How do I get a grand staff for marimba and still pick all the nonpitched perc for later sections?

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BurtGoldstein
Posts: 66
Joined: Sat Apr 15, 2023 8:32 pm
Finale Version: 27
Operating System: Mac

Post by BurtGoldstein » Thu Dec 28, 2023 6:05 pm

Hi,

I want a staff, which should always show up named "Perc 2." on the left side of the score.
I want it sometimes to show a grand staff, treble and bass clef, and plat Note Performer's Marimba.
Other times I want a single staff to show and play all the non-pitched percussion.

If I make the staff Maribla in Score Manager, when I picj Change Instrument from Utilities, it doesn;t show all the non pitched perc.

If I make it a perc staff in SM, using Change Instrument lets me pick "Marimba 1 staff".

I don;t see any way to use Staff styles to change a staff created as "Percussion" in SM into a grand staff.

How can I do this?


User avatar
Djard
Posts: 919
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2010 2:23 am
Finale Version: Finale 26
Operating System: Windows

Post by Djard » Sun Dec 31, 2023 12:01 am

In Score Manager, select an instrument with the staff system you want (Instrument drop-down menu); then from the Device drop-down menu, choose Garritan, SmartMusic or a plug-in you might have installed. From the Sound drop-down menu, choose any instrument you want. If you expand the system in the Name column, you can assign up to four different instrument sounds to the staff system, which can be changed later in the score in the Utility tool (but remember that Finale does not like complexity). To facilitate note entry for a percussive track, I always edit the Percussion Layout, so that only the instruments I want will available. I also customize the note assignments in the staff, so that the note will be appear in a specific position in the staff. Moreover, you can modify the notehead of a particular instrument (e.g. I use a circled x for an open Hi-Hat in a drum set). Any of the changes I describe will not affect other documents. Hope this helps.

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