Hi w,

I'm not quite sure how to reply because I'm not completely certain that I understand what you're asking. For this reason, I'll just write down everything that I think might be useful so you so that you can select those sections (if any) that apply.

1. 12/8 is a compound time signature. It has four beats to the bar (just like 4/4). Because it is a compound signature, though, the beat note is defined as a dotted quarter note.

2. Since a dotted quarter note contains three eighth notes, a compound time signature has beat notes that sub-divide, in the first instance, into units of 3. By comparison, a simple time signature has beat notes that subdivide, in the first instance, into units of 2.

3. A beat note in 4/4 can also be subdivided into units of three by using eighth-note triplets.

4. BIAB treats 12/8 as a triplet variation of 4/4. This is fine since it meets all the necessary criteria... namely, there are four beats in a bar and each beat is subdivided into 3.

5. From a notation perspective, though, notating a 12/8 song in 4/4 is visually confusing even though it plays fine.

6. I've just checked and BIAB 2018 for Mac now has the enhanced notation editor where it's possible to display a 4/4 triplet version of 12/8 as a 12/8. With my Windows version of BIAB, I can do this by clicking on the button shown below. From what I read, it sounds like something similar should also be available to you if you have BIAB 2018.

Hope this helps,
Noel

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