This is the Finale 2012 screen where you have to configure a MIDI keyboard. Oh that’s right, now you don’t have to!

In my role as a Finale Product Specialist, I travel the world demonstrating Finale. While I usually have my trusty laptop with me wherever I go, almost everything else can change. When I’m on a huge stage at an international trade show I might have the luxury of using a weighted-action, 88-key MIDI keyboard; if I’m in a school meeting room, a two-octave portable MIDI controller might be a better fit. 

One of the first things I do in preparing for any show is to hook up my hardware and configure Finale to use my current MIDI keyboard. It doesn’t take long, but I have to do it every time I change keyboards, just like anyone who switches between a portable keyboard on the road and a more substantial MIDI device at home or in the studio. But I’ve done that for the last time.

Finale 2012 automatically detects whatever keyboard I’ve plugged in, so I don’t have to configure anything. This is just one benefit among the many advances in Finale 2012, but I think it’s a nice metaphor for Finale as a whole, and an especially apt metaphor for Finale’s evolution.

In a pinch, I could write a score with a pencil and paper. Well, I might struggle with transposing instruments or different clefs, but I could get the notes down on paper, and could imagine what it would sound like. But Finale speeds up the process, creates great-looking pages, plays back, and produces results that can be easily manipulated and shared. 

While all this was true of early versions of Finale, it has since gone through a process of continual evolution. Finale has improved the final results, the ways music can be transformed and shared, and has removed a lot of the busy work. Examples of this can be large, like removing the need to extract parts from your score (Linked Parts now creates and updates my parts automatically) to smaller things, like no longer having to configure MIDI keyboards.

Here’s another example: Today anyone can download the fully functioning Finale 2012 software for FREE (everything but the premium Garritan sounds). This "free trial" is the same exact software you get when you purchase Finale; after 30 days you simply need to authorize it or the ability to save and print will be disabled until you do. Not only does this offer a great way to “try before you buy” it’s also a lifesaver if you ever have to replace or switch computers at the last minute and are away from your install discs.

So I suggest trying Finale 2012 for free. If you’re currently using Finale 2011, I suspect you’ll find the ScoreManager and other improvements as indispensible as I do. If, however, you’re using an older version of Finale, you might be even more amazed at all the stuff you no longer have to do. 

Let me know what you discover by clicking on “Comments” below!

I like the recent additions to the Finale website that invite a direct comparison between Finale and Sibelius sounds, playback, and support.

Of course there are many other reasons to choose one notation product over the other. Today I’d like to share one that’s pretty near the top of my “Could-Never-Switch-to-Sibelius” reasons for piano players like me.

Imagine you are playing in a two-handed piece like this:

Because the split point (the point at which notes are distributed to one or the other staff) was manually set at the “B” below middle “C,” the notes are correctly distributed in the first four bars. However, in measure 5, the middle Cs should appear in the bottom staff, not the top staff.

Correcting these changing split points is just one more area where Finale shines.

Here’s the first way I might fix this:

1. Select the Note Mover Tool.
2. From the Note Mover menu select “Delete After Merge.”
3. Click and drag around the middle C’s in measure 5 and drag them down to the bottom staff.
   As you do this, the notes magically merge into the lower staff giving you perfect notation.

Another solution is to use the Plug-in called “Split Point:”

1. From the Selection Tool, select the area you want to edit.
2. From the Plug-ins menu select Scoring and Arranging>Split Point.
3. Set the Split Point you want for that region and click “OK”.

The first solution lets you move individual notes, while the second lets you move multiple measures at a time.  The beauty is that you can choose, and quickly notate, any music that appears on two staves, including harp, organ, harpsichord, celeste, piano, marimba, etc.

Let me know how you’re getting along with Finale’s split point features, or ask any question, by clicking on “Comments” below.

I recently visited Celina, Texas, to provide an all-day, hands-on Finale training for a group of music educators. These are great sessions because everyone can apply my suggestions and ask questions immediately.

I was in the process of outlining my “Eight Great Tips” and had just described Tip #7, how to add multiple articulations. My example was to put in a fermata on every staff of the score. To do so I selected the Articulation tool, held down the “f” key (a shortcut for “fermata”), and then drag-selected all staves in the score. Voilà! In one quick action every staff had a fermata on it:

Then one participant asked: “What if I want the fermata to appear ONLY on the top staff of the score, but to appear on all the linked parts?”

