PG Music Band in a Box - 2011 Windows User Guide
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© Copyright PG Music Inc.1989-2011. 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 portion 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.
Some programs such as Band-in-a-Box have a “Server” function (including BandInABoxServer.exe program) to connect to a
“Client” (mobile client version of Band-in-a-Box on iPhone or other mobile device). You are only licensed to connect the Server
function (including BandInABoxServer.exe program) to Clients where you own or have properly licensed both the Client and
Server software that is being connected, not to clients or Server software owned/licensed by third parties. The preceding also
applies to any other PG Music products (RealBand etc.) with a similar type of connection between a Server program and a Client.
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®,
Pro®, RealBand®, RealDrums®, and RealTracks® are either the trademarks or 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, iPad™, iPhone®, iPod touch®,
Leopard®, Macintosh®, Mac®, Panther®, Power Mac®, QuickTime®, Snow Leopard®, 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.
Band-in-a-Box is protected under US Patent 5990407. The TC-Helicon Harmony feature in Band-in-a-Box and PowerTracks Pro
Audio is protected under US Patents 5567901, 5641926, 5986198, 34583, 296.80.173.9, PI9603819.5, 0368046, 0750776,
6,046,395, and patents pending.
Band-in-a-Box for Bozos®, CloudTracks™, CopyMe®, GuitarStar®, JazzU®, PG Music®, PowerTracks
PATENTS
Printed in Canada
2
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!...............................................................................................12
WHAT IS BAND-IN-A-BOX?......................................................................................................................................12
INSTALLING BAND-IN-A-BOX FOR WINDOWS ..........................................................................................................13
Minimum System Requirements...........................................................................................................................13
Installing the Program.........................................................................................................................................13
Band-in-a-Box External Hard Drives..................................................................................................................13
MIDI SETUP.............................................................................................................................................................14
Output to Software Synthesizers (DXi and VSTi).................................................................................................15
AUDIO SETUP ...........................................................................................................................................................19
ASIO Audio/Software Synth Drivers....................................................................................................................19
Understanding Latency........................................................................................................................................21
CHAPTER 2: QUICKSTART..................................................................................................................................23
STEP 1 – TYPING IN THE CHORDS .............................................................................................................................23
STEP 2 – CHOOSING A STYLE....................................................................................................................................26
STEP 3 – PLAY YOUR SONG!......................................................................................................................................28
CHAPTER 3: BAND-IN-A-BOX 2011 ....................................................................................................................29
50 NEW FEATURES!..................................................................................................................................................29
101 NEW REALTRACKS............................................................................................................................................32
More about RealTracks ....................................................................................................................................... 35
QUICKSTART TUTORIAL FOR BAND-IN-A-BOX 2011 FOR WINDOWS........................................................................35
NOW LET’S TAKE A QUICK TOUR AROUND THE PROGRAM......................................................................................36
Open up the StylePicker.......................................................................................................................................36
NOW LET’S MAKE A SOLOIST MEDLEY....................................................................................................................37
CHAPTER 4: THE MAIN SCREEN.......................................................................................................................39
MAIN SCREEN OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................................39
Personalizing the Main Screen............................................................................................................................40
Descriptive Hints.................................................................................................................................................41
Options and Utilities............................................................................................................................................42
STATUS BAR.............................................................................................................................................................42
SYNTH WINDOW / PIANO KEYBOARD.......................................................................................................................42
Toolbars...............................................................................................................................................................46
Floating Toolbars................................................................................................................................................48
TITLE WINDOW ........................................................................................................................................................50
CHORDSHEET AREA .................................................................................................................................................52
Chord Entry.........................................................................................................................................................53
Chordsheet Options.............................................................................................................................................53
Part Markers........................................................................................................................................................54
MultiStyles...........................................................................................................................................................55
Play Selected Area as a Loop..............................................................................................................................55
CHAPTER 5: PLAYING SONGS IN BAND-IN-A-BOX......................................................................................56
OPENING FILES.........................................................................................................................................................56
Find File...................................................................................................................... ........................................56
File Associations..................................................................................................................................................57
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Open File Dialog.................................................................................................................................................57
Custom File Selection Dialog..............................................................................................................................57
Favorite Songs (and Styles).................................................................................................................................58
GLOBAL SONG OVERRIDES ......................................................................................................................................59
LOADING AND PLAYING BAND-IN-A-BOX SONGS ....................................................................................................60
The SongPicker....................................................................................................................................................61
Change the Style.................................................................................................................................................. 64
Make a MultiStyle Song.......................................................................................................................................65
SETTINGS FOR PLAYBACK ........................................................................................................................................65
Patch Changes.....................................................................................................................................................66
General MIDI 2 support......................................................................................................................................66
Additional Patches...............................................................................................................................................67
CHANGING VOLUME, PANNING, REVERB, CHORUS, BANK.......................................................................................69
PLAYING/PAUSING/STOPPING SONGS .......................................................................................................................69
Lead-In Counts and Metronome..........................................................................................................................70
Slide Tracks.........................................................................................................................................................70
Play Selected Area as a Loop..............................................................................................................................71
Loop any Section of the song...............................................................................................................................71
“Conductor”- Live Looping/Playback control....................................................................................................73
Play along with your MIDI Controller Keyboard...............................................................................................73
Play Along with the Wizard.................................................................................................................................73
MIDI Normalize...................................................................................................................................................74
Outputting MIDI to an External Device..............................................................................................................74
ADD REAL INSTRUMENTS – REALDRUMS AND REALTRACKS ..................................................................................74
RealDrums...........................................................................................................................................................74
RealTracks...........................................................................................................................................................76
FREEZE TRACKS .......................................................................................................................................................78
THE GUITAR WINDOW .............................................................................................................................................79
Launching the Guitar Window.............................................................................................................................79
Guitar Window Toolbar.......................................................................................................................................83
