Not too OT: Band in a box

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 11:54 am

Has anyone heard of this product? I have a very old piece of software called "The Jammer". It let's you enter a series of chord names (C, D etc) and it will compose a rhythm around your chords. It's old and has horrible MIDI sound but it's really nice for practicing. Great for speed training too.

Now there's a "Band in a Box" which is supposed to be similar but better.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 2:51 pm

Rank right up there with wine in a box?

vomitbunny · Post by **vomitbunny** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 4:06 pm

Sorry. This post belongs in the Band in a Box forum, the Almost OT forum, or the Almost on Topic forum.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 6:31 am

Oops. Wrong forum. So nobody's heard of or used it?

GaryKelly · Post by **GaryKelly** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 7:54 am

Nope, sorry Flysterino, not heard of it.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:16 am

I've heard of it, but only in passing. Don't know any details

MarkB · Post by **MarkB** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 9:28 am

Hey Flymoi!, sacre bleu

Do a Google search for ban-in-a-box and you will get 125,000 hits. There appears to be updates to that program.

MarkB

Unseen122 · Post by **Unseen122** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 4:37 pm

My friend has it but I don't know much about. I have heard of it though.

BillChin · Post by **BillChin** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 9:20 pm

A have heard about it, but it is all second hand info. Band in a box is very popular. What I remember is people use it to do arrangements and lay down drum tracks, mostly for guitar singer/songwriters.
+ Bill

Tak_the_whistler · Post by **Tak_the_whistler** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 10:49 pm

http://www.pgmusic.com/biabwindemo.htm

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 4:17 am

THanks for the input. I've been to their site. I guess I'll have to download the demo. The problem with anything that generates midi is the so-called instruments sound like an old PC speaker buzz. That's with a GOOD soundcard.

eskin · Post by **eskin** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 10:45 am

I use it all the time for practice. If anyone else has it, I'd be happy to send along my tune books and styles...

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:10 am

eskin wrote:I use it all the time for practice. If anyone else has it, I'd be happy to send along my tune books and styles...

Cool. I don't really want to buy the 250.00 version. All I really want are some blues styles, jigs, reels, bluegrass and country. I don't know what the basic setup comes with but I'm currently checking their web site.

BillChin · Post by **BillChin** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:39 am

Flyingcursor wrote:THanks for the input. I've been to their site. I guess I'll have to download the demo. The problem with anything that generates midi is the so-called instruments sound like an old PC speaker buzz. That's with a GOOD soundcard.

Maybe you have already looked into it, but MIDI sound fonts? Lots of hard disk space and a high speed connection are suggested.
+ Bill

eskin · Post by **eskin** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 6:21 pm

Using the Roland Virtual Sound Canvas software synth you can get quality multitimbral playback from Band-in-a-Box that rivals expensive dedicated hardware synths:

http://www.pgmusic.com/rolandvs.htm

here's some recordings comparing the soft syth output with the real devices:

http://www.pgmusic.com/dare_to_compare.htm

I've used this setup on several laptops with very good results, and it doesn't require a lot of CPU, easily runs on pretty much any Pentium-3 system with no problem. I've even run VSC with BIAB it on an old P-166 HP laptop, and while it wasn't very zippy, it did work.

BIAB is a very capable platform for use as a practice tool. I've been a great fan of PG Music for many years.