Warren,

I would approach creating the song the way you think. First is to make a folder on your desktop to store all you song project files.

1. Record melody using the instrument you're most familiar with, your horn. What will you use to record your horn? I would use either RealBand (RB), the audio track in Band-in-a-Box (BiaB), +++ Audacity +++ or +++ Wavosaur +++.

2. (Optional) If using Audacity or Wavosaur, export to your song project folder the recorded melody to a wave file.

3. Use the Audio Chord Wizard in Band-in-a-Box or RealBand to set the melody time and key signatures and determine the melody tempo and chords. Import the wave form and ACW information into Band-in-a-Box or RealBand.

4. Select a style or group of styles that complement the melody.

5. In Band-in-a-Box, add four or eight bars to the beginning of your melody. Use the melody maker feature in BiaB to create a four or eight bar introduction that complements your melody.

6. Listen to individual instrument tracks until satisfied with the arrangement then freeze the track. Note: you may want to apply effects like reverb, delay, EQ,chorus and so on at this point. The idea is to make each track sound the way you want.

7. Once all tracks are frozen, either export the song project, individual tracks or both as wave files.

8. Star another song project.

Jim Fogle - 2024 BiaB (1111) RB (5) Ultra+ PAK
DAWs: Cakewalk by BandLab (CbB) - Standalone: Zoom MRS-8
Laptop: i3 Win 10, 8GB ram 500GB HDD
Desktop: i7 Win 11, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD
Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home