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Version 12 for Macintosh
®
OS X
®
®
Copyright 1989-2004 PG Music Inc. All rights reserved.
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PG Music Inc. License Agreement
CAREFULLY READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS AN D CONDITIONS BEFORE COMPLETING
THE INSTALLATION OF THIS SOFTWARE. USAGE OF THE SOFTWARE INDICATES
YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDIT IONS.
LICENSE
A. The program may only be used on a single machine.
B. You m ay transfer the program and license to another party if the other part y ag r ees 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 p r ograms.
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.
The program (including any images, “app lets,” 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 c opyright laws and intern ational treaty provi sions.
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.
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 that is
free of defects in materials or workmanship, you may terminate this agreement, and your
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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 incid ental or consequentia l damages arising out of the use or the
inabilit y t o use such program, even if PG Music Inc. or an authorized PG Music Inc. dealer has b een
advised of the possibility of such damages, or for a ny claim by any other party.
TRADEMARKS
Band-in-a-Box®, PG Music®, and PowerTracks Pro® are the registered trademar ks of PG Music
Inc. in the United States, Canada, and other countries. Mic r osoft® and Windows® are ei ther
registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporati on in the United States and/or other
countries. Apple®, the Apple logo, iMac®, Macintosh®, Mac®, Panther™, Power Mac®,
QuickTime® and True Type® are trademark s of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S . and
other countr ies. Other brands and their products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective holders and should be noted as such.
PATENTS
Band-in-a-Box is pr otected under US Patent 5990407.
Printed in Canada
PG Music Inc. License Agreement 2
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Table of Contents
PG Music Inc. License Agreement 2
Chapter 1: Introduction 6
Chapter 2: QuickStart Tutorial 8
Step 1 – Typing in the Chords............................................................... 8
Step 2 – Choosing a Style.................................................................... 11
Step 3 – Play your song!...................................................................... 12
Chapter 3: Summary of New Features 14
Chapter 4: Guided Tour of Band-in-a-Box 25
Loading and Playing Songs.................................................................25
View and Print Notation......................................................................29
Play the Jukebox.................................................................................. 31
Automatic Songs - “The Melodist”...................................................... 32
Make Your Own Songs........................................................................34
Have Fun!............................................................................................ 39
Chapter 5: The Main Screen 40
Overview of the Main Screen.............................................................. 40
Synth Window / Piano Keyboard ........................................................ 42
Tool Bar...............................................................................................45
Title Window....................................................................................... 46
Chordsheet Area..................................................................................48
Chapter 6: Band-in-a-Box PowerGuide 50
Song Settings.......................................................................................50
The Chordsheet.................................................................................... 55
Table of Contents 3
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Chord Preview/Builder .........................................................................66
MIDI file “Chord Wizard” ...................................................................68
Applying Styles....................................................................................70
Playing, Pausing, and Stopping Songs .................................................72
Changing Volume, Panning, Reverb, Chorus, Bank ............................74
Saving Songs........................................................................................74
Other Edit Functions.............................................................................76
More Preferences – Preferences 2........................................................81
MIDI Setup...........................................................................................85
The JukeBox.........................................................................................90
Chapter 7: Notation and Printing 93
Notation................................................................................................93
Printing...............................................................................................104
Chapter 8: Automatic Music Features 107
Automatic Songs - “The Melodist” ....................................................107
Automatic Solo Generation – “The Soloist” ......................................115
Automatic Guitar Chord Solos – “The Guitarist”...............................120
Chapter 9: Recording Tracks 125
Real Time Recording..........................................................................125
Step Edit Notes...................................................................................127
Entering Notes Manually in the Notation Window............................128
Recording with the Wizard Feature....................................................128
Importing Pre-Recorded MIDI Data...................................................129
Record using The Melodist ................................................................130
Additional Options for Melody/Soloist Track....................................131
Chapter 10: Built-in Drums 139
Animated Drum Kit............................................................................139
Drum Kit Main Window ....................................................................142
Table of Contents 4
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Chapter 11: User Programmable Functions 144
The StyleMaker...............................................................................144
The Harmony Maker.......................................................................... 167
The Soloist Maker..............................................................................173
The Melodist Maker .......................................................................... 176
The Guitarist Maker........................................................................... 181
Chapter 12: Tutors and Wizards 186
MIDI File Chord Wizard................................................................... 186
The Guitarist...................................................................................... 194
Guitar Tutor.......................................................................................198
Chord Substitution Wizard................................................................ 201
Chord Builder....................................................................................205
Chapter 13: CoreMIDI and QuickTime OS X 206
CoreMIDI and QuickTime OS X Tutorial......................................... 206
Chapter 14: Reference 213
Band-in-a-Box Menu Descriptions....................................................213
Song Menu......................................................................................... 226
GS Menu............................................................................................ 249
Keystroke Commands – “Hot Keys”................................................. 254
PG Music Inc. 258
Index 259
Registration Form 267
How to Register................................................................................. 267
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Chapter 1: Introduction
The latest version of Ba nd-in-a-Box for Macintosh is
built for OS X, and adds many new features! This
exciting new version of Band-in-a-Box for Mac intosh
runs “Native” in OS X Jaguar or Panther (version
10.2 or higher recommended) and includes many new
and enhanced features.
Band-in-a-Box version 12 is fully Mac OS X carbonized. We have a huge
number of new and improved Styles, Soloist , Harmonies, and Song Demos,
making your Band-in-a-Box program sound better than ever! P rogram
operations are much faster, including up to 3 times faster notation redraws, song,
and soloing generation. Playback timing is improved and rock-solid with Mac
OS X. You can export your Band-in-a-Box files and import them into Apple’s
GarageBand program for further processing. And we include a great
QuickTime video tutorial, showing you all the newest features in version 12!
The styles have been greatly enhanced – we’ve edited the existing styles, and
made many more styles using the newest features. This automatically makes
your existing songs so und better! New Soloists, Melodists and Harmonies are
now included , ma kin g thi s the best-so unding Band-in-a-Box ever!
The user interface has been enhanced with improved menus, and other
enhancements, giving Band-in-a-Box a much better look in the OS X
environment. Improved OS X 128X128 “high resolution” program and file
icons are also included with this upgrade to enhance the user experience.
Timing has been improved to microsecond accuracy for tighter playback.
MIDI support for Band-in-a-Box 12 for Macintosh now includes CoreMIDI
(for support of external MIDI devices) as well as improved support for
QuickTime Music synthesizers, making it work and sound much better in OS
X. Additional MIDI driver enhancements allow users with controller keyboards
such as the M-Audio Oxygen 8, or the Edirol PCR-1 to play thru the QuickTime
Music synthesizer from their MIDI keyboard.
Other enhanced features include: odd-time signature support (7/8, 11/8 etc.),
maximum n umber of Soloists increased from 256 to 1024, count-in types now
include choice of drum pattern or regular count-in, addition of “low root
harmony” setting to Harmony Edit dialog, “Strauss-in-a-Box” to automatically
transform any 4/4 song to a Waltz 3/4 feel, “De-Strauss” to transform any song
with a 3/4 time signature to a 4/4 feel, StylePicker Dialog enhancements, bass
player plays better “5ths” over some Jazz chords, support for audio and video
memos for songs , options to set the note density in the Soloist and much
more.
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And muc h mo r e …
People familiar with the previous versions of Band-in-a-Box will be pleased to
know that we have kept the same functionality of our previous rel eases. The
new features are optional and don't interfere with familiar methods of using the
program. All songs, styles etc. are completely compatible with previous
versions, so that you can upgrade without losing any o f your existing work.
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Chapter 2: QuickStart Tutorial
Creating music with Band-in-a-Box is as easy as 1-2-3! In this tutorial, you’ll
see just how easy it is to get Band-in-a-B ox making music for you.
Step 1 – Typing in the Chords
There are numerous ways of entering chords into Band-in-a-Box. We’ll discuss
five fast ways of entering chords:
1. Using the Computer Keyboard
2. Playing directly on a MIDI Controller Keyboard
3. Using the Chord Builder
4. Importing Chords from a MIDI file
5. 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 ch ordsheet.
Each of the numbered cells on the chordsheet represents a bar. In this example,
you can see that there is an F6 chord in the first bar of this song. Similarly, one
row down, you can see an F6 chord in bar 5, and later in the song, a G7 in bar 7.
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Notice the box in the first half of bar 1. This is the highlight cell, and it
represents the bar you are currently working on. You can move the highlight
cell around using the cursor keys, or select a specific bar using the mouse.
Enter Chords Using the Computer Keyboard
To enter a specific chord, move the highlight cell to where you want to place the
chord. For example, if you wanted to add (or change) a chord in bar 20, you
would highlight bar 20 on the chordsheet. Next, type in your chords. If you
want an F7 at bar 2, type F and 7 on your keyboard and press return. Notice
that when you use the return key, the highlight cell moves to the second half of
the bar. You could then enter another chord at beat 3. Chords are commonly
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, and Solfeggio.
Enter Chords Using a MIDI Controller Keyboard
If you have a MIDI contro ller keyboard, you can use it t o enter chords into
Band-in-a -Box. First, you must make sure that your cables are p roperly
connected and you have the correct input drivers selected.
If you play a chord on your MIDI keyboard, and then press Ctrl+Return, the
chord will be entered into the chordsheet at the current highlight cell position.
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.
Chord Builder Dialog
To enter a chord at the current bar, select the chord root from the left pane, and
then the extension on the right pane. Pressing [Enter Chord ___] enters the
chord and advances the highlight cell to the next half bar.
Import Chords from a MIDI File
You can have Band-in-a-Box import chords from an existing MIDI file. Choose
File | Import Chords from MIDI File on the File menu, or use the keystrokes
Ctrl+Option+I, to open the Chord Wizard dialog.
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Chord Wizard Dialog
When the Chord Wizard dialog opens, press the [Open (Change)…] button to
choose the 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 can choose a preset for
the song. Choose from among such genres as Pop, Rock, or Jazz Standard.
Loading an existing Band-in-a-Box format song
Press the [song] button. The first time you use this button, Bandin-a-Box will offer to build a song list for you. We’ve included many demo
songs for you to use, and they are listed in the song list.
You could also load a pre-existing song by using the File | Open song… menu
item, or by pressing the F3 function key, which will launch the familiar
Macintosh file dialog. Note that most songs will automatically load a “Style,”
which we’ll learn about in the next section.
Going to the next step …
Now that you have chords on your chord sheet, you are ready to move on to step
number two.
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Step 2 – Choosing a Sty le
Band-in-a-Box creates backing arrangements based on the chords you type in,
applied to 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 that are
appropriate for everything from Country to Bebop. Some style examples would
be 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. Making custom
styles with the StyleMaker is explained in detail in the full documentation.
Four Fast ways to Open a Style
Method 1: From Disk
To open a user style from disk, you can just type the F9 key. You will be
presented with the familiar Macintosh file dialog from which you can select a
specific style from the Styles folder.
Method 2: The StylePicker
You can use the StylePicker window to select your style.
Select the [Style] button above the chordsheet, or type
Ctrl+F9 on your computer keyboa rd.
The StylePicker
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Selecting a Style using the StylePicker.
This window shows styles listed by Styles Set number, and by genre. 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. Styles with a similar feel
and tempo range to the current selection (prototype) are marked with an (*)
asterisk. These styles are possible substitutes for the prototype. Styles marked
with a (^) caret symbol are similar in feel but have a different tempo range. The
style of your song can be changed at any bar by pressing the F5 key to launch
the Edit Bar Settings dialog.
Method 3: Favorites
Styles that you’ve used previously show up in the Favorite Styles dialog.
Choose this from the menu User | Load Favorite Styles… or type Shift+F9 on
your computer keyboard, or click on the [f] button to the left of the [.STY]
StylePicker button. You can choose to save a Favorites set for use later. You
can also load a set of favorite styles this way.
Method 4: Quick Pick
You can choose from among the
24 “built-in” styles. This list
provides a quick way to choose
from among the most popular
music genres.
Step 3 – Play your song!
We’ve entered chords on the chordsheet and chosen a style. Now it’s time to
play the song! First we need to tell Band-in-a-Box how long our song is, how
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many times we want the program to play through the chords, in what key and
how fast.
Framing the Song
To tell Band-in-a-Box where the start and end of the song is, we look at the
middle of the Band-in-a-Box main screen.
Locate the framing settings, there are three of them. The numbers (1 -32) in
brackets are the bar numbers for the beginning and the end of the Chorus. The
number 3 to the right of the brackets is the number of times the Chorus repeats.
In the example above, the Chorus starts at bar 1, ends on bar 32, and is going to
play 3 times. You can change these settings to play more choruses, or make the
Chorus start later, for example in the case where you want an intro to play.
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 F. If you do
change the key, Band-in-a-Box will offer to transpose the chordsheet for you.
This is especially useful when loading in new songs and transposing them to
other keys. If you’ve entered a progression that you i nt end for a particular key,
and then choose the key afterward, you should say no when asked to transpose
the chordsheet.
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 key [-] and the equals key [=] in the number
row of your c omputer ke yboard, they are usually ne xt to each other. If you tap
the [-] key 4 times at your tempo, Band-in-a-Box will set the tempo
automatically for you. If you tap the [=] key four times, Band-in-a-Box will set
the tempo and begin song playback!
Press Play
When you’re ready, just press the [Play] button or the F4 function key a nd
Band-in-a-Box will immediately generate and play a professional arrangement
of your song using the setti ngs and the style you selected.
Having more fun with Band-in-a-Box.
That’s all there is to quickly creating music with Band-in-a-Box. There are also
many powerful features and user settings for you to discover. Have fun making
music with Band-in-a-Box!
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Chapter 3: Summary of New Features
New Features in Band-in-a-Box Version 12 for Macintosh OS X…
All New 32-bit PPC Carbonized Engine.
Previous ver sions of Band-in-a-Box were 68K code, which req uired translati on
by the processor to operate on newer Macs. The new program is rebuilt with a
32-bit-clean carbonized PPC engine, so that it runs natively in OS X. Program
operations are much faster, including up to 3 times faster notation redraws, song
and soloing generation. Playback timing is improved and rock-solid with Mac
OS X.
Odd-Time Signature Support.
Previous versions of Band-in-a-Box supported only X/4 time signatures, but
now we’ve added support for odd-time signatures like 9/8, 11/8, 13/16, 19/16,
etc. The count-in and the style plays in the odd-time signature feel, and you can
change time signatures during the song.
Note: The notation window still displays/edits these odd-time signatures in 4/4, but
the styles all play/sound correctly.
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Example of odd-time signature support:
Load in a demo song like Songs: 11_8_Pop.MGU.
This loads in the “11/8 Pop” Style.
When you press Play, you’ll hear a count-in in 11/8 time.
The 11/8 time signature is stored within the style, so you can switch at any bar
to a 4/4 style, and the song will change time signatures easily. Also, if you
change from a 4/4 style to an 11/8 style, the Melody will still stay nicely in time
with the bars.
With the pro version we include 5/4, 7/8, 24/16, and 11/8 time signatures. There
are 20 more available on the “About Time” Styles disk #38. There is also an
“About Time Video” available that demonstrates using odd time signatures in
BB, and how to “count” in odd-time signature styles.
Maximum Number of Soloists increased
Maximum Number of Soloists increased to 1,024 (from 256), and new
Soloists added. The previous limit of soloists was 256, and we had already
defined 253 of them! We’ve now increased this limit to 1,024, and have added
new soloists. The default Soloist file for the OS X version of Band-i n-a-Box is
now called Default_OS X.SOL. (the OS9 version is called DEFAULT.SOL)
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New Count-In Options
“Count-in” can be Drum Patterns instead of “1-2-1234.” There is a new
option in Preferences to select count-in type. You can specify to have Ba nd-ina-Box play 2 bars of a drum pattern instead of the count-in. You may prefer
hearing the drum beat to a simple count-in, since it provides more information
about the upcoming groove. If you’r e playing with Band-in-a-Box live on a
“dance floor,” this setting is a great way to avoid “dead air” between songs, and
keep the drumbeat going. Includes options to have “a” or “b” drum fills or
patterns play for the 2 bars.
To set this, choose Prefs | CountIn, and set Lead-in Type to one of “b” substyle
fills/ “a” substyle fills/ or fill-pattern or pattern-pattern combinations.
Harmony – Low Root Feature.
