the song using
part markers, and the sections will begin on a new line with a line space between so they are clearly seen. Then send
the chords

to Band-in-a-Box where you can make your own arrang ement, tranpose it to your
key, and print out your own lead sheet for the song with chords, melody, and lyrics.

Loading an existing Band-in-a-Box format Song

Press the [Song] button to launch the SongPicker, which lists up to 10,000 songs in any folder. Songs
can be sorted and filtered by various criteria such as alphabetically, by title or by style.

The first time you use this button, Band-in-a-Box will offer to build a song list for you. We’ve included many
demonstration songs; they are listed in the song list.

You could also load a pre-existing song by using the File | Open menu item, or by typing [F3], which will launch
the BB File open dialog. Songs usually load a Style, which we’ll learn about in the next section.

Step 2 – Choosing a Style

Band-in-a-Box creates backing arrangements based on the chords you type in, playing them in a particular style.

What’s a Style?

A style is a set of rules that determine how Band-in-a-Box creates music using your chords. By adjusting the rules,
we have created hundreds of styles for everything from Country to Bebop, such as Jazz Swing, Blues Shuffle, Hip
Hop, Country 4/4, Pop Ballad, Waltz, and Medium Rock to name just a few. If you don’t find a pre-made style that
suits your tastes, create one from scratch using the StyleMaker. There’s a “how-to” section on custom Styles in this
manual.

Four Fast Ways To Pick A Style

Method 1:

The StylePicker window assists your selection with its categorized list, detailed descriptions, preview,
search, and filter features. Select the [Style] button or type Ctrl+F9 on your computer.

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Chapter 2: QuickStart

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.

Method 3: Styles that you’ve used previously show up in the Favorite Styles dialog. Choose this with the [F]
button next to the [Style] button in the song title window, from the Styles menu, or type Shift+F9 on your computer
keyboard.

You can choose to save a Favorites set for use later. You can also load a set of favorite styles in this manner.

Method 4:

To open a user style from disk, you can just type the F9 key. You will be presented with an Open File dialog from
which you can select a specific style. Alternately you can select the Styles menu item Open a User Style from disk.

Chapter 2: QuickStart

21

Step 3 – Play your song!

You’ve entered chords on the chord sheet and chosen a style. Now it’s time to play the song! You’ll need to tell
Band-in-a-Box how long your song is, how many times to play it through, in what key, and how fast.

Framing the Song

To tell Band-in-a-Box where to start and end the song, take a look at the middle of the main screen.

Locate the framing buttons. There are three of them, one each for Beginning of Chorus, End of Chorus, and
Number of Choruses. In the example above, the chorus starts at bar 1, ends on bar 32, and is going to play 3 times.

Setting the Key

In the example above the key is set to C. However, you can set this to any key. In our first view of the chord sheet
the Blues song was in the key of E. If you do change the key, Band-in-a-Box will offer to transpose the chord sheet
for you.

Setting the Tempo

If you know the tempo value of your song, you can enter it in the tempo box. The song example above has a tempo
of 120. There is an even faster way to enter a tempo. Locate the minus sign key [-] and the equal sign key [=] in the
number row of your computer keyboard, they are usually next to each other. If you tap the minus sign key 4 times at
your tempo, Band-in-a-Box will set the tempo automatically for you. If you tap the equal sign key four times, Band­in-a-Box will set the tempo and begin song playback at the tempo you tapped.

More fun with Band-in-a-Box…

That’s how easy it is to start creating music with Band-in-a-Box. Band-in-a-Box has many more features and user
options, which are discussed in later chapters. Have fun making music with Band-in-a-Box!

22

Chapter 2: QuickStart

Chapter 3: Band-in-a-Box 2008.5

Welcome to Band-in-a-Box 2008.5!

Over 80 new features!

Band-in-a-Box 2008 introduced 50 cool new features, an d no w we’ ve added 30 more with Band-in-a-Box

