Metadata

Metatags are a way to provide information about a song and is expressed in a metadata section. Metadata is expressed in the first section of the song before the first blank line or until no more metatags are encountered. Metatags are name/value pairs where the name is on the left and value on the right separated by a colon. Only one metatag can appear per line. Please reference the ChordPro File Format for details on how to express metadata in the ChordPro format.

OnSong automatically assigns the first line of a text file as the title of the song if it is not in the metatag format. In addition, the second line is considered the artist/byline of the song unless a metatag is defined. The following is an example of a typical song metadata section that sets the title and artist as the first and second lines as well as the key and tempo.

Amazing Grace
Daniel Thomas
Key: D
Tempo: 76

Lyrics and chords start here...

Metadata Tags

The following tags are supported by OnSong:

• Title: The title of the song. This can also be expressed on the first line of the song content.
• Artist: The artist name or any other byline information. This can also be expressed on the second line of the song content. You can specify multiple artists by separating names with a semi-colon. - Kim Walker-Smith; Chris Quilala
• Author: The name of the person who created the chord chart. This is displayed at the bottom of the chord chart and in lyrics projection.
• Key: The key of the song written as a key with enharmonic preference and an optional "m" to indicate minor. - alphabetic, e.g. Bb or Em
• TransposedKey: The desired key that the song should be played in which can be different from the key in which the song is written. - alphabetic, e.g. Bb or Em
• In: is a pseudonym for the transposed key metadata tag.
• Capo: The capo to set as number of frets. This is typically a positive integer (1 through 11) but can also be set to a negative integer. - numeric
• Tempo: The beats per minute (BPM). - numeric
• Time: The time signature. - numeric beat over bar e.g. 3/4
• Duration: The song length for autoscroll. - seconds or mm:ss
• Book: The name of the book or books to place the song into. This is a comma-delimited list of book names into which the song will be placed. If the book does not exist, it will be automatically created as well.
• Number: The number of the song - numeric. Use for hymns, years, etc. You can sort songs by the number for reference.
• Flow: The arrangement of sections. - list of section labels. See Flow for details on arranging the flow of a song.
• MIDI: The MIDI commands to send when the song is viewed. See MIDI Syntax for how to express MIDI commands as text in OnSong.
• MIDI-Index: The MIDI commands that will trigger this song to be opened in the Song Viewer. See MIDI Syntax for how to express MIDI commands as text in OnSong.
• Keywords: or Topic: The list of tags to use with topic search. See Topics for more information on browsing by topic.
• Copyright: or Footer: or f: The copyright information of the song. This will appear at the bottom of the chord chart and lyrics projection.
• CCLI: The CCLI number of the song. This will appear at the bottom of the chord chart and lyrics projection.
• Restrictions: These are restrictions that prevent certain actions from taking place within a song. See Restrictions for details on setting restrictions for your song.
• Pitch: The note or notes to play when using the Pitch Pipe feature. This is defined as a space-separated list of notes with optional octaves. - e.g. A3 C#4 E5
• Subdivision: or Beat: lets you choose the subdivision for the song. This can be a value including: whole, half, quarter, eighth, shuffle, or sixteenth. Alternately you can use a whole number such as 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16.
• Transpose: The number of half steps to transpose the song. This is used mid-song to modulate the song up or down and adapts with the key set in transposition sliders. This number must be a positive or negative integer.
• Scene: The scene to be played when the song is loaded. This can be set by entering the name of the scene after the colon.

Inline Tags

Some tags can be used within a song to effect the transposition mid-song. These include:

• Capo: can be used to apply a capo mid-song, modulating the song down to provide chords to play with the capo applied. You can adjust the modulation direction in Capo Settings. This is typically a positive integer (1 through 11) but can also be set to a negative integer to remove a previous capo. - numeric
• Key: to set the key explicitly in the song. If you surround the value with brackets when using bracketed chords, the resulting key will be transposed as well. - alphabetic, e.g. Bb or Em
• Transpose: transposes the song the desired number of half steps. This is a positive or negative integer. For instance, use 2 or +2 to transpose the song up a whole step, or use -3 to transpose down three half steps. - numeric

Section Tags

Some tags can be used to provide information about each section of song. These include:

• MIDI: The MIDI commands to send when the section is selected. See MIDI Syntax for how to express MIDI commands as text in OnSong.
• Scene: The scene to be played when the section is selected. This can be set by entering the name of the scene after the colon.

Note: Metatags are not case sensitive