The Harmony Edit dialog now has settings for “low root harmony” which adds a
voice that plays the root of the chord. This is useful for a cappella or baritone
sax harmonies, where the lowest voice is playing the bass roots. You can set the
low-high range. The root played will always be at least one octave from the
melody note (assuming it can still be inside the set lo w/high range). We incl ude
many harmonies that are preset to use this low root harmony feature. They are
in the range starting at harmony #153.
The Harmony Edit dialog now has settings for “low root harmony” which adds a
voice that plays the root of the chord. This is useful for a cappella harmonies
where the lowest voice is playing the bass roots. You can set the low-high
range. The root played will always be at least one octave from the melody note
(assuming it can still be inside the set low-high range).
You can edit a ny harmony to add a low root harmony by pressing Edit H armony
(on the Harmony selection dialog), and then selecting “Low Root” and then
inputting the range of acceptable notes for the low root voice, and a velocity
boost if applicable.
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Strauss-in-a-Box
Transform 4/4 Melody to a Waltz 3 /4 (“Strauss-in-a-Box”).
You can now automatically transform any 4/4 song/melody to a Waltz 3/4 feel.
Simply load in any 4/4 song and change the style to a Waltz style. The program
will offer to transform the melody so that it works as a Waltz (or choose the
added menu item Melody-Edit-Utilities-Transform to 3/4). This function is
referred to as “Strauss” in honor of Johann Strauss – the famous Waltz
composer. It is fun and educational to hear and play familiar songs in a Waltz
feel. Band-in-a-Box uses intelligent algorithms to transform the melody to the
new time signature.
To use this feature, load in any song in 4/4 time. Then load in a Waltz style. If
there’s a Melody (or Soloist) present, you’ll be asked if it’s OK to change the
Melody from 4/4 to 3/4. If you click YES to that, the transformation will occur
and you can listen to the Melody in 3/4 time.
If you click NO to the offer to transform the Melody, you can still convert it
later by choosing Melody | Edit | Utilities | Transform 4/4 to 3/4. Note that if
you choose the manual command, the Melody prior to transformation should
have 8 beats before bar 1 beat 1 of the Melody begins (as it normally would in a
4/4 style)
Transform “Waltz” Melody to 4/4 (“De-Strauss” the Melody.)
If you have a song with a 3/4 time signature, you can now instantly hear it as a
4/4 feel. Simply load the Waltz song and then change the style to a 4/4 style.
Band-in-a-Box will prompt you to transform the melody to a 4/4 feel and will
then will change the melody. There’s also a dedicated menu item for this,
Melody-Edit-Utilities-Transform to 4/4. Band-in-a-Box uses intelligent
algorithms to transform the melody to the new time signature. (Note: If loading
from the StylePicker window, you need to have “Prompt w/p review” for t he
prompt option to appear.)
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To use this feature, load in any song in 3/4 time. Then load in a 4/4 style. If
there’s a Melody (or Soloist) present, you’ll be asked if it’s OK to change the
Melody from 3/4 to 4/4. If you click YES to that, the transformation will occur
and you can listen to the Melody in 4/4 time.
If you click NO to the offer to transform the Melody, you can still convert it
later by choosing Melody | Edit | Utilities | Transform 3/4 to 4/4. Note that if
you choose the manual command, the Melody prior to transformation should
have 6 beats before bar 1 beat 1 of the Melody begins (as it normally would in a
3/4 style)
Bass player plays better “5ths
Bass player plays better “5ths” over some Jazz chords. Band-in-a-Box’s
bass player was playing some natural 5ths over some chords like C7 altered or
others. Now, after a discussion with some bass players, we’ve improved Bandin-a-Box so that the bass part plays the #5 or b5 correctly on these Jazz chords.
Load Previous Style, Load Next Style.
This function, (analogous to the Load Next Song function) loads in the previous
(or next) style in alphabetical order of the file name. To load the next style, in
alphabetical order, choose the menu item File | File Utilities | Load Next Style,
or use the hot key Command+Shift+F8 (Control+Command+Shift+F8 for the
previous style ).
“Chase Volumes” added for playback.
For files that include volume change events (Controller 7). Band-in-a-Box will
locate the most recent volume control information that is prior to the current
location in the song. Band-in-a-Box will then send this volume control
information at the start of playback.
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Drum count-in options
Option to hear the drum count-in even if the drums are muted or disabled.
This is great for drummers who play along with Band-in-a-Box and mute the
drum track. Previously, when the drum track was muted or disabled in a song,
the count-in drum click wouldn't play. Now there's an option to play the drum
count-in in all circumstances. To set this option, choose Edit | Preferences and
set “Lead-in drum count if drums muted” to true (default is true).
StylePicker Enhancements.
There is a new filter to display only the styles of a certain styles set number,
as well as displaying the full descriptive name of the styles set. The li mit o f
number of styles has been increased (to 4,800) to accommodate the large
number of third party styles developed for Band-in-a-Box. The window size
has been increased, providing more space for the category descriptions. A
new “Show All” button removes any filter set.
There is a new filter to display only the styles of a certain Styles Set number, as
well as displaying the name of the Styles Set. To select this, open the
StylePicker, and choose “Only Show Styles Set #.” When you pick Styles Set #,
you can then see only that Styles Set listed, regardless of the category you are in.
The limit of number of styles in the StylePicker has been increased to 4, 800 to
accommodate the large number of third party styles developed for Band-in-aBox. The window size has been increased, providing more space for the
category descriptions.
Technical note: The Styles list file is called BBM.LST for the OS X version and
BBW.LST for the OS9 and prior versions.
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StylePicker Dialog “show all” button
StylePicker Dialog “show all” button added which removes any
filter set.
Mono/Stereo menu options
Mono/Stereo menu options are available to easily switch all parts to mono or
stereo. Also, if your current settings are mono, the program will offer to convert
to stereo when you exit the MIDI Driver selection dialog. On the GS Menu, see
the dedicated menu items to set to Mono or Stereo.
Video and Audio Memo support
You can add an audio (MP3) or video (QuickTime) memo to your Band-in-aBox song. These are prepared outside of the program, but can be associated with
the song by using a similar filename to the song (see technical note). Several of
PG Music’s new “101 Series” programs include these audio and video memos.
For example, there are video guitar memos that demonstrate “advanced Jazz
guitar comping” showing video examples corresponding to the MIDI guitar
examples in the Band-in-a-Box song.
When a song has an Audio memo, an “Audio Memo”
button appears on-screen below the “Memo” button.
When a song has a Video memo, a “Video Memo”
button appears on-screen below the “Memo” button.
Technical notes: To add an audio memo to a song called “My Song.MGU,” put
the memo as a MP3 in the same folder as the song, naming it My
Song_AudioMemo.MP3. To add a video memo to a song called “My Song.MGU,”
put the memo as a .MOV in the same folder as the song, naming it My
Song_VideoMemo_3.MP3.
Soloist “Note-Density” option.
Now you can control the maximum number of notes per quarter note that the
soloist will use. For example, you can set a “Rock Guitar” Soloist to use nothing
shorter than 16th notes. This will produce fewer “guitar hero” solos with bursts
of 32nd notes, etc. Or you could create a jazz solo that uses only quarter notes or
longer to help with your sight-readi ng or student study. We’ve already modified
many of the soloists using this new setting, so your solos will already sound
better without you having to change this setting.
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For example, Soloist 188 is edited so that it will play at most 5 notes per beat.
Dedicated menu items added on GM Menu
Dedicated menu items added on GM Menu for “Turn Local On,” “Turn
Local Off,” and “When program quits, turn local on.”
“Local” refers to sounds generated by playing on an external MIDI keyboard, if
set to “off,” Band-in-a-Box will play the keyboard via the THRU part, if set to
ON, both Band-in-a-Box and the keyboard might be playing the same THRU
part.
The GS Menu has been re-designed, with many items added, and a separate
pull down menu added for the Master Volume Adjust options.
Note: Most of the items on these sub-menus have hotkeys, and it is easier to
access them quickly using the hotkeys.
New Hot Keys
These hotkeys are slightly different than previous versions, and are now the
same as the Windows versio n.
− Ctrl+Shift+Q and Ctrl+Shift+W change the volume of the current part.
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− Ctrl+Shift and E/R change the Reverb,
− Ctrl+Shift T/Y changes the Chorus,
− Ctrl+Shift U/I changes the Pan,
− Ctrl+Shift O/P changes the Bank.
Configuration Files
Band-in-a-Box stores its preferences files in the main Band-in-a-Box folder.
These are the configuration files for the OS X version. The names in brackets
are the names of the same files under OS9. It is possible to run the Band-in-aBox OS 9 version from the same folder as the OS X version, so the
configuration file names are slightly different. These configuration files have
different names in OS X than previo us version of Band-in-a -Box.
• Intrface_OS X.BBW (OS9 name was Intrface.BBW) This file stores
the many Band-in-a-Box program preferences
• Band-in-a-Box Preferences_OS X (OS9 name was Band-in-a-Box
Preferences) This file stores the name and information of the currently
selected MIDI Driver (e.g. QuickTime or CoreMIDI)
• BBM.LST (in OS9 was BBW.LST). This text file stores the styles list
for the StylePicker.
• Default_OS X.SOL (OS9 name was Default.SOL) This stores the
Soloist names.
These configuration files have the same names in OS X as they did in previous
versions of Band-in-a-Box
• Default.HAR, Default.GIT, Default.MEL (same names in OS9).
These store the Harmony, Guitar and Melodist names.
• MySetup.DK (Same name in OS9) This file stores the drum kit, patch
map information.
• DefaultM.Ali (Same name in OS9). This file stores the names of style
aliases used.
If you want to reset Band-in-a-Box to default settings, you can erase the 3 files
Intrface_OS X.BBW, Band-in-a-Box Preferences_OS X, and MySetup.DK.
It is easy to find these files, from the Finder, sort by date and they will likely be
the most recently written files to the Band-in-a-Box folder.
About Hot Key Names on the Menus
When hotkeys are listed on the menus, we now use the OS X-recommended
symbols. For example, the picture shown here is from the Finder menu.
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This represents the command key.
The up arrow is for the Shift key.
This represents the Option Key.
The caret symbol represents the
^
Control key.
New Program Hints Added
Band-in-a-Box supports the OS X style hint tags (“yellow windows”) that
appear when you hold your mouse over a button, menu item, or dialog item. In
addition, if you hold the Command key down, a “Long hint” will appear with
additional information.
The hints are configurable inside Band-ina-Box, in the Edit | Prefs 2 dialog, there are
settings to control length of time before the
hint appears, whether you’d like long hints
to be the default display, and enabling of
hints overall and in the dialogs.
…and many more!
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Let's check out Styles Set #38
Note: Styles Set #38: If you ordered Band-in-a-Box 12 as an upgrade, the
package includes Styles Set #38: About Time. (This is not one of the
styles disks that are included in the first time purchase unless you order
the MegaPAK.)
If you have t he first time version of Band-in-a-B ox and don' t have a Bandin-a-Box Folder: #38 Style Demos folder, use the \BB\SOLODEMO
directory of Band-in-a-Box for this example.
To try out the new styles from Styles Set #38, press the OPEN button and load
in a song (e.g., from Band-in-a-Box Folder: #38 Style Demos).
Once you have a song loaded in, the directory will be set to the styles demo.
Then you can simply press the SONG button to see a full list of the songs.
Press the Jukebox button to hear all of the styles demonstrated, one after
another.
There are 20 new “About Time” styles in Styles Set #38.
11_8_EV.STY 11/8 even 8ths style
11_8_POP.STY 11/8 meter Pop style
13_8_POP.STY 13/8 meter Pop style
14_8_JAZ.STY 14/8 Jazz style
15_16POP.STY 15/16 meter Pop style
19_16_44.STY 19/16 meter & 16/16 meter style
2416VISH.STY 24/16 Vishnu - Jazz/Rock (Fusion) style
54_EVEN.STY Even 5/4 meter style
54_FSTRK.STY 5/4 fast 60s style Rock style
54_SWING.STY 5/4 meter with Swing based 8th notes style
58_28_38.STY Even 5/8 meter style
58_78POP.STY 5/8_7/8 Pop style
68_BOSSA.STY 6/8 Bossa style
68_JAZZ1.STY 6/8 meter (Swing 8) Jazz style
78_CTRY.STY Country/Pop style in 7/8 meter style
78_POP.STY Pop 7/8 meter style
78_ROCK.STY 7/8 Rock style
98_4_5.STY 9/8 meter style
98_JAZZ1.STY Jazz Style in 9/8 meter
98_ROCK.STY 9/8 Rock style
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Chapter 4: Guided Tour of Band-in-a-Box
You can arrange, record, save, and print your own song ideas with Band-in-aBox. Just type in the chords to any song; choose a style and press [Play] to hear
the “band” play a full arrangement. Have some fun by changing to different
styles. For e ven more fun record a MI DI Melody – or have Band-in-a-Box write
a Melody for you. Add Harmony, an automatically improvised Soloist, an Intro,
and print out a lead sheet and play along.
Loading and Playing Songs
To play an existing Band-in-a-Box song here’s all you need t o do:
Open any song file with the familiar file dialog.
Start song playback.
Stop song playback.
Pause the song with the [Hold] button; resume by pressing it again.
Jump to any bar in the song. Press the [From] button to choose
which chorus and bar number to jump to.
The [Song] button opens a list of all of the songs in the current
directory.
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The first time that you select the [Song] button Band-in-a-Box automatically
writes the song list. From then on, the song list opens when the [Son g] button i s
selected. Check “Play when selected” to automatically play the song selected.
For even more fun, play along with the band! Once you have selected a song,
you’ll see the chords in the chordsheet, so it’s easy to read and play along.
Play along with your MIDI Controller Keyboard
If you have an external MIDI keyboard controller connected to your computer
system, you can use the MIDI THRU features to play along with the program.
Harmonize your play along part by pressing the [T] button in the synth
window to choose a Thru harmony, just as you would for the Melody part.
Change the Style
The hundreds of musical styles availa ble for Ba nd-in-a-Box include lot s of
variations for any style you choose. You can even use several styles in the same
song by pressing the F5 function key on the computer to open the “Edit Bar
Settings” dialog to change the style at any bar.
Try different styles by clicking on the [.STY] button to choose
from the StylePicker. Styles that are in a similar feel to the
prototype will be indicated with an (*) asterisk. These would be styles that have
the same feel (triplets/ eighth/ sixteenths) and a similar tempo range. Styles that
have a similar feel but a different tempo range are marked by a (^) caret symbol.
Choose the “Show Styles Filter” to d isplay all styles, or only styles that match
the prototype partially or fully.
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Change the Sound
Band-in-a-Box has several instrument parts - Bass, Piano, Drums, Guitar, Solo,
Strings, Melody, and Thru. You can change patches on any part.
The easiest way to change patches on a part is to select the part by clicking on
the desired part to change.
Click on the Instrument Panel box. You will then see a menu of 128 instrument
names. This list is the General MIDI patch list. Scroll down the list to find the
patch that you want .
Or click on the numbered buttons below the Instrument Panel box to choose
from the 10 most common instruments chosen for that particular part.
If you have a General MID I module, or any of the uni ts that have a patch file for
higher banks (*.PAT file) listed for them, then press the '+' button on the main
screen to choose the .PAT file from the Synthkits folder.
This is an especially useful feature if you have a synthesizer or sound source that
has patches on higher banks beyond the basic 128 General MIDI instruments.
The window that appears when you click on this button looks like this:
This will provide you with a list of all the patches available to you by name on
the left, and where the patch is located (patch #, bank) on the right.
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Add a Melody
Band-in-a-Box is much more than an arranger and accompanist.
You can also record your live MIDI performance to the
Melody track, enter a Melody in the Notation note-by-note,
or use the Wizard to record from your computer keyboard.
Enable the Embellisher, and the Melody will be embellished
as it is played so that you hear a more lively and realistic
Melody - and it's different every time. The Embellisher is
only active while the music is playing; it doesn't permanently
affect the Melody track.
Harmonize the Melody
Press the [M] button in the
song title line to add a
harmony to the Melody track.
The Select Melody
Harmony dialog box allows
you to choose from any of the
pre-defined harmonies and
even allows you to define
your own.
Play along with the Wizard
The Wizard is an intelligent play along feature that is controlled
with the bottom two rows your computer’s QWERTY keyboard. The bottom
row of keys plays chord tones, the second row plays passin g tones - you play
any key in either row and never make a mistake!
Add a Solo
That’s right! Band-in-a-Box can “solo like a pro” in over 200 styles.
Use the [Solo] button on the main screen to open the Select
Soloist dialog box and choose from over 200 Soloist profiles.