2008.5! Read on to discover the exciting new developments in Band-in-a-Box 2008, and then please keep on

reading to see what’s been added in the free update to version 2008.5.
There are some exciting new features in Band-in-a-Box. We've added RealTracks - these are audio

instruments that replace the MIDI track with actual recordings of top studio Jazz/Rock/Country musicians!
These are not “samples” of single instrument hits; they are full recordings, lasting from 1 to 8 bars at a time,
playing along in perfect sync with the other Band-in-a-Box tracks. We’ve made the following RealTracks –
RealPedalSteel, RealSax, and RealAcousticGuitar – with more on the way. For example, choose a Country
MIDI style that includes RealPedalSteel, and you will now hear a studio pedal steel player, exactly as you'd
hear if he was in the room with you. The results are dramatically better than MIDI. They sound like real
musicians, because they are recordings of real musicians. And we’ve added MultiStyles to Band-in-a-Box.
No longer are you limited to 2 substyles, styles can now have up to 24 substyles in a song, easily selectable
using letters A to ‘x’. Our newest styles sets are now MultiStyles, typically with 4 substyles per song (First
Verse, Verse, Chorus, and Break) or easily make your own. And we've made big improvements to the
amazing “Chords from MP3” feature (Audio Chord Wizard). This feature automatically figures out the
chords from any MP3, WAV, or WMA audio file, and displays them in Band-in-a-Box. We’ve added a
Chord Sheet window to the Audio Chord Wizard, so you can see the whole song at a glance, and jump around
to where you want by clicking on the chord sheet. Other Audio Chord Wizard improvements include part
markers, section paragraphs (to align new sections to a new line), chord editing and more. Change key
signatures at any bar. GUI has been enhanced - support for Windows themes, section paragraphs, drag­and-drop copying of sections or selected regions. Load Karaoke MP3/CDG files to see scrolling Karaoke
lyrics in the CDG Window. Use the Medley Maker to quickly make a medley of your favorite songs,
including automatically generated transition chords/bars between the medleys to smooth out transition
between styles, tempos, and keys. RealDrums have been enhanced, with RealDrums style changes at any

bar, RealDrums intelligent menu in StylePicker, support for multiple Artists playing same-named style,
“Cycling” through new drum grooves every part marker. StylePicker is enhanced, and auto-scans your BB

folder to find any styles that you have made or added. And many more!

Summary of New Features in Band-in-a-Box 2008

The new features in Band-in-a-Box 2008 for Windows are...

RealTracks

With the previous release of Band-in-a-Box, we added RealDrums. Now we’ve added three additional “Real”
instruments, including Real Pedal Steel, Real Acoustic Guitar, and Tenor Sax soloing (RealSax). These tracks
replace the MIDI track for that instrument, and can 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. These are not “samples,” but are full recordings, lasting from 1 to 8 bars at a
time, playing along in perfect sync with the other Band-in-a-Box tracks. RealTracks can be built in to the style,
replacing the Bass, Guitar, Piano, or Strings part, or they can be generated to the Soloist (or Melody) track using the
Soloist feature.

MultiStyles

We’ve added MultiStyles to Band-in-a-Box. These are styles that can have up to 24 substyles! Previous
Band-in-a-Box styles had 2 substyles (A and B). Now, for example, a MultiStyle with 4 substyles (First Verse,
Verse, Chorus, Break) can be used, and you can select the various sections using a/b/c/d part markers. Our newest
styles sets are MultiStyles, typically with 4 substyles, but some Techno styles have 24 substyles. You can easily

Chapter 3: Band-in-a-Box 2008.5

23

make your own MultiStyles from scratch or by combining parts from existing styles into a MultiStyle. For example,
if you have 10 favorite Country styles, you can quickly make them into a single MultiStyle that has 20 substyles
available within the same song.

Medley Maker

Would you like to make a medley of various Band-in-a-Box songs (MGU) using Band-in­a-Box? This is easily done with the new Medley Maker. 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. 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!

Audio Chord Wizard Enhancements

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.). Using the Audio Chord Wizard is a great way to learn and
practice popular songs as you play along and see the chords.

We’ve added a Chord Sheet window in the Audio Chord Wizard that shows the chords for the whole song on a
single screen. This allows you to click on a bar on the chord sheet to jump to that area of the song.

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. So you can then also learn the form of the song, as you can see the various
sections (intro/verse/chorus/break) at a glance, or quickly jump to the any section simply by double clicking on that
part of the chord sheet.

RealDrums Enhancements

The RealDrums feature replaces MIDI drums with audio drums.

-

using the RealDrums from a Band-in-a-Box style or specifying a specific RealDrums style to use at a bar.

24

You can now have style changes--multiple RealDrums styles within a song-- either

Chapter 3: Band-in-a-Box 2008.5

-

different drummers playing the same style. For example, we have multiple artists playing the “JazzBrushes” style.
You can set Band-in-a-Box to choose a different artist with each play, or always choose a specific artist.

We have “artist” support. This allows you to choose among

-

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.

-

works while the song is playing.

