5. How do I enter notation in Band-in-a-Box

Band-in-a-Box®, RealBand, and PowerTracks Pro Audio offer one of the quickest methods of notation input. Remember though, they were never developed to be a dedicated notation software package, so some of the problems you may run into will have to do with that limitation. For typical leadsheets though, this notation is more than adequate.

First, you need to be in editable notation mode. Open the Notation Window and look in the Notation Window toolbar. To the right of the [Print] button there are three Notation Mode buttons. Pressing the one in the middle will toggle you into editable notation mode.

When inputting notation, all you do is place your mouse arrow where you want a note and press the left mouse button. This will place a dotted whole note at that position. If it is in the second half of the bar, you will get an automatic 1/2 note rest in the first half. You will still get a dotted whole note in the second half of the bar. Don't worry if the first note you enter isn't the type of note you want it to be. The next note you place will determine the value of the first. Remember that the subsequent note placed always determines the value of the previous note. If you want to shorten a previous note, you can select the rest box and place a rest between the notes at the value you want the previous note to be. Notes inserted between other notes will automatically set the value for the previous note as well.

If you are in 'Staff roll' mode, you can change the duration of a note by clicking on it with the right mouse button and then dragging the cursor to the desired end location. Click the Staff Roll mode button to toggle into staff roll mode. This button is directly to the right of the Editable Notation button.

While inserting a note on the staff, holding down the [Shift] key will make the note 1 half-step sharper. Holding down the [Ctrl] key will make the note 1 half-step flatter. Holding down the [Alt] key forces the note to be a natural. To delete a note from the Notation, hold down the delete key and left-mouse click on the note. Or you could right mouse click on the note (to edit it), then press the Delete button.

You can change the beat resolution (the number of intervals in one beat) by right-clicking in the time indicator bar above the beat that you want to change. This will allow you to enter triplets in an even feel style, or sixteenth notes in a triplet feel style. The time indicator bar is the narrow space containing the black cursor that moves across the screen as your song is playing.

Note: The only tracks that are completely editable by the user are the Melody and Soloist tracks. You can input any notation that you want on either of these tracks. The other tracks (Bass, Drums, Piano, Guitar, Strings) are used by Band-in-a-Box® to generate its arrangements. Each time you press Play, Band-in-a-Box® will generate a slightly different arrangement on these tracks (to simulate live playing) so that if you make any changes on these tracks, your edits will be lost. If you would like to edit these tracks, you need to copy them to the Melody or Soloist track (Edit | Copy/Move Tracks) or save your song as a MIDI file and do the editing in a MIDI sequencer such as PowerTracks Pro Audio.

Band-in-a-Box® 2005 and higher also include a "Piano Roll Window." This window allows you to edit notation in the Melody or Soloist tracks using a window similar in style to the type found in many sequencer programs. It enables precise graphic editing of note timing and duration, and you can also graphically edit Note Velocity, Controllers, Program Changes, Channel Aftertouch, or Pitch Bend. To open the Piano Roll Window, click on the piano roll icon in the toolbar, or go to Window | Piano roll window. Click on the [Help] button on the right-hand side of the Piano Roll window for a complete tutorial.


Alyssa - PG Music