Finale Notepad is missing documented features

Discuss Coda's Notepad here.

Moderators: Peter Thomsen, miker

factor3
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2016 12:42 am
Finale Version: Notepad 2012
Operating System: Windows

Post by factor3 » Mon Sep 19, 2016 2:18 am

Greetings:

I am using Finale Notepad 2012, and have opened a MIDI file with work that I had done using another application. Part of the page, after it had been loaded, is shown in Attachment 1 below.
Image

Naturally, I want to change the track names, the title, and the composer.

According to the Notepad documentation, one changes the track names using the Score Manager. The documentation says that changing the name is a simple matter of clicking on the down arrow to the left of the name column in the Instrument List. The appearance of the Instrument List in the documentation is shown in Attachment 2 below.
Image

The documentation, however, is incorrect. The Instrument List as it actually appears on my system is shown in Attachment 3 below.

Image

There is no way to change the track names. Furthermore, I looked through the documentation looking for a way to edit the title and composer. The only instruction on how to do this is for when you are creating a new score using the Setup Wizard. Of course, the Setup Wizard documentation says that " (Of course, you can always add or change anything you set in the Setup Wizard later.)", but I can find no instruction on how to do this anywhere in the documentation.

I thought perhaps this functionality isn't available in imported MIDI files, so I saved the file as a .mus file. Nothing changed.

I am evaluating this application to see if I want to buy one of the paid applications. If I can't even change score and device information, then I have no need to buy anything.

Is there a place where I can get updated documentation for this application? Is there a way to make the changes I need to do?

Someone please advise...


User avatar
Peter Thomsen
Posts: 6601
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 6:47 pm
Finale Version: Finale v27.4
Operating System: Mac

Post by Peter Thomsen » Mon Sep 19, 2016 4:40 am

Disclaimer:
I do not know NotePad.

My first guess would be that the documentation describes, what you can do in the “full Finale” - and this may not be possible in NotePad. (?)

In the “full Finale” the Score Manager’s chiclet {Instrument List} can be expanded downwards by clicking “Staff Settings for Selected Instrument”.
The expansion reveals a pane where you can change the staff names.

However, this expansion may not be available in NotePad (?)
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

User avatar
miker
Posts: 5993
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 4:28 pm
Finale Version: Finale 27.4
Operating System: Mac

Post by miker » Mon Sep 19, 2016 1:57 pm

NotePad is a very limited program. You can't change much of anything, once you have started. (That's why it's free!) It looks like a documentation error.

I would suggest that you try the demo version of PrintMusic. It will work, fully featured, including Save and Print, for 30 days.
Finale 27 | SmartScorePro 64
Mac OS 13.2.1 Ventura
Copyist for Barbershop Harmony Society

factor3
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2016 12:42 am
Finale Version: Notepad 2012
Operating System: Windows

Post by factor3 » Mon Sep 19, 2016 3:02 pm

Thanks, I suspected something like that.

I'll look at some trials and see what I think...

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