Chromatic Notation

[twistedblues]

Can you do Chromatic Notation in Finale 2012?

[miker]

You can certainly set up staves any way you like. And you can click in notes anywhere on that staff, representing any note you want.

But if the question is, can you assign your own notes to that staff, and play them in, and have them play back, no, not as far as I know.

So if you're doing it for a class worksheet, you should be OK, but not if you want to do any real notation.

EDIT: But maybe I'm wrong. Take a look here: http://musicnotation.org/software/finale/

[Peter Thomsen]

twistedblues,

It is possible to do Chromatic Notation in Finale.

The trick is to set up the staff as a percussion staff with percussion mapping.

According to the web site Mike Rosen links to (http://musicnotation.org/), there are more than 500 alternate music notation systems.

1) Could you describe the notation you call Chromatic Notation?
I know of several chromatic music notation systems.

2) Is your Chromatic Notation mentioned/described somewhere in the web site http://musicnotation.org/?

[twistedblues]

hi guys. thank you.

musicnotation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/chromatic5line577.png

[miker]

Peter,
I can certainly see how that could work. Where in the process would you assign a playback note to your entry location on the staff? (I have never delved into percussion, either the old system or the new, because I never need it. Maybe it's time!)

[Peter Thomsen]

twistedblues,

If I understand you correctly, you are referring to the notation system Untitled by Heinrich Richter, 1847.

Quoting the web site http://musicnotation.org/:

"A number of notation inventors have used this familiar 5-line staff, including Lukas Brandt, Grace Frix, Edward Huntington, Heinrich “Autodidactus” Richter, Hans Sacher, Karl Schumann, Heinrich Vincent, Hermann-Josef Wilbert, and Kazimierz Wolf. Similar to traditional notation, ledger lines appear below and above each staff. All but one made the first ledger line C as in traditional notation. In Grace Frix’s system the first ledger line is D. This may have been because D is a point of symmetry in the pattern of white and black keys on the piano and other keyboard instruments.

Most of these notations have early invention dates, so it may be that the availability of standard music manuscript paper, and the difficulty of producing novel manuscript paper, were factors in their design.

Earliest documentation: 1847 (Richter), 1859 (Schumann), 1862 (Vincent), 1905 (Sacher), 1920 (Huntington), 1992 (Frix). Brandt, Wilbert, and Wolf have unknown dates, but are documented in Albert Brennink’s Chromatic Notation (1983)."

In the attached Finale 2012 document I have set up a staff with Chromatic Notation.
Since this is just an example, I have only set up the 13 pitches in the graphic you posted (chromatic scale over one octave).

ChromaticNotation.mus.zip

(6.58 KiB) Downloaded 195 times

NB:
To get correct playback of the Finale 2012 document you need the other attached document (= SmartMusic SoftSynth.xml) which contains the necessary Percussion MIDI Map.

SmartMusic SoftSynth.xml.zip

(2.24 KiB) Downloaded 208 times

For my own copy of Mac Finale 2012 the file "SmartMusic SoftSynth.xml" should be placed in this folder:
(user)/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale 2012/MIDI Device Annotation

If you are using Windows Finale 2012, the "SmartMusic SoftSynth.xml" file may be located in another folder. I can't help you with that.

When you go to the folder "MIDI Device Annotation", you will find that there already is a file called "SmartMusic SoftSynth.xml", and you will be replacing it with the "SmartMusic SoftSynth.xml" file I have posted.
Don't worry:
In the root level Library folder there is a backup copy of the original "SmartMusic SoftSynth.xml" file:
(root level)/Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale 2012/MIDI Device Annotation

I hope that you can make my Finale 2012 document play back correctly?
It plays back correctly for me.

[miker]

Peter,
Again, I stand in awe!

[twistedblues]

me too thanks Peter!!