Finale Forum

Or: how not to rely on Finale for beaming. In the attached image you see how Finale 'out of the box' beams this group of notes. No doubt, the worst possible way of beaming imaginable. Is there a way to create a more sensible notation, beam wise, despite Finale and — if so — how? As always: thanks in...

I think there has to be some way of referring to 6/8, 9/8, 12/8, etc. collectively. Certainly: compound meters. 6/8 Being compounded of two groups of three eights, 9/8 of three groups of three eights, etc.. Just as 4/4 (two groups of two quarters) and 5/4 (two groups, one of two and one of three or...

It is certainly not strictly Polish to name any time signature that does not simply consist of two or three beats 'compound', because that's what the word 'compound' means. For some odd reason terminology that makes no sense at all has taken ground in the Anglo-Saxon world. In other languages the di...

There is no real convention for score order of mixed instruments. there are numerous examples of unconventional score orders. Let's be honest, even putting the piano at the bottom, which we all agree would be most logical, is against the orchestral order. Ernst Krenek, e.g., puts the clarinet above ...

Finding a melody and accompanying chords is not composing , but songwriting . Not finding the melody is composing, but arranging the material to be used (which does not have to be a conventional melody) in a way that creates a close, meaningful structure, that is composing. A musical structure littl...

Evidently, the difference in appreciation of the practicality of a DAW lies in the definition and understanding of the verb 'to compose'.

A DAW may suit a tune smith, but is useless for a composer. It's simple as that. Choose the tool that fits whatever you do.

I didn't "dismiss" any of these sources. But that's exactly what you did. I have shown you that there are distinctly different definitions given in these dictionaries for one single term, which you dismiss. These terms are obviously not understood 'universally' otherwise there would not be this dis...

So, you dismiss the New Grove, the Dolmetsch and the Riemann as non authoritative? Wow, speaking of 'bias'. There should be little to no surprise that within a region, within a community there is a consensus on the meaning of words (this applies not only to musical terms, but to any means of communi...

They are not confusing for non-academic musicians. The informed part of them knows perfectly well what nowadays is meant by either term. Obviously they are. When music dictionaries list (very) different meanings for a single musical term, it cannot be but confusing to anyone. We see people use diff...

There's another interesting aspect in this discussion that imo went by all to quickly: language. Should we continue the usage of very confusing words that in music often don't even carry the meaning anymore that they have linguistically? As we have seen here there is a huge difference in the musical...

Regarding the slur/staccato issue, I see your point about avoiding clutter. At the same time, when, as a pianist, I look at someone's score and there is no indication at all - to avoid clutter - I say to myself "I don't know what the composer means." I see the notes, but that's all I see. That's no...

Given the fact that wind players tend to (almost) tie repeated notes, I would draw a short flat horizontal line (—) above the note, indicating a non legato, thus canceling the (near) tying. Should you want the separation of the notes slightly wider than add a dot underneath the line (⨪). I would avo...

You want your line to be played portato, which is neither legato nor staccato. Then why use notation which suggests both legato (the slur) and staccato[/i] (the dots)? Not drawing either means that the notes are to be played not connected as in legato, but also not as detached as in staccato. The us...

You draw a slur to cancel the effect of the staccato dot. But why draw either when you want neither legato or staccato? Without either a slur or a staccato dot, the notes are to be played neither legato or staccato, which on a piano would be portamente . If you want to be absolutely sure (albeit sup...

Why draw a slur when you want the notes to be played detached?

Clearer (and easier) yet would be to drag the D's down to the lower staff (Note Mover > Cross Staff)

As for the 'perfect' layout: Finale does not do that 'out of the box' or in any other way. You can check every box on 'Avoid Collision Of:' (Document Options - Music Spacing), but Finale will still produce per staff collisions all over the place. The fact that there is an option to check these boxes...

They don't guess, they try to attract as many potential customers as possible plus it justifies a hefty price.

8 = otto
8v = ottavo (eighth)
8va = ottava alta
8vb = ottava bassa

Traditionally the sign would read 8vb (ottava bassa) for lowering an octave. I'm not sure why Finale did not use the unambiguous traditional sign.

From the notation I would think I'm asked to only repeat the B and G# ad libitum and accelerando until the next measure. In most scores I see the note heads of all the desired notes in a rectangle with the arrow as you drew and accompanied by the comment to play them in sequence but free in tempo an...

Shouldn't the font utility do the trick? Replace PinFang SC with Maestro or Engraver or whatever font you're using.

You could add a dotted line (smart shape) after marcato with a hook at the righthand end to where the effect of the expression no longer is desired if it only affects a few measures. It is often used, not only in conjunction with the octave transpositions, but also sul G , non vibr. , flautando , et...

I never use Simple Entry, so I didn't know there was a "Check for Extra Notes" as well — didn't see it at first glance under the 'Simple' menu.

Thanks. The plugin method is going to be a real time saver.