BIG PIANO WINDOW.................................................................................................................................................83
THE CONDUCTOR .....................................................................................................................................................84
THE JUKEBOX...........................................................................................................................................................88
Jukebox Options ..................................................................................................................................................89
MEDLEY MAKER ......................................................................................................................................................91
CHAPTER 6: MAKING SONGS IN BAND-IN-A-BOX .......................................................................................92
MAKE YOUR OWN SONGS........................................................................................................................................ 92
Getting Started.....................................................................................................................................................92
Setting the tempo .................................................................................................................................................92
“Framing” the Song............................................................................................................................................92
CHORD ENTRY .........................................................................................................................................................93
Computer Keyboard Entry...................................................................................................................................93
Audio Chord Wizard (Chords from MP3) ...........................................................................................................94
Copy and Pasting Section of Chords...................................................................................................................94
Deleting Chords...................................................................................................................................................96
Previewing Chords..............................................................................................................................................96
Support for other chord display types..................................................................................................................96
Advanced Chord Entry and Editing Features......................................................................................................97
BREAKS - RESTS, SHOTS, AND HELD CHORDS..........................................................................................................98
Chord Options .....................................................................................................................................................99
PART MARKERS AND SUBSTYLES.............................................................................................................................99
Part Markers........................................................................................................................................................99
MultiStyles.........................................................................................................................................................100
APPLYING STYLES..................................................................................................................................................102
The StylePicker Window....................................................................................................................................103
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StylePicker Filters .............................................................................................................................................103
Categories..........................................................................................................................................................105
StylePicker Column Headings...........................................................................................................................106
Adding RealDrums Styles..................................................................................................................................107
StylePicker Editor..............................................................................................................................................108
Favorite Styles Button........................................................................................................................................112
Style Aliases Dialog...........................................................................................................................................112
Using MultiStyles...............................................................................................................................................114
USING REALTRACKS AND REALDRUMS IN SONGS .................................................................................................115
Using RealTracks in Songs - Assign RealTracks to Track Dialog.....................................................................115
Using RealDrums in Songs................................................................................................................................117
ARRANGING YOUR SONG .......................................................................................................................................120
Setting the tempo ...............................................................................................................................................120
“Framing” the Song..........................................................................................................................................120
Song Settings Dialog..........................................................................................................................................120
Repeats and Endings..........................................................................................................................................124
ADD A MELODY – MIDI AND/OR AUDIO................................................................................................................124
Record a MIDI Melody......................................................................................................................................124
Sequencer Mode ................................................................................................................................................125
Record a Live Audio Track................................................................................................................................126
Opening and Importing Audio Files..................................................................................................................128
Harmonize the MIDI Melody.............................................................................................................................129
Play Along with the Wizard...............................................................................................................................132
IMPORT A MIDI FILE..............................................................................................................................................133
MIDI File Chord Interpretation Wizard............................................................................................................133
ADD A SOLO - “THE SOLOIST”................................................................................................................................134
AUTOMATIC SONGS - “THE MELODIST”.................................................................................................................136
Launching the Melodist.....................................................................................................................................136
EDIT FUNCTIONS ....................................................................................................................................................137
Edit Dialogs.......................................................................................................................................................142
PIANO ROLL WINDOW............................................................................................................................................146
Track Selection..................................................................................................................................................146
Keyboard Pitch Panel........................................................................................................................................147
Note Panel.........................................................................................................................................................147
Graphic Event Panel..........................................................................................................................................147
Chord Ruler and Note Time Ruler Panel...........................................................................................................149
Note Editing.......................................................................................................................................................150
Right-Click Contextual Menu............................................................................................................................151
Horizontal Scroll Bar, [+] and [-] Buttons.......................................................................................................153
Vertical Scroll Bar, [+] and [-] Buttons............................................................................................................153
Zoom Buttons.....................................................................................................................................................153
VIEW AND PRINT NOTATION ..................................................................................................................................153
Standard Notation Window................................................................................................................................154
Editable Notation Mode.....................................................................................................................................154
Staff Roll Notation Mode...................................................................................................................................156
Adding Note-Based Lyrics to Your Song ...........................................................................................................156
LEAD SHEET NOTATION WINDOW..........................................................................................................................157
Launching the Lead Sheet Window....................................................................................................................157
Multiple Tracks of Notation...............................................................................................................................158
Multiple lines of Lyrics on Fake Sheet...............................................................................................................158
Lead Sheet “Lyric Text Block”..........................................................................................................................159
Lead Sheet Printing...........................................................................................................................................160
Multi-Channel Notation (Sequencer Mode).......................................................................................................161
DIGITAL AUDIO FEATURES.....................................................................................................................................163
Audio Chord Wizard (Chords from MP3) .........................................................................................................163
Add Audio Harmonies........................................................................................................................................166
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Audio Reverb .....................................................................................................................................................167
