Finale Forum

I'm trying to remove the automatic instrument transposition for a bari sax part. This used to be done with the staff tool in older versions of finale I know but I can't seem to find the right tool to remove the transposition. To clarify, the song is atonal and has no key or pitch center. Therefore, I would not want my bari sax part to read in A major because the piece is not actually in a key signature. Please help. Mac - Finale 2012

Transpositions are now (from Finale 2012) defined in the Score Manager (via the Window menu).
In the situation you describe (if I understand you), it seems that you should still keep the transposition for the bari sax, but use Other -> Chromatic (up an octave + 6th), with change to treble clef.

First of all:
This is easier to do in Finale 2014 (just in case you are considering an upgrade).

In Finale 2012 there are two ways (workarounds) to do it.

If I understand you correctly, it is the entire document that is ‘atonal’, not just a section (measure range) in the document, right?

If it is only a section in the document (and traditional key signature layout in the other sections), then you would do it with a custom staff style.

But since it is for the entire document, you can do it without applying a custom staff style.

NB:
If you copy music to or from the Bari Sax staff, the music will become transposed.
This is an unwanted, unexpected “workaround side effect”.
As an additional step you will have to transpose the music afterwards (use Utilities menu > Transpose…)

Workaround 1)
- In the Staff Attributes for the Bari Sax, in the pane "Behaviors", select "Ignore Key Signatures".
This step will force the staff to, always be in the key of C major.
- In the ScoreManager, set the Staff Transposition to "Chromatic" instead of "Key Signature".

Workaround 2)
- In the Staff Attributes for the Bari Sax, in the pane "Independent Elements", select "Key Signature".
- With the Key Signature Tool, change the Bari Sax staff’s key to A major. The other staves will not change their key.