July 12, 2019 Band-in-a-Box® Features List!

Every version release of Band-in-a-Box® adds loads of new features and enhancements to the program, which we're sure can sometimes get "lost" in your knowledge of the program's capabilities.

Looking to learn about new features with a specific release? It's actually really easy to locate this information!

Learn tips on the new version (2019) by visiting Help | Tip of the Day and placing a check mark next to "Only Show Tips for Version 2019" (you'll also need to select "Show Tips at Startup", if it's not already).

Access the new features list for older versions in the Help Index of the program - from the left-menu, choose Contents | Features and a list of New Features will show - all the way back to Version 7!

#FeatureFriday

Posted at 09:05 AM

July 12, 2019 User Showcase Song - Laugh In The Dark

I thought I would write a song around the lyric "laugh in the dark," which I took from the old amusement park spook house ride, Laff in the Dark. This is the result of my efforts.
https://soundcloud.com/scott-schwarz-740132899/laugh-in-the-dark

In addition to the Real Tracks, I added some loops and a synth calliope in the bridge.

Real Tracks (in no particular order):
RT1010 Bass, Electric, BritInvasion
RT2433 Guitar, Electric, Rhythm NewOrleansMardiGras
RT410 Guitar, Electric, Rhythm Country Cowboy
RT381 Guitar, Electric, Rhythm Syncopated Sugar
RealDrums-RockHardLA
RT2327 Koto, Synth, Rhythm NewAge
RT 1031 12 String Guitar
RT2582 Synth, Rhythm MutedMelody
RT2305 Synth, Background DanceRockTensionPad
RT2023 Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm CountryRockJohn
RC395 Guitar, Electric, Soloist Metal
Lyrics...

Posted at 07:42 AM

July 11, 2019 #TBT Band-in-a-Box® Goes to NAMM

As we get ready to head to Summer NAMM this year, we're remembering our time their last year - we had so many visitors stop by our booth!

Click here to take a peak!

Special thanks to Mike and all the RealTracks Artists and PG Endorsers who stopped by. Stay tuned for our Booth Visitors and other happenings from Summer NAMM on July 18-20, 2019! If you find yourself at the event, come say "Hi!" to us at booth 234.

Posted at 12:47 PM

July 11, 2019 User Showcase Song - Blue Guitar

The Old Guitarist, a painting by Picasso, influenced Wallace Stevens to write The Man With The Blue Guitar which led PK Page to write another poem, The Blue Guitar... which Scott/Robert "sampled" to bring you this song.
I read the poems, borrowed part of one line from Wallace Stevens and went off on my own tangent.
Scott almost instantly contributed his tracks ( if you`re going to work with him be prepared for things to move quickly!).

https://soundcloud.com/user-564042721/blue-guitar-with-scottc

Production I found tricky once I decided to add strings - your observations on how we did are appreciated.

Style is _SPRUCE.STY (Spruce Acoustic Songwriter Pop)
RealTracks in style: ~683:Bass, Electric, PopHalfNotesPush Ev 120
RealTracks in style: 1534:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm PopPowerPush8ths Ev 120
RealTracks in style: 2935:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm FolkPulse8thsFintan Ev 110
RealDrums [in style:CongasEv8[single] [Multi]
Real Drums Driving Pop 8ths
RT 1030 12string el. guitar
RT 2510 Viola
RT 2508 String Quartet
Scott's pale blue guitar

Posted at 09:13 AM

July 10, 2019 Band-in-a-Box® for Windows StylePicker Feature - Finding RealTracks & MIDI SuperTracks

Did you know... Within Band-in-a-Box®, quickly find styles that use RealTracks (or MIDI SuperTracks!) in a certain range by pressing the [Other] filter button in the StylePicker window and select "Styles that contain RealTracks or MIDI SuperTracks in a number range".

#WisdomWednesday

Posted at 01:20 PM

July 10, 2019 User Showcase Song - How I Missed You This 4th

https://soundcloud.com/user-423212678/how-i-missed-you-this-4th
Was going for a 70s-ish acid-jazz/fusion al la Jean Luc Ponty, Wayne Shorter, et al.

It's not quite where I want it to be, but I've been crazy busy lately. Hopefully my time should be freeing up somewhat within the next couple of months and I'll have more time to work on my music so I'll probably revisit it at a later date.

