Band-in-a-Box

Band-in-a-Box is a MIDI music arranger software package for Windows and Mac OS produced by PG Music Incorporated. It was first introduced in 1990 for PC computers and also the Atari ST.

The software allows a solo musician to play along to a computer-generated accompaniment with adjustable tempo, adjustable key, and a choice of musical styles. Original accompaniment with custom chord progressions and melody lines can also be created. Band-in-a-Box basically provides a 'back-up band' for a musician to play along with. It can also be used to simulate an entire band with or without soloists.

Band-in-a-Box (BIAB) can create a background for almost any chord progression used in Western popular music. It can then play that song back using the user's choice of one of thousands of different background styles. In addition to playing back the users' songs with built-in, additional, or aftermarket styles, users can edit these or create their own styles from scratch or from existing MIDI files. In BIAB, styles refer to musical styles encapsulated in style files (*.STY). There are thousands of styles included with most BIAB installations. Styles can be MIDI only, a combination of MIDI and RealTracks/RealDrums or RealTrack/RealDrums only (called RealStyles). Users can create their own styles in Band-in-a-Box. The simplest method is to create a hybrid style. Another method is to import a style from a MIDI file, Finally, a user can create a style using the StyleMaker. Band-in-a-Box MultiStyles are styles that can have up to 24 substyles; original Band-in-a-Box styles had two substyles, “a” and “b.” These might be used for (a) chorus, and (b) bridge, for example. BIAB also works with programs like Finale, Garritan Personal Orchestra and other similar packages.

Users can play the songs back and vary the key and/or the song's speed independently or change the number of times any section of the song repeats. The program has a Melodist and Soloist feature, allowing users to choose instruments and specify other details regarding the Melodist or Soloist; Band-in-a-Box will then create these tracks based on the users selections. The Melodist and Soloist tracks can be edited note by note in the Notation window. Leadsheets can be printed for each track for a live band to play, or for learning the parts individually for practice.

Songs can be exported as either a MIDI or audio file. Exporting to a MIDI file allows the user to edit the background generated by Band-in-a-Box in a MIDI sequencer, like RealBand or PowerTracks. Songs created in Band-in-a-Box can be burned to a CD or put on to an MP3 player to share with others when saved as audio files.

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