Transposing chords in lyrics ... #/b characters

[pheldal]

#/b in chords are being replaced by ♯/♭ when bracketed chords are transposed. These characters are inconvenient because they can not easily be entered on tablets or from a computer keyboard. In the tablet editor these characters render in a grayish colour on gray background so they are near invisible. In stage/practise-layouts the ♯ (not ♭) render with a grayish colour that differ from the chord-letter and is near invisible with the default theme. I would prefer if bandhelper stick to characters from an editable and visible character-set throughout. Special characters should not be necessary when the bracketed chord-format is used. As a minimum these characters have to render with the chord-colour chosen in preferences like the rest of the cord.

[arlo]

Are you looking at the iOS app, Android app or web interface?

[pheldal]

Primarily I use the Android-app, but I use the web-interface for editing. I prefer a proper keyboard for data-entry so most songs are entered through a browser (chrome), and then adjusted from the android-app during rehearsal.

[arlo]

Can you post a screen shot showing "the ♯ (not ♭) render with a grayish colour that differ from the chord-letter and is near invisible"? I don't see that problem.

I do see that the symbols aren't handled correctly with the chord coloring and ChordPro positioning in the web interface, but I don't see any problems in the Android app.

BTW, if you change Settings > Appearance > Lyrics Font to Monospace, the app will use normal b and # characters instead of the special characters, to ensure consistent character spacing.

[pheldal]

Whether I transpose the lyrics and store the symbols used by the transpose-function or transpose on the fly gives the same result. Attached is an example: Settings are yellow chords with monospace font, but the # is grayish and near invisible in anything other than perfect lighting.

[arlo]

What Android version is on the device shown in the screen shot?

[pheldal]

That is a Samsung Galaxy Tab A (SM-T580) from the current year running Android 6.0.1. The tablet was bought for use with Bandhelper and a remote-control app for Midas mixing consoles and has very little software other than what is factory installed.

Sadly the hardware seems abandoned by Samsung already as there has been no updates since the beginning of July. Any linux-based computer needs at least bi-monthly updates to maintain any credible level of security.

On this issue I just don't see any good reason for replacing 'b' and '#̈́' with anything else, other than possibly make it a little harder for users to transition away from Bandhelper (not that I see any reason to do so). Lyrics with the bracketed chord-format will require search/replace of the alternate b/# characters before they can be imported into other apps that use the chordpro format.

[arlo]

That's strange, I tried this on two different Android 6 devices and didn't see the problem of the sharp symbol turning gray. Does this happen when you change Settings > Appearance > Chord Colors to a different color, or to no color?

[pheldal]

Was any of this changed in the last release? I just checked to follow up on this and found that #/b now both render in the correct colour. The OS and settings on my tab have not changed. The b/# are still hard to read in the lyrics editor though (gray on gray).

[arlo]

I changed the special sharp symbol to a plain # character after transposing, but forgot to change it when initially viewing the chords, so I didn't announce the change yet. That change will be complete in the next update.

This would only take effect in the Lyrics field if you're using the Monospace lyrics font. The Chords field always uses the Monospace font.

[arlo]

In the update released today, all the sharp and flat symbols should be changed to # and b when using the Monospace font.

[Mr. K. Ross "Kim" Gardner]

NOTE: iOS 11 user, transposing function using monospace font. BandHelper 3.2.7 on iOS 11.2.2

Even if chords are NOT enclosed in square brackets they all transpose for me using chords above lyric line.

One easy edit tip is that doing a transpose function up and back down replaces standard letter characters with musical symbols.

TIP:   This saves tediously going through the entire lyric text to find each flat and sharp notation and replace text manually with symbols off the menu bar.