That said, hope ya'll enjoy

RealDrums: SouthernPopNeoSoulSw16^ (variations)
Loop: HipHop\Old School - buckshott_92_a drums sw16
Bass: ~902-Electric, SmoothCool Sw16 075
Guitar: 2682-Electric, Rhythm ModernPopSwing16HighZane Sw16 075
Synth Pad
1840 PopModernGrooveMellow Ev16 075 (through Izotope Trash 2)
MIDI SuperTrack
2083-Piano, Rhythm, SmoothJazzCool Sw16 075 (through AIR Hybrid 3)
Soloists (custom medley)
Sax: 2357-Baritone, Soloist Slow128BluesGary Sw 060
Harmonica (1): 3213-BluesSlowEvenFieryLD Ev 085
Harmonica (2): 3293-BluesSlow12-8LD Sw 060
Fiddle: 1364-GypsyJazzBallad Sw 110 [Double-Time]

Posted at 09:33 AM

July 09, 2019 Band-in-a-Box® Tip of the Day!

Did you know that Band-in-a-Box® will show you some helpful "Tips" when you start the program? What a great way for new program users to learn all the features of the program! Want to know Tips on just the latest version? This feature can be adjusted to just show the Tips for that too.

Maybe you're a long-time user of the program, and have this feature turned off? To access Tip of the Day (450+ available!), head to Help | Tip of the Day. Your Tip will appear right away - and you'll have the option of reading the Next Tip if you wanted too! Within this window is where you would also choose to "Show Tips at Startup" (if this is unchecked, you won't see them), or "Only Show Tips for Version 2019".

Here's a few Tips the program informed me of the last time I opened Band-in-a-Box®:

In the Piano Roll window, the 'Ghost Note' function allows you to view a single-channel, and see notes on all other channels display in light grey. This is useful when working with multi-channel tracks.

Want a bigger guitar display? Drag the bottom end of the Guitar Window to change its size, or press the SETTINGS button to set a custom size.

The Printout can use left and right MARGINS. This is useful to make printouts for small paper size or 3 hole paper that requires margins.

Edit | Nudge Chords/Melody. Let's say that you have entered a complete song chord progression, and you then realize that all of the chords starting at bar 23 are 1 beat to late. You can use this feature to slide your chords over by 1 beat.

#TipTuesday

Posted at 12:08 PM

July 09, 2019 User Showcase Song - Valentines Way

Valentines Way:
https://www.reverbnation.com/blueattitudemusic/song/30944965-valentines-way
-or-
https://soundcloud.com/blue-attitude/valentines-way-featuring-chris-spruit

The band:
533:Bass, Electric, 12-8 Crystal Sw 065
~526:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking Hank Sw 065

I used EZDrummer2 to build the drum track.
I'm playing the electric guitar parts and Chris is playing the piano part.

Production notes:
Mixed with reaper, mastered with Ozone8.
Guitars (used my tele) are recorded direct and are going through S-Gear and/or PRS amp sims processed with CLA Unplugged.
Piano processed with CLA Unplugged, Bass with CLA Bass, Acoustic with CLA Unplugged and Drums with CLA Drums (I love the CLA series!)
I used melodyne on the Bass track to tighten up the timing (changed the feel from Swing to Even)
This song is 75 BPM 6/8 time. To build the track using BIAB I reduced the chord durations by 1/2 and reduced the tempo to 50 BPM (75 * 2/3)

Posted at 08:47 AM

July 05, 2019 User Showcase Song - Don't Put Words In My Mouth

Moral here: don't (insert what could be an offensive word here) me off or you'll get a song written about you!

https://soundcloud.com/japokeapeg/dont-put-words-in-my-mouth

I'm doing the vocals, lead and slide guitars on my trusty Epiphone Casino. BIAB doing everything else.

Style is _SZHONKY.STY (Stonez Honky)

RealTracks in style: ~388:Bass, Electric, Metal Ev 120
RealTracks in style: ~496:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm StoneZ Honky 1 Ev 120
RealTracks in style: ~502:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm StoneZ Honky 2 Ev 120
RealDrums [in style:NashvilleEven8^8-a:Snare, HiHat Open , b:Snare, Ride

Posted at 12:33 PM

July 05, 2019 Video - Using the Band-in-a-Box® Vocal Wizard

Check out this incredibly thorough video created by Dennis Wilkins, which explains how he uses the Band-in-a-Box® Vocal Wizard! Click here to watch..

