[Harp-L] Band-in-a-Box Jam Track Tutorial -- 2 of 3

[Elizabeth Hess <TrackHarpL@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

[Continued from Previous Post]

Next, we're going to tell BAIB something about the duration and 
structure of our jam track.  In the top part of the screen (where there 
are more buttons and icons that you can shake a stick at), look for a 
white rectangular area right above measures 1 and 2.  (I've not yet 
found what the BAIB folks *call* this part of the screen. Usually such 
things have names, though. Anyone?)

Look for two numbers in parentheses separated by a dash, probably 
(1  -  32).  This is the 'chorus'.  Our chorus – the part that repeats 
–  goes from measure 5 to measure 16.  Click on the numeral '1'.  The 
cursor changes to a plus-sign.  Click on bar number 5 in the chord 
sheet.  Notice that the numeral '1' has now changed to '5'.  Next, 
click on the numeral '32' (or whatever the second number in parentheses 
is, on your screen).  The cursor changes to a plus-sign, again.  Click 
on measure number 16.

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Now we are going to tell BAIB to play our song until we tell it to 
stop. Well, almost.

To the right of the numbers in parentheses is a number all by itself. 
 This is the number of times to play through the chorus.  Click on it; 
you should see a drop-down menu.  Select '40'. We have just told BAIB 
to play our 12-bar blues chorus 40 times through.  Are we likely to 
want to hear it that long?  Of course not.  But we can play until we 
want to stop without having to think about restarting the track.

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To the left of this specification area (for lack of a better word) is a 
button labeled 'Style'.  Click on that to get a pop-up screen which 
they call the 'style picker'.

In the left part of this screen is a list of genres and sub-genres. 
 Click on 'Blues'.

In the right part of the screen you will now see a list of styles from 
which to choose.  'EV' means even beats. 'sw' means swing rhythm.  
There are brief descriptions.  For your first time out, try one called 
'Z3BLUSHF'.

Optional:  Click on 'Preview' (at the top of the screen) to hear a bit 
of it; click on 'Stop' to stop.  Click on 'OK' at the bottom right of 
this screen.  The screen will disappear, and BAIB will start playing 
your jam track in the new style.  It probably sounds pretty cheesy, at 
this point.

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