There is also a hot key combination to turn RealDrums on/off (Ctrl+Shift+F6). This also

You can now select RealDrums styles within the StylePicker. Highlight a MIDI

StyleMaker Enhancements.

- Long Style Name can be stored in the style (up to 32 characters), and

this will appear on screen and in StylePicker.

- Style Log options. For people making styles, this text files shows exactly which pattern was used in the song

generation for every instrument and bar/beat. Useful in fixing errant patterns.

-

Styles can now contain RealTracks.

-

Styles can now use MIDI soloists. For example, make a style with a banjo part that has the same quality as the
Band-in-a-Box Banjo soloist.

- Feature added to turn embellishment on/off for entire style.

- Style Flipping; convert “a” section to “b” and vice versa.

StylePicker enhancements

- StylePicker categories/subcategories redesigned, with new categories for Blues, Country (6 types), Jazz (9 types) ,

and many more.

- Do you have styles that don’t appear in the StylePicker (because you’ve just made them, or got them from a 3rd

party)? Now the StylePicker will automatically find those styles and add them to your list in an “Other Styles”
category. The information regarding style name, Even/Swing, 8ths/16ths, and time signature are filled in for you.

Chapter 3: Band-in-a-Box 2008.5

25

-

the short style name

-

saving a style from the StyleMaker or Hybrid style, and the 32 character name will appear in the StylePicker and
on screen.

- RealDrums selection can now be made from the StylePicker.

- Support for up to 20,000 entries in the StylePicker.

Long style names appear on the main chord sheet screen beside

You can also specify a long style name (up to 32 characters) when

Notation Window Enhancements

- New feature (confirmation dialog) to prevent accidental entry of a duplicate note (same pitch near same time).

- New feature (confirmation dialog) to prevent accidental entry of a very high or very low note (large # of ledger

lines).

Bar Number options

- Setting for bar # size on notation, lead sheet, and printout.

- Bar # options to include bar # on lead sheet and printout (e.g., every bar, every part marker, every row, every

page).

- Option to include substyle name when printing out - a, b, c, d, etc.

- Bar # offset for printout an d lead sheet.

Other improvements

Other improvements include chord editing, and much more.

Chord Editing (in-place entry/editing)

26

Chapter 3: Band-in-a-Box 2008.5

Press Ctrl+F2 or right click on a chord, and an Edit control allows you to see and
edit the current chords.

Change of Key Signature at any Bar. Previous versions of Band-in-a-Box were limited to one key, now you can
have multiple keys in a song. The new key signature is shown on notation.

The GUI has been enhanced. There is support for Windows “Themes.” Band-in-a-Box will use the current them
that you have selected in Windows Control Panel to use for windows and dialogs.

Copying of sections or selections can be done using drag-and-drop, simply drag regions around the chord sheet to
quickly rearrange your song. Hold down the Ctrl key for finer control about insert/overwrite options etc.

Section Paragraphs. When you’re reading a book, a new section begins on a new line, with space between. Now
we’ve done 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. For example, if you have a song with a 7-bar
section, followed by 8-bar sections, the previous version of Band-in-a-Box wouldn’t start the other sections on a
new line. The result was that it was hard to delineate the sections, as if an entire story was told within one
paragraph. With the Section Paragraphs feature you’ll see each section on a new line so that the form of the lead
sheet is easier to see. The feature is configurable and optional.

Import Song. Easily import part or all of an existing Band-in-a-Box song to your current song, with options to
specify source and destination range, type of information to import (chords, melody, lyrics, etc.), and more.

Karaoke MP3/CDG Files. Audio Karaoke files are popular using several formats. The most common is CDG
format, which includes the lyrics in graphical format on audio CDs. Since the computer user doesn’t typically use
audio CDs, there is now a format that combines MP3 (containing the music) and CDG (the graphical lyrics). Now
you can open up MP3/CDG files inside Band-in-a-Box and see the scrolling lyrics from your Karaoke files. Best of
all, you can use the Audio Chord Wizard to figure out the chords as well, making Band-in-a-Box a great choice to
play your Karaoke files!

File-Open now 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. For example, 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. This allows third parties to make audio
files with chords in them, by making a MySong.MGU and MySong.MP3 pair of files, which will load into Band-in­a-Box, yet will have the audio compressed to take up little disk space. For example, make a teaching set of
trombone files for Band-in-a-Box, with audio trombone track, and Band-in-a-Box file with chords, all fitting in a
small file size.

Style Wizard enhanced. The Style Wizard converts a MIDI file to a style. Now you can also use Chord masks so
that specific patterns over chords will get added to your style, and they will play exactly as in your MIDI file (just
transposed).

