2.01 - Bands

Lyric Pad 3 has the ability to use multiple libraries at once.
These libraries are called Band Libraries or Bands

It is important to understand that if you are a musician that plays with the same outfit every week you may not have any use for this feature. You can safely ignore that it exists and it wont worry you at all.

If you are a musician that plays with various outfits this may be a way for you to clear up your song list without losing access to any songs at all.
This is also the perfect solution for a musician that plays songs in different keys with different outfits.

To understand Bands it is best to start with how bands are structured in the file system.


The File System

/LyricPad3/Lyrics/ <Blank> - Global
/LyricPad3/Lyrics/Band A/ Band A
/LyricPad3/Lyrics/Band B/ Band B

Bands are created in Lyric Pad 3 by either using the tools in Create Mode. This creates sub-directories in both /Lyrics and /SetLists and songs and setlists are saved in their respective directories.
The user selects which Band is the current library to use on the main screen before entering Performance Mode.

When a user enters Performance Mode and accesses the database of songs or setlists they will see the list corresponding with their currently selected band and the <Blank> (global) list.

Additionally if the same filename exists in the Band library as in the <Blank> (global) band library then the Band library file will take precedence and the <Blank> (global) version will not appear.
This allows the database to include multiple versions of the same file.

For example.
Lets say that Band A has a file hurts_so_good.txt and <Blank> also has a file hurts_so_good.txt.
If the user has selected that Band A then the Band A version is only accessible.
If the user has selected Band B or <Blank> then the <Blank> version will be accessible.
This is extremely useful if you have a song that one particular band plays in a different key.


A Song Example

Lets look at a more detailed example with song files. Here is our example file system:

/LyricPad3/Lyrics/
hurts_so_good.txt
proud_mary.txt
/LyricPad3/Lyrics/Band A/
hurts_so_good.txt
proud_mary.txt
sweet_caroline.txt
/LyricPad3/Lyrics/Band B/
a_hard_days_night.txt
paranoid.txt
im yours.txt

<Blank> would have the following file list accessible:
hurts_so_good.txt - <Blank> (global) version
proud_mary.txt - <Blank> (global)version

Band A would have the following file list accessible:
hurts_so_good.txt - Band A version
proud_mary.txt - Band A version
sweet_caroline.txt

Band B would have the following file list accessible:
hurts_so_good.txt - <Blank> (global) version
proud_mary.txt - <Blank> (global)version
a_hard_days_night.txt
paranoid.txt
im yours.txt


SetLists

Set List files work in the same manner as song files. You can have setlists that are available to all bands in the <Blank>global library or you can have setlists that are only listed for particular bands.


SetLists - Song Choice Precedence

One thing that is important to realise is that setlists in Lyric Pad 3 are extremely powerful.
Setlists search for a song filename in a particular order:

1. Songs in the current Band folder
2. Songs in the global folder
3. Songs in another Band folder

This means that a setlist can contain songs from other band folders


Opening Songs From Another Band Library

It is possible to access songs in another Bands folder in Performance Mode.
There are two ways to do this.

1. In the add song dialog screen you can type some of the song title in the search filter. It will show ALL songs in the complete database matching that song and will have the database details in brackets after the song title
2. 
   This button toggles between showing just the current band library or the entire database of songs.