How do I create stereo output

derbeck · Post by **derbeck** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 7:32 pm

Finale has many voices and channels and options. But how do I say I want staff 1 voice layer 1 on the left speaker and the other staff and voices on the right speaker? Is there something in Finale that must be set, or do I also need some utility to map the voices into left and right audio channels in preparation for creating a CD?

miker · Post by **miker** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 9:02 pm

You can do it with the PAN settings in the Instrument list.

michelp · Post by **michelp** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 9:16 pm

You can also do it in the mixer window, but it will affect all the layers of a staff, I think.
But if you define different midi channels for the different layers of a staff in the Instrument list window, you can even define different panning values for each layer, which is even better, as miker suggests.

derbeck · Post by **derbeck** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:53 pm

My final goal is to create a CD with different audio channels. I want my voices on different speakers. I think you are suggesting using a MIDI file as an intermediate file, and then using a utility to convert to mp3 or wav. I'm not sure a utility can read a single MIDI file and understand that it has separate tracks. In the Instrument List I can set only a single voice to sound while in the program, however all voices still go into the MIDI file created. So, I am either not setting my Instruments right, or I don't know how to define different MIDI channels, or I need a utility to handle the MIDI with multiple channels. I don't know one. Please take the steps a little more slowly.

At the moment the only option I can think of is to extract each voice part as a separate .mus file, then load it and save as a separate MIDI file. then use Audacity or some other utility to load each file into separate tracks before creating the CD. It just seems like there must be an easier way.

miker · Post by **miker** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 11:17 pm

Look up Instrument List in your help files.

derbeck · Post by **derbeck** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 12:27 am

I can do different things with the Instrument List, but I don't know what kind of output file to expect. Am I trying to create a single MIDI file with different channels that can be understood by a utility? Just changing settings in the Instrument List does not tell me the entire process flow. The Instrument List makes a difference in the sound on my PC, but does not necessarily help in my process of creating an output file with two audio channels.

Well, I just set each of 4 voices to 4 different channel numbers with 4 different instrument sounds. In Finale I now hear 4 different instruments.

OK, I am baffled. I used a utility (Direct MIDI to mp3 converter) to take the MIDI to mp3, then I used Audacity to load the mp3. When I play it (still on my computer), it plays in stereo. It has done kind of auto-generation of stereo from the 4 channels (I guess) where each instrument is slightly louder in one or the other two channels. This in nice, but it is not what I wanted. I am trying to get one voice entirely on one channel with the others entirely on the other audio channel. I am guessing the "Direct" program did the mapping. I can try using only two channels in Finale and see what happens.

Any thoughts? Other MIDI->mp3 converters?
Can I use one Finale channel for two different voice sounds?

miker · Post by **miker** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 12:55 am

Do you understand what "panning" means? Did you read the help files for Instrument List? Did you see the paragraph about the Pan settings?

michelp · Post by **michelp** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 9:41 am

You can "pan" an instrument entirely to one side (nothing will be heard on the other side) and pan the other ones entirely to the other side.
Just use the minimum value on one side (0) and the maximum value (127) on the other side. Center is 64.

derbeck · Post by **derbeck** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 6:03 pm

I'm sorry I don't know about panning, and I'm afraid that my version of Finale is too old to have the option. I can't find it. A possible problem with panning is I'm not sure that the MIDI output file contains L vs. R information for each separate channel. But I have a solution. This may be obvious to many, but not when you first try it. My Finale is from 2003, so there may be some new options in a more current version.

In Finale each voice needs to have a separate channel. Channel numbers must be between 1 and 16 (in spite of places where it talks about maximum of 64 or 128). The instrument can be the same for each voice (e.g. piano), and two voices on one staff can have separate channels. Then when exporting the MIDI, make sure to click all channel output, not single channel output. All that is needed is the one MIDI file with all separate channels (4 in my case).

Then I use a utility to go from MIDI to mp3 (or wav etc.). Direct MIDI to MP3 Converter does that with lots of options. Upon loading the MIDI I can select which channels (0-15) to immediately test play or convert to mp3. I created five mp3 files: all channels and one for each separate channel. It can even transpose without having to go back to Finale.

Then I use Audacity to merge the all channel mp3 into the left and separately the other individual voice mp3 into the right speaker, then create a set of new merged files. You have probably figured out that these are for practice CD/mp3's for a choir. These may then be burned to a CD. (But the "stereo" option does sound nice on my sound system.)

miker · Post by **miker** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 6:30 pm

You're right about the age of your program. I just checked PrintMusic2004, and panning was not an option. It's good that you found a solution, but you might want to consider upgrading. There have been many, many improvements over the version you have.

In the meantime, please add the program you're using to your signature, in the forum Control Panel.

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