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Lyrics

Adding Lyric Text Displays to a Song

Lyrics may be added to any song on the play list so that they appear onscreen at the appropriate time during song playback.  To add lyrics:

1. Select a song on the play list by clicking it so that it highlights in blue.

2. Select the Edit Lyrics item from the Lyrics menu or click the Edit Lyrics button as shown.

3. A new window opens up with a lyrics display window and a table to the right.

4. Move the song's playing position to where a lyric text display event is to be inserted.

5. Type the lyrics to be displayed at this song position by clicking in the black rectangle and typing the lyrics.  It may be desirable to add a few blank lines at the beginning to space the lyrics so that they are centered vertically.

6. Press the Add Lyrics to Timecode button to add the lyrics to the lyric list on the right.

7. Move the song's playback position to another place and add additional lyrics.  Note that the black screen still retains the previous lyrics, so long as the playback position is ahead of the previous location.  The display will always show the lyrics that will be displayed on-screen at the proper moment.  Pressing the Clear Lyrics button clears the display so that new lyrics may be entered.

8.  The display of the lyric may be tested at any time by moving the song's position slider so that the playback position is before the lyric event, then start the song's playback by clicking on the play button.  The song will be heard and the lyric text will appear when the song reaches the time that was set.

If the lyrics do not appear at the correct time, the time may be tweaked by clicking on the cell in table that contains the lyric's timecode.  The timecode may then be manually edited by typing another timecode.  Note that whatever is typed must be in timecode format or it will be rejected.  The format is XX:XX:XX:XXX where the X's are numbers indicating hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds.  Make sure that colons are used where indicated.

Deleting a Lyric Text Event

Lyrics may be deleted from the playback list by doing the following:

1. Select the lyric event to be deleted from the table by clicking it

2. The song's playback position jumps to the timecode of the selected row

3. Press the Delete Timecode Event button

4. The lyric is deleted from the table

Exiting the Lyric Editor

When finished entering lyrics, press the Exit Lyric Editor button and the lyric edit window will close.  When the play list is run, the lyrics will display onscreen.

 

Lyric Text Tips

There are a couple of approaches to entering lyrics.  In one approach, each phrase may be entered as an individual event.  Alternatively, a whole verse may be entered and allowed to stay onscreen for a long period of time.  Either technique may be employed with success.

Another technique that may be done is to insert blank screens a few seconds after a lyric is displayed.  This works particularly well when a lyric is repeated a few times in a row.  Without the blanking of the screen, one would not know when the second lyric is to be, because the appearance of the screen would be the same.

Another technique that may be used is to put non-lyrical information on the screen that may be helpful during a performance.  For example, when a guitar solo is coming, one could put a lyric display that reads "(Guitar Solo)" so that the performer knows what needs to be done.  Whatever such informational text needs to be displayed can be displayed.  Use lyric text as your information billboard.