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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I've searched past posts as best I can but come up empty-handed, so, does anyone have a clever 'work-around' way to input a 'Major Seven, Flat Five' chord? (ie. for CM7b5, it would be notes C, E, Gb, B)
Thnx,
Russ

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In version 2016, this is directly supported. Type: CMaj7b5

I think this has worked for many versions now.

Next time you get stuck, do a right-click in the Chordsheet and select Chord Builder. Then (here's the trick) click on the pull-down that is labelled Maj over the Play button. You will see all the chord types supported by BIAB, and how to spell them. It includes some pretty exotic stuff.


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Wow, Matt . . You work fast! Only 6 minutes since I posed the question!
I'm in 2016, but since seeing your reply, I realized that I shouldn't have been using the shortcut key (J) for the M7, but rather should have typed 'maj7', before addressing the 'b5'.
I'll go and rightclick the Chordsheet right now and get acquainted in Chord Builder.
Thanks again,
Russ

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Yes, if you use a shortcut key, it is only for that chord. You can't add to it (so Cjb5 won't work). That being said, you could create your own shortcut key to enter it. So maybe you assign l to maj7b5; then you could just enter Cl, and it will substitute Cmaj7b5.

The instructions from the user manual are:

Quote:
Add your own chord shortcuts.
Have you found a chord that Band-in-a-Box doesn’t recognize? If so, add it to your chord shortcuts file, and Band-in-a-Box will allow you to type in that chord in the future. This also lets you define chord “shortcuts,” one-letter abbreviations for longer chord names (“J” for “Maj7” etc.). If you find a chord that Band-in-a-Box won’t accept like Csus2, when it expects C2 instead you can enter this on a single line (without the quotes) “Csus2@C2.” Then Band-in-a-Box will enter the chord C2 if you type in Csus 2.

The text file c:\bb\Shortcut.txt allows you to add new chord shortcuts. Note that this file doesn’t ship with Band-in-a-Box (or it would overwrite your file!). The file \bb\pgshortc.txt for shortcuts supplied by PG Music. You can add your own shortcuts in a text file you make yourself and name \bb\shortcut.txt.


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Thank you jford! This is really great for people like myself, who consider Cm-5 to be a bit clearer than Cdim

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Yes, shortcut keys are cool and I have added several. You should still remember how BIAB spells chords in case you have to help someone (or you forget the shortcut, a real possibility given the age of many of us). However, BIAB shortcuts can only help you to enter a chord the way you like to do it, but not display it that way. There are only a couple of choices in Preferences about how a chord displays. If you want another one, put a request in the Wishlist.

By the way, in a notation program, I also prefer using # or b in a chord rather than + or dim. I particularly hate + since this can be ambiguous. You can't stop on a gig and say, I wonder what they meant...


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