Band-in-a-Box.(from PG Music Inc.)

Band-in-a-Box. PG Music, Inc. (29 Cadillac Ave., Victoria, B. C. Canada V8Z 1T3), 2004. $88.

Band-in-a-Box is an "intelligent" accompaniment software program that generates musical arrangements based on parameters set by the user. It can be used by players of all instruments, as well as singers. To create an accompaniment, users enter the chords of a song, choose a musical style (jazz, pop, classical, rock and so on), and the software automatically creates a complete arrangement with piano, bass, drums, guitar and strings. The music can be played from a computer's soundcard, a software synthesizer or an external MIDI device such as a keyboard or sound module.

Students can perform solos with it, practice improvising, work out chord voicings, sight read from the on-screen notation or simply use it to generate ideas for compositions. A student can even record herself as she plays along with the accompaniment (The software allows for both MIDI and digital audio input.), save her performance as an additional melody track in the arrangement, then listen to the complete "ensemble."

Band-in-a-Box offers many advantages over traditional accompaniment CDs and MIDI files because the music can be manipulated so quickly and easily. Not only can the user edit tempo, key, instrumentation, rhythm, note velocities and more, but also choose from literally hundreds of styles, many based on famous musicians. I especially appreciated the onscreen memos that describe each style's features and the referencing of specific titles from that particular artist or genre.

Once Band-in-a-Box generates an arrangement, the student can edit it and save it as his own creation, view the notation of the various parts onscreen and even edit and print his own sheet music, complete with lyrics and title. There also is a Juke Box that will play through a list of songs ...