Finale Forum

Hello everybody,

in his guitar piece Tellur, composer Tristan Murail uses rectangular shapes to indicate a cell, or the tones within a cell that are to be improvised with. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to stumble upon a similar discussion here at the Forum, so I am forced to turn to you guys with the new topic directly.

In the attachment is the example from the score. Obviously one could draw a rectangular shape with Expression Tool, but one shape doesn't fit all the cells (also in Murail's score one could see they come in different dimensions), and copy pasting and adjusting the expression for every single cell change seems a bit exhausting. Is there anyone familiar with some workaround or an alternative option in Finale unknown to me that would solve this problem more efficiently?

Thank you in advance

What you do is create one. Then, assign a metatool (shortcut key), and apply it with the metatool. Then, each one is independently adjustable. It does add a new one for each metatool application into the shape selection list. I have tested this and I didn't find all those duplicate shapes in the shape selection list adding much to the size of the file.

Zuill

Another option is to use a JW Lua Script on Elbsound.studio:

https://elbsound.studio/jw-lua-scripts.php (script #11)

For the notes you want around a box, put them in their own measure with invisible barlines, select the measure, and run the script.

Nick Mazuk wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 21, 2019 8:07 pm

Another option is to use a JW Lua Script on Elbsound.studio:
https://elbsound.studio/jw-lua-scripts.php (script #11)

Thanks for pointing to a script of mine; the direct link is this one.

Since I wrote the script, a user uttered the need for colored boxes. This can't be done by this script, as it uses SmartShapes for drawing. If you need special box design, create a graphic in an external program (e.g. a PNG file) which can then be resized in Finale.

Zuill - Thanks for the advice. WIth metatool it goes somewhat faster, you're right. Copy pasting the expression is what I wanted to avoid, and of course, as you noticed, the file size doesn't change drastically and shapes can adjust indepentendly.

Nick & Harald - Thank you for the recommendation, I had no idea about this script before. I tried it out and it works just as well. I'll take a closer look at other scripts, too, this is indeed a useful tool.

HaraldS wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 21, 2019 8:56 pm

Nick Mazuk wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 21, 2019 8:07 pm

Another option is to use a JW Lua Script on Elbsound.studio:
https://elbsound.studio/jw-lua-scripts.php (script #11)

Thanks for pointing to a script of mine; the direct link is this one.

Since I wrote the script, a user uttered the need for colored boxes. This can't be done by this script, as it uses SmartShapes for drawing. If you need special box design, create a graphic in an external program (e.g. a PNG file) which can then be resized in Finale.

How do you best adjust the alignment of this box? I used the pointer tool but it broke it apart line by line.
The box ended up w/ some collisions and not how I'd like it positioned.

MowingDevil wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 07, 2019 6:42 am

How do you best adjust the alignment of this box? I used the pointer tool but it broke it apart line by line. The box ended up w/ some collisions and not how I'd like it positioned.

The size of the box depends on the size of the measure and the entered values in the dialog. Thus, if Finale's layout algorithm changes the measure's width, the box changes accordingly. The boxe's size can't be changed with the arrow tool.

In the opening dialog, you can enter some values for distances e.g. from the next barline. If you decide later that you need other values, delete the whole box with the Smart Shape Tool and create a new one.