Band in a Box

[Nick Cook]

Last night my teacher suggested Band in a Box for creating backing tracks for the music in my ABRSM grades 4 & 5 book which don't come on their CDs. Apparently you can put in the chord sequences, press a button, and voila! you have the backing track.

But it seems quite dear to me.

Does anyone know if there is anything that does the same job, but cheaper?

I've tried the search facility here, but couldn't find anything.

Thanks,

Nick

 

[Pete Thomas]

Apparently you can put in the chord sequences, press a button, and voila! you have the backing track.

But it seems quite dear to me.

Not sure how much it actually is, but when you think about how clever it is, it's probably worth it. Plus it's a "standard", so you will be able to share tracks with other people who have it. A good investment I think.

 

[Nick Cook]

Thanks Pete, I'll think about it!

I hear you finally met up with Rhona again in Cornwall - small world!!

 

[saxplorer]

I played around for a while with a tool called "MMA" (Midi Musical Accompanist?) but abandoned it in glee for Band in a Box. If what you want is what Band in a Box does, it is worth every penny.

And it does quite a lot of different things albeit sometimes in a quirky and sometimes frustrating way.

But to prepare and print and play Leadsheets (including chords and melody) it hits the mark for me. And there are literally thousands of tunes that others have put together for BiaB (all out of copyright by now of course ) that you can find and use straight away.

 

[Nick Cook]

Thanks saxplorer, I'm off on holiday next week, but will be sure to looking into buying it when I get back!

 

[Thaumaturge]

Have a look at Impro-Visor:

http://www.impro-visor.com

Regards,
Colin

 

[Chris]

There are quite a few free and bought software programs out there that can be used for backing tracks.But none of them use Realracks they use midi. There fore your track is only as good as the sounds in your PC. To get good midi sound using softsynths can cost more than BiaB. Most of them depend upon you being able to play the part into the software via a keyboard. I know Impro-visor doesn't but it uses midi sounds which are not as good as realtracks.. The basic Biab package is not that expensive you can then add the realtracks you need for your style of music..

Chris

 

[Nick Cook]

Thanks Colin - that looks useful too!!

 

[Gallen]

I saw this awhile back: Biab files for fake books:
http://www.nortonmusic.com/contents.html#fake

 

[teebones]

Last night my teacher suggested Band in a Box for creating backing tracks for the music in my ABRSM grades 4 & 5 book which don't come on their CDs. Apparently you can put in the chord sequences, press a button, and voila! you have the backing track.

But it seems quite dear to me.

Does anyone know if there is anything that does the same job, but cheaper?

I've tried the search facility here, but couldn't find anything.

Thanks,

Nick

Hi Nick Band in a Box is expensive, but when you evaluate what you can achieved with it given time (less time playing your sax springs to mind) the potential is enormous.

Most music formats can be loaded into Band in a Box ie mp3 etc and then played back allowing you to ie change key,chords,and tempo the big plus for any backing tracks you may already have.

There are as have already been pointed out user groups on yahoo where you can get loads of different music to download.

I Say Go Get it When You Can Nick.

If you read back on some of my earlier post's you will see that I did offer a version of Band in a Box on the forum in the yard sale when I upgraded, but due to (politics) was removed for sale by myself and donated to another source

Teebones ( Tony another )

 

[Nick Cook]

Thanks Tony - the more replies I get, the more it seems like I'm going to have to buy it!!!

:welldone

 

[Clivey]

I`ve got a 20 gig BIAB installation and that`s not nearly even half of it`s possiblity. It is worth while getting the version on a hard drive just for the portability. I can tote it anyplace I like.

If you have ever imagined putting a band of your own together, the tweakability and playability is quite frankly astounding and the Realtracks and Drums a gizillion % better than any MIDI.
You should check out the various demos on YouTube.

I`m not sure about the legality of using the files in recorded output. "I would not be keen to do that anyway". But it is definately far more than a sketchpad.

 

[Chris]

As the owner of BiaB you have the right to use the program as you wish. If you create a song with the program then that song is yours.

Chris