My favorite add ons

[ebiggs1]

I have to admit I was so skeptical, my normal nature I am told but far too so in this case. I am here to confess these are the best add ons to Finale. I can't offer the first one as the file is too large but it is Note Performer 3. The second one is Perfect Layout. You just writhe your music and don't worry where Finale puts it. Oh, yeah, you do have to make sure things like your dynamics, articulations, time modifiers, etc, are attached to the correct note or place. But that's pretty much it and PL takes over. This should ship with Finale!

Note Performer 3 isn't quite perfect, or perhaps I have not learned enough about how to use yet but the sounds are really good. IMHO, of course.

And Of course the ever brilliant JW plug-ins. JW Polyphony is my favorite. What say you?

[Michel R E]

I've liked the results with PerfectLayout, but I haven't really figured out how to adjust certain elements yet. I find its default spacing a bit too loose. I would like a somewhat tighter spacing.

for me the sound of NotePerformer3 is absolutely perfect. But I suspect the musical genre makes a difference? I noticed that band people are not as enthusiastic of their results with NP3. I've made a number of recordings with a very minimal amount of tweaking (a hidden dynamic here or there) and am more than satisfied with the results. Obviously, it's not a real orchestra, but it actually sounds way better than the Garritan instruments.

[ebiggs1]

I agree. PL gets 95%+ of what I need in a finished score. NP3 is still a learning process but just the default seetings provides me with better sound than Garritan does. I don't have NP3 as the default though, I still leave Garritan there.

Make Music should include PL with Finale just like they do with TG Tools and Patterson plug-ins. The folks that want to use it can and the folks that don't don't have to.

[motet]

I've managed to set things up so there's very little collisions of dynamics, hairpins, etc. in the parts, by having two categories of dynamics (one for notes with articulations, one normal), aligning hairpins with Alt, etc.. Most of my part-creation time is spent getting rid of vertical collisions between staves, and making sure there are good page turns. These two are somewhat related. I can imagine PL handling the former, but what about page turns? If there are a lot of rests, this is not so much an issue--I think there was even an old MM plug-in that purported to do this. But if the instrument is playing a lot, it's sometimes a challenge involving turning earlier than what would normally fit on a page, or even resorting to a blank page, something I suspect would be hard for a plug-in to do.

[ebiggs1]

PL doesn't do page turns on the parts as far as I know. I am still learning it, too. It does do a stab at making parts that is a good starting point. And I heard that they were working on an update that did do parts completely. Kinda like MM, you really don't know what they are working on but for what it does already for me it is a winner.

You guys probably do far larger scores than I do. Most of my concert band or ensemble charts fit on two pages some on just one. Page turns aren't a problem for the most part.

PL certainly does what Finale should do form the box! Even TG Tools saw a need for this, long ago, with his Align dynamics plug-in. PL just takes that a step closer to the finish because it "aligns" everything. It's not a matter of you can't do it on your own. PL kinda turns you into a proofreader. There may still be an object or two you want to move a tad bit sometimes not anything. Plus if you really get in to it PL has a lot of ability to alter how it is moving certain items. So far I basically run the defaults.

As to NP3, the percussion alone is worth it. It sounds so much better but all of it is better. There again you need to know how to get the most from it. I found if you put bass drum and snare drum on separate staves that is better. Cymbals on a seperate staff too. I even do that when I use Garritan.

[elbsound]

I find its default spacing a bit too loose. I would like a somewhat tighter spacing.

Michel R E, have you tried to adjust the "Extra Vertical Collision Offset" value? (Alignment->Extra Vertical Collision Offset)
With this one value you can easily loosen or tighten the overall (vertical) spacing of most symbols.
Here is the description and example image of the "Extra Vertical Collision Offset" from the online manual:

(Source: https://elbsound.studio/perfect-layout/ ... alignment2)
Also the expression baseline (Optimize->Baseline and Dynamics Offsets) is a crucial value for the vertical dynamics/expressive text offsets. Of course there are many more options to get a tighter spacing, especially in the Gold version.

[Michel R E]

ah, thank-you very much.

my eyesight isn't very good, and sometimes I simply get discouraged because I find reading the tutorials and whatnot difficult.

I'll try your suggestion.

[ebiggs1]

MM is crazy not to include PL as a standard either as a plug-in or actual part of the software. It is so far above what the others can do.