Changing notehead playback sounds

[flyinjoe]

Hello,
I am using a percussive ("x") notehead on a violin part to symbolize a bow hit, and I am wondering how I can change the playback sound per notehead (So an "x" will sound like an actual bow hit instead of a regular note.) I am using finale 2014 and have audio/midi files for the hit. I just don't know where I can go to change the playback file for that specific note.

Thanks.

[michelp]

Numerous patch changes (as expressions) would be one way, but time-consuming.
Another way would be to place these "different sounding" notes in another layer, to which you can give a specific midi channel and sound.

[flyinjoe]

Okay, great. I changed the layer to channel settings so the second layer now goes to a separate MIDI channel. How do I change the playback sound of that specific channel?

[michelp]

In the ScoreManager, you have a "Sound" column. Click on the correct layer of the staff and use "Edit Patch".
Now to find a sound for what you call a "bow hit" may take a little research. First of all, does it have a definite pitch or is it a noise ? Is it col legno (with the wooden part of the bow) ?
If it is a percussive sound, you could use midi channel 10 and try some percussive sounds.