More Audio Effects............................................................................................................................................168
THE MEDLEY MAKER.............................................................................................................................................168
SAVING SONGS.......................................................................................................................................................169
Saving MIDI and Karaoke Files........................................................................................................................171
SAVING AUDIO FILES .............................................................................................................................................175
SAVE YOUR CONFIGURATION .................................................................................................................................176
BURN YOUR OWN AUDIO-CD................................................................................................................................177
Congratulations!................................................................................................................................................177
CHAPTER 7: REALTRACKS AND REALDRUMS...........................................................................................178
REALTRACKS .........................................................................................................................................................178
What are RealTracks?.......................................................................................................................................178
REALTRACKS SETTINGS.........................................................................................................................................178
USING REALTRACKS..............................................................................................................................................183
Freeze Tracks ....................................................................................................................................................187
Using RealTracks in Styles................................................................................................................................188
Using RealTracks in Solos.................................................................................................................................188
Saving Your RealTracks ....................................................................................................................................189
REALDRUMS .......................................................................................................................................................... 189
How Do RealDrums Work?...............................................................................................................................190
RealDrums Settings ........................................................................................................................................... 190
RealDrums Picker – Assign RealDrums to Songs .............................................................................................192
AUDIO CONTROLS FOR REALTRACKS AND REALDRUMS .......................................................................................196
Tone Control......................................................................................................................................................196
Audio Reverb Control........................................................................................................................................196
REVERB SETTINGS..................................................................................................................................................197
Reverb Parameters............................................................................................................................................197
Saving Settings to Presets..................................................................................................................................198
Auto Reverb .......................................................................................................................................................198
CHAPTER 8: NOTATION AND PRINTING......................................................................................................199
Exploring the Notation Window ........................................................................................................................199
STANDARD NOTATION WINDOW ............................................................................................................................200
Right-click menu for Standard Notation............................................................................................................201
Keystroke Commands ........................................................................................................................................201
EDITABLE NOTATION MODE ..................................................................................................................................202
Right-click Editable Notation menu...................................................................................................................204
Editing Note Values...........................................................................................................................................206
STAFF ROLL NOTATION MODE...............................................................................................................................207
NOTATION WINDOW OPTIONS................................................................................................................................208
Notation Settings................................................................................................................................................213
Display Patch Names on Notation.....................................................................................................................214
Keystroke Note Editing......................................................................................................................................216
Section Text for Notation...................................................................................................................................217
Scrub Mode on Notation....................................................................................................................................217
LEAD SHEET WINDOW ...........................................................................................................................................218
Lead Sheet Options Dialog................................................................................................................................219
Fake Sheet Mode ...............................................................................................................................................222
Multiple lines of Lyrics on Fake Sheet...............................................................................................................222
Lead Sheet Memo...............................................................................................................................................223
Harmony Notation Display................................................................................................................................224
Multi-Channel Notation (Sequencer Mode).......................................................................................................225
LYRICS ...................................................................................................................................................................225
Note-based Lyrics..............................................................................................................................................226
Lyric Document Window ...................................................................................................................................228
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Big Lyrics (Karaoke) Window...........................................................................................................................229
PRINTING................................................................................................................................................................231
Print Options ..................................................................................................................................................... 231
Print Preview.....................................................................................................................................................234
Print Multiple Songs..........................................................................................................................................237
CHAPTER 9: AUTOMATIC MUSIC FEATURES.............................................................................................240
AUTOMATIC MEDLEYS - “THE MEDLEY MAKER”..................................................................................................240
AUTOMATIC SONGS – “THE MELODIST” ................................................................................................................241
Automatic Intro – Song Intros ...........................................................................................................................244
Automatic Song Title Generation ......................................................................................................................245
AUTOMATIC SOUND TRACK GENERATOR - “SOUNDTRACK” .................................................................................245
AUTOMATIC SOLO GENERATION – “THE SOLOIST”................................................................................................247
RealTracks.........................................................................................................................................................248
Melody Influenced Solos....................................................................................................................................250
Using the Soloist Feature..................................................................................................................................252
Soloist Maker.....................................................................................................................................................253
AUTO PIANO HAND-SPLITTING...............................................................................................................................255
Piano Track (Notation Options)........................................................................................................................255
Melody and Soloist Tracks.................................................................................................................................255
AUTOMATIC GUITAR SOLOS – “THE GUITARIST”...................................................................................................256
AUTOMATIC EMBELLISHMENTS – “THE EMBELLISHER”.........................................................................................259
Overview............................................................................................................................................................259
Using The Embellisher ......................................................................................................................................259
Embellisher Settings..........................................................................................................................................260
CHAPTER 10: WORKING WITH MIDI.............................................................................................................263
RECORDING LIVE IN REAL TIME.............................................................................................................................263
Count-In and Metronome Options.....................................................................................................................264
Recording to an external sequencer ..................................................................................................................264
ENTERING NOTES MANUALLY ...............................................................................................................................264
RECORDING WITH THE WIZARD FEATURE ..............................................................................................................265
