Opening an ABC file - PG Music Forums

When I import an ABC file, the chords are correct, but BIAB seems to not recognize the key signature and (for instance) a song in the key of D will have all the "F's" marked as naturals and will play them as naturals. Is this a known bug, or do I have a setting wrong in my copy?

Hi Gary,

Band-in-a-Box is loading the key signature from the ABC files I've tested so far. Can you send the ABC file to support@pgmusic.com? I'll be happy to check it out.

Thanks
Kent
PG Music

Hi Gary,

I'm not seeing anything wrong with this file, or how it's opening. The key is recognized correctly as D, and the melody includes F#s and Fs. Since the D scale does include F# but not F, the Fs are marked with a natural sign.

Thanks
Kent
PG Music

Kent,

In measure 1a of the BIAB file, the first 2 "F"s are noted as naturals. Compare that to the abc file I sent. The first two "F"s there have no accidentals so, in the key of D, they should be F#. You can clearly hear the discordant notes when you play the tune in BIAB.

Hi Gary,

That's exactly how BIAB is playing them for me.

In the ABC file, the notes in bar 1 are written as follows: FF=F/^F3/

"=" before a note indicates a natural, "^" indicates a sharp.

So we have two Fs (which are automatically sharped by the key signature), then "=F" (which means F natural, and is how it was notated by Band-in-a-Box, with a natural sign), then ^F, which indicates a sharp, but plays a G since F is already sharp.

If I look at bar 1 in the Piano Roll, I see two F#s, then an F, then a G. Do you see something different?

I'm not saying that the notes don't sound discordant, but Band-in-a-Box does appear to be playing what was written in the ABC file, unless I'm missing something (which is entirely possible).

Thank you
Kent
PG Music

Kent,

Thank you for your ongoing help. I'm beginning to think it may be some setting on my end.

I'm attaching two jpegs showing what I see. The first is from the ABC file....2 F#s in the first full measure (set by the key), followed by an F natural, then another F#. The last F# should not play as a G...the previous natural F has overridden the key signature for the rest of the measure and to get back to an F#, it must appear as an accidental.

Nevertheless, the second picture shows what I'm seeing in the notation window of BIAB. In the first full measure there are two F naturals (instead of 2 F#) followed by an E (instead of an F natural), and then the F# (which should play as an F#, not a G).
[img]https://www.dropbox.com/s/7qho6uety8illup/Gracie%20abc.jpg?dl=0[/img]
[img]https://www.dropbox.com/s/dxb1n55a0gc02h4/Gracie%20BIAB.jpg?dl=0[/img]

I have found part of the issue. The ABC file had some formatting commands at the very top. Once I removed those and saved the file again, the import of the melody improved.

However, BIAB is still not recognizing that when an accidental occurs in a measure, it remains in effect through out the rest of the measure unless another accidental happens. BIAB is not recognizing that the F natural in measure 1A is still in effect when it reaches the final F in the measure, and the only way to get back to an F# is to note it as such. Instead, BIAB is interpreting this as an F## (or G). See the picture below for the notation window after I removed the formatting commands from the ABC file. [img]https://www.dropbox.com/s/palr0vvej83e9fv/BIAB%202.jpg?dl=0[/img]

Hi Gary,

I see what you mean now.

If I remove the ^ before the last F, it goes in as an F natural, not an F#, and if I leave it in, it's a G. There's no way to return to F# after that natural. I'll report this.

That being said, the screenshot in your last comment is what I've been looking at this whole time. I'm not sure why you'd have seen what's in the second screenshot, with the two F naturals, E, and F#. I haven't seen that in any of my tests, and haven't deleted anything other than that one "^".

Thanks
Kent
PG Music

Hi Gary,

I've left all of that text in the ABC file, and have been seeing what's in screenshot 3 this whole time. I honestly can't imagine how that bit of text would have transposed your melody notes down by a semitone, so I suspect something else changed that we're missing.

Are you running build 519? If not, please update then try opening that ABC file again.

http://www.pgmusic.com/support_windowsupdates.htm#519

Thanks
Kent
PG Music