What is Finale's "Slash Chord" library?

[kevinmathie]

Hi all!

I was just browsing around Finale 27, and doing some updating on my templates, which I rarely do, given that I'm usually on a deadline when I have Finale booted up, Lol. And as I was loading a chord suffix library, I noticed Finale's "Slash Chord" .lib. What is that? I tried Googling, but did see much of an answer. Most of the hits were explaining what slash chords are. I know what they are, musically, but what is the Finale library?

I've entered plenty of slash chords over the years, and haven't noticed a problem. Although maybe I already have it loaded in my system and didn't realize it?

Anyway, just wondering.

What motivated me to look under the hood is that I just downloaded Michael McClennan's Chord Kerner, which I'm excited to play with.

Thanks all!

[miker]

Very little info in the manual, and I’m away from the computer. Why not load it and find out? If you load it into a document without libraries, you’ll see exactly what it contains.

[kevinmathie]

Hi Miker!

Good suggestion. I did just that. I opened up a new document with no libraries, added 4 measures, and wrote a couple slash chords.

To me, they look the same. Of course, they're simple. Maybe it's more obvious with complex chords? I dunno. I'm attaching a pic.

[miker]

Interesting. There are only seven suffixes (suffices?) in the Jazz Text and Times slash libraries, and 14 in the Arial set. And they all contain the delta symbol. I think this calls for a request to the mothership.

I will do so!

[miker]

DING, DING, DING! A new winner in the “Worst Customer Support Response” contest.

I asked tech support, “What is the purpose of the Slash Chord Library?”

The answer (I won’t say who it was)

Frankly, I have no idea. Having never investigated them, I just loaded them myself and all they provide are simple suffixes. I'm sure you noticed this as well, judging by your initial question.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

[kevinmathie]

LOL! Well, there it is. Haha!

Thanks for asking customer service! Maybe it is just a left-over from an early version of Finale or something?

Interesting.

Thanks!

[BuonTempi]

Thanks for asking customer service! Maybe it is just a left-over from an early version of Finale or something?

Customer Service? Yes, definitely.

[miker]

Oh, it gets better.

My response to that:
Sorry, (name redacted). Not an acceptable answer. Could you maybe ask around, and see if anyone knows more?

MM:
I did ask around, and I consulted the user manual, which gives conflicting information. As best as we can tell, they provide the simple suffixes that I referenced in my first repsonse.

Me:
So, nobody has a clue about an element in your own product. Shameful. Do you expect to keep customers from migrating to Dorico or MuseScore, or does it just not matter, anymore? Please forward this to as high in your company as you are able.

And them:
Their purpose is that they provide those suffixes if you need them.
I consulted with those in charge of these type of aspects, so they are aware. I'll close this ticket now. Have a nice weekend.

I despair.