Customer Reviews

Band in a Box Pro 2008

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This program offers just about everything a musician would want to do with music. The Learning curve is high, but the excellent tutorials will teach you all you need to know. It just takes time. I love the conversion of songs to chord structures. The only draw back is it only does .mp3 or .wav files. If you have iTunes and your music is .aa files you have to convert them. Also I haven't figured out how to take this conversion and set up your own band instead of using the .wav file.

I am a guitar player who is now learning how to play the bass, and in the month I have had this program I have improved in the bass more than I have in the past year.

If you don't have any knowledge of music theory, this program can be a bit over whelming, but there are plenty of websites where you can learn the basics of music theory. The more theory you know the more you will love this program.

I use Band-in-a-Box quite frequently when rehearsing. As a jazz musician, it comes in handy for creating instant play-alongs for me to learn melodies, improvise solos, or work on exercises. I can loop a section of a tune to polish any problem areas, or adjust the tempo as needed to learn a particular part. Like practicing with a metronome, it helps me learn to play in time, but also has the advantage of providing the harmony as a backdrop for what I'm playing. It's also a handy tool for composing original music, allowing me instant gratification to hear what an original musical idea might sound like in a band context, but without the hassle of getting a band together to play it.

I have encountered some instances where I couldn't reproduce the feel of a certain tune and have had to rely on a play-along by Jamey Aebersold or Hal Leonard, but for the most part, I've been able to create play-alongs for most jazz standards and even some light funk tunes.

Using Band-in-a-Box, it's easy enough to plug in chords, select a style and push play, but there are some pretty extensive features with the tool that I haven't delved into much at all. One item I do wish was improved upon is the ability to more easily edit/tweak the melody from a notational standpoint. I've found that part of the software to be very limiting and not very intuitive.

Although Band-in-a-Box could never replace playing with live musicians, it doesn't waste my practice time with the baggage that sometimes accompanies rehearsing with live musicians:

- It doesn't show up late for practice
- It doesn't show up stoned or drunk
- It doesn't complain or whine about any aspect of a tune (key, tempo, tune itself, etc.)

I thought this product could be better. The drum tracks that come with the program are of terrible quality and using this software can be very confusing. Nevertheless it's a useful tool for any musician to use during practice and is worth the purchase.