band in a box software
- Thread starter 1300cc
- Start date
I think their website does a pretty good job of showing what the software can do. Band in a Box is "Auto-accompaniment" software. You type in chords and choose a style and it plays for you. It's very good at doing this with very traditional types of music, so straight ahead rock, jazz, blues it does very well. If you write music that's off the beaten trail, say Peter Gabriel or Frank Zappa like....you probably need to look at a DAW and record your own instruments or use a MIDI controller.
Personally, I've always thought Band in a Box sounded "Canned", although much less so in recent years!
Personally, I've always thought Band in a Box sounded "Canned", although much less so in recent years!
I agree, you are not going to get much better demos than what they have on the PG MUSIC web site and YouTube channel.
You can also export from BIAB to a standard MIDI file and then bring that into Garageband or whatever DAW you use, which is what I've done for lots of songs.
Unfortunately I have no demos to share right now. since I need to keep my songs private until I have the copyright taken care of since I intend to publish my music and also sell it via iTunes, Amazon, etc...
@ 1300cc: What exactly are you trying to listen/look for? Maybe we can help otherwise?
I've been using BIAB since it was an MS-DOS program (ca. 1993?), then with Windows, and then since 2005 with Mac. I find it really helps me with my songwriting, and that it is a great tool to have.
This was before there was a WWW, and I had seen an ad in 'Electronic Musician' magazine, and when i called to buy the program over the phone, the owner of the company and lead programmer Peter Gannon, (the PG in PG Music) answered the phone and took my order and we had a nice chat. It's pretty wild that the company still exists, continually offers and updates this program, and has expanded it's functions for over 24 yrs, as not many music software companies that existed prior to Y2k stayed alive for much longer after Y2k.
You can easily do that. You just type in the chord names, select a musical style from the many available, and then mark the intro, verse, chorus, bridge and outro sections as needed, if needed, and just press the spacebar to begin playback.
The newer versions of BIAB also let you record audio along with your backing tracks, and you can also export/mixdown to a stereo WAV or MP3 file.
You have to really understand the chord names and how the styles are explained. For example if you want a C chord with an E as the bass note (1st inversion), you would type in C/E as the chord name.
For some jazz styles, it will tell you in the description how it might alter the chords, like 'double-eights' or 'adding a 6th and an octave', there's lots of versatility, but to get the most out of it, you really need to invest the time in the learning curve. They have full tutorial videos available that can take you through it all.
Does this info help? If not let me know and I will do my best.
UkeStuff
Well-known member
Just a note for anyone with iOS devices...there is an app that has been around a long time, called iReal Pro, which basically does Band-In-The-Box functions. There is an online repository with tons of song progressions, or you can create your own. There was a point when you had to buy all of the iReal Pro accompaniment styles, but I think everything comes with the app these days. http://www.irealpro.com
Just for fun, don't forget about Music Memos, on iOS which will transcribe songs you play, add a bass and drums, and also export to GarageBand or Logic Pro. Not the same as iReal Pro, but interesting and FREE.
Just for fun, don't forget about Music Memos, on iOS which will transcribe songs you play, add a bass and drums, and also export to GarageBand or Logic Pro. Not the same as iReal Pro, but interesting and FREE.
Oh YES!!!!, I too have been using iReal Pro for some time too on iOS. It's a great app, and also with the accompaniment, you can tell it to show you the guitar chord or uke chord pictograms (in real time) so you can play along, which is especially great if you mute the piano part, you have drums and bass to back you. You can also easily change key, as well as export the song to WAV, MP3 or MIDI, and bring it over to another program.
I have not seen Music Memos yet, but thanks for mentioning it, as I am going to check that out when I get some time...
Jim Hanks
Well-known member
Chordbot is another "BIAB lite" app on iOS that works on iPhone as well as iPad.
I've often used BIAB, iRealPro, and Chordbot as MIDI sources to import other places to get beyond the "canned" effect timmit65 mentions but for a quick demo or practice, their "raw" output is just fine.
I've often used BIAB, iRealPro, and Chordbot as MIDI sources to import other places to get beyond the "canned" effect timmit65 mentions but for a quick demo or practice, their "raw" output is just fine.
Maybe you already know this, but BIAB also has a Windows version: http://www.pgmusic.com/bbwin.htm
Back in the Windows XP days (circa 2003) I also used to use a program called Jammer by SoundTrek, which was originally an app on the Amiga (Amiga WorkBench 2.2 on an A/2000 was what I had at the time), and later ported to Windows when Commodore Computer Co. went into Chapter 13, but the software is still alive and kicking it seems. I have not used it or seen it in about 13 years, but they have a free demo you can download: http://www.soundtrek.com/index.maint3.html
There are also over a dozen 'alternatives' listed here, but I have not had the time yet to test any of them:
https://alternativeto.net/software/band-in-a-box/
Hope this helps.
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