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Finale 2012b Update Released Today – June 26, 2012

MakeMusic released the update to Finale 2012b today, which includes several new features:

  1. Range Checking. Finale now alerts you when notes are outside of an instrument’s range.
  2. Automatic Transposition while Copying. Music is now pasted into the most appropriate octave when copied between instruments of different registers. Also, music is transposed into the most appropriate register when changing instruments with the ScoreManager.
  3. Accessible Text Inserts. You no longer need to venture into a dialog box to edit text inserts. You can now edit them directly in the score like a regular text box. When you do so, the text insert’s definition is updated respectively.
  4. SVG Graphic Export. You can now export Scaled Vector Graphics from Finale.
  5. EPUB Export. You can now export EPUB files from Finale for viewing on mobile readers.
  6. New Finale Lyrics Font. This font improves lyric spacing, and is the new default for scores created with the Document Setup Wizard.
  7. Automatic Font Annotation. Finale can now automatically generate Font Annotation Files to accommodate files with 3rd-party music fonts.
  8. New Aria Player. Finale includes the latest Aria Player from Garritan.

 

There have been some interface changes since the release of Finale 2012:

  • “Program Options” have been renamed “Preferences.” To access the Preferences, choose Finale 2012 > Preferences.
  • The File menu has been reorganized. Several File menu commands have been moved into new Import and Export submenus, as well as new commands added to 2012b. See “File menu” in the User Manual for details.
  • Undefined text inserts appear gray and do not print. Undefined text inserts, such as those that appear in the first page header after finishing the Setup Wizard, are now gray in color, indicating they will not print. You can update these inserts directly in the score using the Text tool. See “Text Inserts” in the User Manual for details.
  • Staff Styles now (again) support staff transpositions. The ability to include staff transpositions in Staff Styles has been restored (allowing Staff Styles to be an alternative method for creating mid-score instrument changes). See “Staff Styles dialog box” in the User Manual for details.

 

Finale 2012b also includes a number of bug fixes, including:

  • Audio – Audio files saved using Vienna Symphonic Library (VSL) no longer stutter.
  • Fonts – (1) The missing Seville font has been added to MacSymbolfonts.txt. (2) Problems with results from Change Chord Suffix Fonts have been resolved. (3) The Font menu now reports all missing fonts correctly.
  • Inserting – Inserting stacks no longer cause a crash when Automatic Update Layout is unchecked.
  • Keyswitches – (1) Expressions with keyswitches are now correctly chased during playback when Chase from First Measure is selected in the Playback/Record Options dialog box. (2) JABB (Garritan Jazz and Big Band) trumpets and trombones now respect keyswitch commands for all muted sounds.
  • Preferences– Folders – Finale no longer defaults to the MacOS folder if the specified folder is missing.
  • Staves – Problems deleting multiple staves in Scroll View have been resolved.

 

If you have been thinking of purchasing the Finale 2012 update, now might be a good time.
Makemusic’s upgrade sale price of $99 has been extended through July 9th, 2012.

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Auto Note / Stem Side Articulation Placement in Finale

Articulations are small symbols which which are normally placed near the notehead to indicate how a note is to be played.

However, when music appears in more than one Voice or Layer, the placement rules change. Earlier versions of Finale required a lot of manual adjustment to make articulations appear in the right place where there were multiple Layers. In current versions of FInale, users can take advantage of a positioning feature for articulations called “Auto Note / Stem Side”:

use for: accent, accent-staccato, accent-tenuto, marcatissimo, marcato accent (rooftop) marcato staccato, staccato and tenuto (sostenuto).

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Show Active Layer Only : What You See Is What You Edit in Finale

In Finale, sometimes it is desirable to copy only the material from one Layer (e.g. voice) to another location. However, while you can use use the settings in Edit > Edit Filter to control which elements are copied, all Filter settings apply to all visible Layers. But Finale has a very powerful feature hidden in the Document menu : “Show Active Layer Only”.

All you have to remember to use this feature is “If you don’t see it, it won’t get copied”. So, to copy only the music from Layer 2 onto the clipboard, make Layer 2 active, then select “Show Active Layer Only”.

Keep in mind that you can use this in connection with your settings in the Edit Filter to get very precise control of what gets copied to the Clipboard, for instance, copy just articulations attached to Layer 2…

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Create a URL Hyperlink in Finale

Did you know you can create Page Text which is a URL hyperlink in Finale? Select the Text Tool, then double click on the page where you want the link text to appear. When you see the flashing cursor, select Hyperlink… from the Text Menu. Enter your Display Text and Link Address in the fields when prompted. To click the link, hold down the option or alt key to open the link in your browser.

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Finale Score Manager & Mid-Score Instrument Changes

Before Finale 2012, setting up a staff to be fully defined as a particular instrument was a tedious process. First of all, playback was completely separated from the visual definition of any given instrument, requiring that you make changes in both the Staff Attributes dialog and in the Playback Window. And everything had to be set up manually, so if you were working with doubling parts, you needed to make changes in several areas of the program just to show the double’s transposition, clef and name correctly, and also play back the correct sounds.

More recent versions of Finale have neatly consolidated all of the parameters required to define an instrument into a single dialog and in the process, also given us an easy and intuitive way to create instrument changes for doubles occurring in the same staff. At the heart of this new feature is the Score Manager.

more >> “Finale Score Manager & Mid-Score Instrument Changes”

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More Advanced Alternate Notation Techniques in Finale

Typically, a score and its parts show identical information. Sometimes, however,  it is necessary for the score and parts to show the same notation in different ways. A transposing part is a good example of this. Enharmonic pitches in the part is another.

Finale has a great Enharmonic feature which allows you to create an enharmonic unison for specific notes. The same pitches are enharmonically spelled differently in the part to allow the part to be read more easily.

In the Part, enter the Speedy Edit frame, select the pitch you want to change, and type 9 on the keypad to change the pitch to its enharmonic equivalent without changing it in the score.

Occasionally, it is necessary for significantly different notation to represent identical passages between the score and parts.

more >> “More Advanced Alternate Notation Techniques in Finale”