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Use the preset Soloist settings, or choose your own Solo Mode and the Choruses
where you want a solo. The Soloist Maker [Edit…] button gives access to the
advanced settings in the Soloist Editor where you can edit existing profiles or
create new Soloists of your own.
To see the Soloist part play in standard music notation open the
Notation window and press the [S] button at the far right of the
instrument buttons.
Notation window showing Soloist part.
View and Print Notation
Open the Notation window with the Notation button. You
will see standard notation on the grand staff.
Standard Notation Window
Click on the instrument buttons to see the notation for
the different parts, the Melody [M], or the Soloist [S].
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Band-in-a-Box Stand ard Notation window.
The Standard Notation window is for notation display and the entry of chords.
Just type a chord name and it will be inserted at the current time line location.
The time line is the black vertical stripe just below the notation tool bar.
Toggle between Standard, Editable, and Staff Roll notation
modes with the [N] button.
Press the [Opt.] button to set Notation windo w options such as
resolution, chord position, split point, transpose options and
more.
Print out any part with the [Print] button. Pressing this button
opens the Print Options dialog where print settings are made.
Editable Notation Mode
Click on the [N] button to go from Standard Notation to Editable Notation
mode. Chords can be entered as in the Standard Notation window, the Editable
Notation mode also permits point-and -click entry of notes and rests as well as
drag-and-drop editing.
Band-in-a-Box Editable Notation window.
This is the screen for step-entry of a melody or for editing existing parts. Note
that each beat is sub-divided by either 3 or 4 broken vertical lines.
- Swing styles use 3 lines to divide each beat into eighth note swing triplets.
- Straight styles use 4 lines to divide each beat into sixteenth notes.
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Swing (triplet) Resolution
Tip: Edits you make to Band-in-a-Box instrument parts will be overwritten when the [Play]
button is pressed and the program generates a new arrangement. To hear your edits use
the [Replay] button to play the song without regenerating the parts. Edited instrument parts
can be permanently saved to a MIDI file with the [.MID] button. The Melody and Soloist
tracks aren't affected, only the instrument parts generated by the program.
Straight (sixteenths) Resolution
Play the Jukebox
Use the
songs. Click the [Juke] butt on to open the Juke Box Options dialo g.
You’ll see a list of options that lets you control how the songs in the chosen
directory are played. When you have chosen the options you want, click [PLAY
JUKE BOX] to play all the songs in the selected directory folder.
Jukebox for continuous playback of a list of Band-in-a-Box
Use the Preview feature to automatically audition a complete directory of songs
by playing a part of each song and then moving on to the next one, or use the [<]
and [>] cursor buttons to navigate manually through the list of juke box songs.
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Automatic Songs - “The Melodist”
Feel like composing a brand new song?
With Band-in-a-Box you can compose a new song, in the style of your choice
complete with intro, chords, melody, arrangement and improvisations, all
created by the program! All you have to do is pick from one of the Melodists
and press [OK] - the program then automatically generates the intro, chords,
melody, and arrangement in the chosen style. It even auto-generates a title!
You can go from nothing to a completed song in less than 1 second! Once the
song is generated, the chords and melody are part of the regular Band-in-Box
tracks, so may be edited, printed, and saved as with any other song!
You can also auto-regenerate any part of a song and modify it to suit you. The
Melodist will also generate a melody over an existing chord progression. A
Melodist “Juke Box” mode creates and performs new compositions in
succession.
Aside from the compositional values of the Melodist, the features can be used as
a powerful practicing aid - improving sight reading by reading the melodies
generated in various keys, and ear training - improving your “ear” by playing
along with the chord progressions in the generated songs.
Launching the Melodist
To launch the Melodist, press the [Melodist] button on the
main screen, or use the Shift+F5 hot keys.
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Import A MIDI File
With the amazing Band-in-a-Box Chord Wizard, you can convert any MIDI file
into a Band-in-a-Box song, complete with Melody and Solo parts.
MIDI File Chord Interpretation Wizard
Many people who play music by ear think of songs in terms of “Chords and
Melody.” However many MIDI files lack chord symbols, so they become
difficult to learn without the user having to figure out the chords in a time
consuming process.
Now you can open up any MIDI file in Band-in-a-Box, and Band-in-a-Box will
automatically figure out the chords of the song for you. It automatically
analyzes the MIDI file, figures out where the Bass, Piano, Melody, and other
tracks are, and then figures out the chord changes for the song. The chords are
written onto the Band-in-a-Box chordsheet like any other song. This allows you
to quickly learn how to play a song from a MIDI file - just read it into Band-ina-Box and you'll see the chord symbols, and then learn the melody! You can
also read tracks into the Melody and Soloist tracks.
To import the chords from a MIDI file, blank the chordsheet, by choosing File |
New. Then select the menu item File | Import Chords from MIDI File or press
the keystrokes (Ctrl+Option+I). This launches the Chord Wizard dialog.
“Chord Wizard” M IDI fil e interpretation dialog.
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Select your MIDI file to import with the [Open (Change)…] button. The Chord
Wizard will automatically detect the settings for your song, choosing a Preset
will help the Chord Wizard make the correct choices for the type of song you
are importing.
Make Your Own Songs
Now that yo u know how much fun it is to play music with Band-in-a-Box,
you’ll be pleased to see how easy it is to make songs of your own. This section
shows you how to make a new song, with ste p-by-step i nstructions from start to
finish.
Start with a clean sheet. Use either the menu command File | New or Edit |
Clear Lead sheet, or the keystro kes Cmd+N to blank the chordsheet.
Name the song. Enter the title of the song by clicking in the title area.
Select the Key
Click on the key select list and change the key of your song
instantly. Click on “YES” to the “OK to transpose Lead sheet? ”
prompt and Band-in-a-Box will automatically transpose the entire
song.
Type in the chords
The chords we will enter are F for 1/2 a bar, Bb for 1/2 a
bar, and C7 for a bar.
Mouse click on the first cell in the chordsheet and type in the chord symbol.
The chord name will appear in the chord box. Press the return key to enter the
chord on the chordsheet and advance the chord cell ½ bar. To enter two chords
in a chord cell, type the chord names separated by a comma, e.g., f,bb. Continue
until the song is complete.
This song wil l have no intro, and the chorus will be 32 bars long. The
chordsheet we want to end up with will look something li ke this:
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Copying and pasting a section of chords
Since many songs repeat the same sequence of chords throughout, a faster
method to enter a song into Band-in-a-Box is to COPY and PASTE the
repeating chords.
Highlight a section of chords by dragging the mouse over them while holding
the left mouse button. The area will be blackened/highlighted.
Press Cmd+C, or select the Edit | Copy menu item. The highlighted area will
be copied to the clipboard. It can then be pasted back into the chordsheet at any
location, and reused as many times as you like.
Move the highlight cell to the bar that you want to paste the chords into, using
the arrow keys or the mouse.
Paste the copied section with press Cmd+V command, or select the Edit | Paste
menu item. The chords will then appear at the new location.
Choose a Style
The Style Picker window allows easy selection of Styles by Category, Full
Style Title, Memo, and examples of songs that work in that style. This list may
be printed out. For example, you can select Jazz styles, and see all the Jazz
styles in Band-in-a-Box displayed. Then you can select a style such as
GARNER.STY and see a full title, description of the style and examples of
songs appropriate to the style. You won’t have to go “h unting” for the style you
want any more. This information may be printed out.
You get to the StylePicker window by pressi ng the [.STY]
button or Ctrl+F9. This launches the StylePicker window.
Choose the “Show Styles Filter” to d isplay all styles, or only styles that match
the prototype partially or fully.
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Category List: Use the Category list on the left to select a style category (Jazz /
Pop etc.) or a style set. Click on the list to choose.
Style List: Once chosen, you’ll see the list of styles available in that category or
style set. You’ll see the name of the style, and the file name for the style.
Memo and Examples: Click on a style to see a memo for the song, a list of
songs that co ul d be played using that style, and the suggested tempo range.
Double click on the style name to exit the dialog, and load the style.
If you have a dded new styles to Band-i n-a-Box the n you
can re-build this list.
This allows you to print the styles list. It copies the list
to the clipboard. Then you open up your favorite word
processor (like Word for Mac, or BB Edit). Inside your
word processor , select File | Print and print the list.
The Search button helps yo u find data in any of the
fields.
Frame the song
Here we have selected bar one to be the first bar
of the chorus and bar 32 to be the last. The
chorus will repeat three times before proceeding
to the two bar ending.
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Set the Tempo
Let’s set the tempo to 160 beats per minute. The tempo is displayed in
the song title window with a default setting of 120 beats per minute.
Click with the mouse to adjust the tempo in increments of 5 beats per minute.
Clicking on the top of the numbers increases the tempo setting, clicking on the
bottom decreases it. The tempo can also be typed into the Main Settings dialog,
which opens from the me nu Song | Title/Key/Tempo/Embel…, or with the
keystrokes Cmd +K. You can click 4 times on the metronome in this dialog to
set your tempo.
Tap the Tempo
Not sure of the tempo for your song? Tap it in real time on either the [-] key or
the [=] key o n your computer keyboard. Four taps on the minus key sets the
tempo, four taps on the equal key sets the tempo and starts the song playing.
Finishing the Song Arrangement
Use the powerful musical intelligence of features like the Harmonies and the
Soloist to add the final touches to your song. The Edit Bar Settings dialog (F5
function key) lets you fine-tune your arrange ment by changing patches, styles,
harmonies, tempo, and meter anywhere in the song.
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Record a Melody
Band-in-a-Box has 2 built-in sequencer tracks so you can record and edit your
own melodies or solos. These tracks are recorded from a MIDI keyboard (or
other MIDI controller) connected to Band-in-a-Box by your MIDI driver.
Press the [Rec] button to begin recording. This launches
the Record Track dialog box.
You can punch in, overdub, and record directly to the ending or the tag, and use
the filter to choose which MIDI events are recorded.
Pressing the [Record] button will start Band-in-a-Box recording what you play
on the Thru track. An audible count is played in prior to recording.
Once you have completed recording your melody Band-in-a-Box will ask you if
you would like to keep the take and if you would like to copy the recorded
chorus to the whole song.
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Tip: Looking for inspiration? At the click of a button, the Band-in-a-Box Melodist will write
completely new songs from scratch, complete with Chords, Intro, Melody, Sol o, Ending,
and even an original Title. Or you can enter your own chord changes and let the Melodist
create a new melody over them. There are more than 100 Jazz, Pop, Rock, Latin, Country,
and Classical melody styles.
Adding Lyrics to your song
Click on the [Lyrics] button in the toolbar to open the lyrics window.
Use the cursor arrows to move down and enter your lyrics a line at a time. Two
lines of lyrics are displayed while the song is playing, and the lyrics are
highlighted as the highlight cell moves across the chordsheet.
Congratulations!
Now you know how to produce a complete song arrangement in Band-in-a-Box
with a Melody, Solo, Harmonies, and Lyrics; either from scratch or from an
imported MIDI file. You can print out clean lead sheet notation, complete with
chord symbols. And you can save your song in MIDI form for playback from
your computer or over the Internet, or to send as an e-mail attachment. You’re
on your way to makin g lots o f grea t musi c wi th Ba nd-in-a-B ox.
Have Fun!
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Chapter 5: The Main Screen
Overview of the Main Screen
Here is the main screen of Band-in-a-Box, as it looks after you load in a song.
1. The Status Bar is used to show the program running status (i.e.
playback, paused, etc.) and the name of the song at the top of the
screen.
2. The Synth Window is the area between the Status Bar and the Piano
Keyboard where instrument patches are set and levels are adjusted.
This area also includes buttons for Band-in-a-Box plug-ins.
3. The Tool Bar area under the piano keyboard has buttons for program
controls and for direct access to important program features and menus.
4. The Title Window displays song information including the title, te mpo,
style, key, chorus, and harmony settings.
5. The Chordsheet area occupies the lower part of the screen. Chord
changes for the song are typed into the numbered bars (cells) in the
sheet. “a” and “b” part markers are entered here to switch between the
“a” and “b” Band-in-a-Box substyles.
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Status Bar
The first thing to note is that the name of the song that is open is identified in the
window title at the top of the screen. This feature is handy when you want to
know the status (and the title) of your song at a glance. You'll also see the
length of the song in minutes and seconds, this upda tes if you cha nge the tempo
and press the [Play] button.
Plug-ins
To launch the Dr u ms Windo w , click the Drums button, or choose the
GM – Drum Kit Window option. Once you do that, the Drums Window
will display. This is an animated display of a complete GM drum kit.
To launch the Guitar window, press the Guitar button, or
Control+Shift+G or choose the menu item Notation | Guitar Window.
This launches the Generate Chords for Intro (or Remove Intro) dialog
to create a chord progression that is inserted as an intro to the song.
Click on the Song Title button to create a new title for the current song.
The title will appear in the Title Window area of the screen.
Press the PG button to get to the www.pgmusic.com web site. T his uses
your Internet Explorer or Netscape program as the browser.
Click on the Event List Editor button to launch the List Edit dialog,
which lets you edit the individual MIDI events on a track from a list.
(The Event List Editor is not present in the OS X version, though it
should get added in the future.)
Click on the Tuner Button to launch t he Guitar Tuner. Plug your guitar
into the microphone or line-in and this plug-in will tune your guitar. Also
works with the microphone input for any other instrument.
(The Tuner is not present in the OS X version, though it should get added
in the future.)
The note but ton opens the Notation window to view and print notat io n
for any part. There are also Editable Notation and Staff Roll Notation
views.
The speaker button opens the Audio Levels dialog where master volume
settings can be adjusted. (Not present in the OS X version.)
The grace note button opens the Melody Embellisher dialog where
settings are made for live embellishment during playback.
Click this button to launch the Chord Builder dialog where you can
preview chords, roots, and extensions and send them to the chordsheet.
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Synth Window / Piano Keyboard
The Piano Keyboard
This keyboard displays the notes that are being played by all instruments on
various parts of the piano keyboard during playback (except drums).
The MIDI Thru is also displayed on the Keyboard.
Synthesizer Window
Part Settings
The Bass/Piano/Drum/Guitar/Soloist/Strings/Melody and Thru buttons are
referred to as Parts. Settings that can be changed for an individual part include
Reverb, Cho rus, Pan, Bank, Volume, and Instrument. To change a sett ing for
one of the parts:
- Select the Part by mouse clicking on the part name.
- Change the desired parameter to affect the new setting.
The [H] button launches a graphic Help dialog box of the
keyboard/part settings area.
The [M] button mutes the currently selected instrument.
You can also Option-Click an Instrument button.
The [JUKE] button lau nches the Band-in-a-B ox Jukebox.
The [Combo] button lets you assign fa vorite instrument combo s .
The Instrument Panel shows the current instrument for the selected part.
You can access your patches with ease through the “patches popup” menu. To
access this menu, simply click on the instrument box you would like to change
(i.e. Piano, Bass, Sol, etc.), move your mouse pointer over the instrument panel
box (i.e. Piano: (1) Acoustic Piano), and click anywhere on the instrument name.
Then select the new patch from the popup menu.
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The Favorite Instrument Panel allows you to assign up to 10 of your favorite
instruments for each instrument part.
Selecting Favorite Instruments (Patches)
To select a Favorite Instrument for a particular part, you need to select the
instrument part by clicking on the desired part.
Then click on one of the 10 Favorite buttons.
The Favorite Instrument that was assigned to one of the numbers between 1 and
10 will appear in the Instrument Panel.
Selecting Favorite Combos
To send one of the Favorite Combo patch changes, you need to select the
“Combo” part by clicking on the Combo button.
Then click on one of the 10 Favorite buttons.
The Favorite Combo that was assigned to one of the numbers between 1 and 10
will appear in the Instrument Panel.
This section a llows you to adjust the settings for Reve rb, Chorus, Panning,
Bank, and Volume for each instrument part.
Description of the Wizard
The Wizard is an intelligent play along feature that uses your QWERTY
keyboard to play along with Band-in-a-Box. This also allows you to record to
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the melody or soloist track without an external MIDI keyboard, and can even be
used to trigger the Soloist Wizard. Also, play along using the Wizard can use
the harmony feature, so you can play along live from your QWERTY keyboa rd
in 4-part Saxophone harmony for example.
Turning the Wizard On/Off
Click on the [Wz] box to turn the Wizard feature On/Off, or select
the Wizard Playalong option from the Song menu, or press
Option+W. The Wizard is only active during playback.