It’s easy. With the Selection tool, just drag-select all the fermata handles, then right-click on any of these handles and select “Unlink in all parts.” This indicates that you want something to be different between your score and your parts. Then drag-select all the fermata handles you’d like to hide in the score, right-click one of these handles, and de-select “Show”:

As a result, all but the top fermata in the score appear in gray on-screen (letting you know they’re hidden), and they will not print in the score. They do, however, appear and print perfectly in the parts.

Should you do this? My engraver friends might suggest that a fermata should appear on every staff, but hey, this is Finale – you can always have it your way! 

Have any questions, comments, or suggestions? Share them with us when we have a workshop near you, or let us know by clicking on “Comments” below.

Last year I wrote a blog post about the Band-in-a-Box Auto-Harmonizing feature in Finale. I entered a familiar swing melody and then used the feature to harmonize it into a five-voiced sax section. I also created a brass section part in the same manner.

This week I thought I’d show you how I might quickly add some drums to that demo (or any other piece) using Finale’s Drum Groove plug-in.

To do so, I simply select the measures where I want to add a drum groove (in this case the whole tune) and go to Plug-ins > Scoring and Arranging > Drum Groove:

Here I can pick a style, determine what staff the drum groove will appear in, and how it will appear in that staff. For my example I specified “StraightSwing,” indicated that I wanted to create a new staff at the bottom of the score, and that I wanted slash notation to appear in this new staff.

Upon hitting OK my demo came to life with the addition of a swinging drum part. Done – and in seconds!

But wait, there's more.

In the bottom right corner of the Drum Grove dialog box (seen above) there's a "Note" added to convey how easy it is to add to list of styles found in Drum Groove. To do so, simply place ANY MIDI file in the Drum Groove folder. For example, you might download a MIDI file for a popular tune and place it in this folder (the file name will determine how it appears in the list). When you select this new style, any non-drum instrumentation in the MIDI file is ignored, while the popular tune's drum part is instantly added to your piece.

The only trick is in finding the Drum Groove folder. Here’s where I found them for Finale 2011:

Windows: C:\Program Files\Finale 2011\Plugin Components\Drum Groove
Mac: Macintosh HD\Library\Application Support\Finale 2011\Plugin Components\Drum Groove

Being able to easily expand the list of styles could be leveraged in many ways. You might simply toss anything and everything in there to be used as creative kindling when working on new music, or you could put in grooves or fills that you are likely to reuse in similar (or related projects).

Let us know how you’re using Drum Groove by clicking on “Comments” below.

As I refine a composition, everything is open to experimentation, including the form: I might freely move, add, or delete whole sections. Of course this creates chaos in my rehearsal letters, right? I mean, if you delete the B section it suddenly looks like your score jumps from A to C, right?

Not with Finale. Finale lets me quickly enter rehearsal marks that automatically respond to these types of edits. How quickly? Select the Expression tool, hold down the letter “m,” and click on any measure where you’d like a rehearsal mark to appear. Done.

If this is the first such mark in your score, it will automatically appear as an A. If it’s the second mark it will appear as a B, and so on. If you’ve entered A, B, and C in this manner, and delete the measure containing B, the C marker turns into a B, and you don’t have to think about it.

Of course this is Finale, so if you want something other than letters indicating your rehearsal marks, you can choose from a host of auto-sequencing styles including measure numbers, numbers, and various combinations of letters and numbers. You can also edit all aspects of the mark, including fonts and enclosure shapes, and have these edits impact all current and future marks in your score.

But if you just want it to work, enter your rehearsal marks by clicking on “m,” and then worry about something else – like mowing the lawn.

We haven’t automated that – yet.

Want to fatten up a bass guitar sound in Finale? My trick is to add a second bass staff with a different bass sound, copy the notes of the bass part to this second staff, and pan the two bass staves hard left and right.

Actually, the only thing tricky thing about this is that you might not want two identical bass parts to appear in your score. In that case, here’s how to hide any staff in Finale:

1. Select the Staff tool and double-click on the staff you wish to hide.
2. In the Staff Attributes dialog box that appears, under “Options,” choose “Force Hide Staff: in Score Only (Collapse),” as I have below:

Done. You can still access the hidden staff in Finale’s instrument list to change the sound, panning, or volume.

