New Song Book
SoundBox 3.1 provides support for the new song book entitled "Sing Out Joyfully" to be used in English language congregations from 2 Jan 2017. The accompanying MP4 video files containing music and lyrics began to be released on jw.org in December 2016. SoundBox can automatically download these videos and play them from the Music page.
Please find below a suggested approach to implementing the new songs in your Kingdom Hall. You should do this a couple of weeks before the end of 2016 in preparation for using the new songs from 2 January 2017. Please leave enough time to install the necessary files (it may take several hours to download all content on a slow connection), and enough time to adequately test the new configuration.
1. Decide if you want to use the lyric videos provided by jw.org. The instructions indicate that these are optional, so you are free to use the new MP3 files (audio only) instead. The MP4 video files will take up about 5GB of hard disk space. You should ensure that you have enough room to accommodate these with 10% or more of your hard disk space remaining. Note that if you decide to use the MP3 files SoundBox can still display lyrics (using its own internal mechanism called 'folio' lyrics), but the preference should always be to use the videos supplied by jw.org in a Kingdom Hall setting.
Note that it is possible to install both MP3 and MP4 files in SoundBox. If you do this then it gives you the flexibility to play song files without having to show the lyrics video (e.g. if you want to play background music or music at a wedding, etc). This is controlled by enabling the "Lyrics" checkbox on the Music page.
2. Install the latest release version of SoundBox.
3. Go to the Options, General page, and click the Update Songs button to display the Song and Lyric Installation window
The Sing to Jehovah checkbox should be checked to indicate that the current song book is already installed. Leave that check in place (unless you have already had your last meeting using this song book). Note that the changes you make here will not affect any non-English language congregations using the same installation - they have independent settings.
4. Check the required Sing Out Joyfully checkbox (or checkboxes) and click the Update button. SoundBox will download the necessary files. You can always come back to this window later and make changes to your installed songs.
Note that the actual download of files may take an hour or more on a slow internet connection. If you cancel the download, SoundBox will pick up where it left off the next time you restart the download. You can optionally download the MP4 files from the jw.org Music page and copy them manually to the songs folder (see the location in the "Manual" page of the songs installation window)
5. When complete, click the Close button and restart SoundBox.
6. If you have both song books installed, when SoundBox is restarted it will prompt you to choose one. This is essential if you have installed the new songs in the weeks before the change over! Choose the new song book ("Sing Out Joyfully").
If you usually have the song numbers auto-populated, you will notice that they are blank (if the current date is before 2 Jan 2017). This is expected - they will be auto-populated for the new song book only from 2 Jan 2017 onwards.
7. Enter a song number (1-151)
8. If you have installed the MP4 videos, open the Media page and ensure that the media target display is specified. Also ensure that the "Show lyrics on media display" option is enabled in the Options, Settings, Song Lyrics, General section. You may want to enable the related "Show checkboxes..." option too.
9. Play the song. Depending on the installed files and your options, SoundBox will either play just the audio, the jw.org video files or the SoundBox-generated lyrics (referred to as "folio" lyrics in the user guide).
10. If you are using a projector to display the lyric videos, you may want to experiment with the settings in Options, Settings, Song Lyrics, Video Lyrics. These allow you to modify the size and position of the video display and are typically used to raise the video to the top right or top left of the projection screen so that all in the audience can view it while standing.
11. Make a note in your diary to remove the old song book (using Options, General, Update Songs) any time on or after 2 Jan 2017. This will remove the songbook selection prompt at program start-up
12. In the days leading up to 2 Jan 2017, please check for further SoundBox updates. Also check for any updates to the songs (using the Options, General, Song Updates button).
If you have any questions or problems, please refer first to the user guide. If you are still struggling please contact the SoundBox help desk here: