Sorry for a confusing explanation. I'll try to clarify.

  1. The first thing I need to stress is that you must forget about BiaB doing odd time signatures. Actually, it doesn't do time signatures at all, it just has cells that can hold from 1 to 4 beats. That means anything with more than 4 beats per bar can't be done in a single cell. So you need to think about the hacks I described.
  2. Time signatures themselves are flexible. Example: a 6/8 time signature is often taken "in two". Two beats per bar with a triplet pattern on each beat. You could do the same song with a 12/8 meter, but taken "in four". Or a 3/4 time signature. Cut time (2/2 or ala breve) can be thought of as 4/4 time takin "in two". Often when I read cut time music, that's how I approach it.
  3. If 5/4 time had never been invented, you could write the music by alternating 3/4 and 2/4 bars of music. But having a new time signature ever bar would be a PITA. Similarly, alternating 3 beat cells with 2 beat cells will get the job done. Or you could start with 2 followed by 3 - or even 4 and 1. Which sounds best for the song and your chosen style.
  4. Since BiaB can't support more than 4 beats per cell, you can emulate longer than 4 beat time signatures by combining more than one cell in BiaB to make one bar of music.


Frequently when making a Fake e-disk for BiaB I'll come across a 6/4 bar. So I split it up, one cell with 4 beats and the next one with 2, and there is my 6/4 bar of music. It doesn't only apply to odd time signatures. After all, 3/4 is an odd time signature and BiaB does 3/4 fine because it doesn't exceed the 4 beat limit per cell.

When you think about BiaB as cells, instead of bars, it gets very flexible. It depends on the chosen style and what it sounds like. Examples:
  • Change the beats to 2 (F5), use a "sw" style, and you get a 6/8 bar of music. Leave the cell with 4 beats and it's a 12/8 bar.
  • A waltz can be half of a 6/8 bar per cell. Especially if the 6/8 is taken in 6.
  • One 3/4 cell + one 4/4 cell = one 7/4 bar
And so on.

As long as you don't intend on printing notation, these hacks work just fine.

One more point. Time signatures are guides, not arbitrary rules. In doing my fake disks, I have found many songs that were not in the time signature that I would have guessed. It may have sounded like a waltz but was written in 6/8, with each ♪ equaling one beat. Or one I figured was 4/4 was actually written in 2/4.

So think beats and sub beats, try to figure out how to get that to work in BiaB's cells, and most time signatures are available to you.


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Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
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