While I proposed using this technique to create a meatier bass sound, it’s also a slick way to produce new instrument sounds (ala Brian Wilson). You might try combining a clavinet with an electric piano, a harpsichord with a grand piano, or something entirely different.

Share how you’re exploring new sounds in Finale by clicking on “Comments” below.

Being a practical guy, I generally agree with the philosophy of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” However, I make exceptions. My old typewriter still works fine, yet I’ve found that my laptop provides me with a more efficient means to communicate my thoughts.

In creating new versions of Finale, we always strive to improve the user experience while being sensitive to the fact that not everyone wants a new experience; when providing new ways to do things we typically make it possible for you to still do it the old way, too. As a result, sometimes long-time Finale users continue to do things the way they always have – long after a better option exists. (And of course the question of what is “better” is very subjective.)

Often when I’m speaking with Finale users, someone will refer to part extraction without mentioning Linked Parts, and I’ll discover that they don’t know Linked Parts exist. Linked Parts is the Finale feature that automatically creates parts for your score, and ensures that edits made in your parts instantly appear in your score – and vice versa. Prior to Linked Parts, you would extract parts, creating many separate Finale files based on the way the score looked at that instant. Then you had to manage a whole bunch of separate part files, and hopefully you took the time to update the score whenever you changed notes in the part.

For me, the way Linked Parts transformed this process was no less dramatic than what word processing software did to my writing. Best of all, there’s nothing to turn on, I simply create new scores from Finale’s Setup Wizard and my parts are automatically generated.

However, if you’ve in the habit of starting new files from an old template, parts will not be automatically generated. If this describes you, or if you are simply working in an old file created before Linked Parts, the good news is that it’s simple to add parts after the fact too!

To see the Linked Parts in your score, go to Document > Edit Part:

If parts exist in your score, you’ll see them listed here. Just click on the part name, like “Cello,” to see individual parts, and note the handy keystrokes for moving between your parts (Next Part, etc.).

If parts don’t currently exist in your score, simply click on Generate Parts:

…and new parts will appear the next time you select Document > Edit Part.

Have any questions about using Linked Parts? Please let us know by clicking on “Comments” below! 
 

The above, my esteemed blog readers, is Finale 1.0, from 1988. Folks trying to sell other music notation software would like you to remember Finale 1.0 when comparing benefits with their 2011 offerings.

While even the earliest versions of Finale were extremely flexible and capable of producing incredible results, they were admittedly more than a little cryptic at times. Can you name the tool icons pictured above? Whoever can correctly identify the most – before the end of April – wins a Finale t-shirt. But here’s the catch: it’s a closed book test – you can only use your memory – and you’re on your honor! (In the event of a tie, we'll randomly select a winner.)

Finale has come a long way since 1988. In regard to tools specifically, there are fewer tools, the need to switch tools has been greatly reduced, and the tool icons are quite a bit more intuitive.

Here’s what Finale 2011’s tool palette looks like on my Windows laptop:

While this looks like home to most of you, did you know you can easily change the look of your tool palette? You can customize the appearance of Finale by choosing from several palette styles, including one, “Traditional,” that mimics the “vintage” look of Finale 1.0.

Here’s where you go to do so:

Windows: Edit > Program Options > Palettes and Backgrounds
Macintosh:  Finale 2011 > Preferences > Program Options > Palettes and Backgrounds

Enter our contest, share a Finale story, or ask a Finale question by clicking on “Comments” below.

Bob Grifa, Jane Minnis and Tom Johnson at the MENC Eastern Division Conference

Jane Minnis is the orchestral director at Darien High School in Darien, CT. An enthusaistic SmartMusic and Finale user, Jane approached our booth at the MENC Eastern Division Conference with a question.

Jane’s string orchestra was working on a piece found in the SmartMusic library, Alexander Glazunov’s “The Enchanted Castle,” and enjoying all the benefits SmartMusic has to offer. However, the next piece she wanted to do wasn’t currently in the SmartMusic library. Jane wanted to know if it was possible to scan sheet music into Finale and then convert it into an assessable SmartMusic file.

When I suggested that we simply try it, she offered to return the next day with the music.

The next day Jane returned. But not the score itself, just the parts, so now she had another question: How easy is it to turn scanned parts into a full orchestra score?

