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-
- IBM
- BAND-IN-A-BOX v4.0 INTRODUCTION
-
- Welcome to v4.0 of Band-in-a-Box . There are many new features
-
- Added previously with version 3:( July 1990)
- - 24 styles
- - 255 bar limit
- - pull down menus
-
- Added in this version 4.0 (Oct 90)
- (*******) - The StyleMaker ( User Definable styles )
- allowing you to create brand new styles from scratch
- and will be described in detail below
- - Playback from any bar ( Alt F4 Key )
- - Change styles at any bar ( F5 Key )
- - Change patches at at any bar ( F5 Key )
- - Change time signature of any style at any bar ( F5 Key )
- - Change tempo at any bar ( F5 Key )
- - Live tempo changes with [ and ] keys
- - Enter Lyrics to songs . The Lyrics will then
- bounce along with the tune . Type L
-
- The first point is for existing users of the program . The
- new features have been added in such as way that the program
- will look and feel much the same - so if you don't care for
- the new features - you just don't have to access them .
- The F5 key accesses the Change of Style/Tempo/Patch/Time Sig
- at any bar
- The L key enters you into Lyric mode .
- F8 Key is for playback of song in the selected User Style
- ( Alt F8 is play a user style from any bar )
- F9 Key is for selecting which user style to use from disk
-
- The StyleMaker ( User Definable Styles )
- --------------
- There is now a pull down menu called User . From this
- menu you can access functions related to the User Styles created
- by the StyleMaker . The StyleMaker is part of the Band-in-a-Box
- program accessed by choosing :
-
- User Edit exisitng Style or
- User Create New Style
-
- User styles exist as small files ( typical 6K ) that
- reside on your disk . Even if you have no intention of making
- your own styles ( or editing the existing ones ) , you will
- benifit from the large # of styles that will soon be available
- for the program , as Band-in-a-Bpx styles can now be made by
- anyone with the program - not just PG MUSIC ! Also , the user styles
- allow a lot of flexibility and sound natural because the bass
- and piano patterns are played in real time from a MIDI keyboard .
- ( drum patterns entered in step time onto a drum grid ).
- Styles can be made really quickly - I can make a
- simple style in about 10 minutes , and a complex one in under
- an hour . Once made the style is always available to you -
- it is a file with a .STY extension , selected by the F9 Key .
- If you want the song to be played in the User Style press the
- F8 function Key . The F4 play key still plays back the song in
- the 'old' Band-in-A-Box 24 styles .
- There is on-line help for the Style Maker accessed by
- the help key F1 (twice) . This is a 10 page manual on line
- which discusses how to enter the patterns and how to make
- a style . If you would prefer a printout of this help file
- it is on a file called StylHelp.BB and may be printed out
- using DOS command copy stylhelp.bb prn
-
- Playback From Any Bar <ALT F4>
- ---------------------
- With previous versions of Band-in-a-Box the user had to
- always play back from the beginning of the song . Now you
- can Playback from any bar by pressing <ALT>F4 Keys
- (simultaneously) . Move the highlight bar
- with your cursor keys to the Bar you would like to playback from
- and then press ALT F4 . If using a User-Defined Style , since the
- F8 Key is used from playback , press <ALT F8> for playback
- from any bar in the user defined style .
-
-
- The F5 Key allows you to change style/timesig/patches at any bar
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- There is now a Window which pops up when you press
- the F5 function Key . It allows you to change settings
- at the current bar you were in ( where the highlight bar was )
- Normally these values should all be set to zero ( no change )
- You will be able to identify a bar that has any of these
- Bar settings set - there is an identifying mark on the bar #
- to indicate that something is changing at the bar - if you want
- to find out what - you move to that bar and press F5 .
- For all of the items in this window - if you want no change
- for the item enter a value of 0 .
-
- Change Styles at Any Bar
- ------------------------
- As described above - press the F5 key with the highlight bar
- in the bar that you want the style change to occur on.
-
- To change to a different style # just enter the new # ( there
- is a table that tells you the names of the style # beside the
- window ). If you want no style change to occur enter a value of 0.
