OnSong question

I can’t get OnSong to change songs on my B.B. I’ve done setup correctly but when I get to the MIDI events part, instructions tell me to enter 0 for the MSB, LSB and the program. The problem is that there is no 0 in the program section. It begins with 1. What am I doing wrong?

The Midi command goes into your lyrics sheet that you use in OnSong. The first couple lines in your lyrics sheet will look something like this:

Built For Comfort
Howlin’ Wolf
MIDI: 0.1: 13
Key: A
Time: 4/4
Tempo: 90

After this the lyrics and chords start up.

The MIDI command is what causes OnSong to bring up the correct song in the BB. Breaking down the MIDI command, it is as follows:

  1. The word “MIDI” in all caps;
  2. one space;
  3. your MSB and LSB for your folders, with a dot (period) between the MSB and LSB. As long as you have 128 folders or less, the MSB is 0, if you have from 129 through 256 folders, the MSB is 1, 257 through 384 is 3, etc. The LSB is the folder’s position in the MSB’s group of 128 folder, minus 1. OK, that sounded complex, but really, it’s like this. The first folder’s number is 0, because the good folks that invented MIDI thought we should start counting at 0. The second folder is 1. The third is 2, etc. So, in my command for Built for Comfort, it is in the second folder in my BB’s List of folders. Therefore it is 0.1;
  4. one space;
  5. the song’s position in the folder, again, minus 1.

Breaking that down, Built for Comfort is the 14th song, in the 2nd folder on my BB.

Thanks Phil. I’ve done everything as you’ve described but, when I scroll through the set list on OnSong the song showing on B.B. is not what I see on onsong. The only one that shows up correctly is the 1st one and some of the songs showing on B.B. are ones that I’ve not even assigned a MIDI command for yet. Do I have to assign a command for every song in my set list for it to work correctly?

Yes. Every song in your set list needs have the midi command in it for OnSong to bring it up. And then remember, once you assign that number, if you want to change the order, you need to edit the MIDI command.

In my case, I have all of the songs in the second folder numbered, and I just don’t touch or move that folder. Eventually, I’ll get around to numbering the rest of them.

Thanks. You’re a great help.