Playing the Wizard
The Wizard keys are active during playback. The active keys are the lower 2
rows of the keyboard.
Changing Instruments / Settings For The Wizard
The Wizard is a play along instrument, so is treated just like the THRU
instrument. Changing Instruments/Volume/Reverb etc. for the Wizard is
therefore the same as for the THRU instrument. (i.e., Click on the THRU
button, then select instrument etc.) You can record the Wizard and it will use
THRU harmonies if selected.
Play Regular Notes
There is now an option to play regular “non-smar t” notes, for those of you up to
the task of poking out actual melodies on your QWERTY keys.
In the Song menu, toggle Wizard Uses 'Smart' Notes “Off” (unchecked) to have
the Wizard provide you access to a chromatic scale, and toggle “on” to have
Band-in-a-Box provide you with notes based on the chord/key of the song.
Soloist Wizard
Additionally, you will find another great Wizard feature in the Soloist menu; the
Solo Wizard. Toggling this option “on” enables the Soloist Wiz ard. As you
play notes on the MIDI or QWERTY keyboard, the program will play “correct”
notes in the style of the current Soloist! This means that you can play a perfect
solo every time, simply by pressing any key on your MIDI keyboard or
QWERTY keys.
Beyond impressing your friends with your newfound improvisational prowess,
this feature has practical implications as well. For example, you can concentrate
on practic ing your solo phrasing and playing “in time” without concerning
yourself with which notes to play (Band-in-a-Box will supply the correct notes:
see the next section for details.)
Recording Using the Wizard
To record the Wizard, press the [Rec] button to record, and play the Wizard.
This will be recorded. You can use the feature of recording the Wizard to enter
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music without a MIDI keyboard that doesn't sound as stiff as most music entered
in step time. This is how it works:
- Press [Rec] to record.
- As the song plays, play the melody that you want on any Wizard key, using
the same key for each note, in the rhythm of the melody. The Wizard notes
won't be the exact melody, but don't worry about that as you record.
- When you're finished, go t o the Notation window. You now have the notes
with the correct durations and times, but the wrong pitches.
- One by one drag the notes up to the correct melody note, holding down the
shift, control, and
key for sharps, flats, and naturals respectively. You'll
then have entered a melody that sounds like it was recorded from a
keyboard, without the stiff sound of a melody entered in step time!
Note: If you have the wizard on, the SPACEBAR won't stop playback. You need to press
ESCAPE to stop playback if the Wizard is on. This is because people mistakenly hit the
spacebar while playing the wizard, which would stop the song inadvertently.
Higher Bank Patches
The [+] button on the instrument selection panel will give you easy
access to patches on higher banks. These are selected from a .PAT
file that corresponds to your synth or sound module. We have included many
.PAT files in the Synth Kits folder.
Press the [+] button to launch the Patches on Higher Banks dialog. To narrow
your search you can do one or all of the following:
- Open the Patch list and select an instrument (i.e. Electric Bass, Acoustic
Piano, etc.)
- Click on the “Include Family” checkbox to have other offerings of similar
type shown. (i.e., all Bass family patches, all keyboard family patches, etc.)
- Find a patch by keyword by clicking the [Search..] button and typing some
letters that you know are in the name, e.g., “mando” will find your
mandolin patch and any others containing “mando.”
Note: You can open a new patch file by pressing the [Open *.PAT…] button. You can also
customize the names and descriptions of the patch file list to suit your tastes by pressing
the [Edit…] button and editing a small text file. Press the [Update] button for your changes
to take effect. You can also open this window by selecting the M | Choose Patch from
Higher Bank… menu item at the bottom of the menu.
Tool Bar
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The [Play] button starts generation and playback of a
song.
The [Stop] button is to stop a song that is currently
playing.
The [Replay] button allows you to replay a song without
reconstructing it.
The [Hold] button pauses the currently playing song.
Press the [Hold] button again to resume playing the song.
The [From] button allows you to play a song from a
particular bar.
The [Rec] button launches the Record Track dialog box
allowing you to record a melody for your song.
The [Lyrics] button brings up a two line lyric display
allowing you to type lyrics to a song.
The [Notation] button launches the Standard Notation
Window.
Use the [Open] button to select a song to load into the
program.
The [Save] button is to save a song to disk.
The [.MID] button is for making Standard MIDI Files.
You can save a Standard MIDI File to disk as a file with a
prefix “SMF” or to the Macintosh clipboard.
The [.STY] button allows you to choose from styles in
any folder that contains Band-in-a-Box style files.
Press the [Melodist] button (or use the keystrokes
Shift+F5) to launch the Melod i st.
The [Solo] button launches the Select Soloist dialog box,
allowing you to choose a Soloist for your song.
The [Copy] button allows you to copy particular bars
and/or melody to another area in the song.
The [Print] button launches the Print Options dialog box
on the Notation window to print Lead Sheets.
Title Window
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In the Title window you can create a Song Title, change the Style of the song,
change the Key Signature the song is using, define the Tempo of the song,
define where the Chorus begins and ends and how many Choruses the song
has. To change these settings, click on the setting you wish to change.
Favorite songs
button -
Favorite styles
button -
The favorite songs button [F] activates a list of your most recently played 150
songs. This allows you to quickly load songs that have been used in your l ast
sessions with Band-in-a-Box. Yo u will find this to be the best way to load songs
into Band-in-a-Box, since the list generated will give you instant access to the
songs you are most likely to be playing with, regardless of where the song is
located on your hard drive. Check “OK To Add recent files...” to allow your
recently loaded songs to be added to this list. (File | Open Favorite Songs... or
Shift+F3 also opens this window.)
Press the [song] button (or Ctrl+F3) to launch the Select song
by Title window, described in full elsewhere in this manual.
Tip: Click the “Play when selected” checkbox at the bottom of the song list window to have
Band-in-a-Box play your song immediately upon selection.
Like the favorite songs button, the favorite styles button [f] activates a windo w
with a list of the 150 styles you have used most rec ently. This lets you quic kly
load in styles that have been used your last few sessions with Band -in-a-Box.
This will likely become your preferred method of choosing styles in Band-in-aBox since your favorite styles are usually near the top of the list. Click the
“Play When Chosen” checkbox to have Band-in-a-Box play your song
immediately upon selecting a style. (User | Open Favorite Styles... or Shift+F9
also opens thi s window.)
You get to the StylePicker window by pressi ng the [.STY]
button or with the keystrokes Ctrl+F9. This feature is
explained in full elsewhere in this manual.
Harmony Area
The Harmony area displays the current Melody and Thru Harmony.
The [M] button is for Melody Harmony - in this case it's set to trumpet/trombone
(3rds) harmony. Whatever the melody plays will come out with
trumpet/trombone harmony in thirds. Pressing the [f] button allows you to
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choose from a list of only your most frequently used harmonies. Pressing the
[M] button allows you to choose from the full list of harmonies. The F10 key
disables the Melody harmony.
The [T] button is for Thru harmony. Whatever you play along on your MIDI
keyboard while the song is playing will be auto-harmonized in real time - in this
case using a Tenor Banjo type harmony. Pressing the [f] button allows you to
choose from a list of only your most frequently used harmonies. Pressing the
[T] button allows you to choose from the full list of harmonies. The keystrokes
Ctrl+F10 disable the Thru harmony.
The Embellisher
Click on the Embellisher checkbox to enable live embellishment
of the Melody or Soloist part during playback.
When musicians see a lead sheet that has a melody written out, the y wou ld
almost never play it exactly as written. They would change the timing to add
syncopation, change durations to achieve staccato or legato playing, add grace
notes, slurs, extra notes, vibrato, and other effects. If you enable the
Embellisher, any Melody will get embellished as it is played so that you hear a
livelier, more realistic Melody - and it's different every time. The Embellisher is
only active while the music is playing, it doesn't permanently affect the Melody
track. There is an option to make the Embellishment permanent, so that if you
like a certain embellishment you can add it to the Melody track. This is
especially useful to spice up songs that have been entered in step time with
“robotic” velocities and durations of notes. Using the Embellisher makes it
sound like a person was playing instead of a computer!
Chordsheet Area
Chord Entry
The basic way of entering a song in Band-in-a-Box is by typing in the chords to
the song using the computer keyboard. Chords are typed in using standard
chord symbols (Like C or Fm7 or Bb7 or Bb13#9/E)
Another way of entering chords is through MIDI chord recognition. Play any
chord on your MIDI keybo ard; and Band-in-a-Box will recogn ize it instant ly
and insert it onto the chordsheet. This allows you to enter an entire song without
having to type in any of the chords!
To use this feature, select the Insert current MIDI cho rd from the M menu.
(Ctrl+Return is the keystroke combination for this function.)
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The chord you choose will be automatically inserted into your song (chordsheet
or notation view) at the current cursor location. Then, Band-in-a-Box is ready
for the next chord. You can insert up to two chords per bar in this fashion.
User Settings for the Main Screen
You can choose different colors for the chordsheet area of the screen, and you
can also choose to use larger fonts for the chord display. These two settings are
found in the Edit | Preferences 2 menu.
Support for larger screen sizes allows the program to fill the entire screen.
There are also options to restrict the screen size to a certain size. To force the
screen size to a certain size, use the Edit | Preferences… “Limit Screen size to”
item.
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Chapter 6: Band-in-a-Box PowerGuide
In the QuickStart Tutorial it’s as “easy as 1-2-3” to make great music on your
computer using the intelligent automatic accompaniment features of Band-in-aBox. This PowerGuide provides detailed song making instructions and
configuration settin gs for the B and-in-a-Box “power use r.”
Song Settings
Song settings include the title, key signature, and tempo for a song and the
Band-in-a-Box style for its arrangement.
Main Settings
The Main Settings dialog shows all the settings for the song. Go to Song |
Title/Key/Tempo/Embel… or use the keystrokes
Settings can be entered directly into the dialog.
+k to open the dialog.
Most of these settings can be made in the Title window on the main screen.
Band-in-a-Box Title window.
Key Changes (Transposition)
The key signature of the song is displayed in the Title window.
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To change the key, click on the key signature. This
displays a popup menu where you choose the new
key that you would like. Band-in-a-Box then asks if
it is “OK to transpose Lead sheet?” If you answer
[Yes] the entire song will be transposed to a new key.
Answer [No] and the key signature will change but
the song will not be transposed. Select [Cancel] to
exit without changing the key signature.
Setting Tempo
The tempo of the song is displayed on the main screen in the Title window.
Tempo can be set on the computer keyboard with 4 taps of either the minus (-)
key or the equals (=) key. When the tempo is tapped on the [=] key, song
playback will start automatically at the tapped tempo.
To change the tempo of a song
keys to change the tempo by 5 at a time. Or you can move the mouse pointer over the
tempo setting and c
lick the mouse as follows:
while the song is playing you may use the [ and ]
The tempo display is broken up into 4 quadrants.
Mouse clicking in these four areas will change the
tempo by +1, -1, +5, or -5 before or during play.
You can change the tempo at any bar in the song with the Edit Bar Settings
dialog box. Press F5 or the keystroke combination Option+B or go to Bar
Settings in the Edit menu to open the dialog. The tempo change you enter takes
effect at the beginning of the bar and remains until a new tempo change at
another bar is inserted.
Song Intros, Choruses and Endings
A typical song has the following elements:
- Introduction (Intro). If present is typically 4 bars long.
- Chorus(es). Typically 3 or 4 choruses in a 3-minute song.
- Ending. Typically a 2 bar ending following all of the choruses.
Note: We use the term “chorus” as it is used in Jazz music. A chorus therefore means
once through the entire form of the song. A typical length of a chorus is 32 bars. A song
may have the form AABA where the A sections are verses and the B section is the bridge.
This entire form AABA is considered one chorus.
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Adding An Intro.
You select the beginning and end bars of the chorus. If you select a bar greater
than 1 for the first bar of the chorus, then Band-in-a-Box knows that you want
the previous bars for an intro.
Example: 4 bar intro to a song.
Type in the 4 bars of intro chords, starting at bar 1 of the chordsheet. Then at
bar 5 you will begin typing in the chords of the chorus. Set the beginning of the
chorus to bar 5, by selecting the Chorus begins at option on the Song menu and
then clicking on the measure of the first bar of the chorus.
Auto-Generate Intro Bars.
Band-in-a-Box will automatically generate a chord progression as an intro to
your song. Go to Edit | Intro Bars Auto-Generate or press Ctrl+Shift+B to
access the Generate Chords for Intro dialog.
Selecting Bars To Begin And End The Cho r us.
Bar number for Chorus to begin.
Click on the chorus begin number in the Title window, or select the Chorus
begins at option on the Song menu, or press
+b. The message “Click on a Bar
#” will start to blink in the toolbar. Mouse click on the bar number to begin the
chorus. The bar number that you select will then be displayed.
Bar number for Chorus to end.
Click on the chorus end number in the Title window, or select the Chorus ends
at option on the Song menu, or press
+e. The message “Click on a Bar #”
will start to blink in the toolbar. Mouse click on the bar number to end the
chorus. The bar number that you select will then be displayed.
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Number of choruses to play.
Click on the number where the number of choruses are displayed on the
Title/Key/Tempo/Chorus Window and select the number of choruses from the
Pop-Up Menu or select Total Choruses = from the Song menu or press
The number of choruses will then be displayed.
+l.
Additional Song Settings
The Additional Song Settings dialog box is accessed by selecting the [More …]
button in the Main Settings dialog or choosing Additional Song Settings … from
the Song menu. These are additional song settings that are saved with the song.
Vary Style in Middle Choruses Default =
If checked, the song will play in substyle B throughout the Middle Choruses.
The Middle Choruses include all choruses except the first and last. If not
checked, the middle choruses will play “a” and “b” substyles as set in the
chordsheet with part markers.
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For example, in Jazz Swing, since the “b” substyle is Swing, all of the middle
choruses will have swing bass. (The “a” substyle is playing half notes on the
bass.)
Allow Pushes in Middle Choruses Default =
This is used if you have put pushes into a song, but don't want the pushes to play
in the middle choruses. The middle choruses are usually used for soloing, so
you may not want the pushes to play.
Allow Rests in First Chorus Default =
This is used if you have put rests into a song, but don't want the rests to play in
the first chorus.
Allow Rests in Middle Choruses Default =
This is used if you have put rests into a song, but don't want the rests to play in
the middle choruses. The middle choruses are usually used for soloing, so you
may not want the rests to play.
Allow Rests in Last Chorus Default =
This is used if you have put rests into a song, but don't want the rests to play in
the last chorus.
Allow Pedal Bass in Middle Choruses Default =
This determines whether Pedal Bass effect will be allowed in middle choruses.
Allow Embellishment of Chords Default =
The Jazz styles include embellishment of chords. This means that if you type a
C7 chord the piano player may play a C13 or a C7b9. This makes the
arrangement sound more authentic.
Tip: If you are hearing flat 9 and flat 13 embellishments on a C7 chord that is clashing with
the melody, you should rename the chord C9 or C13, which will ensure natural 9 and 13
embellishments. To disable the embellishment for a certain song, uncheck this option.
There are very few situations that you wouldn't want it on, especially if you name some
chords as C9 instead of C7 in situations where the melody clashes with the embellishment,
as discussed above. You would need to uncheck it for any song that you don't want it on.
Tag Settings
A tag (or coda) is a group of bars that are played in the last chorus of a song. If
you check the “Tag Exists?” field, then the tag will play during the last chorus of
the song. The tag begins after the bar you specify as “Tag Jump After Bar #.”
The song then jumps to the “Tag Begin at Bar #” and plays until “Tag Ends
After Bar #.” At the end of the tag, the song then plays a 2 bar ending as usual.
Generate 2 Bar Ending for This Song Default =
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You can disable the ending for a certain song. You can disable the endings for
all songs by clearing the checkmark for the “Allow Any Endings” setting in the
Edit | Preferences menu it em.
Start the 2 bar ending early The usual Band-in-a-Box end ing is 2 bars
appended to the end of the song. This new option gives you an alternative to
end the song on the last bar of the song. Band-in-a-Box will still play an endin g
on the chord that you specify, and the ending will occur as a 2 bar phrase
beginning 2 bars before the end of the form. This results in more natural
endings for many songs.
For example, the song Old Folks At Home is a 32-bar chorus song from bar 1 to
bar 32. It ends with the last melody note on bar 31 with the word “home,” but
Band-in-a-Box normally plays a 2 bar ending, starting at the end of bar 32 and
going for 2 bars more. For a song like this, it is more natural to end the song at
the end of bar 32.
