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Copying chords from Excel to BIAB? #828278 11/13/24 07:41 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Nov 2024 Posts: 3 G GlobalRider OP Newbie
OP GlobalRider Newbie G Joined: Nov 2024 Posts: 3	Hi, I am using Band in a Box for ear training of chords. And therefor I put in quite large number of chord progressions in one file. Is there a way to copy chords in Excel and paste it into BIAB? That would save me a lot of time.

Re: Copying chords from Excel to BIAB? GlobalRider #828283 11/13/24 08:34 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 12,948 Wauconda DrDan Veteran
DrDan Veteran Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 12,948 Wauconda	I think that should be possible, but will take a bit of editing. BIAB has a "save special" whereby a BIAB song can be saved as a text file. It will look as shown in example below. So what you need to do is save your selected Exel chords as a "Text" file. Then edit the text file to the syntex of BIAB and copy all using the BIAB "Paste Special" to import the chords into BIAB. You don't need all the parts. You can Paste Special only the [Chords] section if you want. Of course there may be other ways but this could be a start. Quote [Song] [Title Always on my mind] [File Always on my mind.SGU] [Key G ] [Tempo 90] [Form 1-681] [.Sty _WESTPNO.STY] [Style Subdued Country Stride] [Summary] *** Song Summary ********* Title: Always on my mind File:Always on my mind.SGU Key=G , Tempo 90, Length (m:s)=3:11 No intro. 68 bar chorus, from bar 1 to bar 68. Repeat x1 chorus No Melody No Soloist track. Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0, Style is _WESTPNO.STY (Subdued Country Stride) RealTracks in style: ~2474:Bass, Acoustic, Held Ev 085 RealTracks in style: 2045:Piano, Acoustic, Solo-Accompaniment CountryPopJohn Ev 085 RealDrums in style:NashvilleEven8^1-a:Sidestick, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride ***************** [SummaryEnd] [Chords] \|a) G\| D/F#\| Em\| C\| G\| D/F#\| Em\| C\| \|a) G\| D/F#\| Em\| C\| G\| D/F#\| Em\| A7\| \|b) C\| G/B\| C C/B\| Am\| D\| G\| C D\| G\| \|a) G\| D/F#\| Em\| C\| G\| D/F#\| Em\| A7\| \|b) C\| G/B\| C C/B\| Am\| D\| G\| C D\| G\| \|a) G G/F#\| Em Em/D\| C G/B\| Am D\| G G/F#\| Em Em/D\| C G/B\| Am D\| \|a) G\| D/F#\| Em\| C\| G\| D/F#\| Em\| A7\| \|b) C\| G/B\| C C/B\| Am\| D\| G\| C D\| G\| \| D\| G\| C D\| G\|end) G\| [ChordsEnd] [Lyrics] \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| Maybe I didn't \| love you \| Quite as often as I \| could have \| Maybe I didn't \| treat you \| Quite as good as I \| should have \| \| If I made you feel \| second best \| Girl I'm sorry I was \| blind \| You were always on my \| mind \| You were always on my \| mind \| \| And maybe I didn't \| hold you \| All those lonely, lonely \| times \| I guess I never \| told you \| I'm so happy that you're \| mine \| \| Little things I should have \| said and done \| I just never took the \| time \| But You were always on my \| mind \| You were always on my \| mind \| \| Tell \| me \| tell me that your sweet love hasn't \| died \| Give \| me \| give me one more chance \| To keep you satisfied \| \| Isatisfied \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| Little things I should have \| said and done \| I just never took the \| time \| But You were always on my \| mind \| You were \| always on my mind \| \| But You were always on my \| mind \| You were \| always on my mind \| [LyricsEnd] [SongEnd] Retired to Make Music - No Plan B My SoundCloud Preview My Current Project .

Re: Copying chords from Excel to BIAB? GlobalRider #828332 11/14/24 02:59 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Nov 2024 Posts: 3 G GlobalRider OP Newbie
OP GlobalRider Newbie G Joined: Nov 2024 Posts: 3	Thank you! That worked.

Re: Copying chords from Excel to BIAB? GlobalRider #828337 11/14/24 06:03 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jan 2015 Posts: 2,662 Hampshire, UK Gordon Scott Veteran
Gordon Scott Veteran Joined: Jan 2015 Posts: 2,662 Hampshire, UK	Just in case yoiu don't know, BiaB has a limit of 255 bars, which would limit the number of chords you can enter. Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .

Re: Copying chords from Excel to BIAB? GlobalRider #828338 11/14/24 06:24 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 12,948 Wauconda DrDan Veteran
DrDan Veteran Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 12,948 Wauconda	The maximum number of rows in an Excel worksheet is 1,048,576 and the maximum number of columns is 16,384. Resulting in 17,179,869,184 individual cells. At 4 chords per bar, that would fill 4,294,967,296 bars in BIAB . Just sayin... Retired to Make Music - No Plan B My SoundCloud Preview My Current Project .

Re: Copying chords from Excel to BIAB? GlobalRider #828340 11/14/24 06:55 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Nov 2024 Posts: 3 G GlobalRider OP Newbie
OP GlobalRider Newbie G Joined: Nov 2024 Posts: 3	My current BIAB file is on 200 bars and is sufficient as long as I quickly can fill it with random chords. Then I can change them up every now and then. Is there a way that I can hide the chords in BIAB? So that i can choose 4 bars and play it in a loop, without knowing which chords it is? I would be surprised if that is possible, it doesn't hurt to ask.

Re: Copying chords from Excel to BIAB? GlobalRider #828361 11/14/24 11:39 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 12,948 Wauconda DrDan Veteran
DrDan Veteran Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 12,948 Wauconda	Originally Posted by GlobalRider Is there a way that I can hide the chords in BIAB? So that i can choose 4 bars and play it in a loop, without knowing which chords it is? I would be surprised if that is possible, it doesn't hurt to ask. Don't underestimate what BIAB can do... Spend some time with the Conductor Feature. With it you may be able to arrange your charts in some random fashion and then use Conductor to skip to different sections within the chart and at each one play a specific 4 bar section. It just might do what you want? Use the Conductor Window to block out view of the chord sheet. Retired to Make Music - No Plan B My SoundCloud Preview My Current Project .

Re: Copying chords from Excel to BIAB? GlobalRider #828375 11/14/24 01:06 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 11,031 Winston Salem, NC USA Jim Fogle Veteran
Jim Fogle Veteran Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 11,031 Winston Salem, NC USA	Quote Is there a way that I can hide the chords in BIAB? So that i can choose 4 bars and play it in a loop, without knowing which chords it is? I would be surprised if that is possible, it doesn't hurt to ask. Your question implies a random 4 bar selection which is not possible. However, you can always select 4 bars on the chord sheet and then switch to a view you're not use to seeing. Perhaps the Tracks, Notation or Piano Roll view would work. Another idea is to change settings so the chord sheet displays chords in a manner you're not familiar with such as Do-Re-Mi or Nashville Notation Jim Fogle - 2026 BiaB (Build 1224) RB (Build 8) - Ultra+ PAK DAWs: Cakewalk Sonar - Standalone: Zoom MRS-8 Desktop: i7 Win 11, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home

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