Another Creative use of a Finale Feature

by Justin Phillips 4. November 2010 06:14

In a recent blog post, Tom Johnson described how to use Finale’s Chord Analysis plug-in to automate the creation of solfège syllables. I thought this was ingenious. I always enjoy learning new ways to use Finale’s many features, but it's especially fun when they differ from their intended uses. Today I’d like to offer one of my own.

Ever had to condense an SATB score from four staves to two, or had to combine two flute parts into one? Typically this involves using Show Active Layers Only, moving layers, and a lot of Copy and Pasting. What if there was a better way? Try this:

  1. Choose the Selection Tool and indicate the entire staff you wish to copy.
  2. From the Plug-Ins menu choose Scoring and Arranging > Add Cue Notes:

  3. Set the “Write the Cue In” dropdown to indicate in which layer you’d like this part to appear, set “Reduce Cue Noteheads” to 100%, and clear out any text in “Name the Cue.”
  4. Finally, indicate to which staff you’d like to copy this part, then press OK.

You may need to re-name the staff via Staff Attributes or adjust some markings, but for quick doubling or part condensing, this can be a great time-saver.

We’d love to hear of the creative ways you’re using Finale. Please share them with us by clicking on “Comments” below.

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General | Justin Phillips

Comments

11/8/2010 12:32:15 AM #

Nathan Jones

Hi - I write a lot of choral music using Finale.  I have the most current version, 2011b and I have a question about score editing/cleaning up.  I know how to align smart shapes like crescendos, but I would like to know if there is a way to align dynamics vertically?

Thanks -

Nathan Jones United States

11/21/2010 12:15:37 PM #

Justin W. Phillips

Hi Nathan,

There is not a vertical alignment feature as of now for Expressions.  I am curious though to see how you are entering the markings however, since there may be a better way to do this.

-Justin at MakeMusic

Justin W. Phillips United States

12/1/2010 4:19:33 PM #

Nathan Jones

Justin -
I usually enter my dynamics by setting the input settings to vertical click position and horizontal click position.  I do this because more often than not, the dynamics category default setting for either above or below the staff is generally way too far away from the staff or something else(when I'm writing choral music.  generally not the case with instrumental).  So it's generally easier if I can click and the dynamic goes where I click.  But, then I'm left with dynamics that are slightly out of alignment both vertically and horizontally.  I have tried to set up a personal setting using the category designer but it seems like unless it's more than an inch from the baseline, there isn't any change.  Perhaps I'm going about it wrong.
Thanks -
Nathan

Nathan Jones United States

12/2/2010 2:57:52 PM #

Justin W. Phillips

Hi Nathan,

This might be a good score to send to our technical support team who can give you some more detailed information on what to do than I could here:

http://makemusic.custhelp.com/app/ask

-Justin at MakeMusic

Justin W. Phillips United States

12/4/2010 8:13:35 AM #

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