Melody Wizard...................................................................................................................................................265
MELODY/SOLOIST SEQUENCER ..............................................................................................................................266
IMPORT A BAND-IN-A-BOX SONG...........................................................................................................................269
IMPORTING MIDI FILES..........................................................................................................................................270
Importing MIDI Files to the Melody or Soloist Tracks .....................................................................................270
Import to the Melody with the MIDI Chord Wizard..........................................................................................271
Additional Options for Melody/Soloist Track....................................................................................................271
EDITING THE MELODY TRACK................................................................................................................................272
Event List Editor................................................................................................................................................272
Event List Filter.................................................................................................................................................273
Notation Window Editing ..................................................................................................................................274
Piano Roll Window Editing...............................................................................................................................275
CHAPTER 11: WORKING WITH AUDIO .........................................................................................................278
ABOUT BAND-IN-A-BOX AUDIO FILES...................................................................................................................278
AUDIO TRACK ........................................................................................................................................................278
Audio Playback Settings....................................................................................................................................278
PG Music Reverb...............................................................................................................................................279
Import Audio File to Audio Track......................................................................................................................280
Audio Offset.......................................................................................................................................................281
RECORD AUDIO......................................................................................................................................................282
Audio VU meters................................................................................................................................................283
Punch-In Recording...........................................................................................................................................284
PLAYING THE AUDIO FILE......................................................................................................................................285
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7
EDIT THE AUDIO FILE.............................................................................................................................................285
Audio Edit Window Toolbar..............................................................................................................................286
Non-Destructive Audio Track Editing ...............................................................................................................286
AUDIO HARMONIES................................................................................................................................................286
Audio Harmonies Tutorial.................................................................................................................................286
Choir Effect........................................................................................................................................................290
Audio Harmonies Pitch Styles (automatic “Vibrato” and “Scooping”)...........................................................290
Pitch Styles Preset Details (one per voice)........................................................................................................291
APPLYING AUDIO PLUG-INS...................................................................................................................................292
Direct-X or VST Plug-ins...................................................................................................................................292
Reading the Audio and MIDI tracks into other programs................................................................................. 294
RENDERING AUDIO FILES.......................................................................................................................................295
Rendering WAV Files ........................................................................................................................................295
Rendering in Other Audio Formats...................................................................................................................297
BURN YOUR OWN AUDIO-CD.................................................................................................................................299
CHAPTER 12: WIZARDS, TUTORS, AND FUN ...............................................................................................303
AUDIO CHORD WIZARD (“CHORDS FROM MP3”)...................................................................................................303
Chordsheet Overview.........................................................................................................................................303
Opening Files ....................................................................................................................................................304
Audio Chord Wizard Window............................................................................................................................305
Primary Program Controls................................................................................................................................305
Chord Detection ................................................................................................................................................306
Keyboard Shortcuts ........................................................................................................................................... 307
Special Cases.....................................................................................................................................................308
Bad Initial Tempo Estimates..............................................................................................................................308
Odd Length Bars and Drastic Tempo Changes.................................................................................................310
Notes Display.....................................................................................................................................................311
Display Controls................................................................................................................................................311
MIDI FILE CHORD INTERPRETATION WIZARD .......................................................................................................313
Importing Chords ..............................................................................................................................................314
Importing Part of a MIDI file or re-doing a section of the Chordsheet)...........................................................317
Other Settings for the Chord Wizard.................................................................................................................317
PRACTICE WINDOW................................................................................................................................................318
EAR TRAINING TUTOR............................................................................................................................................320
Interval Tutor.....................................................................................................................................................320
Chord Tutor.......................................................................................................................................................321
EAR TRAINING GAMES ...........................................................................................................................................323
Pitch Invasion....................................................................................................................................................323
Music Replay.....................................................................................................................................................324
VOCAL WIZARD .....................................................................................................................................................325
REHARMONIST (CHORDS FOR A MELODY)..............................................................................................................327
Generate Chords for a Melody..........................................................................................................................327
CHORD SUBSTITUTION WIZARD .............................................................................................................................329
Chord Substitution Dialog.................................................................................................................................330
CHORD BUILDER ....................................................................................................................................................332
RHYTHM GUITAR CHORD TUTOR ...........................................................................................................................333
CHORD “BREAKS”..................................................................................................................................................334
MIDI FILE TO STYLE WIZARD................................................................................................................................334
Using the MIDI File to Style Wizard.................................................................................................................335
Advanced Settings and Preferences...................................................................................................................337
REPEATS AND ENDINGS WIZARD............................................................................................................................ 340
Tutorial..............................................................................................................................................................340
CHAPTER 13: TOOLS AND UTILITIES............................................................................................................344
DAW PLUG-IN MODE ............................................................................................................................................344
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Plug-In Options .................................................................................................................................................345
FIND FILE ...............................................................................................................................................................346
ROLAND VSC3 VIRTUAL SOUND CANVAS.............................................................................................................347
COYOTEWT ...........................................................................................................................................................347
Coyote WT Overview.........................................................................................................................................348
TRANZPORT SUPPORT - WIRELESS REMOTE CONTROL ..........................................................................................350