To set this in Band-in-a-Box choose the Song | Additional Song Settings… item
and set “Start the ending 2 bars early” to true.
The Chordsheet
The chordsheet is a spreadsheet where the numbered cells represent bars of
music. The chord changes for the song are shown in the corresponding bars.
Band-in-a-Box chordsheet area.
As well as entering the chords for your song, the chordsheet is where you put in
style variations, fills, and breaks. Band-in-a-Box gives you lots of easy ways to
enter song information into the chordsheet, but first we’ll go over the basics.
Typing Chords
The basic way of entering a song in Band-in-a-Box is by typing the chords for
the song into the chordsheet.
The location of the black highlight cell determines
where chords are entered. Use either the mouse or
the cursor arrow keys on the computer keyboard to
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move the chord highlight cell around the chordsheet. Click on any bar to
position the highlight cell, then type in the chords for that bar.
The highlight cell covers two beats, or half a bar in 4/4 time. Two chord names
can be typed into the highlight cell (separated by a comma e.g. C, C#dim) so up
to four chords per bar may be entered.
To enter a chord, type its name using standard chord symbols (like C, or Fm7, or
Bb7, or Bb13#9/E) and press the return key. The chord name(s) you have
typed will be entered in the chordsheet at the current location of the highlight
cell. Each time the return key is pressed the highlight cell advances 2 beats, or
½ a measure.
Note: To view a list of Band-in-a-Box chord names, please refer to the online Help.
To start typing in chords:
- Go to the top (bar 1) of the chordsheet by clicking on measure 1.
- Blank the chordsheet by selecting the “New” option from the File menu, or
with the keystrokes
+n.
- The highlight cell will be at the start of bar 1, reposition it if desired.
- When you have the highlight cell positioned where you want to enter a
chord type the name of the chord you would like. For example, type c6 to
get the C6 chord.
You should never have to use the shift key, as Band-in-a-Box will sort this out
for you. Here are some other tips for easy chord entry:
- Use b for a flat, e.g. Bb7. It is not necessary to type upper or lower case;
the program will sort this out for you.
- Use # or 3 for a sharp, e.g. F#7. (# is the uppercase symbol of 3, so you can
actually type F37 to get F#7. Band-in-a-Box will sort out the case, savin g
you the effort of using <SHIFT>3 to type the # symbol.)
- Use / for slash chords with alternate Roots such as C7/E (C7 with E bass)
- Use a comma (,) to enter 2 chords in a cell. In the example below, we
would type Ab9,G9 to get the 2 chords in the cell (on beat 3 and 4 of bar 2)
The sequence of keystrokes to enter all these chords above would be
c6>am7>dm7>ab9,g9>c6/e>>a739. The > indicates cursor key to the right.
(We are able to type A7#9 as a739 because Band-in-a-Box knows to use the
uppercase of the 3, which is #.)
Tip: The fastest way to type in chords is to use your left hand to type in t he chords. Your
right hand stays on the cursor keys (or mouse) to advance the highlight cell to the next
bar/beat after you've typed in the chords.
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Shortcut Chords.
If you enter a lot of songs, you'll appreciate these shortcut keys:
- J = Maj7
- H=m7b5 (H stands for Half diminished)
- D=dim
- S=Sus
Example: To type CMaj7, just type CJ (it will be entered as CMaj7)
Add your own chord shortcuts.
Have you found a chord that Band-in-a-Box doesn't recognize? If so, add it to
your chord shortcuts file, and Band-in-a-Box will allo w you to type in that chord
in the future. You can also define chord “shortcuts,” one-letter abbreviations for
longer chord names (“J” for “Maj7” etc.).
To add your own chords and shortcuts, make a text file called shortcut.txt in
your Band-in-a-Box folder. Note that this file doesn't ship with Ba nd-in-a-Box;
if it did it would overwrite your file! Shortcuts supplied by PG Music are in a
file named pgshortc.txt, which should be used only by PG Music.
If you find a chord that Band-in-a-Box won't accept like Csus2, when it expects
C2 instead, you can enter this as a single line in shortcut.txt, “sus2@2” (without
the quotes). Band-in-a-Box will then enter the chord C2 if you type in Csus2, in
other words you can type in Csus2 and the program will accept it. You can also
use it for shortcuts, just as j@maj7 lets you type Cj for CMaj7. See the file
pgshortc.txt for examples of shortcuts.
MIDI Chord Recognition
Another way of entering chords is through MIDI chord recognition. Play any
chord on your external MIDI keyboard or MIDI guitar controller and Band-in-aBox will recognize it instantly and insert it onto the chordsheet. This allows you
to enter an entire song without having to type any of the chords. It’s also a good
way to find the right name for a cho rd.
To use this feature, select the menu command M | Insert current MIDI chord, or
press the Ctrl+Return keys. The last chord you played on your MIDI keyboard
controller will be automatically inserted into your song (chordsheet or notation
view) at the current cursor location. Then, Band-in-a-Box is ready for the next
chord. You can insert up to two chords per bar in this fashion.
Erase Chords
To erase chords, place the highlight cell over top of the chords you would like to
erase. Press the [spacebar] once. Then move your cursor to the right or left, or
mouse click on another measure, and the chord(s) will be erased.
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Insert or Delete Bars
Inserting or deleting measures in the chordsheet saves a lot of copying or retyping of chords when changes are made to an arrangement. The commands to
insert or delete bars from the chordsheet are:
- To insert bars choose Edit | Insert Measure(s) or
given # of ba rs.
- To delete bars choose Edit | Delete Measure(s) or
a given # of b ars.
+i and you can insert a
+d and you can delete
Breaks: Rests, Shots, and Held Chords
Breaks are points in a song when one or more of the instruments rests, plays a
shot, or holds a chord.
Rests
You can have any, some, or all instruments rest at any bar. For example, you
could rest all instruments except the bass for the first 4 bars, then add in the
piano for 4 bars, and then add in the entire band for the rest of the song. You
may optionally disable the rests in the middle or final choruses (where people
are likely taking solos, and rests are not appropriate).
A chord is specified as a REST by adding 1 period after the chord.
indicates a C chord that is a REST.
Shots
You can make certain instruments play a “shot” where the chord is played and
then a rest follows. For example, the song “Rock Around The Clock” has a shot
on beat 1 followed by a rest for 2 bars.
A chord is specified as a SHOT by adding 2 periods after the chord.
indicates a C chord that is a SHOT.
Held Chords
You can specify that certain instruments hold a chord sustained for a certain
number of bars. For example, you can have the bass and piano hold a chord
sustained while the drums continue to play a pattern
A chord is HELD by adding 3 periods after the chord.
indicates a C chord that is a HELD.
We will now illustrate the effect of putting these breaks into the chord sheet. In
the examples that follow, bar 1 will have a normal chord then bar 2 will have a
chord with a break on it (a rest, shot, or held chord).
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2 bars of C chord (no break on bar 2).
This is the usual situation without
any break. Note that the piano
plays rhythmically on bar 2.
Rest on bar 2.
A shot is put on bar 6.
This rests the instruments until the
next chord on the chordsheet. The
rest is typed in as a C chord
followed by one period.
The shot plays a staccato
chord on bar 6, and then
rests until the next chord
on the chordsheet. The
shot is typed as a C chord
followed by two periods.
This illustrates a held chord on bar 10.
The chord on bar 10 is held
(sustained) until the next
chord on the chordsheet. The
held chord is typed in as a C
followed by three periods.
“Breaks” for only some instruments.
You can specify that some instruments not be affected by the break. The coded
names for the instruments are:
- B for Bass
- D for Drums
- P for Piano
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- G for Guitar
- S for Strings
To exempt instruments, add their letters following the break. Typing
C.bd
C...p
c.bd will put a rest on all instruments EXCEPT the bass and drums.
This will put a held chord on all instruments except the piano.
Pushes
Pushes in Styles.
“Pushes” (also called anticipations) are chords that are played before the beat.
For example, in Jazz Swing, the piano player often “pushes” a chord change by
playing the chord an eighth note before the beat. Styles can push any instrument
so that the instrument plays before the chord begins. This is very common in
Jazz and other Pop music, and gives the music a more natural sound.
You need not be concerned with pushes that are in the styles as they happen
automatically. You need only to be aware that the styles can push the
instruments. This makes styles sound much better, and more syncopated.
Pushes in Songs.
Chords can be pushed by an 8
chord to occur a 16
will play this.
You can also specify that a chord change should happen before the beat. To do
this, you can either use keystrokes, or the chord options dialog box. To use
keystrokes:
- Type the caret symbol (^) before the chord. (The caret symbol is located
above the 6 on the keyboard).
- Type a single caret to get a chord an eighth note before the beat.
e.g.
^C7
th
note before the beat and all instruments, including drums,
th
or 16th note. For example, you can specify a
Type a double caret to get a chord a sixteenth note before the beat.
-
e.g.
^^C7
In Jazz styles (and other triplet feels), the chord will be pushed by a triplet,
regardless if there is a single or double caret (^^).
Chord Options Dialog Box
There is an alternative to the various keystrokes to put in rests and pushes. You
can use the Chord Options dialog box instead. To get to the dialog box, select
Chord Settings from the Edit menu or press Option+Z.
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This allows you to select the various Breaks (Rests, Shots, and Held Chords) by
clicking on the various settings. You can change to different beats in the bar,
typing in new chords on the different beats.
Copying and Pasting a Section of Chords
Copying a section of chords is done in a manner similar to copying text in a
word processor. Highlight the area you would like to affect and select the
desired action(s) from the EDIT menu. (See below for additional details.)
Copying chords to the clipboard.
- Select the region to copy.
- Place the mouse cursor at the bar to begin the selection.
- Then, holding down the mouse button, drag the mouse over the region. As
you do this, you’ll see that the region will be highlighted (white on black).
- When you have selected (highlighted) the proper region of chords to copy,
you can copy the selected region to the clipboard with the keystrokes
or by selecting Copy from the Edit menu .
Pasting chords to the chordsheet.
When you have copied some chords to the clipboard you can then paste them
into the chordsheet by:
- Moving the highlight cell to the destination bar where you want to begin the
paste of chords. This can be done by clicking that bar with the mouse, or by
moving the highlight cell with the cursor arrows on the computer keyboard.
- Press
+v or select Paste from the Edit menu.
+c,
Tip: Remember that the copied sect i on remains in the cli pboard and can be used
repeatedly. Example: If you're inputting a song with verse, verse, bridge, vers e, you
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can just copy the first verse to the Clipboard, and then paste in the other verses. The
clipboard remains even if you load in a new song, so you can copy and paste
between songs.
Copy Chords and/or Melody
You can copy and paste the chords, melody, and solo for a range of bars in the
Copy Chords and/or Melo dy dialog.
Press the [Copy] button to launch this dialog box, or
select Edit | Copy From.. To, or press Option+C.
Erase Chords and/or Melody
Select Edit | Erase From ..To or press Option+K to launch this dialog box.
As you can see, you can erase a number of bars of chords and/or melody and/or
soloist. If you're erasing the melody and/or soloist, you need to specify which
chorus you're erasing.
Support for Non-Standard Chord display types.
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In addition to the Standard Notation window, you can also enter or display
chords in Roman Numeral Notation, Nashville notation, or Solfeggio Notatio n.
m7
For example, the chord Gm7 in the key of F would be displayed as II
Roman Numeral Notation), 2
m7
(in Nashville Notation), and Rem7 in Solfeggio.
(in
These systems are very useful for learning or analyzing tunes, because they are
independent of the key signature. You can take an existing song and print it out
in Roman Numeral Notation, so you can study the chord progression. Y ou can
also just type a chord in any of these systems, like “4” which will enter the 4
chord in the current key, and switch between systems without having to retype
the chords.
To change to one of the non-standard chord displays select the Preferences
option from the Edit menu or press Option+P. Click on the “Chord Display
Type” box and choose from the list of four options;
1. Normal.
2. Roman Numeral.
3. Nashville Notation.
4. Solfeggio Notation.
The Roman numeral and other non-standard displays use superscript for the
chord display when in the Notation window (or print out), so they look best in
the Notation window.
Tip: Print out a song in Nashville Notation or Roman Numeral notation. Then learn
the song this way (i.e. 1
easier to play the song in any key.
maj7
4maj7 3
m7b5 67b9
). You'll then discover that it is much
Part Markers
Part Markers are placed on the chordsheet to indicate a new part of the song.
They are used to change substyles or insert drum fills.
Placing Part Markers.
- Move the highlight cell to the bar that you want the part marker at. Then
press the letter p on the computer keyboard. Repeatedly pressing the letter
p will toggle between the “a” and “b” part markers or no part marker.
- Or you can position the mouse arrow directly over the bar line (or existing
part marker). Repeatedly click the mouse button to toggle between “a,”
“b,” and no part marker.
Changing Substyles.
These are part markers. They typically occur every 8 bars or so,
but may be placed at the beginning of any bar.
The part markers also represent the two available substyles
(variations) for each style, the “a” substyle and the “b” substyle.
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The song continues to play in one substyle until it encounters a ne w part marker.
There will always be a part marker at bar 1 so that Band-in-a-Box knows what
substyle to begin with.
Substyle “a” is usually used for the Verses of the song.
Substyle “b” is usually used for the Bridge of the song, and for soloing in the
Middle Choruses. All of the middle choruses of the song will automatically pla y
in the “b” substyle. This is great for Jazz songs, allowing you to play swing
throughout the middle (soloing) choruses and revert to the “a” substyle for the
last chorus.
Note: If you want to keep the same substyle in the middle choruses, you would need
to uncheck the “Vary Style in Middle Choruses” option in the Additional Song Settings
option on the Song menu.
Placing Drum Fills.
A one bar drum fill will play in the bar preceding (leading into) a part marker,
just as a live drummer will play a fill to accent the transition between sections of
a song. If you want a drum fill to play in bar 7 of a song, insert a part marker at
bar 8. You can either retain the current substyle or change the substyle (“a” or
“b”) when you place the part marker.
Edit Bar Settings
After you have selected a bar, press the F5 function key or the keyst rokes
Option+B, or select Bar Settings from the Edit menu, to open the Edit Bar
Settings dialog. Settings such as number of beats per bar, tempo changes, style
changes, patch changes, and harmony changes can be made in this dialog.
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When making any changes to a measure using the Edit Bar Settings dialog box,
Band-in-a-Box will place a colored indicator box around the measure number of
the measure that had been edited.
Change the Number of beats/bar.
The initial time signature of the song is determined by the style (e.g. Jazz =4/4,
Waltz =3/4). In certain songs you will want to insert time signature changes at a
certain bar. For example you might want a single bar of 2/4, or 8 bars of 3/4
time etc.
This option allows a change of time signature during a song. The change takes
place at the beginning of the bar and continues until a new time signature change
is specified. You can select # beats per bar from 1 to 4 beats per bar. A setting
of 0 beats/bar is used for no change of time signature.
Examples:
A song in 4/4 time with a single bar of 6/4 time. Since the maximum # beats per
bar is =4, we will split the 6/4 bars into 2 bars, a 4/4 bar and a 2/4 bar. Insert a #
beats per bar =2 at the beginning of the 2/4 bar and then restore the time
signature to 4/4 by assigning # beats per bar =4 for the next bar.
A song in 5/4 time throughout: To do this we will alternately create a 3/4 bar +
2/4 bars. On odd numbered bars insert a # beats per bar =3, and on even bars
insert # of beats per bar =2. This needs to be done for every bar.
Style Changes at any Bar.
You can specify a new style at any bar of the song, so that you can use many
styles within the same song. To change styles at any bar:
- Move the cursor highli ght bar to the bar for the style change.
- Press the F5 key to open the Edit Bar Settings dialog (or choose the Edit |
Bar Settings menu command, or use the keystrokes Option+B).
Use the [Change Style to] button to select a
style change for that bar.
If you prefer, use the [STY…] button to
select a style using the StylePicker dialog.
To remove the style change at this bar,
press the [Clear] button.
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You should select a style that is present in the Styles folder in Band-in-a-Box (or
the same folder where the song resides).
Note: If you want to mix styles with 3/4 and 4/4 time signatures you should make the
main style used in the song a 4/4 style. You could then change back to 3/4 at bar 1 if
you want.
- When you select a style change, you'll notice that there is a red frame drawn
around the bar line. This indicates that there is a style change (or other
change at that bar) found in the Edit Bar Settings dialog.
Tempo Change At This Bar.
