Finale Forum

Finale V25
Windows 10
ASUS Laptop

I've looked, but can't find a video or a tutorial about writing for keyboards, piano first.
Is using layers the only way to get a decent copy?
I've tried piano reduction and the result is not acceptable.
Any direction will be appreciated. Thanks.

Do you want to take an instrumental or choral score and make a piano reduction? Or do you want to take a melody and harmonize and arrange it for piano? It might help if you could attach a short example (Finale file or screenshot) and explanation of what you want to arrange for piano.

Piano often is written in layers when appropriate. One thing you might want to get is the free JW plugin called "Staff Polyphony". If you're making a reduction of a score, this plugin will merge 2 staves and produce layers when necessary. You can download the plugin here:
http://finaletips.nu/index.php/download ... s-plug-ins

Again, we need as much information as possible to make suggestions.

N.

Pierogiman wrote:… I've looked, but can't find a video or a tutorial about writing for keyboards, piano first.
Is using layers the only way to get a decent copy? …

Using Layers can get you a long way, but you should also study the Speedy Entry Tool feature Voice 1/Voice 2.

Info about V1/V2:

1) In each Layer you can have two Voices, thus giving you the option of 8 independent lines on one staff.

2) By default each Layer is V1.
From any V1 entry you can launch V2 in the same Layer.
No V2 rests needed neither before nor after the V1 entry.

3) Generally you launch V2 from a bigger value (e. g. a half) in V1, to enter smaller values (e. g. 4 eighths) in V2.
In Other Words:
You use V2 to “fill out” a bigger value in V1.

4) You can not enter rests in V2, at least not directly.
But you can enter a note in V2, and then change the note to a rest.

5) You can tie between V1 and V2 of the same Layer.
The tie will work correctly, both in layout and playback.
As you probably have found out, it is not possible to tie between Layers.

Thanks for the replies.
What I have is an 8 part choral piece that I want to have a
piano-for-rehearsal-only system. This is where I tried the piano reduction tool,
but was not satisfied with the outcome.
I had some success using layers, but still had problems with overlap in the voices.

See the attached.

The example you posted is in 8 parts, but S 1-2, A 1-2, T 1-2 & B 1-2 are each in unison, so there are actually only 4 parts. These can be combined into SA and TB for the piano staves. It's going to get hairier when you actually have 8 voices. You might have to eliminate a note or notes here and there (notes that are not needed in the piano voicing).

I used your example as a scratch pad to arrange the reduction, then copied the result into the piano. I'd suggest doing this same thing - finish the vocal staves completely, make a copy of the file, do your reduction on this copy, then copy the finished piano reduction back into your original file.

Soprano was copied to piano as is. Alto was switched to layer 2, then copied into treble piano with "show active layer (layer 2 active)" enabled (Document Menu). Bass and Tenor were merged with the Staff Polyphony plugin I mentioned, then copied down to the piano. I hope this makes sense.

This will get you started. Maybe someone more experienced than I will add some information. My example is pretty basic.

N.

On that first page, they are in unison but split into polyphony a few pages later.
Thanks for your help and suggestions.