A windows and linux client for OpenSong written in Python3/Qt5 - for allows you to create/edit/view song files which contain lyrics and chords - use as an electronic songbook - for Windows clients.
- Can open songs in the 'OpenSong' xml file format
- You can open a number of songs into a list, and jump between songs by clicking on the song name
- You can easily transpose the key of each individual song - this key-change is retained in the song list so you can return to it later.
- You can save the song list and load it back in at a later point in time - it'll retain any key-transpositions.
- You can edit any existing songs, or create new ones within the program itself.
Stand alone binary releases are in the 'Releases' area - go to https://github.com/carlbeech/OpenSongViewer/releases (Under the release heading, click on 'Assets')
- Initial release.
- Added browse button to preferences dialog.
- Start of code cleanup
- Initial conversion to allow for linux filesystems.
- Internal update to switch to use 'dictionary' (key/value pairs) to hold preferences. (Auto updates V0.1 preferences)
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Added 'About' dialog
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Updated preference setting - you can select font size of the main display
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Updated preference setting - you can select which #/b you want to use e.g. Do you want to see C# or Db in your songs.
NOTE: Due to a change in data structure, 0.3 will not be able to open Song Lists that were saved under version 0.1.
- Preferences now allows you to select number of lines to a page (column split)
- When editing an existing file, program now preserves other information from the file (e.g. author, CCLI number etc) that may have been entered by OpenSong main program. If the song is a new song, then all fields are left blank apart from Song Title, Lyrics and (base) key.
- bugfix - when transposing and base key was 'B' the value key didn't update
- Improvement - when you select a song in the songlist, you can now use right and left cursor or arrows under the songlist to move up and down the list
- Improvement - new preference setting - when editing, you can choose to always edit in the original base key, or edit in the current transposed value
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- NOTE - if you edit in the current transposed value, this will overwrite the original base key this means that chord characters can move slightly when the base key switches from a single to a double character - e.g. 'C' to 'Db'
I've been using OpenSong for a while now - the concept has been both simple, yet versitile enough to use on a daily basis when playing 'live' - I've especially liked the ability to transpose any song into any key I desire - its meant I've not had to carry around multiple copies of song sheets with me.
The normal way of working is to use the Windows main program to enter/edit songs, and have those songs saved to dropbox/google drive etc, which is then sync'd to my Android tablet. The Android tablet has an opensong viewer, and this is what is used on stage.
Recently, my Android tablet has shown signs of breaking down, however, I've got a Microsoft Surface - and while there's an OpenSong editor for Windows - I've not been able to get this to work as an 'on stage' viewer - i.e. able to create a list of songs, in particular keys, and use this as a music songbook (like the Android version) - so I decided to write one.
OpenSongViewer is written in Python3 and QT5 - and while you can run this from source code, I've also created stand-alone an executable version using PyInstaller (note it takes about 15 seconds to start up - please be patient.
This is the first version of the program, and while I've successfully been using it, there's no-doubt there's bugs in the code! At this point its also very untidy.
When you open the viewer, you should have a main screen split broadly into three main sections:
The Controls section has a number of controls:
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Add - bring up a file selection so you can choose an OpenSong song to add to the main song list.
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Rem - remove the currently selected song from the song list.
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Edit - edit the currently selected song in the song list (brings up the edit dialog)
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< and > allow you to transpose the key of the currently selected song
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between < and > is shown the key for the currently selected song.
The Song Chords and Lyrics are shown in courier (non-proportional font) so that chords and words marry up - note that if the song is too long (currently 38 lines) the song is split into columns - use [ === ] to force a split when editing the song.
-> if in doubt, ensure you click on a song in the Main Song List before doing anything
Menu entries: File:
- New - add a new song (brings up the edit dialog)
- Edit - edit the currently selected song
- Clear List - clear the main song list
- Preferences - bring up the preferences dialog.
Song List:
- Load song list - clears the current song list, and allows you to select a previously saved song list file.
- Save song list - saves the current song list
- Save song list as... - bring up a dialog to nominate a name and save the song list.
NOTE: every time you transpose or edit a song in the song list, the song list is saved - so if the program crashes, then you can re-load the song list immediately.
The editor window consists of three parts:
- The song (file) name - note this is the file name that is used
- The key - a pull down list so you can select the key of the song
- The editor text box
The editor window is a plain text box which is set to courier font - it is non-proportionally spaced so that you can set the positioning of chords e.g.
Lines beginning with '.' are chord lines - when you click on transpose keys, these are updated. Ensure you put a space at the beginning of lines of lyrics - so that this marries up with the space taken up by the '.' in the chords lines. Likes with [ and ] are verses and are highlighted when viewing the song. Note: [===] means break column - i.e. shift to the next column.
Click OK to save the song (it saves to the file as well as the Main Song List).
The preferences screen simply allows you to
- Select the default location where song files are kept (unless told otherwise, the program will use the folder where the program is.)
- You're also able to select the font size used in the main window
- Select your preference for each sharp/flat combination
Here's a list of alterations that I'm actively considering (please drop me a line if there's other things that would be useful)
- Setting default font size within the preferences for song text - Released in 0.3
- Setting font size on a song-by-song basis (it would use the 'user' field within the OpenSong file format
- Updated method of Chord positioning
- In preferences, set preferences for sharp and flat chords - Released in 0.3
At the moment, a procedure works along a chord line (which begins with '.') and effectively does a string replace. While this works, it can mean chords move slightly in comparison to the lyrics which are on the next line. An alternative would be to do an initial scan of the chord line, noting where each of the chords is (i.e. position in the line), and when each chord is transposed, then ensure its at the right location.
At the moment, the program is hard wired for particular chords - e.g. if it locates a G#, it replaces this with Ab. In the preferences, it should be possible to present a list so the user can define which chords they're used to working with - and be able to select on a one-by-one basis.. I'm thinking a radio-button for each sharp-flat pair.
Q) Do I need to use the main OpenSong app (http://www.opensong.org/)? A) Not necessarily - you're able to create songs within this program directly, however, you are able to open songs that have been created within OpenSong, and you should be able to open and use songs generated within this program within the main OpenSong app / Android app etc.
Q) OpenSong has a number of other facilities and data - will these be implemented? A) In short, no - my intention is to create a simple viewer to effectively replace my (dying) android tablet's app - so I'm interested in what I'm able to use to facilitate playing the song - so I'm not necessarily concentrating on data items such as author etc.
Q) I don't like courier font - we don't you use Ariel etc? A) Part of the simplicity of the OpenSong format is that you line up chords with the words by simply using spaces - if you use a proportional font such as Ariel, then the chords wouldn't match up with the words.
Q) The text is a bit small / large /doesn't fit my screen... A) Being able to set the font size is something I'm thinking about... potentially on a song-by-song basis.