Using Digital Fake Book

Creating a New Song

Select New Song from the options menu (or press Ctrl + N).
Type text into the 2 sheets on the main window. You can also copy and paste from another document by using the right-click context menu in each sheet.
The text size may be changed using the arrow buttons at the top right of the screen near the Tempo box. The sheet divider between the pages can be adjusted by dragging it with your mouse. If the text is too big to fit on the sheets a red line will be drawn on the edge where the text is clipped. Scroll bars are never shown as text is supposed to be scaled to fit within the windows.
Click Save (or press F2) to save the song.

It is also possible to import songs from text files by selecting Import Song from the Options Menu.

Transposing Chords

Select Transpose Up 1 Step (#) from the Options menu (or press Ctrl+R) to transpose the key up by one semitone. Likewise, select Transpose Down 1 Step (b) from the Options menu (or press Ctrl+D) to transpose the key down by one semitone.

Keys are always sharp when going up and flat when going down, so, for example, if you want to change the key from C to Db, you can go up 2 steps (to the key of D) and then back down 1 step. Going straight up by one step would have set the key to C#.

In order for Digital Fake Book to differentiate chords from other text, some rules must be followed in the formatting of songs.

Chords must be on their own line.
Only other text allowed on a chord line is: Intro, Outro, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Solo, Lead, Break, Coda, add, sus, dim, maj, min, M, m
Chords must be separated by at least one space, preferably more, or there is a risk that chords will be moved to make room as sharp or flat symbols are added.
Cord lines must not contain any periods or commas. In the rare occurrence that Digital Fake Book misinterprets a text line as a chord line, place a comma or period on that line to force recognition as a text line.

Working with Sets

Before songs can be viewed they must be added to one or more sets. Two sets are automatically created for all songs. The first lists the songs in alphabetical order and the second in random order. These automatic sets cannot be deleted. For user defined sets, checking the Random check box for a set will cause Digital Fake Book to randomize the songs in the set each time that set is selected. Clicking on a particular song in a set will cause that song to be loaded in the main window.

Linking Audio Files to Songs

To link an audio file to a song click the MP3 button and choose the file you want to link.

To clear a song, right-click the MP3 button ands select Clear File from the pop-up menu.

To play or pause the file, click the play/pause button . The return to start button resets the song to the beginning.

Click the volume button to set the playback volume of audio files.

Digital Fake Book includes an A/B loop mode to repeat a section of an audio file. This is helpful when learning a song by ear as it allows continuous looping of a phase. To set the loop points just click the A/B button (or press Ctrl+A) once at the start of the phrase and again at the end. The song will start looping. To clear the selection, click the A/B clear button or press Ctrl+L.

Transposing Linked Audio Files

File playback can be transposed (pitch shifted) by up to 11 semitones sharp or flat by selecting Audio Playback Transpose from the Options menu. This setting is saved with the song.

NOTE: This function does not work on all file types, and may fail to work at all on some systems, depending on the CPU instruction set available.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Main Window
F1 - Show the Help File
F2 - Save Current Song
F3 - Text Size Down
F4 - Text Size Up
F5 - Open Song Window
F8 - Options Menu
F9 - Previous Song
F10 - Next Song
F11 - Metronome On/Off
Ctrl + N - New Song
Ctrl + I - Import Song
Ctrl + E - Export Song
Ctrl + S - Save Current Song
Ctrl + O - Link Media File
Ctrl + 1 - Return to Start of Media File
Ctrl + 2 - Play / Pause Media File
Ctrl + A - Set A/B Loop points
Ctrl + L - Clear A/B Loop Points
Ctrl+ R - Transpose chords up by one semitone (#)
Ctrl+ D - Transpose chords down by one semitone (b)
Alt + T - Set Song Title
Alt + M - Set Tempo
Alt + X - Close Program
Alt + Z - Minimize Program
Tab - Move the focus between the various text entry boxes

When the tempo edit box is selected the Up and Down arrow keys will increase and decrease the tempo.

When the audio track bar is selected, Left and Right cursor keys will step the file position by 1 second. If the Ctrl key is held down at the same time, the step will be 10 seconds.

If no text edit panes are active, the Page Up and Page Down keys will allow selection of the next and previous songs respectively. This can be used with USB page turning devices that simulate PgUp/PgDn keys.

Song Window
Esc - Close Window
Alt + N - New Set
Alt + D - Delete Set
Alt + A - Add Song to Set
Alt + R - Remove Song from Set
Alt + U - Move Song Up in Set
Alt + W - Move Song Down in List
Alt + R - Random
Alt + E - New Song
Alt + L - Delete Song
Alt + X - Close Program
F11 - Metronome On/Off
Tab - Move the focus between the various lists

Uninstalling Digital Fake Book

Digital Fake Book can be uninstalled from the Add or Remove Programs control panel. The data folder {UserApplicationData}\DigitalFakeBook ( eg. C:\Documents and Settings\Mike\Application Data\DigitalFakeBook) will not be removed automatically if you have run Digital Fake Book as it will contain a backup file of the song data called DfbSongData.bak. If you want to remove all remaining traces, this folder will need to be manually deleted.

Advanced Functions

If you have soldering skills it is possible to connect a foot switch to a serial COM port between pins 9 (Ring Detect) and 4 (DTR) to enable hands free selection of the next song or metronome on/off control. . WARNING: Do not attempt this unless you are aware of the risks and are confident you have the necessary skills. Choose the COM port from the Options menu (Foot Switch)
Next song selection can also be performed with the mouse if Middle Mouse Button (Next Song) is activated on the Options menu.
Windowed mode (Options -> Windowed Mode) can be de-selected to hide the window title bar and allow the maximum room possible for song text. In this mode, maximizing the window will also cover the task bar as Digital Fake book runs in full screen mode.
Individual songs can be saved to text files by using the Export Song function on the Options menu.
Select Options -> Backup to save a backup of your complete song database.
A complete Digital Fake Book data file can be imported to merge with or replace the current data by selecting Options - Import DFB Data Flie.
By default, Digital Fake Book stores it's data files in {UserApplicationData}\DigitalFakeBook. eg. C:\Documents and Settings\Mike\Application Data\DigitalFakeBook. It is possible to instruct Digital Fake Book to use a different folder to store it's data files by specifying a path on the command line. In the picture below the shortcut is set so Digital Fake Book will access data files in a shared folder D:\Music on the Studio computer. Note: If the path contains spaces it must be enclosed in speech marks: eg. "C:\Music Folder\Data"
Digital Fake Book Portable expands on the idea above to allow running from a USB flash drive or similar. Digital Fake Book Portable is available in zipped format from the Digital Fake Book home page.

Quesions?

If you find a bug, have any suggestions for future improvements, or need help with Digital Fake Book, a forum is available at http://www.mike-warren.net/forum/index.php