Posted at 11:39 AM

July 04, 2019 User Showcase Song - On the Go (to Mexico)

The song in this post is based on an real situation. My son went to Mexico. Actually both my sons did, but this one fell in love and not only with that country.
So within a month he will be there for the fourth time and so I made a song of this process:
https://soundcloud.com/user-296497130/on-the-go-to-mexico

Of course I hope that it will change his mind, but what is stronger, love or a song?

I used the funky style from BB called Muzzle. The tempo is 110.
I used 2607 (a slap bass), 1436 (funky guitar), Drums, Modern Funk 16th, 3251 (bariton guitar), 3261 (cello, chops), and 2526 (keyboard, el.). In my Daw I had 2 tracks with Latin loops and 2 tracks for my keyboard with Blocks (Native instruments).
Hope you can enjoye this song...

Posted at 08:56 AM

July 04, 2019 Happy Independence Day USA!

Today, July 4th, is Independence Day - we hope all of our USA customers enjoy their celebrations!

Since we are located in Canada, this does not change our availability today:

Customer Service: 6am - 6pm PST (GMT -8)
Tech Support: 10am - 4pm PST (GMT -8)

www.pgmusic.com/contact.htm

Posted at 08:52 AM

July 03, 2019 YouTube Find - Ballad for a Travelling Lady

We did a search for Band-in-a-Box on YouTube, and look at what we found!

Video - "Ballad for a Travelling Lady" by Stefan Leipziger

What a great use of Band-in-a-Box! Check out Stefan's YouTube Channel for even more of songs he's created with the help of Band-in-a-Box.

Posted at 11:51 AM

July 03, 2019 User Showcase Song - The Giants of Albion

Brutus! there lies beyond the Gallic bounds
An island which the western sea surrounds,
By giants once possessed, now few remain
To bar thy entrance, or obstruct thy reign.
To reach that happy shore thy sails employ
There fate decrees to raise a second Troy
And found an empire in thy royal line,
Which time shall ne'er destroy, nor bounds confine.
-Geoffrey of Monmouth, History of the Kings of Britain/Books 1, 11

OK, the quote wasn't really the inspiration for the song. The title came from the style I used - _ALBION.STY - and Wikipedia had this to say about Albion, so I went with that title.
https://soundcloud.com/dcuny/the-giants-of-albion

1759:Bass, Electric, Pop16ths Ev 085
2914:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking Folky16thsBrent Ev16 085
3056:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm Pop16thsSyncBrent Ev16 085
1757:Accordion, Rhythm Pop8ths Ev 085
~365:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking Ev 085
Power Chords from various guitars
RealDrums: PopRock16ths^04-a:Sidestick, HiHat, b:Snare, Ride

Posted at 11:24 AM

July 02, 2019 User Showcase Song - The Tramline Of Life

Over 10 years ago, I had an idea to make a movie with my colleagues... only two trailers and some 4 minutes of movie was ever finished.... but I made couple of songs for its soundtrack. This is one of them, the story is combination of ideas from synchronicity (C.G. Jung) and 'tramology' ('sporalogia' in Finnish, parody of astrology invented by a Finnish sceptic Nils Mustelin - how trams affect city people with much greater gravity than distant planets etc.). Well, I understand if you can't figure out the lyrics, I can't remember what I was trying to say… but the journey is more important than the destination

https://soundcloud.com/popfinger/the-tramline-of-life

Singing for me was bit challenging because of the high notes and fast pace rhythm - it was impossible to sing the verses on one take. I assume there are also some issues with stressing of the words. But I still hope you enjoy the tram travel

RealDrums: SouthernPopSw16
RealTracks:
Acoustic bass #769
Electric Piano #906
Organ #425
Sax #457
Electric guitar #1037
Harmonica #???
MIDI: sitar+ocarina melody
Vocals by me
Mixed with Cakewalk by Bandlab

Posted at 10:59 AM