“Fixed Do” Chord Entry and Display. 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.

Band-in-a-Box now supports chord entry and display using “Fixed Do” (in addition to the Normal, Solfeggio,
Nashville, and Roman numeral types.

Chapter 3: Band-in-a-Box 2008.5

27

Changes at any Bar (F5) can now specify a chorus.
Previously, any changes at a bar would apply for every chorus. Now you can specify the change to happen for every

chorus and/or a specific chorus. This applies to bar settings like tempo changes, style changes, RealDrums changes,
patch changes, volume changes, and harmony changes.

Other Features

Find File. So many files, so little time? This feature is a “Swiss Army Knife” that allows you to find a Band-in-a-

Box song (or any file that Band-in-a-Box can open), including filtering by words found in file name or any text in
the file.

Example Find File uses:
You can

- get a listing of all Band-in-a-Box songs on your PC with the word “Blues” in the title.

- get a listing of all Band-in-a-Box 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 Band-in-a-Box songs/styles with Reggae. A similar listing for “Blu es” reports 454
files.

The listing stays between sessions, so you can then take your time to explore all the files that Band-in-a-Box offers
matching your find term.

Fade Out Song.

You can now quickly choose a fadeout ending, just press the

[Fade] button in Song Settings, and Band-in-a-Box will
fadeout the last “x” bars of the song (you can specify how many bars). Or customize the fadeout with precise values
for each bar.

Tempo is set based on Style when choosing File | New. Instead of always resetting to tempo=140, the tempo is
now the best tempo for the current style.

Improved Enharmonics on slash chords. For example, a chord like Gm7b5/Db will display correctly using a Db
instead of a Gm7b5/C#, since Band-in-a-Box now bases it on a Gm scale.

MIDI files now read in Section Markers and show them as part markers.
Audition Styles. In the Edit Settings for Bar dialog (F5) and others you can now audition the style that you are

considering.
SongPicker dialog – new options added for

- Find File.

- File Open (all types).

- And Favorite song dialog.

- “BB” button that changes the current folder to the BB folder.

Audio Batch render.

- Option added to reset the DXi synth after each render. This insures that no audio (stuck notes etc.) from previous

file is retained.

- Cancel button for the Audio Batch added.

On-screen display of file name includes “*” when file has been changed.
Double Lines || drawn on chord sheet at bar before a part marker.

…and many more!

28

Chapter 3: Band-in-a-Box 2008.5

Summary of New Features Added in Band-in-a-Box 2008.5

This version has over thirty-five improvements, primarily to the area of RealTracks. And we have forty-four new
RealTracks available to add to the previous three released with Band-in-a-Box 2008.

The new RealTracks include Acoustic and Electric Bass (8), Fiddle (1), Guitar Fingerpicking (5), Guitar Strumming
(9), Metal Guitar comping (3), Electric Guitar (11), Resonator Guitar (2), Slide Guitar (2), Pedal Steel (4), and Sax
(3). These RealTracks are usable for background accompaniment or soloing.

These include diverse RealTracks for Country, Jazz, Pop, and Hard Rock. Examples are Jazz Acoustic Bass,
Country Guitar Soloing, Motown Sax, Metal Guitar comping and soloing, plus great Country sounds inclu ding
Resonator Guitar, pedal steel, slide guitar, fiddle and more!

In addition to the new RealTracks, there are thirty-five new features in Band-in-a-Box 2008.5, that will make your
existing RealDrums and Realtracks work faster, better, and use much less hard drive space!

Here are the new features:

Faster Generation of RealTracks. The time it takes to generate RealTracks is now three times as fast.
“Waveless” and much smaller in size, version 2008.5 uses 1/8 of the hard drive space compared to2008!

RealTracks and RealDrums no longer need WAV files – they can use WMA natively. This frees up huge amounts of
your hard drive, so that the RealDrums and RealTracks take up only 1 /8 of the space that they used to take! The
handy “Archive” function will remove the no-longer-needed WAV files with a single-click. This means that the new
version uses up much less hard drive space than previous versions.

Tempo stretching quality enhancements. Now the RealTracks sound great over a much wider tempo range,
typically -15 and +40 beats per minute from their original tempo.

Stereo panning is now available for the RealTracks.
Automatic prevention of audio clipping. (New Float mixing and Peak Limiter added.)

™

RealStyles

all at once in a single style!

