copying custom percussion layouts to v25

[ticenogle]

Need to know how to transfer my Percussion Layouts.lib from Finale 2010 to v25. Can't seem to find where percussion layouts are stored in v25.

[miker]

If it's a library, then Preferences>Folders>Libraries should show you the path.

[ticenogle]

Ah, quite right. Thanks for the reminder, Mike. Here's a followup question: I need to find where customized percussion midi maps are stored so I can copy and paste them to the new v25 folder. Any thoughts? The User Manual suggests I go here:

https://usermanuals.finalemusic.com/Fin ... g_settings

But there's no mention of percussion midi maps there. I consulted an old post I made on the old Finale Forum where I answered my own question. (I seem to be the only one with this recurring question.) That old answer (which worked for Finale 2012) doesn't seem to work with v25. The file named Custom_Instrument.xml was where customized percussion midi maps were stored. I copied this file to the v25 location for percussion midi maps:

C:\Users\ticeno2\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale\MIDI Device Annotation

But when I go to the Percussion Midi Map Editor, there are no customized maps shown. It's like that file is ignored by v25 because it's so outdated.

Only solution I know of is to painstakingly recreate my custom percussion midi maps.

[N Grossingink]

If you open a file in any version of Finale and go to the File Menu, you have the option to "Save Library". One of these libraries is called "Percussion Layouts".

Is it not possible to use this feature to transfer your customized percussion layouts? I would tend to want to open the file in v25, regardless of the version it was created on, to keep the format of the library, just to be safe.

N.

[zuill]

I don't think the same option is available for Maps, however.

Zuill

[Skjalg]

Percussion MIDI maps are not libraries, they seem to live in a secret place deep within Finale itself, at least that is the case with Finale up to 2014.5
And IIRC, all you have to do is open a file containing the perc. MIDI map you need, and it should be saved in the program and accessible for new files.

[N Grossingink]

I don't think the same option is available for Maps, however.

Zuill

I guess I don't understand the difference between maps and layouts. I'll read up on it, for sure.

N.

[ticenogle]

Problem solved. Although I had copied Custom_Instrument.xml to Finale's secret lair for percussion midi maps, I needed to restart Finale to get it to take. Did so and lo, custom maps are all there.

[BurtGoldstein]

In Finale 27.3.0.160 for Mac, the MIDI Map seems to be an entry in the xml file that is:

1. named after the "Device" you selected in the MIDI Map Editor
2. stored in ⁨Users⁩ ▸ ⁨[yourUserName]⁩ ▸ ⁨Library⁩ ▸ ⁨Application Support⁩ ▸ ⁨MakeMusic⁩ ▸ ⁨Finale 27⁩ ▸ ⁨MIDI Device Annotation⁩
(an identically named file may be in your non-user folder of the same name.

It is NOT the one you made a MIDI map in.

The MIDI Map does NOT, sadly, exist as a simple file with the name of the Map.
So you cannot Import it as a Library.

Confusingly the Library import allows only PART of what it takes to have a functioning MIDI Map - the Perc Layout - to be imported between documents. To which I say: Arrgh!

I made the mistake of editing a stock Device, so I could not share my document with its MIDI map with an assistant without telling them to:

1. find the xml file of the same name in their ⁨Users⁩ ▸ ⁨[TheiUserName] ▸ ⁨Library⁩ ▸ ⁨Application Support⁩ ▸ ⁨MakeMusic⁩ ▸ ⁨Finale 27⁩ ▸ ⁨MIDI Device Annotation⁩ folder,
2. move that file to the Desktop or somewhere
3. put in my xml file

This is a bad way to make friends!

I found I could just rename my xml file after the piece that uses it. Or copy the map from the xml file - which is a simple text file easy to read in TextEdit or BBEdit.

MY QUESTION:

Do we have to save these xml files with each Finale document that uses the percussion maps in them?
Or else we can't edit our document in the future?

Is there a way to save the percussion map INSIDE each musx file?

(That would be WAY more foolproof)

Speaking of fools, I have been using Finale for decades without ever bothering with Percussion maps.
Learning it it seemed an outrageously time-consuming and error prone process.

I felt like a fool! (Could be there's a reason for that!


---BONUS SEGMENT!!

Here's what the Map looks like:

<NoteNameList Name="STADIUM MAP" DisplayName="STADIUM MAP">
<Note Number="40" PercNoteType="1" />
<Note Number="38" PercNoteType="236" />
<Note Number="36" PercNoteType="2" />
<Note Number="43" PercNoteType="27" />
<Note Number="45" PercNoteType="26" />
<Note Number="47" PercNoteType="24" />
<Note Number="42" PercNoteType="15" />
<Note Number="46" PercNoteType="14" />
<Note Number="48" PercNoteType="4" />

</NoteNameList>

The xml files if Finale v27 say XML v1.0 in their headers. Very simple format.

[Peter Thomsen]

1) Percussion MIDI Maps are not document specific; they are not saved inside the Finale document.
Percussion MIDI Maps reside in a special folder.
From that special folder the Percussion MIDI Maps are available to all your Finale documents.

2) Finale comes with many ready made Percussion MIDI Maps.
You will seldom - if ever (probably never, ever!) - need to create your own, custom Percussion MIDI Maps.
Instead, create custom Percussion Layouts; they are saved inside the Finale document, and can be saved as a Library.

3) If you create your own, custom Percussion MIDI Map, then the custom Percussion MIDI Map is available to all your Finale documents when working in that particular Finale version.
This means that you should make a backup copy of the custom Percussion MIDI Map file.
When upgrading to a newer Finale version, remember to add that backup copy to the newer Finale version.
Also, when sending to someone else a Finale document that uses your custom Percussion MIDI Map, you should also send the custom Percussion MIDI Map file along with the Finale document.
But you only have to send the file once, not with each and every Finale document you send to that person.

… Do we have to save these xml files with each Finale document that uses the percussion maps in them? …

Not with each Finale document, only with each Finale version.

… Or else we can't edit our document in the future? …

Yes.

… Is there a way to save the percussion map INSIDE each musx file? …

No.

[BurtGoldstein]

Thanks for the quick and complete response!
Just to unpack the conseuences a bit, are these concerns warranted?:

1.when using Finale v27 on my 2 Mac installs, I must be careful whenever I edit a percussion map on one Mac to replace the corresponding xml file on the other Mac
a. If I am working on a different piece on each Mac, I must be careful when editing a Percussion Map that exists in the same xml file on the other Mac
b. If I am sending corrections which involve a Percussion MIDI Map to an assistant, we cannot work on the same file at the same time, since we each may edit the MIDI map differently.
c. one should never call up a stock Device (like CMB2) and put one's custom MIDI map in that, since the resulting custom xml file will have the same name as that on assistants' Macs.
d. one should be careful editing an existing MIDI map when making a new composition, since one is overwriting a MIDI map used in an earlier piece. Maybe you don;t need to save the xml file with the custom map with each musx file, but you need a unique xml file for each alteration of the MIDI map.

2. I needed 3 custom percussion maps for my current piece, because I wanted Finale to playback using 3 different non-Garritan sample libraries. The MIDI numbers triggering the sounds in my sample libraries were different than those in Finale's maps. I had already made a recording in my sequencer program usinbg these libraries, and was using an export of the sequencer's MIDI data into Finale as a starting point.