I've had an experiment with this and I think what you are trying to achieve, can't be done. In my opinion you are just making hard work for yourself by using the Nashville system or Roman numerals. It seems that BIAB does not take this into account with key changes. It also doesn't conform with the standard upper and lower case, unless I'm missing something. From what I can figure out, BIAB cannot modulate to different keys, the song itself is set to just one key.
Yes this is maybe a shortcoming but I don't personally see it as much of a problem. This is not composing software.
With that said, it's also not a problem unless this somehow alters they way it generates chords. Some say it does, I'm not so sure myself - either way, you need to understand one thing that's important...
"Key signature" and "Key" are not really the same thing. In this respect, I think BIAB is doing things correctly - it just isn't taking chord position into account as they all relate to the overall key that is set for the song.
If all you want to do is make the notation display correctly then just use chord names.
Example:
Key of C ... I, ii, iii, V = C Dm Em G Key of D ... I, ii, iii, V = D Em F#m A
BIAB displays this as I IIm IIIm V which I find odd but maybe there is a setting I have overlooked.
Either way. Let's look at those chords in Roman numerals all in the key of C major (with BIAB interpretation in brackets).
C = I (I) D = II (II) Dm = ii (IIm) Em = ii F#m = #iv G = V A = VI
Personally I would have a harder time deciphering that than if I just looked at chord names, it just seems messy.
So back to using chord names and looking at what BIAB is doing.
4 Bars in the key of C C Dm Em G
change key to D at bar 5 D Em F#m A
Now go to settings and change the key signature to D major at Bar 5 ... everything in the notation is correct and showing as it should. BIAB just doesn't take that into account if you switch the chord display type. Just remember, key signature is a notation thing only - it does not relate necessarily to the home key.
That might seem a bit odd but it's not really. Most of these things are about keeping notation as tidy as possible. If you have a whole bunch of chords throughout a song that do not conform strictly to one single key (quite common) then notating everything as a change of key would become a mess for any reader. Much better to improve your theory and knowledge of chord function if you want to think in numerals. As I said, I personally think you're just making hard work of it.
Just remember, key signature is a notation thing only - it does not relate necessarily to the home key.
This is quite important and I think Lee N may well have identified a confusion.
The key signature identifies the "home key" for the song and gives a short-form indication of how to identify the notes as they're written on the staff. For example, if the key signature is BbMaj, then the there will be three flats at the start of the staff and the reader will know that notes on the B, E and A positions are to be played as Bb, Eb and Ab. Many songs will modulate to a different key for a while, then return to the home key, and during those parts the reader will see that as notes on the staff start to get individual sharps, flats or naturals, which will remain for the duration of the bar or until another sharp, flat or natural.
It unusual to change the key signature for that. It's normal that those sharps, flats and naturals indicate the modulation -- the temporary key change.
As an example of this, it's perfectly possible to write any song with a CMaj key signature and mark all accidentals as they're used in the song. Some people prefer to work that way and there is no reason why they should not do so.
I don't tend to write chords using the Nashville/Roman notations, but just to see what BiaB does, I tried typing #IV and #V7 into cells and saw the F# and Ab7 that I would expect. For my own benefit I also tried iii7 and iiim7 to check how major and minor thirds are handled.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2025 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
62. How do I change keys in the middle of my Band-in-a-Box® song? Can I display more than one key signature? To transpose to a new key in the middle of a song, you can use the Edit | TransposeFrom...to Dialog. To display the new key signature in the notation window, you can use the Settings for Current Bar dialog (press F5 at any bar).
Lee beat me to the punch as I can change keys in BiaB by typing in the chords, for example A-D-E to Bb-Eb-F is no problem. I don't now how this looks in notation as I do not use BiaB notation.
Whenever I get something stuck in the back of my throat, I dislodge it by drinking a beer. It's called the Heineken Maneuver.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
Lee beat me to the punch as I can change keys in BiaB by typing in the chords, for example A-D-E to Bb-Eb-F is no problem. I don't now how this looks in notation as I do not use BiaB notation.
Thanks for the reply. After reading the official information, I found the answer. I don't know much about the rest.
I believe BIAB will get better and better. I'm looking forward to the BIAB2023 release right now. Ha ha
OK, now that the smoke has settled and I have calmed down, I think we are ready to move to the real reason that we want to include Key Changes in our music. If you have not see this video, and you want to learn more, please follow Adam here.
OK, now that the smoke has settled and I have calmed down, I think we are ready to move to the real reason that we want to include Key Changes in our music. If you have not see this video, and you want to learn more, please follow Adam here.
OK, now that the smoke has settled and I have calmed down, I think we are ready to move to the real reason that we want to include Key Changes in our music. If you have not see this video, and you want to learn more, please follow Adam here.
I love this lesson. It gives me goosebumps.
Thanks for posting that. A seminal example of the power of key change.
There's a difference, though, between an actual key change and whether that key change should be written into the key signature. I don't have strong feelings about that ... for me it's a tradeoff between recognising the key change from the accidentals or seeing the new signature and having to change my understanding of the accidentals.
I've been thinking throughout this thread of a particular example and the mention in the video of John Coltrane prompts me to mention it, and that's his "Giant Steps", which changes key something like every bar, to the extent that a written "key" becomes probably irrelevant. In practice one learns the chord progression and just "deals with it". The version I use is written in C Major and every chord/note/key is defined by the music as it's written.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2025 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
I had to do this the other day. I wrote out Verse 1 in the desired key, then changed the entire song to the new key that I wanted for Verse 2. I selected the Verse 1 bars and pressed Ctrl+C to copy, then Ctrl+Z to Undo the transposition of Verse 1. I then pasted the chords below verse 1 which remained in the new key, and then pressed F5 on the first bar of verse to let BB know about the new key.
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Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Macs®: VST3 Plugin Support
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: Using VST3 Plugins
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