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Chapter 4: The Main Screen Main Screen Overview The main screen gives direct access to the major features and program settings of Band-in-a-Box for ease and convenience during a session. There are seven different areas on the main screen. 1→ 2→ 3→...

Chapter 4: The Main Screen Main Screen Overview The main screen gives direct access to the major features and program settings of Band-in-a-Box for ease and convenience during a session. There are seven different areas on the main screen. 1→ 2→ 3→ ←6 4→ 5→ 7→ 1. The Status Bar shows program running status messages and path names of the currently loaded song. This area also includes the Menu Bar. Immediately below it are the Track Radio Buttons, where instruments are assigned and sounds are chosen. Right-click on the instrument names to open a menu of settings for that instrument. 2. The Main Tool Bar area has buttons for direct access to important program features and menus. Hold the mouse cursor on any button to see a pop-up hint that describes its function. 3. The Song Panel includes the song title and all the other settings for the song such as its Key Signature, Tempo, and Chorus settings. The [Song] and [Style] buttons offer various ways of selecting songs and styles, including the SongPicker and StylePicker dialogs. 4. The Function Tool Bars are organized into groups of buttons for related features such as Transport, Tools, Views, and Tracks. 5. The Progress Bar displays a time line for the current song. 6. The Mixer provides live control of tracks with Volume, Pan, Reverb, and Tone settings. It also supports the assignment of plug-ins and patches to individual tracks and has a piano keyboard display. 7. The Chord Sheet Area occupies the lower part of the screen. Chord changes for the song are typed into the numbered bars (cells) in the sheet. Part markers (a, b, c, etc.) are entered here to switch between up to 24 Band-in-a-Box substyles. Repeats and endings are also shown. The Band-in-a-Box window is resizable. To resize the window, just use the sizing control at the bottom-right corner of the window. Hold down the mouse button while you drag the sizing control. This allows you to have Band-in-a-Box open as a small window on screen with other programs, and you still see a full Chord Sheet. The screen size is remembered between sessions. You will see that many Band-in-a-Box messages appear as “yellow alerts” at the bottom right of screen. That way you don’t have to respond to the message, interrupting workflow. But, if the message box is green instead of yellow, the message is an “action” dialog and you can click on it to perform the action described, such as loading a substitute style. The green action messages have a close button, which is useful for closing them without performing the action. Tip: You can change the flash message colors in the Display Options dialog (Options | Preferences | [Display Options]). Status Bar The first thing to note is that the name of the song that is open is identified in the window title at the top of the screen along with the name of the style. This feature is handy when you want to know the status (and the title) of your song and the style in use at a glance. You will also see the length of the song in minutes and seconds, and this will update if you change the tempo and press the [Play] button. The file name in the status bar will have an asterisk * added if the file has been changed. 32 Chapter 4: The Main Screen