Upgrade Manual

Chapter 13: Other New Features 69
Song Endings option.
The usual Band-in-a-Box ending is 2 bars appended to
the end of the song. This new option gives you an alternative to end the song on
the last bar of the song, BB will still play an ending on the chord that you
specify, and the ending will occur as a 2 bar phrase beginning 2 bars before the
end of the form. This results in more natural endings for many songs.
For example, the song Old Folks At Home is a 32-bar chorus song from bar 1 to
bar 32. It ends with the last Melody note on bar 31 with the word 'home", but
Band-in-a-Box normally plays a 2 bar ending, starting at the end of bar 32, and
going for 2 bars more. For a song like this, it is more natural to end the song at
the end of bar 32.
To set this in BB, press the Song Settings button,
and set the "Start the ending 2 bars early"
to true.
Enhanced Volume Control.
When adjusting the volume of a part (say to
increase the volume), if you hold down the Alt key while clicking on the volume
change, it will also decrease the volume of the other parts. This is especially
useful when you've reached the maximum volume of a part, but still 'want it to
be louder'. By holding down the alt key, the other volumes get reduced, which
has the desired effect. This is most useful for Melody parts, or the THRU part
that you are playing along with Band-in-a-Box.
For example, let's say you're listening to a song, and can't hear the Melody
properly. You select the Melody part, and click on the volume control to
increase the Melody to full volume 127 – but it's still not loud enough. Now you
hold down the ALT key and click to continue to increase the Melody. The
Melody will stay at 127, but the other instruments will all drop in volume, the
overall effect is an increased prominence of the Melody "beyond full volume".
Easy STEREO/MONO panning menu items.
These allow you to quickly set
the instruments to a stereo panning or mono panning. Choose these items
directly from the GM Menu – Set Panning to MONO, and Set Panning to Stereo.
Total time for song in Minutes and seconds
are now displayed at the top of
the screen (e.g. 4:58).
Polyphonic adjust of Melody tracks.
This function will convert a polyphonic
track to a monophonic track by eliminating note overlap, optionally preserving
the double stops (chords) in the track.
For example, if you have a Melody that has a lot of notes that overlap each other
(for example a G note that lasts 2 beats, followed by an A note a beat later).