Straight flags?

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galdrusa
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Post by galdrusa » Thu Jan 13, 2011 9:33 pm

Hi! I would like to use, for the Contemporary Music scores, a different symbol for eighth and sixteenth notes (just the single notes). The rest of the symbols are good as they are for me.

What could I do? Maybe editing the font? Thanks in advance.


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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Fri Jan 14, 2011 2:05 am

Are you still using Finale 2008?

From your description I suspect that you want some sort of straight flags.

Finale can do straight flags (no font editing needed).

Take a look at my attached examples.
Attachments
StraightFlags.gif
StraightFlags.gif (10.4 KiB) Viewed 7891 times
BeamFlag.mus.zip
(6.22 KiB) Downloaded 243 times
AngledFlag.mus.zip
(5.87 KiB) Downloaded 244 times
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galdrusa
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Post by galdrusa » Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:08 am

Thanks for the reply, Peter. I am not using Finale 2008 anymore, I have just updated to Finale 2011.

Exactly, what I want is that you did in the first file (AngledFlag). How can I do it?

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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Sun Jan 16, 2011 12:01 pm

Open the document AngledFlag.mus in Finale 2011.

If you go to
Document Options - Fonts > Notation > Flags
you will see that the font for flags is Maestro Percussion.

If you go to
Document Options - Flags
you will see the other document settings that give angled, straight flags (go to the bottom of the two pop up menus).



By The Way:
On MakeMusic's web site you can download a maintenance update for Finale 2011.
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

galdrusa
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Post by galdrusa » Sun Jan 16, 2011 3:12 pm

Great, thanks a lot!

Thanks also for the maintenance update information, but I'm afraid I'm a Windows user, so there are no new updates for me.

Regards.

Warren Barnett
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Post by Warren Barnett » Sun Jan 16, 2011 4:00 pm

There is a Finale 2011a and a Finale 2011b update for Windows.
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galdrusa
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Post by galdrusa » Sun Jan 16, 2011 5:00 pm

Yes I know, I meant I have already the last update installed (2011b), and that's why there are no news updates for me (I think the 2011c Mac update is new, isn't it?).

Thanks anyway!

maennis1112
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Post by maennis1112 » Thu Mar 07, 2019 6:19 pm

Hello everyone,

I see this is an old post, but I'm trying my luck again with the same issue. I've figured out how to implement the straight flags and understood from the example given here that changing the side on which the flag is positioned has been done so far by designing a custom stem. For several reasons, this doesn't seem super practical to me (stem length, workflow, having to design stems for different note values, etc...), so I was wondering if by now (I'm running Finale 26) there has been any improvement/update to make this an easier and more straight-forward process? Like just flipping the side and automatically spacing? That would be amazing.

Thanks a lot in advance for any tips,

and all the best,

Matthias
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motet
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Post by motet » Thu Mar 07, 2019 6:52 pm

Are you after the non-standard notation the original poster inquired about, or do you just want straight flags? The latter shouldn't require messing with stems. I did what's shown below to roughly match an old Ricordi part, and as I recall it was just a matter of a few settings.
Attachments
0023.png
0023.png (7.01 KiB) Viewed 6453 times

maennis1112
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Post by maennis1112 » Thu Mar 07, 2019 7:00 pm

Hello motet,

Thanks for your quick reply.

The example you provided is what I did by changing the settings in the document options, which is what I think you suggest. But what I'd like to do is to change the side of the flag for example if I have a triplet with quarter + eight note, that the flag points to the left, suggesting that it's part of the triplet group. Same applies to, e.g., syncopes 8th quarter 8th: flag of the first 8th points to the right, second one to the left (like in the 2nd staff, 2nd bar of Peter Thomsen post in this thread).

Is there a solution you would know about?

Cheers,

Matt
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motet
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Post by motet » Thu Mar 07, 2019 8:20 pm

I'm afraid not. For the triplet, I'd use a bracket. Reversing the stem in the syncopation seems non-standard. Consider leaving them on the proper side.

maennis1112
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Post by maennis1112 » Thu Mar 07, 2019 11:12 pm

Hey,

thanks a bunch for the reply, motet.