-
-
-
- For example if the song is "Green Dolphin Street" which goes from
- bossa to swing - the song is already in bossa style . At bar 9 it
- changes to swing so press F5 key with your highlight bar in bar 9
- and enter style #1 for jazz swing . At Bar 17 it goes back to bossa
- so enter a value of 4 for bossa style.. and so on . Since the song
- loops back to bar 1 and it is in swing at that point you would
- want to also put a style change to style 4 ( bossa) in bar 1.
-
- Change Tempo at any bar
- -----------------------
- Works much like change of style except you enter the new tempo
- that you would like at a certain bar .
-
- Change Time Sig at any Bar
- --------------------------
-
- Normally there are 4 beats per bar in the BB program .
- ( except for waltzes with 3 beats ) . By setting the
- Time Sig at a certain bar ( by pressing the F5 key )
- you may set a new time signature which takes effect at the
- beginning of that bar AND CONTINUES WITH THE NEW TIME SIG
- TILL YOU SET ANOTHER ONE . The Time Sig values range from
- 0 to 4 with 0 being no change of time sig
- and 1-4 being the # notes desired
- Higher time signatures like 5/4 7/4 11/4 are accomplished
- by combining - ex. 5/4 = one bar of 3/4 + 1 bar of 2/4
- or 11/4 = 3 bars of 3/4 + 1 bar of 2/4
-
- Patch Changes At any Bar
- ------------------------
- Bass or piano patch changes in the range 1-127 may be
- set at any bar and are saved with the song .
-
- Lyrics
- ------
-
- Lyrics are now able to be inputted .
- If you are not interested in lyrics ,don't worry - this
- feature will be invisible to you and does not result in
- extra file size unless lyrics are present . Keep in mind
- that 'Lyrics' may also include memos to yourself like
- " try an Abm7 here as chord substitution "
-
-
- To enter lyrics to a song,
- 1. move the highlight bar to the Bar that you
- want to enter lyrics for
- 2.press L (from the main screen)
- 3. You are now in Lyrics mode and a Window pops up with 3 lines
- of text - the middle one is the one you can type in lyrics
- to - the top and bottom are the lyrics above and below
- which are used for reference .
- 4. Each line of lyrics corresponds to 4 bars of Band-Box and
- the 4 Bars of Band-Box are highlighted to let you know this.
- 5. Use the Up/Down cursor keys or the Enter Keys to scroll
- the lyrics .
- 6. Use the TAB key to move 1 bar at a time across the lyric line.
- 7. EXIT the lyrics with ESCAPE Key .
- 8 . If any lyrics are present they will appear at the top of the
- screen and be highlited at the right time.
- 9. The Copy/Insert/Delete/Shrink/Expand functions do not
- affect the lyrics
-
- Change Tempos during playback
- -----------------------------
- By typing the [ or ] keys to change the tempo by 5 .
-
-
- Remember for help with the Style Maker see the on line help
- available when in the Style Maker part of the Band-in-a-Box
- version 4 program
-
-
- Tech Notes :
-
- IBM PS/2 with MicroChannel MPU-IMC
- - must set your interrupt to other than IRQ2 using
- the DIP switches on the card ( IRQ7 is a good one )
- otherwise the program will immediatiely lock up due
- to IRQ2 interrupt conflict on the PS/2 . There is no setting
- necessary on the Band-in-a-Box program .
- MIDI-Syncing to external sequencer
- Set Band-in-a-Box INTERNAL SYNC To Y.es
- ( the Default is Y.es, it is set From The Midi-MidiSettings
- pull down menu )
- Set external sequencer's clock to External
- Press Record on the sequencer - your sequencer will
- give a message like " Waiting for External Clock ..."
- Then press play on Band in a Box <F4>Key for Band-Box styles
- or <F8> for user defined style .
- What are we working on ?
- Additional instruments ( strings/horns )
- More features for Style Maker
- More styles,More Fakebooks
-
- HAVE FUN
-
- Peter Gannon
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