Most songs will have a single tempo throu ghout, but if you want to change the
tempo at a certain bar of the song, then use this dialog box to type in the new
tempo in beats per minute. Or type in a relative tempo change in a range of –90
to +100. A setting of –50 halves the tempo, a setting of 100 doubles it.
Tempo can also be set by clicking on the metronome button. Clicking
on this button 4 times will set the tempo to your tapped-in value. The
tempo change takes effect at the beginning of the bar and remains
until a new tempo change at another bar is inserted.
Patch Changes at any Bar.
This setting a llows you to insert a patc h change at the b eginning of an y bar.
Type the number of the patch change in the appropriate box (i.e. Bass, Soloist,
etc.) that you want to affect.
Note: To save a song with patch changes at the beginning of the song you should use the
Edit | Save Song with Patches… dialog instead of this one.
Harmony Change At Any Bar/Beat.
You can insert harmony changes into the song at any bar and beat. For
example, start the song with “no harmony” then have “SuperSax” come in on
the bridge, then “Shearing” on the next chorus, etc. This is also effective when
used with the Soloist on the Thru part. With this setting, you can have multiple
types of horn section solos (i. e. Brass, Sax, etc.) or harmonized distortion guitar
effects for guitar solos.
Chord Preview/Builder
You can instantly hear how any chord sounds by selecting it in the chordsheet
and pressing Shift+Return, or use the “Chord Builder” feature to audition
different chords until you find the one that sounds best to you. In other words,
you can enter chords “by ear” without having to know the actual chord names or
any music theory. This feature also illustrates the differences between various
chord types.
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Previewing Chords
This feature allows you to hear chords as you to type them in. When you are
entering chords onto the Chord sheet (or notation window), after you type a
chord name, press Shift+Return. This enters the chord onto the chord sheet and
then plays the chord for you, using the patches on the Piano part and Bass part.
You can also listen to a chord that has already been entered, by just pressing
Shift+Return after moving to that bar with the chord. If there is no chord
entered at that bar, you will hear the last chord that was entered.
You can also preview chords from the Chord Options dialog. Press Option+Z
to launch the dialog, and then press the [Preview] button to hear the current
chord in the Chord Options dialog.
Chord Builder
This feature allows you to hear and build chords up by clicking on the root,
extension (and alternate root if applicable). You can launch the chord builder by
choosing the User | Chord Builder menu option or with the keystrokes
Ctrl+Shift+H.
You'll then see the following Chord Builder dialog:
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You can now click on the root of the chord (in the “Root” group), the extension
(Maj7 etc.), and also an alternate “slash-note” root. For example, to make the
chord F9/A, you would click on the “F” root, the “9” extension, and the Slash
Root of /A. As you click on them, you'll hear the bass note played on the Bass
part, and the extension played on the Piano track.
If you are happy with the sound of the chord, you can press the [Enter Chord]
button to enter the chord at the bar and beat specified. If you would like the
chord to be inserted automatically when you click on the note/extension names,
select the “Enter chord when clicked” option. Change the Bar/Beat settin gs to
enter at a different bar.
The Chord Builder can be left open as you work entering chords into Band-ina-Box. Remember that you can also play chords in from the MIDI keyboard by
pressing Ctrl+Return after you've played a chord.
MIDI file “Chord Wizard”
This allows you to read in the chords from any MIDI file and write them onto
the Band-in-a-Box chordsheet.
- First, blank the song by choosing File | New.
- Choose File | Import Chords from MIDI File (or press Ctrl+Option+I).
- You'll see this Chord Wizard dialog:
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Press the [Open (Change)…] button, and
select the MIDI file to import.
Choose a preset, and the Chord Wizard
will interpret the chords in that style.
Press the [INTERPRET CHORDS NOW]
button to see the chords written into the
Band-in-a-Box chord sheet.
Chord Wizard results – interpreting from a Standard MIDI File.
The dialog has options to read channels into the Melody and/or Soloist tracks.
Read in Chords from a PG Music or Band-in-a-Box MIDI file.
Many of PG Music's programs have MIDI files with the chords in them. You
can open these files in Band-in-a-Box, and the chords will be imported onto the
chord sheet. To import the chords from a PG Music MIDI file (i.e. a MIDI file
made by Band-in-a-Box, PowerTracks Pro or some other PG Music programs),
choose the menu item File | Import Chords from MIDI File and select “OK to
use PG Music chord names from MIDI file.” The chords will then appear on the
lead sheet starting at bar 1, overwriting any chords that were there previously.
“Jazz Up” the Chords; “Jazz Down” the Chords.
When switching genres (from Pop to Jazz, or Jazz to Pop), it’s often necessary
to change the chords from “Pop/Rock” chords (C) to Jazz type chords (Like
CMaj7). Now you can quickly do this, by new menu options called “Jazz Up,”
“Jazz Down.” Choose the menu item User | “Jazz Up” … or User | “Jazz
Down” … to do this:
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- “Jazz Up” - This function simply converts triads to 7th chords, producing a
lead sheet more suitable for Jazz. If you have a song with triad chords like
C or Dm, you can choose to “Jazz Up” the chords. When you do this, you
get an option of whether you'd like to see Maj7, Maj6 or Dominant 7
th
for
the major triads.
- “Jazz Down” - This function converts 7th chords to triads, for a lead sheet
more suited to Pop music.
Applying Styles
There are many styles available for use with the Band-in-a-Box program. For
the purposes of this program, styles refer to styles of music, i.e. Jazz Swing,
Tango, Blues, Pop Ballad, etc. Either before or after you have entered the
chords to a song, you will have to pick one of these styles. Once a style is
loaded, the song will be played back in that style.
Current Style Window
The name of the current style appears under the name of the song in the Title
window. It is also displayed under User | Current Style and information on the
current style can be viewed by selecting Style Information… from the User
menu.
The favorite styles button [F] activates a window that
keeps a list of the 150 styles you have used most
recently. (User | Open Favorite Styles... or Shift+F9
also opens thi s window.)
This lets you quickly load in styles that have been used your last fe w se ssions
with Band-in-a-Box. This will likely beco me your prefer red method of
choosing styles, since your favorites are usually near the top of the list. Click
the “Play When Chose n ” checkbox to have Band-in-a-Box play your song
immediately upon selecting a style.
Tip: Click t he “Play When Chosen” checkbox at the bottom of the window to have
Band-in-a-Box play your song immediately upon selection.
Types of Styles
Built-In-Styles
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The first 24 styles that we made were built-in to the program, and are still
referred to as “Built-in Styles.” These styles are no longer built-in to the
program, making them editable like all other Band-in-a-Box styles.
The built-in styles may be selected from the S pull down menu. They are a
convenient way to quickl y apply a basic style to a song.
User Styles
The other styles that we make are called user styles because they are editable.
The user styles may be selected,
- by clicking on the [Style] button, or
- from the Sty pull down menu, or
- by selecting Load Style from Disk… from the User menu, or
- by pressing
+u.
Holding down control or option while clicking on the style load button will
restrict the files to (A-K) or (L-Z). These instructions are given in a message if
an overflow of too many files has occurred. This works wherever you load in
styles with a File | Open type of dialog. (The StylePicker can always show
more than 685 files, so it isn't an issue there.)
Styles can also be selected by mouse clicking directly on the name of the style in
the Title window. The Choose a Style dialog box will appear.
Choose a “Built-In” style or click on the [User Song+Style] button to choose
from the file dialo g.
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Style Aliases
Let's say you have a new style for Jazz called “Dizzy.” You can create an alias
so that when Band-in-a-Box looks for a Jazz Swing style, it will load in “Dizzy”
instead, so you don't have to change all your songs that were made with the old
style. And when you find a new favorite style, just change the a lias.
Aliases are accessed by the M | Style Aliases… menu item.
To make an alias, click on the original style then select the style you would like
to substitute in its place. When you are using an alias, you will notice that there
will be a small arrowhead in the Title window on the main screen indicating that
you have an alias loaded. Aliases are stored in files called *.ALI.
Alias for ZZJAZZ.STY indicated by the > symbol.
Tip: You can temporarily totally disable the Ali as feature by unchecking the “Allow
Any Style Aliases” checkbox found in the Style Aliases dialog. You can also have
confirmation of alias substitutions by checking the “Confi rm Substi t utions” checkbox.
Playing, Pausing, and Stopping Songs
Playing Songs
There are several ways to play a song in Band-in-a-Box, either starting from the
beginning or from a specified place in the song.
To generate a new Band-in-a-Box arrangement and play the song from the start
you can either,
- Press the
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button, or
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- Press the keystrokes
- Press the F4 function key, or
- Select the menu command Song | Play.
To play a song in Band-in-a-Box from a particular measure,
+a, or
- Press the
or
- With the song stopped, type the letter x on the computer keyboard to restart
from the current location of the highlight cell, or
- Select Play From Bar # from the Song menu, or
- Press Ctrl+f.
Double clicking on the spreadsheet or notation will start playback from that
point, without re-generating the song (unless needed due to a change in the
song).
Replay plays a song without constructing it first. To replay a song in Band-in-aBox,
- Press the
- Select Replay Already Constructed Song from the File menu, or
- Press the keystrokes
- Press the x key.
button and select the bar from which to play,
button, or
+r, or
Pausing Songs
There are several ways to pause a Band-in-a-Box song.
- Press the
- Select Hold (Pause) from the Song menu.
- Press the delete key.
button.
Stopping Songs
To stop a Band-in-a-Box song;
- Press the
- Select the Stop option from the Song menu, or
- Press the esc key.
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button, or
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Changing Volume, Panning, Reverb, Chorus, Bank
To change the volume, pa nning, reverb, chorus, or bank of a par t:
1. Select the part by clicking on the desired part to change.
2. Then click in the box for the desired setting to affect.
3. Clicking on the number in the box will change the value by 1. To
increase the setting, click on the upper half of the number. Click on the
lower half of the number to decrease the setting by 1.
4. Clicking on the gray vertical bars to the right of the box will increase or
decrease the setting by 5, except for Bank settings. Bank numbers start
at 0 and then go up by multiples of 8 (8, 16, 24, 32, etc.) until they
reach 127.
5. The range of settings is from 0 to 127 except for Pa n, which goes from
–63 (hard left) to 64 (hard right) with 0 in the center of the stereo field.
Saving Songs
Saving a Song
Once you have made a song, or have made changes to a song, you can easily
save the song by
- Click on the
- Press the F2 function key, or
- Choose Save or Save song As… from the File menu, or
- Press
Then type the filename for the song. Don't add the extension; Band-in-a-Box
adds it for you. The extension .SGU indicates a Band-in-a-Box song; the
extension .MGU indicates a Band-in-a-Box song with a melody.
+s.
button, or
Saving song with Patches…
Patches may be saved with songs. This is done by selecting the Save song with
Patches… option from the File Menu. This allows you to save the instrument
patches for each part, including the Melody, Soloist, and Harmony, in a
particular song.
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If you would like to save certain patches with a song type in the number of the
instrument patch that you would like. Leave the other instruments at “0” for no
patch change .
Fill Patches
To fill the patch boxes with your current patch settings, press the [Fill Patches]
button. This saves you havin g to type in the patches to save with songs.
Forgot the number of the patch you wanted? No problem. Just click on the
[View Patches] button and up pops your numbered patch list.
Tip: Remember that - as with all other Band-in-a-Box patch functions - you use the
General MIDI #'s for the instrument, regardless of the synth you are using.
Example: If you want to save Clarinet Polka with a melody patch of Clarinet,
then type 72 for the melody patch. To look up the numbers of the various
instruments, click on [View Patches]. Leave the rest of the instruments at Patch
= 0 for no patch change, unl ess you want to specify a particular instrument.
You are also given a choice as to which instruments you would like to save
(checkbox to the left of the patch) and whether you would like to save the
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Melody and Thru harmony assignments and the Soloist selected to play on the
song.
You can also save the instruments as “On” or “Off” for each song. For example,
you could have a song with no piano part. Usually, these settings are set to
“On,” as you would normally like all members of your “band” to participate.
Other parameters that may be saved (volume, reverb, etc.) are shown on the left
side of the window.
Storing Volume, Panning, Reverb and/or B ank Settings
You can optionally save these kinds of set tings with your songs. You can make,
for example, a song with the piano a little quieter than usual, add reverb to the
melody patch, or pan the bass to one side, etc. Simply choose the parameters
you wish to be saved with a song and press the [Save Song] button when you are
satisfied with your selections.
Saving a MIDI file
Your song can be saved as a Standard MIDI file with the [.MID] button in the
toolbar, or with the menu command File | Save Standard MIDI File…, or with
the keystrokes Option+S. The file can be saved to disk or to the clipboard.
Choose which tracks get written to the MIDI File.
By muting tracks with Option+Click on the track name at the top of the screen,
you can decide which tracks get written to the MIDI file. Any track that is
muted is excluded from the MIDI file.
See the Edit | Preferences dialog for MIDI file options. For example, if you
don't want to create a MIDI file containing the first 2 bars of the 1—2—1-2-3-4
count-in you can select this option, and the MIDI file will begin directly at bar 1
without the count-in. If there is a Melody pickup, then the 2 bar lead-in will
remain in the file.
Other Edit Functions
In addition to the edit functions described elsewhere, the Edit menu has many
special options for configuring the program. These are found in the
Preferences… and Preferences 2 dialogs.
Preferences
Select Preferences from the Edit menu or press Option+P. This dialog box
allows you to set various settings. These are all saved in the Band-in-a-Box
folder in a file named Intrface.BBW.
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Boost Vel. of Pushes by
The pushes in Band-in-a-Box are the chords that get played before the beat.
Typically, pushes are played a little louder than other patterns. You can leave
this setting at 0, or set it to between 0 and 10.
Show Chords with push/rest chars
The push character is the caret symbol (^). So a C chord with a push is
displayed as
^C
.
The rest character is a period (.). So a C chord with a rest is displayed as
chordsheet. If you prefer to not see these characters displayed, then set this to
false. These characters won't show up on the printout regardless of this setting.
Show Rests in color
If checked, pushes are displayed in GREEN, and rests are displayed in RED.
This only applies to the Chord Sheet (not the notation)
Allow any Rests
You can disable the rests feature. You might want to do this if you've got a song
with a lot of rests in it, and are then having difficulty recording a melody
because you don't hear the drums providing the beat (due to the drums resting).
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If so, you can temporarily disable the rests so that you can record and listen to
the drums.
Allow any Pushes
If for some reason you don't want a style or a song to have pushes, you can
uncheck this box.
Allow Style Pushes
If for some reason you don't want a style to have pushes, you can uncheck this
box.
Chord Display Type
This box allows for non-standard display of chords on the chordsheet area. The
options here allow for Normal (Standard Notation), Roman Numeral Notation,
Nashville Notation and Solfeggio Notation.
Allow Lead In Bars
People who use Band-in-a-Box for soloing practice will likely turn the lead-in
off to allow endless looping uninterrupted by the lead-in count.
Play Lead In even if Intro present.
If a song has an intro, it’s usually not necessary to play the 2 bar lead-in count.
There's a new option to always omit the lead-in if an intro is present. If you
would like the lead-in bars to be played even if an intro is present in the song,
set this feature to “On.”
Audible Lead In / Volume
Use these settings for the audible drum count-in. You can select any drum
instrument for the count-in. You can choose different count-in rhythms (e.g.
Tap on 2 and 4 instead of 1-2-3-4).
Smart Lead-ins can also be set here. A smart lead-
in avoids playing the count-in drum sound during a Melody pickup.
Metronome During Recording
Select this to hear the metronome while recording.
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Allow Any Endings
Song endings can be turned off for all songs, or on a song-by-song basi s. To
turn song endings off for all songs uncheck the “Allow Any Endings” option.
To turn the song ending off for a single song select the Additional Song Settings
option from the Song menu and uncheck “Generate 2 Bar Ending for This
Song.”
Limit Screen size to
Use this setting to choose the size of the screen you want to display.
Menu Limit
Determines the number of items that can be listed in a menu.
OK to Load Harmony w/songs
If checked, the harmony settings for each song will be loaded and saved with
each song. If set to NO, the harmony setting won't be saved or loaded with the
songs. If you are using a certain harmony, you should set this setting to NO,
otherwise you'll have to keep re-sele cting the harmony when you load in new
songs.
Change Harmony w/new chords
Example: If a harmony is played on bar 1 on a C chord, and then the note is
held as the chord changes to a Fm7 chord, ( if this setting checked ) the harmony
notes will change so that they will be still be playing chord tones. If they don't
the harmony sounds dissonant. Leave t hi s setting checked, unless you have a
specific reason to disable it. The harmony is changed by moving the voices to
the nearest chord tone.