Because the parts were clean, well-engraved originals, I knew right away they would scan beautifully. My particular scanner is an Epson Perfection V30, an inexpensive scanner that works well for me on both Macintosh and Windows computers. Jane was amazed at how quick and easy the scanning was: While there were a few edits to be made to the scanned parts, the process of getting the notes into Finale was still far faster than entering the notation any other way.

To compile these parts into a score I used Finale’s “ScoreMerger” feature. As I followed the steps in my previous blog, Jane watched as first the Violin 1 part, then the Violin 2, Viola, Cello and Double Bass parts magically formed into a score.

I then copied the entire contents of this score and pasted it into a new blank document I created using Finale’s Setup Wizard, having selected Finale’s pre-designed “Garritan String Orchestra” ensemble. In addition to instantly creating a great-looking (and -sounding) Finale score, this step also ensured that linked parts were correctly configured – as these parts will eventually be seen in SmartMusic as well.

From there, saving the result as a SmartMusic accompaniment was a matter of a few clicks – I’ll share the specifics in an upcoming blog. We then opened the accompaniment under the watchful eye of my friend (and fellow blogger) Bob Grifa, our SmartMusic Product Specialist, and saw that it was ready to be assigned to students in SmartMusic’s gradebook feature. In all, the whole effort, from opening the scanner to creating the SmartMusic accompaniment took about ten minutes.

I have to admit at feeling a sense of pride at how well all these different technologies worked together, and how Bob and I were able to answer Jane’s questions. But the technology isn’t the real story. The real story is Jane’s determination in seeking out new ways to provide her students with the very best experience possible. Bravo, Jane, and music educators everywhere!

Share how you’re using Finale with your music students by clicking on “Comments” below!

Petrucci, Engraver, and Maestro, three of the many music fonts included with Finale.

Most of us have changed the look of a word processing document by switching text fonts, say from Times to Arial. Have you similarly tried switching music fonts in Finale? While it can be dramatic to switch from a font with a handwritten appearance, like Broadway Copyist, to a font with an engraved look, like Maestro, there are many more subtle options available as well.

Take for instance the three examples above. In each the notehead, rests, clef, and time signature are slightly different. To some these small variations are very important.

Back in the 1990s, the Music Publishers Association (MPA) contacted MakeMusic (then Coda Music Technology) about Petrucci (show at left above), which was then the default music font in Finale. Because Finale had become, in their opinion, the standard in music notation software, they wanted to express their concern about Petrucci’s appearance, which they regarded as “anemic.”

Thus began a wonderful partnership in which none other than Arnold Broido helped us to develop “the ultimate music notation font.” Mr. Broido was the real deal. During his career he had served as the president of the MPA, ASCAP, and (music publishing company) Theodore Presser. Thanks to NAMM’s Oral History project, you can see and hear Arnold speak here.

I remember seeing drawings of the collaborative music font in progress (blueprints really) with degree angles indicating intricate specifications. Notehead sizes were also painstakingly specified. In fact everything, from eighth-note flags to bass clef thicknesses, was laid out in precise detail. I fondly remember many lunches with Bruce Nelson, the Los Angeles font developer we employed to actually make the MPA’s vision a reality within Finale.

The resulting font was named “Engraver,” which replaced Petrucci as Finale’s default music font. It appears as the middle font above, and you can see how its noteheads were much more robust than those in Petrucci. Alas, like many “ultimate” things, it too was eventually replaced in turn by Maestro, the third font above. Petrucci, Engraver, and a Maestro variation, “Maestro Wide” are all still available to Finale users, and Engraver remains popular with certain publishers.

Personally, my favorite music fonts are those with more oval noteheads, like Finale’s Maestro Wide font. You can see examples of Maestro Wide and the fonts included free with Finale here. While to some the differences between these fonts may seem very subtle, “subtle” is one of the many things Finale does exceedingly well!

Interested in purchasing additional fonts? You might check out Adobe’s Sonata, which is still in use despite preceding even Petrucci, and Robert Piéchaud’s elegant and warm “November” which is very popular with European publishers.

Not sure how to switch fonts in Finale? From Finale’s Document menu, simply choose “Set Default Music Font…”

We’d love to hear about your experiments in music fonts, or any questions you might have. Please share them by clicking on “Comments” below.