My series on Artificial Intelligence as it applies to writing/presenting Gospel Music continues with a review of a software application that has been around for over 35 years: Band-In-A-Box

BACKGROUND
During the early 1990s, I began seeing advertisements for Band-In-A-Box software which was sold by a Canada-based company called PG Music. I never saw the point in purchasing it at the time, because it was strictly a MIDI program and functioned at about the same quality as an accompaniment feature on a cheap Casio or Yamaha keyboard from that era. 

Fast forward to 2017: I was searching for software to create demos of songs and was surprised to learn that Band-In-A-Box still existed (27 years after its initial release). Since 2007, the program had been incorporating audio samples to generate songs rather than relying strictly on the MIDI device you happened to own. In the modern versions, MIDI is still an option but is a mostly forgotten residual feature of the software. I bought the “UltraPAK” version of Band-In-A-Box in 2017 and subsequently upgraded in 2018 and 2019. I may upgrade again at some point…

WHAT DOES BAND-IN-A-BOX DO?
Band-In-A-Box allows you to set your preferred key, tempo, meter, style, and a sequence of chords. The generated result is compiled from snippets of audio originally recorded by studio musicians with pitches shifted when needed to fit the chords you selected. Everything is sequenced together to create a track matching your chords.

Once generated, details can be adjusted until you’re satisfied with the result, or, if you aren’t satisfied, you can select another style from 100s of possibilities and generate another track with the same chords. Obviously, you’re not going to match true studio quality, but they usually sound good enough for a song demo. Click HERE for a more extensive description of the software. 

The graphic interface of the software, by the way, needs a serious overhaul. It has changed over the years as new features have been added but still has a late-1990s look.  

IS BAND-IN-A-BOX USING AI?
It might be said that Band-In-A-Box has used AI from the beginning due to the fact that the user is only entering chords and not each individual note. In a technical sense, however, older versions obviously weren’t incorporating what we think of as AI today where the software generates results that are often more unpredictable (both in good and bad ways) based on what it has “learned” more so than how it was programmed.

That being said, the 2025 version of Band-In-A-Box (which I have not yet used) advertises some new, basic AI features. It can split an existing audio track into stem mixes, so you might take, say, the drums from an existing song and use those with a new song. Another AI feature in the latest version generates lyrics. Band-In-A-Box 2025 won’t provide an audio vocal performance like Suno (see Part 2), however.

The reason I’m covering Band-In-A-Box in this series on AI is mostly because one line from the recent statement issued by some of Southern Gospel’s top music publishers is: “The intended use of AI technology is never to create the lyric or melody itself.”

In order to get AI programs like Suno to sing your own melody, you must first upload a demo for it to cover. There’s no way (yet) to just show it the melody notated on a musical staff, so you have to sing to it. I’ve tried just singing a melody as I accompany myself on piano to upload to Suno, but it has difficulty matching the chords. When I upload a fuller sounding track made in Band-In-A-Box with drums, bass guitar, and a couple other rhythm instruments defining the chords over a range of timbres, Suno will more closely match the chords and melody.  

So, here’s a formula for making demos of your original songs with an AI app like Suno augmented by Band-In-A-Box:
1. Make a track in Band-In-A-Box
2. Sing your melody either directly into Band-In-A-Box over the track or record it separately to import into Band-In-A Box. You can then export to MP3, WAV, or whatever you want.
3. Upload the audio track you made in Band-In-A-Box to Suno, switch to Suno’s “Cover” feature, and generate a demo.

As I mentioned in Part 2, whatever you upload must be cropped down to two-minutes for Suno. For songs that include a bridge, I try to include an intro, one full verse, a chorus, the bridge, and a repeat of the chorus if time permits. Suno is really good about matching simpler Verse/Chorus songs, but not as consistent when it comes to matching songs with more than two main sections.

SUMMARY
Band-In-A-Box is a decent tool to help you create a song demo. I’ve never been fully satisfied using it to create backing tracks to use in performance. Making tracks for your original, human-created material is precisely what Band-In-A-Box is designed to do. You can have full control over chords, lyrics, etc. to remain compliant with the statement from some of Southern Gospel’s publishers, or you can use the new AI tools in Band-In-A-Box if you choose.

UP NEXT
In part 4, I will offer further opinions/observations on the statement issued by the Southern Gospel industry’s music publishers.

In part 5, I will revisit Suno and let you hear some results that may surprise you.

Leave a comment here. If you prefer to keep your thoughts just between me and you, send them by email to: ai@musicscribe.com