Har. Volume Adjust
Raise or lower the overall volume of the Harmony with a range of –128 to 128.
OK to Load Style w/songs
Leave this unchecked to audition the same style with several different songs.
Use MSB for Bank (Roland)
Band-in-a -Box sends Ge neral MIDI bank changes. T hese can be sent i n two
ways. Most synths (e.g. Roland, Korg, and Kawai) use the Controller 0 for the
bank. This is the MSB (Most Significant Byte) method. Check this option if
you are using one of these synths. Some s ynths use Controller 32 for the bank
(e.g. Peavey). This is the LSB (Least Significant Byte) method. If you have
one of these synths, then uncheck the “Use MSB for Bank (Roland).”
There is also a patch change sent immediately after the bank change (when you
do bank changes from the main screen.)
Tip: If your synth requires both MSB and LSB bank changes, use the '+' button (patc hes on
higher banks).
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Pause Play till MIDI (or key)
Allows playback to be started from another keyboard or the computer keyboard.
The Band-in-a-Box arrangement will be generated then the program will pause
until the MIDI or keystroke signal is received.
Close window when not in BB
Closes the Band-in-a-Box window when the Finder or another program is
chosen.
OMS/FreeMIDI Playback in background
(FreeMIDI and OMS are supported only in Band-In-A-Box™ OS9, booted from
Mac Classic)
Enables OMS or FreeMIDI playback in the background.
Include Patch Changes in MIDI files
This will include the patch (instrument changes).
Include 2 bar lead-in in MIDI file
If you don't want to create a MIDI file containing the first 2 bars of the 1—2—12-3-4 count-in you can select this option, and the MIDI file will begin directly at
bar 1 without the count-in. If there is a Melody pickup, then the 2 bar lead-in
will remain in the file.
Include Controllers (Reverb/Chorus/pan)
This will include the reverb, chorus, and panning settings.
Include Forced Channel Meta Event
This will include the forced channel META event. It is recognized by
PowerTracks Pro Audio and other PG Music programs only.
Write Chords, Part Markers META event
Writes the chords and part markers to the MIDI file.
Include Guitar Position Controller
This will insert a controller 84 which PG Music uses to indicate the fret position.
Since some synths also use this for Portamento Control, you should use this
setting with caution.
Write Soloist Part on channel 5
Normally the program writes the Soloist part on channel 8. Since that could also
mean the le ft hand of a piano track using the convention of channel 8/9 for
piano, this option allows you to write it on channel 5 instead.
Write Harmony to MIDI file
If checked, the harmony will be written to the MIDI file. If not, just the melody
will be written to the MIDI file.
MIDI file Harmony sep. tracks
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If checked, the harmony will be written to the MIDI file on separate tracks for
each voice. You could use this to print out individual parts to your printer for
example.
Write Guitar part on 6 channels
If set to YES, the styles that are Intelligent Guitar Styles will result in a MIDI
file that has the Guitar part written on 6 channels (11-16). When saving the file
as a MIDI file, any notes on the guitar channels (11 to 16) are preserved, so that
any fret positions are preserved. (Channels 11 to 16 correspond to strings 1 to 6,
so that a G5 note on Channel 11 would be shown on the high E string at the third
fret.)
More Preferences – Preferences 2
OK to save/load rev/vol/chorus w/songs
Offers global control over additional song settings (i.e. reverb, chorus, etc) that
can be saved and/or loaded with each song.
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Send GM mode at startup
For sound modules that are GM compatible, this command will ensure that the
module is ready to accept GM-specific MIDI data such as Bank, Controller, and
Patch information.
Send GS Mode On at startup
For sound modules that are GS compatible, this command will ensure that the
module is ready to accept GS-specific MIDI data such as Bank, Controller, and
Patch information.
Note: Many newer modules/keyboards made by Roland and others can take
advantage of the extra parameters and features found in the GS mode. We
recommend using this mode rather than the GM mode if your synth supports it.
Similarly, many newer Yamaha modules/keyboards support the XG specification. If
your synth supports this mode, we recommend using it in order to access more
parameters and patches than the GM standard provides. Some Yamaha XG
modules/keyboards can also be set to work in GS mode, if desired.
Send XG Mode On at startup
For sound modules that are XG compatible, this command will ensure that the
module is ready to accept XG-specific MIDI data such as Bank, Controller, and
Patch information.
Turn External Keyboard’s Local On at end of session
Normally whil e us i ng B and - in -a -B o x the “lo c al-off” settin g fo r your MI DI
keyboard is best, since the THRU part will be coming from Band-in-a-Box and
you don't want to hear your MIDI keyboard doubling the notes that are being
played. Ho wever, whe n yo u e xit B and-in-a-Bo x, you mi g ht wa nt the “lo ca l on”
setting for your synthesizer turned back on. This option defaults to true.
OK to beep with messages
Now that computers have better speaker systems, a simple “beep” when an
incorrect key is pressed can seem loud enough to “wake your neighbors.”
Setting the “silent beep” option allows Band-in-a-Box to visually flash the
window title bar to get your attention, instead of generating an audible “beep.”
OK to prompt to reduce/expand
If a style is changed with a different feel (16th notes instead of 8th notes), Bandin-a-Box will automatically offer to expand or reduce the duration of the chords,
and change the tempo to accommodate the new style. This also works as the
song is playi ng.
Lowest Bass Note (E2 = default)
Styles will normally play bass notes (down to the low E) if the pattern won't go
below a low E. This happens with all styles automatically, but there is also an
option to set the lowest bass note real low so you can get a lo w C if you wa nt to!
My soundcard or MIDI doesn't have brushes – remap them
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Most GM modules have brushes available on patch 41 on the drums. On some,
you need to load a GS sound font for this to occur. On the Yamaha XG, you
likely need to send a “GS mode on” message from the GM menu in Band-in-aBox. But if your module just doesn't have brushes avail able, then you can set
this option, and the style will remap the notes to different drum instruments that
don't have brushes.
For Roman Numerals in minor keys, use relative major
Option for minor keys base roman numerals on the relative major.
For example in key of Am, Am is either the Im chord or the VIm chord.
Save Button on main screen works as Save As
The [Save] button will launch the file dialog where the location and name of the
file being saved can be changed.
Name MIDI files with .MID extension
This will append the file extension .MID to MIDI files saved in Band-in-a-Box,
rather than prefacing them with SMF (Standard MIDI File).
Allow larger fonts on Chord Sheet
Display larger fonts, particularly with higher screen resolution.
Color for Chordsheet Area
Make your choice from a list of colors for the chordsheet area. The keystrokes
Ctrl+Shift+C will toggle through the colors from the main screen without
opening the Preferences 2 dialog.
Soloist Prefs…
Set the “Use MIDI Volume for Soloist Wizard” to “true” if you want MIDI
velocity information sent to the Soloing Wizard. If you have a velocity sensitive
MIDI device attached to your computer and you want to control the dynamics of
the Soloist, you should enable this feature.
Set the “Trigger Playback Early” to “true” to enable song playback to start
before the Soloist has actually completed composin g a solo. Setting this setting
to “false” (disabled) will instruct Band-in-a-Box to completely compose a solo
before song playback begins.
Set the “Soloist –Prefer Long phrases” checkbox to “true” (enabled) if you
would like the Soloist to use the longest musical phrases it knows. (Note: this
option may also increase Soloist creation times. Disable this feature if you are
using a slower or low-memory equipped computer.)
The “Soloist/Melodist Velocity Adjust” box allows you to quickly boost or
reduce the volume of the Soloist or Melodist part relative to the other instrument
parts. For a realistic mix, they are set slightly louder than the other instrument
parts in a song. The default is 5.
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Shrink/Expand
The Shrink command will reduce durations of chords by ½ (e.g.,
4beats>>2beats, 2beats>>1beat). Expand doubles the durations of chords (e.g.,
1beat>>2beats, 2beats>>4beats).
Unfold (convert to 1 big chorus)
If you have a song with 3 choruses, and want to convert it to a single large
chorus, this command “unfolds” the song into just that; one BIG chorus. This is
useful for customizing a song.
When selected, Band-in-a-Box will display all choruses and verses of a song
without loops or repeats. This is a useful command if you wish to make use of
the Patch/Harmony change at any bar feature, or if you are going to generate a
MIDI file for use with a sequencer or sequencing program.
Slide Tracks
This allows you to move any of the bass, drums, piano, guitar, strings, melody
or the soloist track ahead or behind by a certain amount. Setting these numbers
will slide the entire track ahead or behind by the # of ticks (120 ticks per beat).
You could, for example, slide the bass track so it plays a little ahead of the rest
of the band. This has the effect of making the bass player “drive the band” and
is useful in Jazz styles to make the music sound more exciting.
Allow Any Slides
If you want the slides to occur, then check this box.
Humanize Slides
If this box is checked, the slides will be randomized to slide the track a different
amount for each note. The amount varies from 0 ticks to the slide setting for the
instrument. A track that always plays notes early by a certain amount tends to
sound out of time, whereas randomizing the slide makes the track sounds more
human.
Song Memo…
A song memo of up to 2000 characters may be added. Clicking on the [memo]
button located to the right of the song title launches the Song Memo dialog
where you can type in a short memo about the song, style, etc. The keystrokes
Option+M will also launch the Song Memo.
Enter/Copy/Move Lyrics
These features enable the typing, editing, and exporting of song lyrics.
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Edit Chord Shortcut.txt
This will edit the file SHORTCUT.TXT using Teach Text. This is the chord
shortcuts file. Make sure to save the file after editing. Changes won’t take
effect until you choose Edit | Refresh Chord Shortcuts.
If you find a chord that Band-in-a-Box won't accept like Csus2, when it expects
C2 instead, you can enter this on a single line (without the quotes) “sus2@2.”
Then Band-in-a-Box will enter the chord C2 if you type in Csus2. These allow
someone to type in Csus2 and the program will accept it. You can also use it for
shortcuts, like if you entered j@maj7, Band-in-a-Box would let you type Cj for
CMaj7. See the file pgshortc.txt in the Band-in-a-Box folder for examples of
shortcuts.
Refresh Chord Shortcuts
After editing chord shortcuts in the SHORTCUT.TXT file you must use this
command to save the changes.
MIDI Setup
Connecting to MIDI
Here is an illustration of the connections for a MIDI system using a MIDI
Interface to connect to an external MIDI synthesizer.
- The Band-in-a-Box program running on your computer sends a stream of
MIDI data via the MIDI Driver to your MIDI interface.
- The MIDI interface transmits information between the computer and your
synthesizer.
- The Synthesizer or Sound Module (e.g. Roland Sound Canvas) produces
the musical instrument sounds. Band-in-a -Box tells it what notes to play
and how to play them.
- Stereo Speakers or Headphones are connected to your synthesizer so that
you may hear the music.
Your MIDI setup could also be configured to use the built-in sounds of
QuickTime Musical Instruments, or a virtual software synthesizer such as the
Roland VSC Virtual Sound C anvas.
There are also MIDI systems such as OMS and FreeMIDI that can be configured
by the user. (FreeMIDI and OMS are supported only in Band-In-A-Box™ OS9,
booted from Mac Classic) If they are present on your system, they will appear
in the Band-in-a-Box MIDI Drivers dialog.
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Selecting a MIDI Driver
To select a MIDI driver go to M | Select MIDI Driver or QuickTime… to open
the MIDI Drivers dialog.
Choose the MIDI driver that you want to use, then click on [OK] to close the
dialog.
MIDI Settings
The MIDI Settings dialog box lets you make settings for each part
(bass/drums/piano etc.) and also to set the Harmony channels.
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CHANNELS: Range 0 to 16. (If set to 0, part will be Off).
Some synths (e.g. MT32), give higher priority to lower channel #'s, so if you
are “running out of notes” you should assign important parts (e.g. Melody) a
lower channel than other parts (e.g. Guitar)
OCTAVE: This adjusts the octave of the part. Range is -2 to +2, usually set to
0. (Bass is usually set to -1 for General MIDI instruments.)
PATCH: Range 0 to 127. These are General MIDI patch numbers. You do not
type in the patch numbers of your synthesizer. (The patch map handles mapping
of the General MIDI patch numbers to your non-GM synthesizer's patch
numbers.)
VOLUME: Range 0 to 127. Typical volume setting is = 90.
REVERB: Range 0 to 127. Typical setting = 40.
CHORUS: Range of 0 to 127. Typical setting = 0.
PAN: Panning refers to the left/right stereo placement. Range is –63 (hard left)
to +64 (hard right). A setting of 0 is centered.
Piano Display: Default =
Uncheck this box if you don’t want to see notes played on the onscreen piano
keyboard.
Color Notes? Default =
The notes that play on the onscreen piano are usually in different colors for each
part. Bass – Aqua, Piano – Blue, Guitar – Green letter G, Strings – Pink letter S,
Melody – Red letter M, Solo – Red letter S. Uncheck this box to show them all
in black and white.
Allow Patch Changes: Default =
Do not check this box if you want to disab l e All Patch changes. If you haven't
made a patch map you should disable this.
Style GS Patch Changes: Default =
Styles frequently come wi t h patch chan ges. If you want t o disable these,
uncheck this box.
MIDI (sync): Default =
To synchronize Band-in-a-Box with an external sequencer, check this box.
Overall Volume Changes: Default =
To prevent any changes of volume inside Band-in-a-Box, uncheck this box.
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Style Volume Changes: Default =
Styles occasionally come with volume changes. To prevent these, uncheck this
box.
Extra Note Offs: Default =
Leave this box unchecked unless you are having trouble with stuck notes when
you press [Sto p]. If you check this box, Band-in-a-Box will send a sweep of all
notes off.
Concert Pitch Adjust: Default = 0
This is useful for non-concert instruments such as Saxophone or Trumpet. The
output is transposed so that you see the music in one key, and it plays in another.
Trumpet players and other Bb instruments s hould set Concert Pitch Adjust to -2
(i.e. minus 2). Alto Sax and other Eb instruments should set Concert Pitch
Adjust to +3.
Here's an example of an Alto player using Band-in-a-Box by setting the
concert pitch adjust to +3.
If the song is in the concert key of C transpose the song to A using the key
signature box on the main screen. The song will display in the key of A, but
with the Concert Pitch Adjust set to +3 it will play 3 semitones higher, in the
key of C. So the Alto player can read the music in the transposed key while
hearing it in the concert key. The song can also be printed out in the key of A.
The [View GS Map] button opens a list of
General MIDI patch numbers for quick
reference.
Press the [Harmony..] button to launch the
Harmony Channels dialog box.
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Setting the Harmony Channels
Melody Harmony Channel A Always uses the Melody channel
Melody Harmony Channel B Default =11
Melody Harmony Channel C Default =12
Thru Harmony Channel A Always uses the Thru channel
Thru Harmony Channel B Default =13
Thru Harmony Channel C Default =14
Band-in-a-Box already uses 7 channels (Bass, Drums, Piano, Guitar, Strings,
Melody and Thru channels). Adding these 4 harmony channels produces
potentially 11 channels of information. If you have a modern module that
receives on all channels, then you can use these defaults.
Older modules capable of playing only 8 parts at once (like an MT32 or a Korg
M1) won't be able to take advantage of the harmony using different instruments.
In this case you should set the harmony channels as follows:
Melody Harmony Channel A Uses the Melody Channel, no need to set.
Melody Harmony Channel B Need to Set equal to Melody Channel.
Melody Harmony Channel C Need to Set equal to Melody Channel
Thru Harmony Channel A Uses the Thru Channel, no need to set.
Thru Harmony Channel B Need to Set equal to Thru Channel.
Thru Harmony Channel C Need to Set equal to Thru Channel.
If you do this, then you don't need to do any other modifications to your Band-
in-a-Box setup, because it is not using any new channels.
MIDI Output to an external device.
Some external music hardware devices require chords played in root position to
drive them in real time.
An example of this is the Digitech Vocalist. It will let you sing into a
microphone and harmonize your voice according to the chords that are input to
the device. Band-in-a-Box now has the capability of outputting a separate
channel with the chords in root position to support such external devices
automatically. There are also settings such as complexity of chords, output
channel, velocity, and note range. Band-in-a-Box will also drive “RealTime
Arrangers” like the Roland RA series.
The best way to accomplish this is to access the M | Output chords to external
device… menu item. You will then be given a window like the following:
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Click on the [Vocalist] button if you have such a device connected to your MIDI
system. Band-in-a-Box will then send it the appropriate chord infor mation
automatically as your song is playing (e.g., root position triads).
