Writing with Drum Clef

DCProductions · Post by **DCProductions** » Mon May 04, 2009 5:53 pm

I uploaded the concert band template into PrintMusic 2007 and I'm trying to write in a snare drum part. Usually, I would use the second space from the top to do this, but it comes out as a whistle sound in Finale. Is there any way to alter this?

Does the general percussion part include a special snare drum line that I'm not aware of?

miker · Post by **miker** » Mon May 04, 2009 6:43 pm

Read up on percussion, and percussion maps, in the help files. How you enter the notes will have a bearing on getting the sound you want.

In PrintMusic, you can't change the percussion maps. However, the snare is in the second space down. You just have to learn how to get there! I'm not trying to be a smartass. Percussion is the most mysterious part of Finale. The help files will give you much better info than I could.

DCProductions · Post by **DCProductions** » Mon May 04, 2009 7:41 pm

Like I said, I tried to put the snare notes in the second space down, but I get a whistle sound!

The percussion maps are just confusing, to be frank. It says that the acoustic snare is the second space from the top, but so are side stick, high agogo, and hi wood block. And this is all for the same template, mind you.

How do I let it know which percussion instrument I want?

miker · Post by **miker** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:14 pm

Sorry, friend, but you obviously haven't read the help files, or you wouldn't have asked that question. If you can't take the time to do that, I can't help you.

Because I don't understand percussion either, but with a little bit of learning effort on my part, I got the snare sound right where it should be.

DCProductions · Post by **DCProductions** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:11 pm

The help files have been read! (Along with the percussion map)

They did not help. All that I learned from them is that snare drum is note number 38, general percussion is set to channel 10 in the instrument list, and in addition to snare drum, other instruments can also be notated in the second space from the top.

If you're not going to help me, then please don't reply to this message.
I am having a genuinely hard time figuring this out. That does not mean that I have not put any effort into solving my problem.

Here are somethings that would be helpful:
-Where is the help file that will tell me EXACTLY (i.e. a section would be nice) how to get the snare drum part from the drum/natural clef, without getting one of the other instrument sounds instead?
-Even better, if you've gotten the snare sound "right where it should be" in printmusic, please explain to me how you did it without insulting my work ethic.

miker · Post by **miker** » Mon May 04, 2009 11:02 pm

I went to the help files, and looked up Percussion in the index. This is where they are in 2006; I don't think they moved them in 2007. The section describes how to enter notes in a percussion staff in speedy and simple entry, including how to move through the available noteheads.

It does include this comment: Remember: you must be using a Percussion template or Setup Wizard percussion instrument to
see the percussion noteheads.

I set up a new document from the setup wizard, and selected Percussion>drum set. A note entered on the second staff down had an x-notehead, and a sound like a click. When I hit the + key on the numberpad, it turned into a solid notehead, and a snare drum.

Satisfied?

And I'm not even a drummer.

TWW · Post by **TWW** » Mon May 04, 2009 11:10 pm

Use mouse and/or left and right arrow keys to navigate to the note.

Use up and down arrow keys, with sound turned on, to select the correct instrument. Eventually, you'll encounter a couple different snare drums, with different decay rates. When you hear the one you like, use the right arrow key to move to the next note.

I would venture to guess that this is an area where Finale punishes us for being cheapskates.

By the way, if you have a MIDI keyboard for inputting notes, I suspect it will be much easier.

P.S. You handled Miker's "feedback" much better than I probably would have.

miker · Post by **miker** » Tue May 05, 2009 1:58 am

Tom and DC,
You're right, I was too abrupt, and I apologize. I just see way too many instances where a little research will teach you a lot more than a simple answer.

ictus75 · Post by **ictus75** » Fri May 22, 2009 5:05 am

miker wrote:Tom and DC,
You're right, I was too abrupt, and I apologize. I just see way too many instances where a little research will teach you a lot more than a simple answer.

I just see way too many instances where people respond to a post asking for help and they act like the poster is some sort of lazy idiot because they haven't been able to figure out something. I had the same problem and couldn't figure out an easy way around it. It took you 3 posts before you actually posted something useful. I thank you for your answer but not your attitude.

miker · Post by **miker** » Fri May 22, 2009 2:50 pm

I really didn't want to reopen this can of worms. My initial responses were wrong, and I apologized. But my point was (and still is) that there are a lot of help resources available, and using them will often prove to be more useful than a glib "do it this way."

If posters would tell us what steps they have taken, and where they have looked, we could eliminate a lot of this. And most important, tell us what program they're using.

OK?

Finale Forum

Writing with Drum Clef

Writing with Drum Clef

I just experimented with Simple Entry