The 1-9 keys can be used to select 'favourite' instruments - you assign 10 GM patch numbers for each instrument. GM/GS compatible synthesizers can also have Panning, Reverb, Chorus and Banks controlled. Once an instrument is selected, the computer keyboard can be used to change Patches and Volume. Pressing a function key and the ALT key will mute that part during playback. The function keys are used to select an instrument whilst the song is playing: Only user styles can utilise five instruments - the preset styles still use three instruments. Brass can be substituted for the Guitar part by merely changing patch. The Strings and Guitar parts now enable much fuller arrangements of songs. Two new instruments have been added to the Drums, Bass and Piano parts of the previous versions. When you're satisfied, you can save the song as a MIDI File. Listening to the MIDI output enables you to fine-tune patches, tempos and repeats, and perhaps even chords, to get the feel right. Playing the song involves a short wait whilst the program works out the parts this varies with the complexity of the styles used. Once you're used to it, entering a song is remarkably quick and straightforward. You can also set patch and tempo changes. Once you have the outline of the chordal structure of the song in place, you annotate it by setting the styles to be used (for each bar if you want that level of detail) and the repeats of groups of bars. Two chords and their associated bass notes can be placed into each of the bars. This latest version has many additions which make it more interactive and easier to use - much more like a real accompanist.Įntering music into BIAB is easy - simply place chords onto a grid of bars (four bars per line on screen). As the program develops in response to user feedback, it is changing from the original concept of producing raw MIDI Files for subsequent tweaking. Instead, Band-in-a-Box concentrates on keeping the cost low and the musical usability high. It works virtually identically on Atari, IBM or Macintosh computers - and so does not have impressive graphical screens with mouse-controlled everything, although it does use pull-down menus and dialogue boxes. At this rate, we will be seeing double figure version numbers well before the turn of the century: BIAB V12.0 anyone?īand-in-a-Box is a computer program for producing automatic accompaniment. #Band in a box updateJust over a year later, the next major update is here already. When I reviewed PG Music's version 4.1 Band-in-a-Box program in the July 1991 issue of Sound On Sound, I commented on the rapid and sustained progress that the company were committed to.
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