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Good Morning. I am entering the chord progression from some sheet music where the time signature changes every few bars using 3/4, 4/4, 6/4 signatures. I can see that I can change the time signature for the whole sheet (I did that and put in 3/4 for the first bar) with the little time signature button, but then when trying to change the time signature to 4/4 for the second bar in the song, I get lost and the BIAB chord sheet starts showing a time signature mark for each bar. Image attached. There is a time signature mark now on every bar and little red lines under every bar number. Not sure what is happening with this. What is the best way to handle this chore? Thanks. The image shows that the whole sheet reverted back to 4/4 after I tried to change the 2nd bar to 4/4 and the "4" in Esus4 disappeared. ![[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]](https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=29595&filename=2024-12-27 10_42_36-Bar Settings_ TimeSig to 4_4. Bar 2, Beat 4.jpg)
Last edited by Moonbeam9067; 12/27/24 10:49 AM.
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It’s an old BIAB restriction that I think may still control. To use both 3/4 and 4/4 in the same song you must start with 4/4. If that doesn’t make sense musically, make the first bar muted. 6/4 cannot be done; you have to use a combination of shorter bars like a bar of 4/4 and a bar of 2/4.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Thanks for that Matt. How odd. I had the perhaps naive thought that BIAB would function like all modern software a la guitar pro or sibelius and let one write out bars as one wishes. Hmmm lol, I now know I need to learn the secret codes  As alway I appreciate your help. I will experiement. HAPPY NEW YEAR
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You are always welcome. I’ve used BIAB for over thirty years. There are indeed a few secret codes and I’ve assumed that the changes were not made because of early design limitations that, if changed, would affect backward compatibility.
I was a comp. sci. prof. when I bought BIAB. In the early 1990s, disk storage space was still at a premium and dictated some design choices that came to bite us. The two-digit year was the big one, leading to us revising programs when we realized we were headed toward the Y2K problem.
The BIAB prominent limitation of a song not exceeding 255 measures is the best example. Using binary numbers, you can express integers up to 255 in two character spaces. Despite all the other incredible advances made, that was never corrected.
Next, my friend user AudioTrack can explain the audible count-in. 😎
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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You are starting with a 4/4 style, so that is the correct place to start. In BIAB, you can take beats away from the time signature of the style, but you cannot add beats. So you can't make a 3/4 style play 4/4. To play 6/4, this needs to be done across two bars, a 4/4 followed by a bar of 2/4. It's definitely less than ideal, but as Matt explained, this is a limitation based on the original architecture that still exists today. The "4" in the Esus chord is not really required, because with a suspended chord, the 3rd note of the chord is replaced with a perfect 4th, so the program just needs to show Esus. I'm not sure why the chord sheet displays 4/4 for every bar. I tried it and it looks OK. I used Bar Settings (<F5>) to set the number of beats to 3 on the first bar and then set the second bar to 4 beats. ![[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]](https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=29597&filename=2024-12-28_8-02-05.jpg) There is a button to show a Print Summary on the bar settings dialog. Mine looks like this: _______________________ **** Band-in-a-Box Report of Changes in the song at any bar ****** Song Title is: Untitled Song, no file name (song not saved yet) Bar 1: TimeSig to 3/4. Bar 2: TimeSig to 4/4. _______________________ Yours is probably quite different. Perhaps use Bar Settings > Reset All Bars, and try again.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Super helpful and interesting. Will try later this afternoon your suggestions. Good to know about not being able to "increase" beats in a 3/4 setting, but can decrease beats in a 4/4 setting. PG chat tells me that a bar time signature change should populate across the remaining bars of the song, but mine did not do that, it only changed a single bar and they requested a full technical report from me (Oy...) Interesting about the sus chords. In my guitar world we often differentiate between a sus4 and a sus2 chord. I take it that BIAB reads "sus" as a "sus4", and if you want a "sus2", you need to write that as "sus2"? The print summary feature is interesting - thanks for pointing that out. BIAB is quite tricky I am finding; glad this forum is here 
Last edited by Moonbeam9067; 12/27/24 01:28 PM.
