I wasted a good portion of my life, contending with the issue of instrument playback loss in Finale. Not wanting to retrace steps that helped in the past, I made notes along the way. A recent upgrading of Finale caused loss of playback again through VST, and option 4 below worked nicely. I share my notes in hope they might help others.
OPTION 1
1. Window (upper text menu) -> Mixer ->
make sure volume faders are up and
instruments are not muted.
2. MIDI\/Audio -> make sure "Play Finale
through VST is selected -> VST Banks
& Effects -> make sure VST instrument
volume at right is set to 100.
3. Window -> Score Manager -> make sure
a sound has not been removed from the
instrument.
OPTION 2
1. Try playback in a new or another
document that is set to "Play Finale
through VST" to rule out corruption
in the file.
2. If the problem is limited to only
one document, start a new document
-> copy & paste the music into the
new document.
3. Open both documents in horizontally
tiled window view -> compare old
document with the new-> adjust any
notation that may not have copied
properly.
OPTION 3
1. MIDI/Audio -> Device Setup -> Rescan
for VST Plug-ins.
OPTION 4
MakeMusic reports that the "Slot 0 error"
notification in the playback issue is the
result of ARIA Player failing to find the
location of Garritan audio samples on the
computer. Re-installing the Garritan
Instruments for Finale sound library is
said to be "the usual fix."
1. Visit the page below for "Reinstalling
the Garritan Instruments for Finale
sound library" at...
https://makemusic.zendesk.com/
2. Select your OS -> select version of
Finale -> close any open programs,
except the web browser.
3. Login to your account -> click on
"My Software" button -> click on
"Download" link (right of Finale
software and your S/N. Download
progress will appear at bottom of
browser.
4. After download, use File Explorer
to locate "FinaleSetup.zip" that
should appear in your Download
folder -> extract all the files.
5. Double-click on the executable file,
"FinaleSetup.exe" in the extracted
folder -> Next.
6. Deselect all the components except
"Garritan Instruments for Finale"
-> Next -> Install -> select your
language -> OK.
NOTE: When prompted to select your
VST directory, choose Finale's
default location...
C:\ProgramData\MakeMusic\Finale26
\VST Support\
Selected components:
ARIA Player
ARIA Player Standalone
ARIA Player VST2 (64)
ARIA Player VST3 (64)
ARIA Player AAX Native 64
Destination:
C:\Program Files\Garritan
\ARIA Player
C:\Program Files\Plogue\Aria
C:\ProgramData\MakeMusic\Finale 26
\VST Support\Garritan
C:\Program Files\Common Files
\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins
NOTE: Do not remove the "Avid"
subfolder. ARIA Player is
also used by Pro Tools and
Cakewalk as well as other
DAWs. Plogue evidently chose
to use "Avid" as the name
for its AAX plug-in.
7. Install -> follow system prompts
-> when prompted for location of
"Samples directory" (where the
"Instruments for Finale Samples"
should be installed), browse to
and select the following, so that
the setup field shows...
C:\Program Files\Garritan
\Instruments for Finale\Samples
8. Next -> select my "MultiMedia" in
Start Menu -> Next -> Install ->
wait for process to complete.
NOTE: If installation appears to
hang, click on icon in the
Taskbar that may show files
being decompressed.
9. Finish -> reboot system -> check
if you are now able to use Garritan
Instruments for Finale.
NOTE: If steps above fail to resolve
the issue, you may also need to
uninstall then reinstall ARIA
PLayer as follows.
10. Start -> Settings -> Apps -> scroll
down and click on "ARIA Engine" ->
Uninstall -> follow system prompts to
complete the uninstallation.
11. Visit the page below then download
and install latest version of ARIA
Player.
https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/ ... 0037425313
OPTION 5
When changing instruments in Score Manager,
Finale Finale may attenuate the volume of
the
1. MIDI/Audio (upper text menu) -> VST
Banks & Effects.
2. Make sure all the faders in "Volume"
panel at right are set to 100 (click
on button and use arrow keys for
precision) -> Close.
OPTION 6
1. Window -> Mixer -> Solo each instrument
to identify which instruments fail to
play back.
2. Score Manager -> Instrument List tab.
3. From the instrument's "Channel" drop-
down menu (at right), select "Next
available" -> exit Score Manager.
4. Repeat steps for next instrument in the
list with a playback issue -> Save the
document. Proceed with the next step if
the following notice appears:
"All banks used. Finale supports 8 banks,
16 channels per bank."
5. From the drop-down menu of problematic
"Device" instrument, change from, say,
Garritan to SmartMusic, or vice-versa.
If changing from Garritan to SmartMusic,
the instrument may change also; e.g.
Chimes may change to Tubular Bells.
NOTE: You may need to reset the volume
level of the instruments edited.
OPTION 7
If you have different instruments assigned
to layers in a staff system, this option may
require re-assigning the instruments and
resetting the volume for each layer.
1. Window - Score Manager -> Instrument List
tab.
2. Temporarily change sound and/or device of
problematic instrument--e.g. Change
"Violins KS" to "Violins Arco" and/or
Garritan to SmartMusic.
TIP: Make sure the temporary instrument
is written in the same clef.
3. Play back a measure or two then repeat
steps to change back to the original
instrument and/or device.
OPTION 8
This option may require that you choose a
different instrument as the VST sound may
not be available in Garritan's list.
1. MIDI/Audio -> Play Finale through MIDI.
OPTION 9
1. Selection Tool (upper icon menu) -> Edit
(upper text menu) -> Select All.
2. right-click in any part of highlighted
area -> Clear Selected Items -> None.
3. Check "MIDI Data" to select "Continuous
Data," "Performance Data" and "Tempo
Changes" -> OK.
OPTION 10
1. MIDI/Audio (upper text menu) -> VST Banks
& Effects.
2. From each Bank drop-down menu, select none
(---) -> Close.
3. Window (upper text menu) -> Score Manager.
4. Re-assign the instruments, devices and then
the sounds -> exit Score Manager.
OPTION 11
If this option works, much work may be lost,
requiring a re-write of the score from the
point where playback is lost. But you may use
a backup copy for reference.
1. Make a backup copy of the document ->
rename the backup copy (e.g. add "Bak"
to name).
2. Click on "Undo" (upper icon menu) -> try
playback, until playback is restored.
4. With the document and backup copy open,
click on "Window" -> Tile Windows
horizontally.
5. Compare the two documents, using backup
copy for reference when updating the
problematic document. These steps may
help you determine the cause of playback
loss.
OPTION 12
Reinstall Garritan or reinstall the
Finale program as sound samples may
not have installed properly. This
option will require you configure all
your custom settings.