I wasn't thinking of switching the side of the stem but of the flag, leaving the stem on the proper side, which I'd say is rather frequent in lots of contemporary music notation.

Any other hints out there?

Thx

Matt
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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Fri Mar 08, 2019 7:10 am

Matt,

I suggest that you submit a feature request to MakeMusic.
Generally new features are prioritized after importance, and after how many users the feature will benefit.
This new feature with “flip-able straight flags” may not be available already in the next Finale version, but getting it on MakeMusic’s feature request list is a first step.
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motet
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Post by motet » Fri Mar 08, 2019 8:38 pm

Peter,

Maybe you can shed some light for me. I have a file I did with straight flags some time ago. If I open that file, or one of your files posted above, and look at Document Options / Flags / Flag Characters: First Upstem Flag, it's set to this:
0024.png
0024.png (11.74 KiB) Viewed 6328 times
yet, the flags look OK, and any new notes I enter have the proper straight flags. Both my file and yours use Maestro Percussion.

If change that character to something else, Finale seems to ignore it.

But if I create a brand new file, set the flag font to Maestro Percussion and pick Straight Flags, I get flags like this:
0025.png
0025.png (11.07 KiB) Viewed 6328 times
If I change Flag Characters via the menu, I get this:
0026.png
0026.png (8.62 KiB) Viewed 6328 times
which would need adjusting. I don't remember having do to this before.

Do you know what's going on? Have the fonts changed? I have a feeling MakeMusic support will not be much help here.

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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:36 pm

motet wrote:… I have a file I did with straight flags some time ago. If I open that file, or one of your files posted above, and look at Document Options / Flags / Music Characters: First Upstem Flag …
The error is here:
First Upstem Flag
(at the end of the quote above)

In the pop up menu Music Characters, choose
Straight Upstem Flag
(instead of First Upstem Flag)
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motet
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Post by motet » Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:53 pm

Aha! Thanks so much--that really had me mystified. Looks like the vertical flag positioning needs to be altered as well, 12e fpr straight upstem, 6e for down look good to me.

The manual mentions none of this:
The Manual wrote:
To use horizontal straight flags

These steps assume that you are using Maestro font for flag characters; see Document Options - Fonts dialog box.

Choose Document > Document Options and select Flags. The Document Options - Flags dialog box appears.
Under Flag Type, select Use Straight Flags.
Click OK. The flags in your document change to horizontal straight flags.
Note also that is says to use Maestro, which of course won't work, though elsewhere I saw it say to use Tamburo, which does. But the characters still must changed and the positioning adjusted. I guess not many people use this!

maennis1112
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Post by maennis1112 » Tue Mar 26, 2019 5:59 pm

Peter Thomsen wrote:Matt,

I suggest that you submit a feature request to MakeMusic.
Generally new features are prioritized after importance, and after how many users the feature will benefit.
This new feature with “flip-able straight flags” may not be available already in the next Finale version, but getting it on MakeMusic’s feature request list is a first step.

Thanks Peter, will do! And thanks for all your advice :)
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hiroshi
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Post by hiroshi » Thu Jul 02, 2020 6:48 am

maennis1112 wrote:
Thu Mar 07, 2019 7:00 pm
...e.g., syncopes 8th quarter 8th: flag of the first 8th points to the right, second one to the left (like in the 2nd staff, 2nd bar of Peter Thomsen post in this thread).
Is there a solution you would know about?
Cheers,
Matt
Hi, guys, I have encountered the same issue, and no way to overcome it.
Besides, I have seen much of this sort of notation over the last ... 40 years, ahem, so I think it's time for Finale to recognize it :twisted:
Thanks
hiroshi

maennis1112
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Post by maennis1112 » Tue Jul 21, 2020 9:18 pm

Hey Hiroshi,

even until now I haven't found a solution to this, I've just put up with all flags pointing to the right... It still is frustrating, even though I've discovered this problem in other contemporary scores as well (that were obviously engraved with Finale). I agree, this should definitely be remedied!
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