Song structure

Andi · February 25, 2018, 02:04:52 PM

Hi,

does anybody have a simple way to save the structure of a song in BH. It should be easy to follow during a live performance in set list view.

First I thought about simply documenting the song structure simply in the lyrics field. That is however not handy when scrolling down the lyrics during the song since you might not see the information above.

The new marker-function might come in handy, but in order to reflect the whole structure of a song I would need to duplicate all repeating parts of the lyrics to reflect the song structure.

These are the most common song parts I use: intro, verse (1...n) , pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, solo, instrumental, outro.
The structure of a song could be something like this: intro, verse 1, pre-chorus, chorus, verse 2, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, verse 3, chorus and outro.

Any ideas or experiences with this?

Andi

arlo · February 25, 2018, 02:42:28 PM

I think the Notes field would be the most appropriate place for this. You can view the notes by clicking the notes button in a layout, or by adding the notes field directly to a layout, as it is in the default More Controls layout.

You could also put this into the Chords field if you're not already using that for chords.

JerryK · February 26, 2018, 01:42:14 AM

I've done this before in manual (paper, remember that?) set lists but used a much more abbreviated form to fit on a single line: Int - V1 - V2 - Pre1 - Ch - STOP - V1 - Pre2 - Ch - Key+1 - Ch - Out.
In BH I just let it all scroll through. Very flexible.

arlo · February 26, 2018, 08:48:20 AM

If you can encode this into a single line, then you can use custom fields and you will have more options for displaying them in your set list. Custom fields can appear in the song list, in the main song area, in the bottom toolbar or on printed/emailed set lists.

pianopop9 · March 02, 2018, 08:19:14 AM

Kind of along these same lines, I'm looking for a way to denote sections of my lyrics that clearly denotes INTRO, VERSE, CHORUS, etc. I would put this directly into the text but I don't see a way (other than changing text to bold and color change) to make the text any bigger or anything to make it visually grabbing for use during live. Any tips? Thanks!

arlo · March 02, 2018, 08:44:59 AM

You can't set different sizes within the lyrics, but you can use colors or bold/italic/underline to highlight headings.

Andi · March 09, 2018, 02:03:55 AM

Quote from: JerryK on February 26, 2018, 01:42:14 AM
I've done this before in manual (paper, remember that?) set lists but used a much more abbreviated form to fit on a single line: Int - V1 - V2 - Pre1 - Ch - STOP - V1 - Pre2 - Ch - Key+1 - Ch - Out.
In BH I just let it all scroll through. Very flexible.

This seems like a good alternative solution to do this. If I understand you correctly in BH you "scroll through" a song structure by copying and repeating required parts in your lyrics/chords section? This would result in more text in the lyrics section and create some duplicates parts (like chorus, Pre and V1 etc.) but that should not be a problem. Thanks!

Andi · March 09, 2018, 03:06:38 AM

Quote from: arlo on February 26, 2018, 08:48:20 AM
If you can encode this into a single line, then you can use custom fields and you will have more options for displaying them in your set list. Custom fields can appear in the song list, in the main song area, in the bottom toolbar or on printed/emailed set lists.

Hi Arlo,

just tested this and it is the best solution for my use case. Extremely flexible since I am able to use it in different views and even print it in the set lists. Thanks!

Andi

Andi · March 09, 2018, 04:10:31 AM

Now, this is just me fantasizing how a more automated solution in BH could look like.

We could structure and mark a song lyrics/chrods into sections e.g. using the new label tool and then create the song structure in a playlist like manner. For example, in "OpenSong" lyric projection software this is done with a simple text field using a comma as separator (Intro, V1, Ch, V2...).

During live performance a BH user would only need to use a (big) NEXT-bottom or pedal switch and go next, next, next... in order to follow the song structure in the playlist and the lyric/chord display would jump between the different song parts. No need to scroll between song parts or reading small abbreviated text lines on the screen describing the the song structure and eating up display space.

However, a manual override of a given predefined structure should be quick and easy, because during live performances there might be the need for spontaneous changes. At least in my case...

Thanks for all your valuable information and support.

Andi

arlo · March 09, 2018, 09:25:41 AM

If you want to jump between sections of lyrics, you can use markers. See this video at 1:55:

https://youtu.be/4p3Nu0Qwgsc

Be sure to keep watching after 5:15 to see how to add a button for each marker to your layout so you can jump to any section on the fly.

Andi · March 10, 2018, 12:00:02 AM

Quote from: arlo on March 09, 2018, 09:25:41 AM
If you want to jump between sections of lyrics, you can use markers. See this video at 1:55:

https://youtu.be/4p3Nu0Qwgsc

Be sure to keep watching after 5:15 to see how to add a button for each marker to your layout so you can jump to any section on the fly.

Hi Arlo, this is a greate feature! Can't believe how extremely flexible and powerful BH is. Thanks!