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Next, my friend user AudioTrack can explain the audible count-in. 😎 I've been doing my best to forget all about that! OK, here goes: The count-in was originally recorded as part of the style. So a 4/4 style always contained a 4/4 count-in. Now, supposing you wanted the song to start in 3/4, and later switch to 4/4. Simple, you set the first bar to 3/4 and a later bar to 4/4. Then pressed play. Then you received a 4/4 count in to a 3/4 song. Whoa!  A hard act to follow, I can assure you. This was in the wishlist for many years, with massive support. Ultimately (in about 2021 or 2022) they changed this so that the count-in now matches the number of beats in the first bar. Hallelujah 
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Hi Moonbeam, Just to add to the excellent information from Matt and AudioTrack... I suspect you have changed the time signature by clicking on the 4/4 (#1 on the image below). This sets the time signature for a range of bars and, by default, the range of bars is the whole song unless it is changed. By using this approach to create time signature changes, you will arrive at a chord sheet that looks like the image you have posted. ![[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]](https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=29599&filename=tme signature.jpg) To get rid of all the time signatures for every bar, press F5 (this takes you into Bar Settings, which is a very powerful tool). Down the bottom of the dialogue window there is an option to "Reset All Bars". By clicking on this, all the 4/4 settings for each bar will be eliminated. As a note, the "Print Summary" to the left of "Reset All Bars", is the summary that AudioTrack mentioned. You might like to click on that before you reset all the bars. ![[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]](https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=29600&filename=beats per bar-reset all bars.jpg) Lastly, to change the time signature of a few bars here and there, Bar Settings is the best way to go. At the top of the window, you can see the option "#Beats This Bar". This is best place to tell BIAB to change the time signature. After you have set the number of beats for a particular bar, you need to then set the next bar where the number of beats changes. Regards, --Noel P.S. If you prefer to see your sustained chords with the "4" present, simply go into "Options (the very top menu) >> Preferences >> Display" and activate the setting "Display 'sus' as 'sus4' ".
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Dang! Astounding help from members here!!! Wow all the detailed images you included. Sooo helpful. Sooo generous to take the time. I am a lucky guy to be here.
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Sus2 is a story by itself. Not just in BIAB, but you can find musicians who claim there is no such thing and will start an argument on the bandstand. I do see their point: if it’s a sus chord, to where does it resolve?
Let’s leave that aside. You write X2 to get a sus2 chord in BIAB. Not Xsus or Xsus2. Ex. A2 or Bb2
There is more. There is always more. [Theres even a More button in some dialog boxes.]. BIAB handles a 2 chord, an add2, an add9, and a sus2 chord all the same way internally. Just write 2. Yes, I can show you why if anyone cares.
Music is fun, isn’t it?
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Hey Noel and Trevor, maybe we should write something for the Tips and Tricks Forum about all the little secret things that people need to know in BIAB.
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I'm more than happy to write something about anything I can help with. Noel would 'play me on the break' for his much greater 'in depth' knowledge of the inner workings. He immediately knew about the cause of the time signatures issue that the O/P had experienced. Thanks Noel, I learned something too .
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Thanks, Trevor. Honestly, though, my 'in depth' knowledge is patchy! Matt, that's a great idea! I'm more than happy to contribute to a group document. I'll look back through the old posts and see which issues keep on recurring. From memory, topics that I've covered are few times include... 1) changing time sigs mid-song, time sig restrictions 2) bringing tracks in and out of the mix 3) natural arrangements 3) tag endings 4) repeats 5) setting chord displays (dim, dim7, sus, sus4) 6) linear format rather than multiple choruses 7) triplets in notation 8) checking, and downloading and installing updates 9) the different views (standard view / full screen view) It's late here in Australia. When I awake tomorrow, I'll start finding what the most common problems are for those who are new to the program --Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Gentlemen that is a great idea.
I would call it Quick Start to Band-in-a-Box.
A number of programs and other items include a Quick Start pamphlet. IMHO something like this should be included in BiaB.
I think my wife has started to show the first signs of dementia.
She said she can't remember what she ever saw in me!
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I think Noel has some great intermediate ideas. I’m concerned more with first-day blocks, like using a comma to separate chords in a cell, or exceeding 255 measures in a song, or setting the key signature first to avoid wrong enharmonic spelling of notes and chords. Ex. enter G#, see Ab.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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As a new user, something like that would be a godsend.....
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Yes, but what good would we be then? 😄
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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