Happy New Year, January 2008 Edition

Happy New Year! We're kicking things off right away this year with the release of the January 2008 Edition of SSP. At the top of the new features list, I'm happy to say, is user specifiable song parts. This is one of the top requests on the wish list.

Until now, SSP has had a fixed set of song parts that it supports, 8 verses, 4 choruses, 3 bridges and an ending. This was a design of SSP clear back in version 1.0. At the time, it worked. I scoured the song contents of SongSelect 2.1 database then and determined that the sixteen parts handled all of the songs that were in the database at the time. This set of song parts, however, doesn't allow for other things like "tag", or "pre-chorus". The fixed song part design was one that I eventually decided was a bad idea, and I am glad it is now a thing of the past.

Below is a screen shot of the Song Properties window after importing Holy Is The Lord from SongSelect. Notice the "Pre-chorus" song part.

This feature will also let those of you who want to split verses up into Verse 1a, Verse 1b, etc. I would still advise that people keep their song parts together and use the line-by-line or page-by-page display features, but at least now you have the option.

When entering song lryics, you can select from a preset list of song parts, or specify any label you want. You can also edit the list of song parts to match how you enter songs for your convenience.

The beta test version of the January 2008 Edition should be available wtihin the next couple of weeks.

(BE129)

Comments:

osborn4

1/7/2008 11:43:40 AM

Will this automatically create the song parts needed when importing from CCLI's Song Select Lyric service?

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dreece

1/7/2008 12:13:34 PM

Posted By osborn4 on 01/07/2008 11:43 AM
Will this automatically create the song parts needed when importing from CCLI's Song Select Lyric service?

Yes!

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osborn4

1/7/2008 1:14:37 PM

That's exactly what I was looking for and why it was/is #1 on my wish list.

Looking forward to it.

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mitelman

1/7/2008 5:01:17 PM

Looks interesting and exciting, especially the being able to label a part. Will this be backwards compatible or will things come to a grinding halt?

Simon

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dreece

1/7/2008 5:45:56 PM

Backwards compatible can mean various things; The January 2008 Edition will have no problem reading earlier SSP song files. However, attempting to use those files in earlier editions of SSP will not work.

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Yagabu

1/8/2008 6:44:03 PM

I think that will helpme a lot since our worship leader uses a lot of those that are not currently in the list, and being able to create one labled blank will be helpful as well.

 

Greg

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osborn4

1/8/2008 6:55:06 PM

How will the buttons on the control panel be handled? Will we be able to denote a short name and a long name?

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dreece

1/9/2008 12:15:50 PM

At this point, the buttons will look like they do now. They'll take the first letter of the part, then append a number at the end. Some accommodation will need to be made for those doing something like "Verse 1a". As some have pointed out, the media control toolbar has some wasted spaced (depending on how big you make the preview monitors -- assuming you're using them). I'm considering changes that would include more information on the currently displayed song to be made available in the media control toolbar.

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osborn4

1/9/2008 12:37:11 PM

That makes sense.

I was particularly thinking of Blank (as suggested above) running into Bridge, if you go first letter only.

Pre-verse, pre-chorus and pre-bridge would be problematic as well.

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dreece

1/9/2008 12:41:06 PM

Actually, I should have mentioned that a "blank slide" option has also been added so you don't need to add that to each song. When setting a verse order for a song in a program, a "blank slide" item is included in the Verses Available box which you can add at any point in the verse sequence.

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osborn4

1/9/2008 1:03:45 PM

Three words
ex
el
ant

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mitelman

1/9/2008 6:46:11 PM

This is cool, liking this program more and more! Looking forward to the beta!

Simon

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mike

1/17/2008 2:36:32 PM

Very cool stuff!

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markrief

1/21/2008 6:10:07 PM

Doug, any word on a release date for the beta download?

I can hardly wait for the new names for song parts and blank slides. It will save me a log of explaining, and make communicating with the band so much easier. "Oh pre-chorus? That's chorus3". "Verse 1 part 2? That's verse 2 for me", etc.

Looking forward to a test drive,

Mark

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dreece

1/21/2008 6:25:07 PM

Posted By markrief on 01/21/2008 6:10 PM

Doug, any word on a release date for the beta download?

Mark

If the internal testing goes well, then possibly this week.

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iamgap

1/21/2008 8:35:58 PM

Awesome. I may get to break it in with the new PC if the Video card and DVD drives come in this week. Will this include some work on the Display Properties issues, or will that take a while.

Side note.
Newer motherboards (with PCIE) appear to be unable to recognize a PCI video card for boot video. I tried to use an old PCI card to at least load the OS, but couldn't get a display. So now I am waiting on the financial delays that a new Fiscal year brings.

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George

1/22/2008 9:11:15 AM

Posted By iamgap on 01/21/2008 8:35 PM

Side note.
Newer motherboards (with PCIE) appear to be unable to recognize a PCI video card for boot video. I tried to use an old PCI card to at least load the OS, but couldn't get a display. So now I am waiting on the financial delays that a new Fiscal year brings.

Did you check the system BIOS?  You should be able to set the primary graphics to PCI in the BIOS to allow your install.

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iamgap

1/22/2008 4:43:45 PM

Unfortunately, I cannot see the BIOS until I get a PCIE card to plug in. When I receive that, I won't have a need to set PCI as a backup. Guess I just have to wait.

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