Using TranzPort with Band-in-a-Box................................................................................................................350
GUITAR/BASS TUNER.............................................................................................................................................352
Master Tuning....................................................................................................................................................352
DYNAMIC 3D DRUM KIT WINDOW.........................................................................................................................353
Drum Display ....................................................................................................................................................353
Control Buttons:................................................................................................................................................354
Computer “QWERTY” Keys..............................................................................................................................354
Numeric keypad.................................................................................................................................................354
Multi - Note Instruments....................................................................................................................................354
Settings Dialog ..................................................................................................................................................355
MIDI MONITOR......................................................................................................................................................356
MIDI Monitor- Main Window............................................................................................................................356
Display Filter.....................................................................................................................................................357
SOUND BLASTER SUPPORT.....................................................................................................................................358
AWE 32/64 editor ..............................................................................................................................................358
EVENT LIST EDITOR ...............................................................................................................................................358
Event List Filter.................................................................................................................................................359
PG VINYL DIRECTX PLUG-IN.................................................................................................................................360
PG Vinyl Tool Features.....................................................................................................................................360
PG RTA DIRECTX PLUG-IN................................................................................................................................... 364
Control Descriptions .........................................................................................................................................364
PG VOCAL REMOVER PLUG-IN ..............................................................................................................................365
Operation........................................................................................................................................................... 365
CHAPTER 14: USER PROGRAMMABLE FUNCTIONS.................................................................................367
THE STYLEMAKER.................................................................................................................................................367
StyleMaker Toolbar Buttons..............................................................................................................................370
Exploring the StyleMaker..................................................................................................................................371
Drum Patterns ...................................................................................................................................................371
RealDrums Styles...............................................................................................................................................374
Bass Patterns.....................................................................................................................................................375
Piano, Guitar, and String Patterns....................................................................................................................381
Guitar Styles with the StyleMaker .....................................................................................................................383
Miscellaneous Style Settings..............................................................................................................................388
More Settings (for Rests, Pushes, RealTracks)..................................................................................................390
Assign Instruments to Style Dialog Box.............................................................................................................392
Advanced Editing Of Patterns...........................................................................................................................393
Style Log Options...............................................................................................................................................394
Alternatives to Recording Patterns....................................................................................................................395
Editing Patterns.................................................................................................................................................398
Using the MIDI File to Style Wizard.................................................................................................................398
Advanced Settings and Preferences...................................................................................................................400
MAKING REALDRUMS STYLES...............................................................................................................................403
Introduction to RealDrums................................................................................................................................403
Making A RealDrums Style Using An Existing Template..................................................................................404
Elements of RealDrums Styles...........................................................................................................................407
Elements of the Text File ...................................................................................................................................408
Pattern Definition..............................................................................................................................................411
Shots Definition .................................................................................................................................................416
Additional Entries in the Text File.....................................................................................................................417
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9
Alternate Styles & Expanded/Reduced Styles....................................................................................................418
Testing Your RealDrums Style...........................................................................................................................419
Using your RealDrums style in Band-in-a-Box.................................................................................................421
THE HARMONY MAKER..........................................................................................................................................421
THE SOLOIST MAKER .............................................................................................................................................425
THE MELODIST MAKER..........................................................................................................................................429
THE GUITARIST MAKER .........................................................................................................................................431
CHAPTER 15: REFERENCE................................................................................................................................435
BAND-IN-A-BOX MENU DESCRIPTIONS..................................................................................................................435
FILE MENU.............................................................................................................................................................435
EDIT MENU ............................................................................................................................................................439
STYLES MENU........................................................................................................................................................446
OPT. MENU.............................................................................................................................................................448
Preferences….....................................................................................................................................................451
Preferences Buttons...........................................................................................................................................453
Display Options.................................................................................................................................................453
Arrangement Options.........................................................................................................................................455
Count-in and Metronome Options.....................................................................................................................457
MIDI File Options.............................................................................................................................................459
MIDI Driver Setup.............................................................................................................................................460
MIDI Options.....................................................................................................................................................462
MIDI Settings.....................................................................................................................................................463
Harmony............................................................................................................................................................464
Soloist................................................................................................................................................................464
Colors................................................................................................................................................................465
Patch Map .........................................................................................................................................................466
Drum Kit............................................................................................................................................................467
Favorite Instruments..........................................................................................................................................468
Output Chords on Channel................................................................................................................................469
Transpose ..........................................................................................................................................................470
Record Filter......................................................................................................................................................470
Notation.............................................................................................................................................................471