Then you can sing along to any Band-in-a-Box file and the Vo calist will
harmonize your voice according to the root position chords that Band-in-a-Box
is sending to it.
For any other devices, you will need to know a little more information as to
what your external device needs to “see” for it to function correctly, such as
channel, velocity, chord type, etc. Then type the appropriate values in the
spaces provided in the Output Chords To External Device window (shown
above).
The JukeBox
Overview of the Jukebox
The Jukebox will Load and Play an entire folder of songs. Songs play
continuously, one after the other. The Jukebox will continue to play while you
move to other programs, so you can use the Jukebox to p rovide background
music for your Macintosh!
Press the
menu to open the Juke Box Options dialog.
button, the
J keys, or choose Juke Box Play from the Song
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Make your choices of options as described below, and then click on the [Play
Juke Box] b utton to start the Jukebox playing.
Press the
and arrows onscreen, or the [ or ] keys to select the
“Previous Juke Song” or the “Next Juke Song” respectively, or choose these
options from the Song menu.
Jukebox Options
Include Songs without M e lodies: If checked, the program plays songs with
and without melodies - that is songs within the Songs fold er. If not checked, the
Jukebox will include only songs with the MG? extension.
Audible lead-in: While listening to the Jukebox, you might not want to hear
the count-in click. If not checked, you won't hear the count-in click.
Vary Melody Instrument: Hearing a song after a song is played with the same
melody instrument would get a little monotonous. If you check this option, the
program will randomly change the melody instrument between your favorites.
Use Tap in click to start: This option is used to control when the next song
starts and allows you to control the tempo of the song. See options below “Set
Cue/Tap Options.”
Hide Song Name: This feature is used to play the “Guess the Song” game.
When checked, the titles are hidden until you click the title. When someone
guesses the Song Title, you can click in the Title box to verify if he/she is
correct. You'll probably want to restrict the Jukebox to only songs with
melodies unless you can guess songs without melodies!!
Random Play/Alphabetical: If set to “Random” the songs will be played in
random order (without repeating songs). If set to “Alphabetical” the songs will
be played in alphabetical order from the Songs folder.
Change Harmony w/each song: If selected a harmony will be automatically
selected for each song that plays in the Jukebox. Use the “Harmony # range”
settings to choose from a particular section of the Harmony list.
Generate Solos: Set this option to “On” to permit the Soloist to play a solo
over all the songs selected for Jukebox playback.
Tip: We have created a special Jukebox directory of songs that showcase the many
Soloists available. Take a moment to hear this showcase by following these steps:
- Change to this directory by loading/opening a song from the SOLODEMO folder, but
instead of playing the song you have loaded press the [Juke] button.
- Ensure that the “Generate Solos” checkbox is set selected (checked). If you enable
“Auto-Choose Soloists” the program will select an appropriate Soloist for each
Jukebox song. “Change Soloist w/each chorus” instructs the program to choose
different Soloists for each chorus of a song. For example, if Band-in-a-Box
encounters a three chorus Jazz tune during jukebox playback, the program might
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choose a Saxophone solo for the first chorus, a Trumpet for the next, and a Guitar or
Piano for the last chorus.
- When you select [Play Juke Box] the Select Soloist dialog will pop up with a
suggestion to use a Soloist for the first song in the jukebox list. This is normal. Press
[OK] to accept the Soloist suggestion. (The Jukebox will not bother you with the
Select Soloist dialog again; it will simply choose an appropriate Soloist for any given
song in the Jukebox song list.)
(Preview) Switch to next song after ____ Bars
Use this setting to preview the songs in a Jukebox lis t. Band-in-a-Box will play
each song in the folder for the number of bars you enter into the box. Use a
setting of 99 bars to play one chorus of each song.
Set Cue/Tap Options: The Cue Song Setup dialog has two parts. One part
defines the Tap Input device, the other part determines whether you would like
the Tap Input device to just “Start” the song or if you would like it to “SET
TEMPO/ START song.”
Accept Tap Input From options:
SPACEBAR: If this option is checked, your computer keyboard's [Spacebar]
would be used as the Tap Input device.
MIDI Keyboard: If this option is checked, your MIDI Keyboard would be
used as the Tap Input Device. The other options here allow you to select a
channel and a MIDI note number as the key to start the song. (This is usually
defined as the Rim Shot note number.)
Mouse click: If this option is checked, your Mouse will be used as the Tap Input
Device.
Any MIDI Event: If this option is checked, any MIDI Event will be used as the
Tap Input Device, i.e. Keyboard Metronome, pressing a key on your MIDI
Keyboard.
Start Song/Start Song and Set Tempo:
Tap ONCE to START song: If this option is checked, the song will start after
one tap from the selected Tap Input Device.
Tap 4 x's to SET TEMPO/ START song: If this option is checked the song
will start after tapping 4 times on the selected Tap Input Device. The Tempo
will be set automatically according to your tapped in value.
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Chapter 7: Notation and Printing
Notation
Opening and Closing the Notation Window
To get to the Notation inside Band-in-a-Box you need to
open the Notation window. You can do this by pressing
the [Notation] button. You can also open the Notation window from the menu
(File | Notation Window) or by pressing
the previous window (the chordsheet) and is fixed (not movable). Close the
Notation window by pressing the [Notation] button again.
Notation Window Toolbar
The toolbar at the top of the Notation Window gives you access to most of the
functions.
+w. The Not ation window covers
Options
The options button launches the Notation Windows Settings
dialog, where notation display options are set.
Notation Mode
This is an important button. It is the Notation Mode button. This
toggles between the 3 modes of the Notation window, Standard
Notation mode, Editable Notation mode, and Staff Roll mode. You can toggle
through the 3 modes by clicking the mouse on the butto n.
Print Options
Press this button to Print the Notation to any standard
printer supported by the Macintosh. (If you haven't set up
your printer to work with any other MAC programs, then you'll need to select a
printer in the Chooser.) This launches a dialog box that lets you set options for
printing. These are described elsewhere.
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Current Note
This box displays the name of the note that the mouse is currently
over. This is helpful to know what note will be inserted when you
click to insert a note.
Note or Rest Checkbox
These determine whether a Note or a Rest will
be inserted when a mouse is clicked.
Mono Mode
When this checkbox is selected, the notation is entered as
monophonic (one note only). This is useful for melodies that
only have o ne note playing at a time. Mono mode is a faster way to e nter notes,
because the Notation Window will automatically delete a note that is present at
the same loca t ion that you are putting a new note on. So if you have mistakenly
put a B note on as a C, you just click on the B note, and if in mono mode the C
will be deleted automatically.
“Clean” Notation
When music has been played in from a MIDI keyboard, there
are frequently effects like grace notes, glitches, and notes
played off time. The Clean Notation mode is an intelligent feature that “Cleans
Up The Notation” for you. It does this by eliminating the display of grace notes
and glitches, and also simplifies the Notation disp lay so it is more readable.
Clean Notation doesn't affect the actual content of the track, just how it is
displayed. In general, this should be on, since it improves the display. But if
you want to see every grace note or glitch that was played, then turn it off.
Looping the Notation Screen
While a song is playing, click the “L. Scr” checkbox and the
song will loop for the 4 bars shown on the notation screen.
For example, if you let the soloist create a great sounding Jazz solo, you can
then look at the notation and sight read along with the solo. When you reach a
particularly interesting or difficult part that you would like to practice, set the L.
Scr to “On” and it will loop that 4 bar phrase.
Tip: Since you might be holding your guitar or sax as you try to play with this
command, we've made some easy hot keys to navigate around. The “NUMPAD 1”
key turns the Looping on or off. The Cursor Up / Down keys jump to the previous /
next screen.
The Track Buttons
These stand for Bass,
Drums, Piano, Guitar,
Strings, Melody, and Solo. Normally you will be displaying the Melody or Solo
track, but you can display or print any track from Band-in-a-Box. The Soloist
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allows you to read along with the solo, or print a hard copy. Why not mute the
Soloist track and play the Solo yourself. Just press the butto n to change the
track. You may do this while the song is playing.
Note: The instrument tracks are not created by Band-in-a-Box until you press
[Play], so you may notice that the track is blank (or shows a previous song) until
the song has been played once!
Exploring the Notation
Current Time position.
This vertical line, called the time bar, indicates the current time position. You
can click anywhere on the Current Time line to set a new position. This is
useful to set a different location to type in chords, or to play from a different
location.
The clef is displayed, and the key signature of the song. If you
want some extra space for the notation, you can press the options
button and set “Show Key Signature” to “No,” and this key
signature won't be displayed.
Setting the Key Signature.
The key signature of the song is set by the Key Signature area, which is outside
the Notation window and is under the Title of the song. You'll get a popup
menu that allows you to choose a key, and optionally transpose the song.
Typing chords in Notation.
Chords can be typed in the Notation window and entered at the current position
of the time bar. The chords that are typed in the Notation window will also
show up on the chordsheet.
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As you can see, the Notation window contains the notes and chords of the song.
The bar numbers are also present, with the chorus number in brackets ( ). If
there is a part marker present at the bar, the bar number will be displayed in
blue, and there will be a letter “a” or “b” indicating the part marker.
Notation Modes
There are 3 modes to the Notation window,
1. Notation Mode To display or print notation.
2. Editable Notation Mode To enter or edit notation.
3. Staff Roll Mode To enter/edit notation in Staff Roll format.
You can toggle between each of the modes by pressing the Notation
Mode button on the Notation toolbar. Shift click on the [N] button will
back up one notation mode.
Standard Notation Window
The Standard Notation window is for display, entry of melodies and chords (or
any track). You see the melody/ chords on screen just as you would in a lead
sheet. You can even display the Bass, Drums, Guitar, Piano, or Strings tracks in
notation. Handles Jazz eighth notes and triplet figures correctly. Automatic
options like “auto durations,” “clean notation,” “mono display,” “minimize
rests,” and “engraver spacing” produce very musical and readable notation.
Notes can be entered in step time (clicking with the mouse on the staff, or on the
onscreen piano), or in real time from a MIDI keyboard.
Editable Notation Mode
This allows you to enter or edit notation. Usually, the Melody and Soloist tracks
are the only ones you'll want to edit.
Note: Although you could edit the other tracks (e.g., Bass track), your edits would
be lost when the song is re-composed when you press [Play] - unless you make a
MIDI file to save it first.
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You will notice the grid of vertical lines that indicates where the notes will be
placed. This song is in Jazz Swing, so Band-in-a-Box has automatically set the
grid resolution to swing triplets, 3 grid lines per beat. This resolution can be
changed in the Notation Window Settings dialog, but Band-in-a-Box should set
it to the correct value, based upon the style that is currently in use. For example,
when a style is a Bossa Nova the division will be sixteenth notes, since Bossa
Nova is an even rhythm, not a triplet feel rhythm.
To insert a new note.
Move the mouse to the location that you want. If you want Beat 1, move to the
first dotted line in the bar. Click on the staff over the note that you want.
The Current Note box in the toolbar will give you the name of the
note that you're on. Click with the mouse button to insert the note.
- To insert a SHARP hold do wn t he SHIFT key as yo u click the no t e.
- To insert a FLAT hold down the CONTROL key as you cl ick the note.
- To insert a NATURAL hold down the
key as you click the note.
How long does the note last that I insert?
Band-in-a-Box uses an intelligent auto-duration feature to deter mine how long
the note should be. A note that is put in will initially have a duration of 2 bars (2
whole notes). When the next note is put in (say 2 beats later), Band-in-a-Box
will shorten the duration of the previous note to just shorter than 2 beats. This
means that you don't have to worry about durations at all, and can just click on
the notes that you want, at the locations that you want.
If you want a specific duration (i.e., over-ride the auto duration), you can do this
by editing the note using by clicking on the note while holding down the option
key, and then you're in a dialog box that allows you to type the exact duration
that you want.
The purpose of auto-durations is to allow you to enter a lead sheet style melody
by clicking only once per note, dramatically speeding up the entry of notation.
Inserting Rests.
You can Insert a REST by clicking the Rest button, and then
clicking at the location you would like the rest to be inserted at.
This automatically chops off the duration of the previous note.
Note: Band-in-a-Box dislikes rests less than a quarter note, so if it is important to
you to see rests less than a quarter note, make sure to de-select the “Minimize
Rests” check box in the Notation Window Setti ngs dialog box.
Notes can be moved via drag and drop. To move a note, place the mouse cursor
over an existing note and then click and hold the mouse button down. While
keeping the mouse button pressed, move the mouse cursor over to the location
you wish to drop the note and then let go of the mouse button. The note will be
moved to the place you dropped it.
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Certain areas of the screen are not valid locations to drop a note. The mouse
cursor will change to a busy cursor to indicate an invalid location. If you try to
drop a note in an invalid location, nothing will happen.
Moving a note in time.
If you want to change the start time of a note, drag the note with the left mouse
button to the new location. This is a simple way to move the note.
Alternatively, you could edit the note numerically with an option click on the
note.
Changing the pitch of a note.
Similarly, you can drag the note vertically to change the note value, and release
it when you're on the note you want. Hold down the shift, control, or
key to
have the note inserted as a sharp, flat, or natural respectively.
Editing a note's values.
Click on a note while holding the option key. This brings up the Note Edit
dialog box that lets you change any values about the note in numerical data.
Staff Roll Notation Mode
Click on the Notation Mode button again to enter Staff Roll mode. It
will look like this.
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This mode is similar to the Editable Notation mode, except the beats begin right
on the bar line. You can also see the durations of the notes visually, represented
by horizontal blue lines. Similarly, you can see the velocities of the notes
displayed as vertical blue lines.
Note: If you can't see these lines press the [Opt.] button to ensure that you have
set the “Show Bar/Beat Lines,” “Show Note Durations,” and “Show Velocity Lines”
to “Yes.”
This mode works like the Editable Notation - you mouse click to insert a note,
and can drag notes horizontally or vertically, and edit notes by pressing the
Mouse while holding the option ke y.
Option key mouse drag of velocity or duration.
There is an additional function available in this mode: Option+Mouse Drag.
Hold down the option key, then place the mouse cursor on the note head and
drag it horizontally to the right to set the note's duration. Use the same
procedure to set velocity, but drag the mouse vertically from the note head.
Notation Window Settings Dialog Box
Resolution Setting
Band-in-a-Box automatically sets the resolution whenever a Style is loaded. If a
style has a triplet feel (such as Jazz Swing or a Shuffle style), then Band-in-aBox will set the resolution to “3 (swing).” This will ensure that Jazz eighth
notes (swing triplets) are handled correctly. When a “straight” style like Bossa
Nova is loaded in, Band-in-a-Box will change the resolution to sixteenths notes.
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This will provide even eight notes. You shouldn't have to change this setting
very often, as Band-in-a-Box sets it for you.
The “Resolution” setting determines how the program rounds the note times and
durations when translating a track into standard notation. For example, a
resolution of 4 will cause the program to round each note and duration to the
nearest 16th note when displaying the music (in 4/4 t ime). A resolution of 3 will
cause Band-in-a-Box to round each note to the nearest 8th note triplet (in 4/4
time). A resolution of 2 will cause BB to round each note to the nearest 8th note
(in 4/4 time).
Tip: If you're displaying Jazz S wing or Shuff l e music t hat has a triplet f eel t o the
eighth notes, make sur e to set th e r eso lu tio n to = 3(swing). This will display the 8th
notes and other aspects of Jazz Swing music correctly.
Transpose
The Transpose setting lets you adjust the Notation window to display notes
either higher or lower than their actual pitches. For example, if you're working
with guitar music, you could set this to +12 and the guitar music will be
displayed an octave higher, which is the way guitar music is normally notated.
Chord Vert. Pos
The chord vertical position affects the printout, not the display, it controls ho w
high the chords will be printed above the staff. If set to =5, the chords will be
written 5 notes above the top of the Staff (i.e. 5 notes above the F - at high D).
If your piece contains a lot of high notes, then set the chord position to a high
setting. If you're using a big font (e.g. 32 point music font size), you should set
the chord height to a low value (1 or 2) so it won't be too high and encroach on
the staff above.
Default =5 Range 1 to 10
Show Key Signature
If turned off, you won't have the key signature box displayed on the Notation
screen, which will save some space on the screen. Usually set it to true.
Show Bar/Beats/Lines, Show Note Durations, Show Velocity Lines
These options are for the Staff Roll mode, and determine which lines will show
up. Normally you'll want all of them displayed.
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