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Formatting Check

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2019 5:57 pm
by djdillyc
Hello,

Can someone check my formatting and see if it looks good. I am trying to make my score look professional. I tried to add less systems (4) per page but it messed with my score and moved stuff around. So, I went back. I also moved the bottom staves of each group to create more space between them but I don't know if it looks right.

I have attached my Finale file! :D

This is my first time using finale for school and I have to submit my score by Friday. Thanks! :D

Re: Formatting Check

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2019 7:08 pm
by Bill Stevens
Just a few comments.

At the beginning, Flute 2 to the left of the staff needs to be lower.

In places like m. 3 and m. 6 I would prefer to see the dynamics aligned. There is a plug-in for that.

Dynamics also need to be adjusted in m. 31

Something is screwy with m. 49. It looks like some rests are invisible, and the notes bleed over into the next measure.

In mm. 55-56 if the 8va starts on the E, then it needs to be moved to the left. If the instrument does not stay 8va, then you need to notate "loco" somewhere. In that measure Fl 2 needs to be fixed.

I'm looking at this on a Mac, so if you used a PC it's possible that some of the things I mention are a result of my Mac not reading your file correctly.

Bill

Re: Formatting Check

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2019 7:10 pm
by Bill Stevens
One more thing. I don't know if you care about playback, but it will work better with the flutes on different channels so they don't tend to cut each other off.

Bill

Re: Formatting Check

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2019 7:27 pm
by motet
Breath marks on rests not necessary.

Re: Formatting Check

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2019 1:10 am
by djdillyc
Thanks for the feedback! I am still having trouble getting all the dynamics to line up even with the plugin. Also, m. 49 is still messed up. I am super new to Finale. Is it possible for someone to fix those for me? I've been trying for a few days and it is due by Friday.

Thanks! Also, the playback of the instruments is a bit wonky.

Re: Formatting Check

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:53 am
by HaraldS
djdillyc wrote:I am trying to make my score look professional. [...]This is my first time using finale for school[...]
"Professional" in music notation would mean applying high standards deriving from the commercial field of music publishing, but in a school/educational environment, working as good as possible might be sufficient.

The program notes say: This piece is entitled: " La Campagna" which in Italian means "Walk through the Countryside." The midset [...]. First, "mindset" is missing an n, second, "La Campagna" means "country" or "countryside" or a political or even military campaign (you obviously won't relate to the latter :wink:). Perhaps "scampagnata" is better?

I'm looking at your file on Finale in Windows.
  • Meas.1: The two instructions "lively" and "Quarter Note = 60" do sound a bit contradictory to me
  • Flute 1, Meas. 1 and 2: the dynamics p and f are in Times New Roman whereas in all other places, they are in Maestro
  • You might consider a bracket to connect the two staves, as it's usually done in duos. You can group the staves with the staff tool and attach a bracket
  • There are lots of dynamics on page 1, none on page 2, few on 3 and none until the end. Looks a bit unbalanced
  • The staves can be a bit closer together when there's only white space between them. Then you could enlarge the space between staff systems which would enhance the readability
  • As for Meas. 49, I would enter it from scratch
  • Flute 1, Meas. 34: the breath mark at the end isn't a good proposal/decision, because there's no time to breath, breathing might not be necessary and the two players can (and probably will) get out of sync in such a situation
  • No ritardando or fermata at the end? A countryside walk would normally slow down or "arrive" in a way, so the piece could have a musical equivalent
Harald

Re: Formatting Check

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2019 8:03 pm
by djdillyc
Thanks so much! I have made some changes but I am still having a tough time with the spacing of the staves to make it better. Also, should I fix the playback of the two flutes somehow?

Thanks! Also, I can't seem to make the dynamics line up no matter what I try and measure 49 is still messed up.

Re: Formatting Check

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 5:32 pm
by HaraldS
djdillyc wrote:should I fix the playback of the two flutes somehow?
That depends what you want to have as a result. As Finale's playback often gives no more than a faint impression of how the piece could sound, I personally wouldn't care abot playback at all.
djdillyc wrote:Thanks! Also, I can't seem to make the dynamics line up no matter what I try and measure 49 is still messed up.
For lining up dynamics, use the TGTools plugin Align dynamics.

Did you enter M.49 from scratch?

Re: Formatting Check

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 5:46 pm
by motet
The problem is or was that some of the dynamics and hairpins were attached to the wrong staff.