I believe the issues with the "Natural Arrangement" feature are three fold, user expectation, feature implementation and undocumented chord changes.

The first issue is available by answering the question, "What does a user EXPECT to hear on playback once chords are entered on a Band-in-a-Box chord sheet and the play or regen and play button are pressed; chord improvisation (natural arrangement) or the entered chords?" My guess is users expect entered chords but the current default is chord improvisation (natural arrangement turned on).

The second issue is the focus of the green message is on song complexity, not changing the chord arrangement based on an analysis of the song. So the message is confusing at best and inaccurate or misleading at times.

The third issue is the chord sheet does not clearly indicate what chords are substituted, where the substituted chords were placed nor why those substitutions were made.

A on/off checkbox could help address the first issue but the second and third issues also needs addressing.

I like the idea of having a checkbox to easily turn the feature on and off. My proposal is to make the checkbox part of the regen and play button. Then during initial and subsequent song generations the check box will control operation of the natural arrangement feature as desired. Meanwhile the natural arrangement checkbox operation is ignored when the play button is pressed.

The second issue can be addressed by changing the green box message wording. A simple "natural arrangement is on" when the feature is used should be sufficient.

The third issue requires the most attention. Both the user manual and help file should be updated to provide a clear explanation of what the natural arrangement feature is and a non technical overview of how the features makes it's decisions. Finally, chord substitutions should be highlighted on both display and print chord sheets.

Jim Fogle - 2025 BiaB (Build 1128) RB (Build 5) - Ultra+ PAK
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