Lead Sheet Options............................................................................................................................................471
Audio Settings....................................................................................................................................................472
Guitar Settings...................................................................................................................................................475
Big Piano Settings ............................................................................................................. ................................476
Lyric Window Options.......................................................................................................................................477
Overrides...........................................................................................................................................................478
RealDrums.........................................................................................................................................................479
RealTracks.........................................................................................................................................................481
Tranzport...........................................................................................................................................................485
Practice..............................................................................................................................................................486
Reverb................................................................................................................................................................487
DAW Plugin.......................................................................................................................................................488
PLAY MENU ...........................................................................................................................................................490
LYRICS MENU ........................................................................................................................................................492
MELODY MENU......................................................................................................................................................494
SOLOIST MENU.......................................................................................................................................................500
Utilities ..............................................................................................................................................................503
AUDIO MENU .........................................................................................................................................................506
GM MENU..............................................................................................................................................................509
HARMONY MENU ...................................................................................................................................................512
NOTATION MENU ...................................................................................................................................................514
WINDOW MENU .....................................................................................................................................................515
HELP MENU............................................................................................................................................................520
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Table of Contents
SHORTCUTS: KEYSTROKE COMMANDS - HOT KEYS ...............................................................................................522
Quick Song Settings...........................................................................................................................................522
Quick-Load Songs and Styles ............................................................................................................................522
Keystroke Commands ........................................................................................................................................522
Muting Parts......................................................................................................................................................522
Selecting Parts...................................................................................................................................................522
Instrument Part Settings....................................................................................................................................522
Volume Settings .................................................................................................................................................523
Looping / Song Navigation Keystrokes..............................................................................................................523
Transpose Settings.............................................................................................................................................523
Custom File Open Dialog..................................................................................................................................523
Windows ............................................................................................................................................................523
StyleMaker Hot Keys .........................................................................................................................................524
StyleMaker Drum Screen Hot Keys...................................................................................................................524
Additional Keystrokes........................................................................................................................................524
CHORD LIST ...........................................................................................................................................................525
BAND-IN-A-BOX FILES ...........................................................................................................................................526
Essential Program Files....................................................................................................................................526
PG MUSIC INC.......................................................................................................................................................528
APPENDIX: REALTRACKS SETS.....................................................................................................................529
INDEX ......................................................................................................................................................................541
PG MUSIC REGISTRATION FORM ..................................................................................................................551
How To Register................................................................................................................................................551
Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!
11
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-in-a-Box as
your “on demand” backup band.
Band-in-a-Box is so easy to use!
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 professionalquality arrangement of piano, bass, drums, guitar, and strings or horns in a wide variety of popular styles
plus 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 ability to analyze, extract, and show the chords from audio recordings onscreen and then write them to the Band-in-a-Box chordsheet.
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 can also
record an acoustic 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 up to sixteen realistic 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-aBox Jukebox, and singing along to your Karaoke files with CDG graphics.
Let’s get started!
This is a comprehensive guide to the program, including information not included the printed manual.
We’ll begin with the easy installation and setup procedure.
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Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!
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 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. Band-in-a-Box comes with both the DXi and VST versions of the high quality Roland
VSC (Virtual Sound Canvas) software synthesizer.
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.
Then, double-click on the CD-ROM drive icon and double-click again on the SETUP.EXE program found in
3.
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.
Band-in-a-Box External Hard Drives
Larger versions of Band-in-a-Box ship on portable USB hard drives. They in clude the entire Band-in-a-Box and
RealBand programs plus all RealTracks and RealDrums sets.
Hard Drive Setup
You can run Band-in-a-Box and RealBand directly from the hard drive by using the program shortcuts in the PG
Music folder. Before you use the programs, you should double-click on UltraPAK Setup.exe. This will set up any
files that need to be installed/registered on your computer. You only need to do this once.
Alternatively, you could copy the entire PG Music folder to another hard disk, and run Band-in-a-Box from there.
This is useful if you don't want to run the program directly from this hard disk, or if you want to make a backup.
Installing From the External Drive
You can also find the Band-in-a-Box installer in the Installers folder, however most people wouldn't use this file.
We have included it in case you would like to install Band-in-a-Box on your computer's hard drive the “traditional”
way. It is also useful if you want to upgrade a previous version of Band-in-a-Box that you already have installed.
We haven't included the large installer files for RealTracks and RealDrums. These files are all in the bb folder and
can be copied over manually if need be. Please see the “readme” files on the hard drive for more detailed
information.
Note: Before unplugging the hard drive from your computer, make sure it is not in use, then click the ‘Safely Remove
Hardware’ icon in your taskbar. When you plug the drive in, Windows may prompt you to select an appropriate action - if
so, select 'Open folder to view files'.
Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!
13
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 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.
The next dialog you encounter is the MIDI/Audio Drivers 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.
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Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!
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. Most new software synthesizers are released as “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 plug-in. Sampler-based synths allow you to assemble a huge,
customized library of instrument samples to use with Band-in-a-Box.
The current DXi or VSTi synth name is displayed in the button that
launches the VST/DXi settings.
DirectX Instrument Synthesizer (DXi plug-in) Support
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.
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.
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.
Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!
15
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.
VSTi 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.
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.
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Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!
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 u se 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.
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.
Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!
17
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 ASIO drivers has very
little. This setting is used to synchronize the visual disp lay
(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 [Latency Adjust…] button opens the SoftSynth Latency Adjust dialog where you
can manually adjust the latency.
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.
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Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!
The choices are:
- General MIDI 2 support: If you're using the Roland VSC 3, o r 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.
Audio Setup
The [Audio Settings] button in the MIDI/Audio Drivers Setup displays the
current audio driver and status, MME/ASIO/ASIO Always On. 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.
Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!
19
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.
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
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Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!
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
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 following section on Understanding Latency.
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.
Chapter 1: Welcome to Band-in-a-Box!
21
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!
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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 chordsheet.
Band-in-a-Box main screen showing chordsheet.
Each of the numbered cells on the chordsheet 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 click on any bar with 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 chordsheet. 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
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 chordsheet at the current highlight
Chapter 2: QuickStart
23
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. To place an alternate chord
in the chordsheet click on the [Enter] button beside the chord you want.
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.
The chord will play. Pressing [Enter Chord ] or using the arrow keys will enter the chord and advance the
highlight cell to the next half bar. There is also an option to “Enter chord when clicked.”
Import Chords from a MIDI File
You can have Band-in-a-Box import chords from an existing MIDI file. Choose I mp ort C hords 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
25
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, transpose to
your key, and print 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, columns of information, detailed
descriptions, preview, search, and filter features. Select the [Style] button or type
Ctrl+F9 on your computer. Mouse over the column headings to see tooltips about the information listed.
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.
With so many styles to choose from, the filter is an indispensable tool for narrowing your
search. Styles can be filtered by almost any attribute you can think of, such as feel,
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Chapter 2: QuickStart
tempo, number of instruments, RealTracks artist, style set number, etc.
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 Recently Played Styles list. Choose this with the [F]
button next to the [Style] button in the song title window, from the Styles menu, or by typing Shift+F9 on your
computer keyboard.
You can also create lists of Favorite Styles and select them by clicking on the “Favorites” radio button.
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
27
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. In the example above, the chorus starts at bar 1, ends on bar 32, and is going to play 3 times.
(Or right-click on the Chordsheet (or Notation) window to quickly set Chorus Begin, Chorus End, or Song Ending.)
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 chordsheet
the Blues song was in the key of E. If you do change the key, Band-in-a-Box will offer to transpose the chordsheet
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.
Shortcuts for song formatting
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
More fun with Band-in-a-Box…
That’s how easy it is to start creating music with Band-in-a-Box, but it’s just the beginning. Band-in-a-Box is jampacked with features, helpers, and user options, so read on and kee p ha vi n g fun!
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Chapter 2: QuickStart
Chapter 3: Band-in-a-Box 2011
50 New Features!
The new features in Band-in-a-Box 2011 for Windows are…
We’ve made big improvements to the sounds of the RealTracks, so that they sound more natural over a much
wider range of tempos with the élastique Pro V2 time stretching engine by zplane.development. These
improvements are built-in, so there’s nothing you need to do to get them working. Your existing songs will just
“sound better” over a much wider range of tempos. Please watch the demo videos for audio examples of the
improvements.
We’ve made the size of the RealTracks much smaller so that they now only take up 30% of the space that they
used to. After you install the program, you can run the feature in the RealTracks Settings dialog (Preferences),
which will shrink the size of your RealTracks folders. The previous Band-in-a-Box 2010.5 “Everything Pak” had
100GB of RealTracks; this now shrinks to 30GB. The Audiophile version also shrinks by 70%, so that it is only
30% of the previous size. And the audio fidelity is improved, since it sounds better over a much wider range of
tempos with the élastique Pro V2 time stretching engine!
We’ve made an iPhone
version works by connecting to your Windows desktop version of Band-in-a-Box 2011 and allows you to generate,
play, and save songs on your iPhone
quality RealTracks sound.
If you have a copy of Band-in-a-Box 2011 for Windows
• Quickly transfer your existing library of songs from BB Desktop to BB iPhone, including chordsheets and audio
(M4A). See the chordsheets and play the songs anytime on your iPhone, without re-connecting to the Band-ina-Box desktop.
• Enter songs from scratch on your BB iPhone by typing in chord symbols to the song.
• Generate audio on your BB iPhone for the songs by pressing play. The songs play on the iPhone and are stored
on the iPhone as M4A files. This connects across your home network (LAN) or the Internet (from anywhere) to
your desktop version of Band-in-a-Box.
• Send songs from BB iPhone to BB Desktop.
• The iPhone version communicates with Band-in-a-Box for Windows using a utility program called Band-in-a-
Box Server (c:\bb\bbhelper\BandinaBoxServer.exe). This program runs in the system tray (lower right of
Windows taskbar).
• The iPhone version will see the “BB2Go” folder (c:\bb\BB2Go). Any Band-in-a-Box songs that you put in this
folder are visible to the BB iPhone. You can send files back and forth from BB iPhone to Band-in-a-Box for
Windows, and the files go to the BB2Go folder.
• You can add audio to the Band-in-a-Box files in the BB2Go folder from the Band-in-a-Box Windows menu
with the BB2Go command, and select the files that you want to have MP4/M4A audio added. You can also
generate the audio from the iPhone version.
Note that these features require QuickTime® for Windows® to be installed, which you can download from www.apple.com.
®
version of Band-in-a-Box, available from the Apple App Store. The Band-in-a-Box iPhone
®
, iPod touch®, or iPad
™
. And your iPhone generated songs have the same high
®
, then with the Band-in-a-Box iPhone version you can:
More documentation for the BB iPhone version is available at http://www.pgmusic.com/help100/.
