Band-in-a-Box

Band-in-a-Box. PG Music, Inc. (29 Cadillac Ave., Victoria, B C Canada V8Z 1T3) 2004 $88

Band-in-a-Box is an "intelligent" accompaniment software program that generates musical arrangements based upon parameters set by the user. It can be used through players of all instruments, as well as singers. To create an accompaniment, users penetrate the chords of a sonnet choose a musical style (jazz, detonation classical, rock and so on) and the software automatically creates a full arrangement with piano, bass, tympanums guitar and strings. The music can be played from a computer's soundcard, a software synthesizer or an external MIDI device of that kind as a keyboard or whole module.

Students can perform solo with it, practice improvising, work without chord voicings, sight read from the on-screen notation or simply use it to generate ideas for compositions. A pupil can even record herself as she plays along with the accompaniment (The software allows for the pair MIDI and digital audio input.), save her performance as an additional music track in the arrangement, then listen to the out and out "ensemble."

Band-in-a-Box proffers many advantages over traditional accompaniment CD and MIDI files because the music can be manipulated for a like reason quickly and easily. Not solitary can the user edit degree of movement key, instrumentation, rhythm, note velocities and more, on the other hand also choose from literally centurys of styles, many based upon famous musicians. I especially appreciated the onscreen memo that describe each style's features and the referencing of specific titles from that particular artist or genre

one time Band-in-a-Box generates an arrangement, the scholar can edit it and save it as his hold creation, view the notation of the various parts onscreen and flat edit and print his hold sheet music, complete with lyrics and title. There also is a Juke chest that will play through a list of sonnets using options specified by the user, which is especially helpful for musicians using the software during live performances.

While a great quantity [i]or[/i] amount of can be created from scratch if desired, it's the "automatic" features--the Melodist, the Soloist, the Guitarist and the Embellisher--that make Band-in-a-Box in the way that appealing. The Melodist, for example, will generate a brand of recent origin song complete with introduction, chords, music and arrangement, in any specified phraseology The Soloist, as its name implies, will generate an elaborate melodic solo above a series of chords, and as with the mode of speechs themselves, many of the "Soloists" are famous artists. The Guitarist allows the user to generate a guitar chord solo for any pleasing succession of sounds There are many "Guitarists" provided to choose from, or the user can define her have a title to by choosing guitar-specific parameters. Finally, the Embellisher will "jazz up" any sweetness of sound as it is played, and it will be different each time. The Embellisher creates a more lively and realistic performance, automatically changing timing of notes, durations, velocities, articulation and adding grace notes, additional notes and move rounds It only functions during playback and won't permanently affect the pleasing succession of sounds track unless the embellished version is saved.

Band-in-a-Box was easy to install, and there are sum of two units CD-ROM tutorials packaged with the software. I powerfully recommend that anyone who is novel to the program view these tutorials first. Technical support is of the first grade When I had trouble with my MIDI settings, the family I talked to at PG Music were friendly and helpful. The service is unrestrained to registered users, and help is available in the evenings and upon weekends--definitely an added bonus for busy musicians and teachers. Reviewed by the agency of Laura Beauchamp-Williamson, Freeland, Michigan.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Music Teachers National Association, Inc.

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