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Thread: Number of bars/measures per line

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    Default Number of bars/measures per line

    Is there a way to have any number of bars/measures per line?
    iRealBook seems to force 4 measures per line no matter what.

    But there are songs where repeating figure takes, say 3 bars - it is much more convenient to have a layout like this:
    |Dm |Gm |A7 |
    |Dm |Gm |A7 |
    |Gm |C7 |Fmaj7|
    |Bb |Bb |A7 |

    than this (which is what iRealBook seems to force):
    |Dm |Gm |A7 |Dm |
    |Gm |A7 |Gm |C7 |
    |Fmaj7|Bb |Bb |A7 |

    Please help.

  2. #2
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by tomilchik View Post
    Is there a way to have any number of bars/measures per line? iRealBook seems to force 4 measures per line no matter what.
    No there are only 16 fixed-width spaces available per system (across) which cannot be altered. They accommodate a standard iReal Book width of a chord and its quality - like F7b9 etc.
    For what you are doing, you could either make a blank space at the end of each 3 bar set (where the extra bar would be) ... or move the barlines so you only have 3 bars across a system (one bar having an extra beat - 3 bars x 5 spaces = 15 (+1 left over = 16) which is presumably what you have tried.
    [in iReal book's Song edit mode: Symbols>Insert beat]

    Something like this:
    3 Per System by Unknown Composer

    There was a reference here also:
    http://irealb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=500

    Thanks for your question.
    Last edited by dflat; 04-22-2010 at 01:50 AM. Reason: added an example in irb format

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    Default

    Great suggestion - inserting extra beats! That worked.

    Another bar/measure related question, then: is there a way to fit more than 4 chords in a measure? Say, when I need a chord change on 8th's, as opposed to quarters.

    I guess I could use the same approach - insert extra beats, and make bar longer. The only thing here would be that a line will not take four bars anymore.

    Is there any other way?

  4. #4

    Default squreezing extra chords in a bar

    Quote Originally Posted by tomilchik View Post
    : is there a way to fit more than 4 chords in a measure? ?
    This issue is readability. Even using the small font, four complex chords in four adjacent spaces are too crowded to read easily. As you figured out, you can make the measure longer, (even using a whole 16-space line).

    I suppose you could enter the changes the using "text" instead of "chords". They'd be small, but you could read them sequentially under the measure in question before moving on.

    Another option for 8 chords in a 4-space measure would be to write the first four as "alternate" chords, above the second four "standard" chords.

    Here's an example of both:

    extra chords in a bar-test by Unknown Composer

    irealbook is a great tool. But like all tools, it has some design limitations.

    )BOB
    Last edited by pdxdjazz; 11-30-2015 at 09:09 PM.

  5. #5
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by tomilchik View Post
    ... to fit more than 4 chords in a measure? Say, when I need a chord change on 8th's, as opposed to quarters.?
    You could use slashes (like guitar/piano rhythm charts) to indicate the main beats (put them in Staff text either below or moved up above) and a selection of Small and Normal text sizes as Bob has.
    Here I used Small chords for eighths ... and doing this, you might have to sacrifice a complex chord quality as it does not fit in the single space - like using F- instead of F-13, otherwise you crash into the next chord/beat.

    Some Eighths by Composer


    The main limitation is the small size of the iPhone screen! If you wanted to... you could ignore the normal chord layouts and just use Staff text which is small enough to get many more bars along a system, but it won't transpose!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
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    Default

    hi yall. I've got a bit of a tune that goes (per bar)

    4/4 6/8 4/4 7/8 7/8 6/8 4/4 6/8

    I'm having trouble organising this in a readable fashion.

    just for the ease of counting and reading, I've been putting slashes in each bar per quarter beat, cuz eighths would just make me cross eyed. I wanted to put a smaller slash for the 7/8 bars. haven't figured out how to do that either.

    I want to put the beginning of the bar at the start of each line, but doing this creates a bar line at the last space of the above line, which is not quite nice enough.

    are there any solutions? have I gone about it wrongly? cheers for any help.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by ilektrix View Post
    4/4 6/8 4/4 7/8 7/8 6/8 4/4 6/8
    That sounds tricky. It probably depends on where the chords are within the measure; whether there is just one per bar or several and on what beats. You might not need to fill each bar with slashes. You could get away with just two or three measures per system (2 or 3 bars across) maybe?
    I suspect you would have practiced it before you play it, so it is only a reminder of the chords and time sigs, rather than having to be detailed in rhythm?
    Otherwise you could resort to a jpg created using a music notation application (like Finale or Sibelius etc.) which you could read from your Photo album perhaps.

  8. #8

    Default

    I suggest creating measures that reach the right side of the screen (remember measures don't have to be one size). They would maybe all be different size but you'd have a good measure layout.
    Also - double bars don't duplicate at the other side of the screen.

  9. #9

    Default

    This thread pre-dates the introduction of the built-in player feature in iReal pro.
    While some of the suggestions may apply to read-only charts, many will be incompatible with current player function.

    More info:
    https://www.irealb.com/forums/showth...5854#post25854
    )BOB

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