We’ve added a huge number of new RealTracks (101), with great new Jazz, Pop, and Country Styles.
33 New Jazz RealTracks! These include:
• Jazz Swing Piano comping and soloing with NY Jazz great Mike LeDonne.
• Vibes Swing/Bossa comping and soloing with Steve Nelson.
• Gypsy Jazz: John Jorgenson (guitar), Gonzalo Bergara (guitar), Tim Kliphuis (violin), Simon Planting (bass),
and Rick Reed (drums).
• Smooth Jazz Piano Soloing from Jeff Lorber.
• Smooth Jazz Guitar with Dwight Sills.
• Swing Jazz Guitar with Oliver Gannon.
Chapter 3: Band-in-a-Box 2011
29
… and existing Jazz RealTracks have been enhanced with more natural phrasing (more pushes), better playing over
non-Jazz chords (triads), RealCharts notation for some Acoustic Bass parts, and options for “simpler” playing in
some RealTracks. See below for details.
35 New Pop/Rock/Folk RealTracks! These include:
• Celtic (Irish) Jigs and Reels: Guitar, Piano, Bass, Bodhran (percussion).
• Reggae: Guitar, Organ, Bass, Drums.
• Calypso: Guitars (2), Accordion, Bass, Drums.
• Pop Waltz, Hard Rock Waltz, and more.
• Brent Mason Pop/Rock Guitar Soloing (3 styles).
33 New Country RealTracks! These include:
• Praise and Worship: Styles: “Shining” and “Uplifting” - 14 RealTracks (Piano, Synth, Bass, Guitar, Drums).
• Brent Mason Pop/Rock Guitar Soloing (4 styles).
• Tex Mex Styles: “2-beat” and “Country” (Accordion, Bass, Guitar, Drums).
Existing Jazz RealTracks are enhanced.
• Phrasing is improved, with more pushes to sound more natural.
• Playing over non-Jazz chords (triads) is improved.
• RealCharts notation, bass tab, and on-screen bass fretboard now displays for some of the Jazz Swing Acoustic
Bass RealTracks.
• Some styles have better playing over m6 and 6th chords (e.g. the new Gypsy Jazz styles).
• Some RealTracks have a “simpler” variation with less complex playing (e.g. Acoustic Bass Jazz Swing).
Change of RealTracks Styles at any Bar. With previous versions of Band-in-a-Box, you were limited to one
RealTracks style per song. Now you can change styles with RealTracks at any bar. Just select the style in the Edit |
Edit Settings for Current Bar dialog. For example, switch from Jazz Swing to Bossa style at any bar.
MultiStyles (with up to 16 substyles) can now be made with RealTracks.
Change of individual RealTracks instrument can be added to any track at any bar. You can insert a specific
RealTracks instrument at any bar to create a customized performance.
Soloist “Medleys,” where the RealTracks is made to switch instruments every “N” bars or every chorus. For
example, you can add a Bluegrass Medley Soloist that switches between solos from Mandolin, Guitar, Banjo, and
Fiddle every 4 bars. Or a Jazz Medley Soloist that switches between Alto Sax, Trumpet, Piano, and Guitar solos
every chorus. Or insert “Silence” as one of the instruments, which allows you to play your own instrument. Use the
pre-existing Soloist Medleys that we make by simply choosing a RealTracks, or create a custom one yourself on any
track.
Multiple RealTracks at the same time on the same track. You can add up to 10 RealTracks to play
simultaneously on the same track. This is useful if you want to generate a lot of RealTracks, the theoretical limit
would be 7 tracks x 10 per track = 70 RealTracks instruments playing at the same time.
Re-Generate part of a Soloist track, without erasing the existing part. This allows you to customize your
Soloist track by regenerating parts of the solo with the same or different RealTracks. For example, generate a 4-bar
clarinet solo at bar 9. Then generate an 8-bar flute solo at bar 49. The file plays back with both solos intact.
Options to auto-replace MIDI styles with RealTracks styles. If you have made a lot of songs using older MIDI
styles, and would prefer that they play with RealTracks, you can now do this easily by selecting the menu option
Styles | Auto Replace MIDI styles with RealTracks. Then, if you have the needed RealTracks installed, your MIDI
style will be intelligently replaced with a RealTracks style. There is also a manual option to do this on as-needed
basis, disable the feature for a certain song, or to reverse it if you prefer the MIDI style.
“Triple-Time” RealTracks have been added. These allow you to use fast waltz RealTracks as slow 4/4
RealTracks (with a 12/8 feel). We have made some new 12/8 RealStyles that use this feature.
RealTracks can be made as Half-Time/Double-Time/Triple-Time, so it is easier to select them, and they show up
in the RealTracks Picker with tempos indicating when they can be used. For example, Alto Sax, tempo 140 will also
show up in the RealTracks picker as Alto Sax, tempo 70 [Double-Time] so you can easily choose it.
Any RealTracks can be made as a “Bluesy” RealTracks by selecting this checkbox in the RealTracks Picker.
“Bluesy” RealTracks will play more using blues scales (e.g. Bb note on a C chord).
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Chapter 3: Band-in-a-Box 2011
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