2/17/2012 8:47:31 AM

Is SongShow Plus completely compatible with Celebration Hymnal and Baptist Hymnal? We have a problem with song mismatches. The book in the hymnal sometimes doesn't have the same words as what the software has. Or you have 6 versions of one song and you have to look through them all to find best match.

The idea software would allow you to search by hymnal number. For instance, BH p.372 or CH p. 312  (BH being Baptist Hymnal and CH being Celebration Hymnal). Will SongShow Plus do this?

2/17/2012 10:39:37 AM

We use both of those hymnals and "The Worship Hymnal" (Lifeway) in addition. Yes, sometimes the song in the default SSP database is a little different, but so are those listed in CCLI. The authors of the Baptist Hymnal (also called The Worship Hymnal) very often change wording to improve sing-ability,r for theological reasons, or to remove old language (thee, wast, etc.). Whenever I use one of SSP's songs for the first time (this is, clone it and edit) I check the wording and the verse order carefully, then add the hymnal page numbers in parenthesis (for example, 248WH, 379CH, etc.) in the title. Anything in ( ) is hidden in projection. After that I don't have to worry about whether or not the song is what is in the hymnal. You might want the software to have your particular hymnal, but that would not be practical considering the huge number out there. I'm just thankful that SSP has given us about 800 as a good starting point.

2/17/2012 2:05:25 PM

Some songs are listed multiple times. How do you search for the song to get the correct version that's in your hymnal?

2/17/2012 2:58:47 PM

That's why I put the hymn number in ( ). Actually, I don't think that you can have two identical songs in the database category.

2/20/2012 10:22:26 AM

We do sorta what Dick does. When the MD or Pastor selects a song that we have never done before, I turn off the Short List filter, find the song in the Songs panel, right-click, and the select Clone and Edit Song. I then put the hymnal number in parenthasis after the Title, edit the verses to match what is in the hymnal (including changing things like over to o'er) and set page breaks, set a Typical Order, check the Short List box, and then save the new song. If the song is not in SSP, I then add it with Create, Import From > SongSelect Website.

Last time I checked, the electronic versions of the hymnals were in PDF format. I don't believe there is an easy way to import those.