Intro

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Intro
BAND-IN-A-BOX
Band-in-a-Box (BIB) is an accompaniment software.
It plays a list of entered chords and chooses
instrumentation according to a user-defined
style. For example, you could enter a I-IV-V-I
chord progression and tell the computer to play
it bossa nova style. The BIB program would then
adjust tempo, metre and instrumentation to fit
the style that you selected. At first glance the
BIB interface can be scary, especially to the
novice computer user. Check boxes, keyboard
maps, little buttons and icons give somewhat
obscure symbols abound but once you become
familiar with the screen you will see what a
powerful and useful tool BIB can be.
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MIDI SETUP
MIDI SETUP
Under the Opt menu select Midi Driver Setup.
Choose your input and output devices. Click OK
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Part Selection
PART SELECTION
This menu allows you to control playback of
various parts of the song
(1) Type text and numbers
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Part Selection - Example
When a song is playing you will notice in the
Part Selection menu which instruments are
playing. If the instrument is in Blue this
indicates it is playing. If the instrument is
in Red the instrument is muted If the instrument
is in Purple it is not used in the piece. To
toggle an instrument between mute being heard
right click on the name.
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Instrument Selection
INSTRUMENT MENU
This allows you to control the MIDI instruments
within each part. You can also add various
effects to your MIDI instruments as well as
choose harmonies to accompany your music
(1) Type text and numbers
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Instrument Selection - Example
With the song playing you can see which
instruments are being used in the piece, which
instrument is selected and which are muted. In
the example below Bass, Piano, Drums, Guitar and
String make up the song that is playing. The
Drum is muted and the Bass is selected.
With the Bass selected we can edit its features
using the Instrument Selection menu. You can
change things like the type of instrument,
volume, pan, reverb and chorus. In the example
below the Bass is being changed from Acoustic
String to Timpani
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Keyboard Maps
KEYBOARD MAPS
This displays the notes and chords being played
(1) Type text and numbers
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Control Layer
CONTROL LAYER
This menu bar contains buttons that allow you to
load, stop, play, record and save pieces. It
also has buttons for soloist and melody playback.

(1) Type text and numbers
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File/View
FILE/VIEW
This menu bar contains copy, paste, file browser
and printing. This menu also enables you to
switch between notation and chord sheet view
(1) Type text and numbers
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Song Menu
SONG MENU
This menu contains buttons for changing various
song attributes such as tempo, style, etc.
(1) Type text and numbers
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Plugins
PLUGINS MENU
This menu bar contains buttons that activate a
number of plugins such as drum and guitar tab
plugins and external programs, like the windows
mixer
(1) Type text and numbers
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Chord View
CHORD VIEW
This section is where you can see the various
chord progressions being played. This window is
located at the bottom of the BIB window. This
window can be switched to a staff view by
clicking on a button in the File/View menu.
(1) Type text and numbers
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Loading and Playing
LOADING A SONG
Opening a song in BIB is like most other
programs. You start by selecting Open and then
search for the song file you would like to load.
(1) Type text and numbers
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Loading and Playing
In the Open File window you have the option to
control your search. For example if you only
wanted to search for Latin Songs you would select
that in the Files of type box. This will reduce
the number of song files you will have to search
through by showing only the Latin ones.
(1) Select Style
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Playback
PLAYBACK
After the song is loaded you can click Play to
hear it. While it is playing you will notice in
the Part Selection menu which instruments are
playing.
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Creating New Song
CREATING A NEW SONG
To create a new song click New from the Control
Layer. Then type your title in the title bar of
the Song menu. Then, choose a tempo for your
piece.
(2) Enter Title Here
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Entering Chords
ENTERING CHORDS
The next step is to enter the chord progression
for your piece. Be sure to begin in bar 1. To
mimic the chord progression below type in (Note
means right cursor) fbbc7fbbc7pfbbc7
fbbc7
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Playing Along
PLAYING ALONG
You can play along using your computer keyboard.
When you select the Wizard button on the Plugins
menu it will turn your bottom row (z-?) in to
notes that are in the current chord playing in
your song. Keyboard row (a-) will play passing
notes to those found on the lower row.
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Setting Chorus Bounds
SETTING CHORUS BOUNDS
Now that you have our song created it is time to
select how long the chorus is and how many times
it will play. Each chorus is appended with a 2
bar ending. Since the song is only 8 bars the
chorus will be 8 bars. Select the End Chorus
button on the Song menu layer and select 8 as
your chorus end then click OK.
(2) Enter end of Chorus
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Setting Chorus Bounds
You can also determine how many times the chorus
will play. After each chorus it will end with a
2 bar ending generated by BIB
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Changing Song Style
CHANGING SONG STYLE
You can change the style of your song by choosing
the top button to the right of the Style window
in the Song menu and choose new style. Note
The small f button to the left of this window
lists the favorite styles
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Recording
RECORDING
You can record your improv either through MIDI or
through a mic. To record using a MIDI device,
like a controller, click on the REC button.
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Saving for BIB
SAVING
After you are finished working on your project
you can save it so you can come back at a later
time and work on it. Click Save on the Control
Layer and then save your file to a location on
your hard drive.
(2) Enter Title
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Saving as MIDI
SAVING MIDI
If your project is finished and you would like it
to be available for people to access and listen
to you can save it either as a MIDI or a .Wav
file. To save as a MIDI choose the .MID button in
the Control menu. The first window you will ask
you to choose a destination for your file. Enter
a name for your file and click Save.
(3) Enter Title
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Saving as Wav
SAVING WAV
To save your file as a .wav you first click on
the .WAV button on the Control menu.
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Saving as Wav
First click Set Recording Properties. The
windows recording mixer will appear. Select the
MIDI control and de-select everything else.
Close the Recording Control window
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Saving as Wav
You are now ready to render your file into a wav.
This is done by having BIB playback the file and
the computers sound card recording it. First
choose a name for your file then click
(Re)-Render to WAV File button
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Saving as Wav
When the piece is finished rendering you will
want to click the Test WAV button to be sure that
it recorded correctly. When you are satisfied
with your recording click Close