Articles - Finale Classes Online

Your score is ready for production? Let’s look for the best way to prepare your Finale file for use in Logic Pro X.

Summary

► Is your score more than 16 staves? You’ll need to export your Finale file while in VST or Audio Units playback mode. Give your Logic operator a track list.

► If your score is less than 16 instruments, exporting from Midi Playback mode has real advantages for your Logic operator.

► Use Human Playback in Finale. It creates useful controller data in the midi

Logic’s Default Behavior when Importing MIDI

Midi Playback

When using Midi playback (MIDI/Audio>Play Finale through MIDI), your exported MIDI file meets the General MIDI (“GM”) standard, which includes patch numbers. Logic uses them to create instrument tracks automatically assigned to equivalent sounds, giving the Logic operator a complete picture of your score. The GM standard supports 16 channels maximum.

VST/AU Playback

If your score is more than 16 channels, (one bank in Finale), then you need to export using VST or AU playback (MIDI/Audio>Play Finale Through VST (PC) or Audio Units (Mac). All of your instruments will show up in Logic, assigned to piano tracks.

Alternate techniques in Finale’s VST/AU playback

In VST or Audio Units playback, your instrument technique changes are embedded in your exported midi as “Keyswitches” (midi notes out of the range of the instrument that are interpreted by the sample player to trigger a different sample). The Logic operator may or may not notice that the midi contains them. Let the operator know they’re present by providing a score or staff list, showing channel number and instrument name – bearing in mind that Bank 2 in Finale starts with Channel 17.

Alternate Techniques in Finale’s MIDI playback

According to Finale’s online manual, in a MIDI playback session you should use “patch changes” for articulations such as pizzicato or mutes for a particular staff. These changes won’t be interpreted by Logic automatically. The Logic operator will either need to create a new track with the correct sample for the passage, or use a keyswitch-enabled sound library to assign the sounds. There is a way to make alternate techniques show up automatically in Logic…

Getting your alternate techniques to show up automatically in Logic

► If your score is less than 16 channels, you can put your alternate techniques on a different layer in the score. They’ll each get their own channel in Finale, and show up in Logic on their own track with the correct sound assigned.

Alternate Techniques in Other Layers. Notice the channel assignments (“Ch.”)

Continuous Controller Data

Finale’s Human Playback writes Continuous Controller (“CC”) data while it interprets score markings such as dynamic changes. The data will show up in automation lanes in Logic. Finale writes to CC#1 (Mod Wheel) by default for dynamic changes such as crescendos and decrescendos for sustaining instruments (except percussion, piano, harp, guitar and pizzicato strings, where velocity is used instead).

Finale offers the option to write dynamic data to CC#11, but ! – its own libraries use CC#1 by default.

Use Human Playback ?

Some users have suggested turning off Human Playback when exporting Finale midi for use in a Digital Audio Workstation (“DAW”) like Logic. We’ve found that Human Playback adds useful performance data, saving a lot of time for the Logic operator in editing velocity, controller, and duration data.

Don’t Fuss about Sound Libraries for MIDI Export

Making a good-sounding mockup in Finale is essential, but so is creating the most usable midi when working with downstream production people – or your own Logic project. You could give your Logic operator a list of libraries you used, and maybe they have them. In any case, before delivering your file, try to create the most useful possible midi file. Save-as your original, then edit your copy for midi-friendly export.

See our related article about preparing Logic files for import into Finale

Quicker Chord Entry in Finale

Finale’s Chord Tool has an extension picker shortcut that appears when the user types a chord root followed by “:” and “0” (number zero) and a “space” character, which might come as a revelation for many users struggling with chord input. It brings up the chord library, where you can pick an extension for your chord with one click, or create one with the editing tools.

On opening this you’ll notice little numbers in the box occupied by each extension, representing id #’s for each variant.

With those ID numbers, instead of typing a zero after the colon, if you type the id number corresponding to the chord you want before hitting the spacebar, Finale inserts it into the score.

If we knew all these extension numbers, we’d be able to shorten the picking process by typing in the symbol, then the colon, then the extension ID number.

This can already save a lot of time – but learning all these extension ID numbers is a bit much, and easy to forget if you don’t use them every day. You could trim the Chord Symbol library down considerably, or rearrange them so the ones you use most are near the top. Instead, we found a way to make chord suffix selection fast and easy using a floating icon palette in Keyboard Maestro.

Keyboard Maestro Icon Palette

Keyboard Maestro supports Macros and Groups. A Macro is an individual script, and a Group is a collection of macros. In a Group, Macros can be displayed in a palette with an icon representing its action. You can open the Palette with a shortcut, or listing in another palette, then click its icons to complete your chord entries.

Setting this up involves a few steps.

Let’s assume you’ve already created your custom chords in Finale, or know which ones you’ll use most often.

1. Take a screenshot of the open Chord Extension Picker/Editor in Finale

This enables you to see the ID numbers associated with your extensions, and do screen grabs to make the icons.

2. Create a new Group in Keyboard Maestro

Set the Palette editor’s options for it, checking “Show Icons Only.” You can define the icon size and number of columns, the palette color, and whether it stays open or closes after one action.

3. Begin building your macros.

Add an action from Keyboard Maestro’s “Text” group – “Insert Text by Typing.” That’s the only action you’ll need. Then enter your text string, being sure to use the ID number associated with the extension you want to use. Into the action’s text field, type a colon (:), the ID#, and a spacebar press.

4. Add the icon

Open your Chord Extensions screenshot in the Preview app on the Mac, drag-select around the chord symbol you want, hit ⌘C (copy), then click in the little icon field in Keyboard Maestro’s macro editor and paste your selection in there. Your icon shows up.

Repeat until you have all the ones you want in there.

Save Your Chord Library for Reuse

In order for this to work in all your documents, be sure to save your Finale chord library, if you’ve customized it, and load it into other documents, including new ones, or your Templates or Default Documents. Note that Finale templates might have different chord libraries, depending on the font used in the template. If you do that, it’ll always work.

Preparing Finale Files for Use in Logic Pro