Improved transitions for RealTracks eliminating Pops/Clicks.
Right click menu is available for each part in Band-in-a-Box (bass, drums, piano, guitar, strings), allowing you

to quickly assign RealTracks, (or RealDrums) to that part along with other functions like mute, solo, save single
track, etc.

RealTracks browser dialog shows comprehensive information about the RealTracks, including name, genre, feel,
tempo, type, demos, and preview. Lists can be sorted or filtered by any column.

Easily save a style (.STY) with RealTracks, directly from the main screen (“save what you hear” as a style).
RealTracks Rests and Shots. RealTracks work for rests and shots.
Endings are now present in RealTracks.
Name of RealTracks or RealDrums display at the top of the screen for each part.
Save Single Track. Right click on a part to save that single track to disk as a WAV file.
RealTracks demos now present in RealTracks – demos folder, and can be opened from the StylePicker.
RealTracks Preview function to hear how a RealTracks will sound, without losing your current song.
Time Shift RealTracks. Ability to time shift a RealTracks by certain amount, to achieve more laid-back playing

for example.

Variations of RealTracks can be made, for things like a simpler type of soloing, or certain variations.
RealTracks can have multiple substyles. For example, the Jazz Acoustic Bass plays “2”’ feel in “a” substyle, and

“4” in “b” section.
Soloists can solo over different chords than the chords of the song. For example, the Metal Guitar Soloist can

have a tonal center controlled by the user, different than the song chords. So that the Metal Guitar can be soloing
over a G chord, while the chords of the song are G F G Bb, for example.

available - these are styles that include all “Real Instruments,” with no MIDI. Up to 7 Real Instruments

Chapter 3: Band-in-a-Box 2008.5

29

“Crescendo” Soloing can be generated for some RealTracks that have the intensity of the solo building up with
the flashiest part of the solos played as the solo builds.

Musicality of the solo phrasing improved, phrasing much closer to human.
RealTracks button added to Soloist dialog, with color coding to allow quick access to RealTracks.
RealTracks folders now have descriptive names. Instead of cryptic names like RacG001, they have names like

“Guitar, Electric, Soloist Cowboy Ev 165”

Bass track can now play RealTracks.
StyleMaker lists RealTracks names on the main screen.
Non English versions will work with the newest RealTracks without a new translation of the Soloist list

(Default.SOL file).
Archive and Install WAV buttons to control the use of the WAV files for RealDrums and RealTracks. WAV files

are no longer needed as the program can use the much smaller WMA files. If you prefer to use WAV files (slightly
higher fidelity and slightly faster operation), these commands provide the option to install or archive the WAV files
on a global or folder by folder basis.

…and more!

Nine Sets of RealTracks

The Band-in-a-Box 2008 release included three RealTracks. Now there are forty-four more RealTracks instruments
in nine different sets.

RealTracks Set 1: The Originals, New and Improved

Improved versions of the three original RealTracks – RealSax, Pedal Steel, and Acoustic Guitar.

RealTracks Set 2: Country Ballad

Acoustic guitar, both strumming and fingerpicking, a beautiful "spacey" electric guitar with delay effects, as well as
a sweet pedal steel part and a RealBass.

RealTracks Set 3: Swingin' Country

Two Swing RealPedalSteel styles and five Swing 8ths acoustic guitar RealTracks, including both strumming and
fingerpicking.

RealTracks Set 4: Modern Country

Rock, Pop, Folk and Country with RealResonatorGuitar, RealAcousticGuitar & RealBass plus a modern syncopated
groove that includes both acoustic & electric guitars.

RealTracks Set 5: Rockin Guitar

Smokin' Rock & Country Rock rhythm guitar grooves, as well as slide guitar soloists and R&B RealBass.

RealTracks Set 6: All Metal

Three different tempos of killer Metal rhythm guitar parts and totally tight bass parts plus the RockHardEven8
RealDrums style.

RealTracks Set 7: Acoustic Jazz Bass and Rock Sax

RealDoubleBass with either the straight-ahead, fluid approach of our PaulC bass style, or the aggressive approach of
our RayB style. Also in this set is the "Motown Rock" sax soloist.

RealTracks Set 8: Country Folk

Resonator Guitar, sweet RealFiddle, and basic acoustic guitar strumming patterns.

RealTracks Set 9: Country Electric Guitar

Great Country guitar grooves and soloists played by top Nashville session musicians. Included are two rhythm
guitar parts, "Cowboy," which is a true classic country groove, and "Train," which is a fast train-beat groove.

30

Chapter 3: Band-in-a-Box 2008.5