Is it even possible at all?
I create a new file, and a blank slate comes up, time signature is set to 4/4. I change key signature, # of bars, choruses, and tempo, and the changes are reflected in the song description. Then I double click the time signature, get the dialog, select 2/4, and indicate all the bars (i.e bar 1 to 32) of my song for the new time signature. I would expect the resulting 2/4 time signature to show up in the song description when the dialog closes. Instead, nothing changes, the song is still in 4/4.
Is there some trick to force BIAB to use a 2/4 meter? Some special style?
I would like to know more exactly what you clicked. First, are we talking about BIAB 2021? Because the newest version handles 2/4 time in an interesting way; you can take a 4/4 song and convert it visually. Did you use F5 in the first bar to set the number of beats per measure to 2?
Need more info please.
Never mind, it turns out:
1. I mistakenly thought the "TimeSig" field sandwiched between "Feel" and "key" indicated the time signature *of the song* not (as the mouseOver hint I didn't stop to read says) the "preferred time signature of the style." That's what I clicked, and I was surprised to see no changes after I selected 2/4 from the dialog that opens when you click it. (At this point, I'm not sure what that dialog does, to be frank, but that's for another day).
2. Right clicking on the bars (or F5) and changing the number of beats per bar to 2 is indeed the way to go, but I thought it failed because I was expecting the "TimeSig" filed mentioned above to change as well, which it didn't. The only visible effect is the appearance of little red lines in each bar, whose meaning escapes me at the moment.
3. Apparently, and to the best of my attempts, the 2 lead-in bars stay in 4/4 even if you managed to bring the song itself to 2/4. I may be wrong here, but haven't found a way to fix that.
The lack of visual feedback (point 2) plus the mistaken lead in (point 3), led me think I could not change the meter. My bad. I now export without the lead-in bars and the problem is solved.
(Oh, and I am on BIAB 2019)
Hello hippias,
Glad to hear the original issue you had was resolved!
Just for future reference, as Matt Finely mentioned, you will want to manually go into your bar settings and change the number of beats per bar to 2 for the sections of your song that you want to be in 2/4. If you want the entire song to only have two beats per measure, you can change this at bar 1. If at any point you want to change it back, you can change it back to 4 on the bar you want this change to occur. Please note: you cannot add additional beats beyond the time signature you selected in the StylePicker (based on the Style you picked). So, if you picked a 4/4 style, you can't put in 5 beats per bar as an example. For time signatures higher than 4/4, each bar will be spread out over 2 or more bars. An example would be 5/4 will be written as 3/4+2/4. For 12/8 or 6/8, use a 4/4 with a style using a triplet feel (eg. Irish). For 9/8 use a waltz with a triplet feel.
We hope this gives you a good rundown on how to enter in various time signatures on the chord sheet! If you need any further assistance you're always welcome to use our live chat button to talk to a representative, or you can e-mail support@pgmusic.com.
Thank you,
Ember