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Hi. I'm new to band in a box and was wondering which of the following are posible with it??

I teach at home with electronic kits (Roland TD-20 and Yamaha DTXpress).

I would like software for the following and I'm not sure if BIAB does it?

1) Play a pattern on my TD-20 and see the drum pattern or score appear on screen as a teaching aid.



Yes, this can be done with any MIDI output drumkit, but be advised that Band in a Box does not notate drum parts using the Standard for same. Don't know why that is, but is annoying to drummers I've known. I found out that I can export a BIAB song as a .MID file, open that up in a Notation Editing program suite (I use Sibelius, used to use Finale, others like Noteworth Composer which is a shareware and less $$) and *convert* to proper drum notation for printing on a page.


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2) Play along to songs (with the drum part removed)



Most definitely. Matter of fact, you don't "remove" the part, you can simply MUTE it by Rightclicking on that part's trackname at top of window and it will stay muted for an entire session of loading songs or until you desire to unmute it. One can still view notation while a part is muted, too.

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3) Import midi songs and get a display of the drum part (notation) to teach others



Again, BIAB will display the notation, but maybe not on the lines and spaces where you wish the students to see them. Boo. I'm not familiar with where the stuff *shold* be, I'm only relating what drummers who are have told me about in the past.

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4) basic recording i.e add my drum part to a song and replace existing drum track



Using the MIDI output of one of those two kits, you can record to the Melody or Soloist track in realtime with the rest playing back. Great for making examples, etc.

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5) record a drum pattern and play it back with BIAB also showing the musical notation.



Yes, with the same notation caveats mentioned above.

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Will BIAB do all the above? If not, does anyone know which products will?

Cheers

Bob




I recommend BIAB without reserve for music teachers, even with that notation "problem" -- combine BIAB with a music notation software that can also record MIDI parts and notate them or let you import MIDI from BIAB to re-notate them "proper" and you will have a formidable setup for lots of purposes, to include making and printing your own lessons, making custom drills to help specific students solve specific problems, making mp3 or CD audio files of practice sessions with accompaniment at steady tempos that students can take home aloong with a printed page and easily drill the lessons, plus I think that you as a musician will find that BIAB is a lot of fun.

BIAB is a lot like picking up a new musical instrument in the sense that it is not an "instant gratification" situation. Spend time getting to know the software, learning how to work with it, experimenting, working things out and don't forget that this forum is a wonderful resource where we all share tips and tricks, knowledge, music, etc.

Have Fun,


--Mac

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