2011 (Windows)

Chapter 4: MIDI File Chord Interpretation Wizard 23

The settings that are determined automatically for you are:

The Key Signature of the song (MIDI file)

. Some MIDI files contain a

special event that states the key signature of the file, but most don't. For the

ones that don't, Band-in-a-Box analyzes the tracks and makes a “best guess”

at the correct key signature for the song. It usually gets it right, but if its

wrong its likely out by a 4

or 5

interval.

Tempo, Time Signature

The channels used for the Bass Part, Piano (comping) parts

The channels used for the Melody parts

The Number of Bars

in the song

to import, including the number of lead-

in bars in the song.

Once you have loaded in the MIDI file, (by pressing the Choose button), and

assuming that you have the “Auto Interpret” set to true, you'll see that the

dialog displays the settings that the Chord Wizard has found in the MIDI file

for the key signature, and channels used for the song.

Let's work with an example song called Violet Song.MID.

This should be included in your c:\bb directory. For this example, we're going

to interpret the chords of this MIDI file and read them into Band-in-a-Box.

Start with a blank worksheet by choosing File | New.

Choose the MIDI File chord Wizard dialog by choosing File | Import Chords

from MIDI file.

Press the [Change] Button to select the MIDI file, and then

choose the file that you'd like to import, in this case it is called

“c:\bb\Violet Song.MID”.

Once you load in the file, you'll notice that the Chord Wizard has analyzed the

MIDI file and made these determinations for you.