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STRATEGY FOR THE DAY: Do something foolish but not harmful.

I was teaching an online songwriting class at SongU.com the other night and one of participants got in touch afterwards to ask me about a software program I often recommend called Band In A Box. This is a useful program for songwriters. You can rough out songs by typing or playing a chord progression into the software. It will generate a backing track with drums, bass, piano, etc. based on the chords. It can also generate a chord progression for you if you like. You can then create a melody of your own and write lyrics over a track that's in the style you are aiming for. It can be helpful. That's the short version of what it does. There's a lot of depth there. And it's cheap at under $100. Unfortunately there are also some drawbacks. (Of course.)

My friend from SongU was somewhat put off by the cheeeeeeeesy sounds that were coming out of his computer and wanted to know if there was a way to make BIAB sound better. I explained to him that BIAB doesn't come with any sounds of its own. It will either use your computer's internal General Midi sounds OR you can switch to your own sounds and samples if you have a General Midi keyboard which many people do these days - they are so cheap. Here's how you do that: (I use BIAB on my Mac so I don't know if the following directions are the same for PC but probably close enough.)

Click on MIDI at the top of your BIAB screen.
Choose AUDIO MIDI SETUP.
Choose SELECT MIDI DRIVER OR QUICKTIME.
Choose whatever is on offer that isn't Quicktime. It will then ask a couple of set-up questions and you're off and running with your own sounds and samples. You may need to choose the midi channels you want them on.

OR you can work with the cheesy sounds in your computer while you rough out your song. (No one will ever hear them but you.) You can then choose SAVE STANDARD MIDI FILE under the file menu. A standard midi file can be opened in any music sequencer. If you have a sequencer like Cakewalk / Sonar / Garageband / Acid Studio (the latter two are cheap and come with some great sounds), you can open the file in any of those and use the sounds in your own midi set-up or the software synths in GB and Acid. BIAB is great for roughing out songs but for demos, you'll need to drive a software synth or outboard samples and sounds.

BTW, you may notice, the default songs and pre-programmed songs that come with BIAB are awful! Here's what I do: Mute everything but the drums, bass and piano. Go through whatever styles come with your version till you find a drum, bass, and piano feel you like. (If you get the mega-pak, check out C_Eagles.sty. I like that one. You can buy it as part of a Style group for $30. Check 'em out online at http://www.pgmusic.com.) Work with the drums and bass primarily. If you play guitar and have the Windows version of BIAB, I believe you can record your guitar right into the program. Drums, bass, piano, guitar should sound okay if your computer is not more than, say, 6 or 7 years old. Sound cards got better as far as drums and bass around that time.

Hope that helps! Have fun!

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Read Notes On Songwriting by Robin Frederick for more information and insights into writing songs that reach out to listeners.

Copyright 2007 Robin Frederick. All rights reserved.