Music Technology and accompaniment have been liked since the 14th century with the invention of a mechanical instrument similar to the music box. The 1800’s were an amazing time for mechanical music technology and accompaniment. The Orchestron, the original mechanical band in a box, was made of mechanized orchestral instruments and was actually in a large hand-carved wooden box. The player piano was also used for accompaniment. The Mellowtron of the 1960’s and 70’s was a piano made up of tape loops with live samples on them. This allowed you to create songs at the touch of a key.

The flutes at the beginning of the Beatles’ Strawbery Fields are not real but Paul playing the Mellowtron. Many organs from the 1950’s to the present have an accompaniment feature on them. Does anyone remember the 1970’s-80’s rhythm teacher called Tap Master?
Two programs featured in the winter conference that are part of this evolution are Band In A Box and Smart Music.

Band in a Box
“RealDrums - these are audio drum styles that replace the MIDI drum track with actual recordings of top studio Jazz/Rock/Country drummers! These are not “samples” of single drum hits; they are full recordings, lasting from 1 to 8 bars.

 
Audio Chord Wizard - the Wizard takes an audio file and instantly figures out the chords to the song. Whether it’s an MP3, WMA, or WAV file the Wizard will analyze and display the chords for use within the program!

Other great new features include the Soundtrack feature, the “Reharmonist” feature, save as MP3, batch MP3/WAV/WMA generation, TranzPort® wireless controller support, Auto-memo generation, Chord Breaks, Melodist/Soloist/Notation enhancements... and much more.”

Smart Music
SmartMusic is an interactive, computer-based practice tool for musicians. Challenging exercises, instant feedback tools, and more than 30,000 accompaniments make SmartMusic an essential part of your practice sessions

SmartMusic accompanies you while you practice. Your performance improves faster because practicing is more productive and fun.
Kent State University study shows that playing with accompaniment leads to significant improvement in the ability to perform solo repertoire. And the transition to playing with an accompanist is a lot easier from SmartMusic than from practicing alone.

Our exclusive Intelligent Accompaniment® actually follows your spontaneous tempo changes like a good human accompanist, so you’re free to express yourself. Or, if you’re learning a piece, you can turn off Intelligent Accompaniment and follow the music’s original tempo or the tempo of your choice.