Tip: When entering dynamics with hairpins in Finale, enter the dynamics first, then the hairpins. The reason for this is that the text dynamics locations will help you determine the proper start and end point of the hairpins:
Finale Collision Avoidance Part 2 : Articulations
Q: How do you avoid collisions in Finale, i.e: dynamics, hairpins, accents, chord symbols, etc.? I end up manually moving a lot of stuff, and then I have to manually adjust each part as well.
A: I typically start with the smallest elements and work my way out to the big ones. It’s important to make as many placement adjustments as you can in the score, because in doing so, you are also updating their relative positions in the parts (location changes to articulations, text or shapes made in the parts are *not* reflected in the score). I covered collision avoidance of staff text, dynamics and lines in my post from 10/31/11, so let’s talk about articulations . . .
Starting Glissando Playback Later in Sibelius
Q: Sibelius gliss lines always start playing from the beginning of the note they are attached to. Using the desired (and typical jazz) notation style, how do I get a gliss to start at the end of a note (without resorting to tied subdivisions)?
A: In the example below, Sibelius’ gliss playback starts right on beat one of bar 2, at the start of the half note, and extends across the full two beats. In order to get the desired gliss playback, which is both later and faster (at least in the jazz interpretation of it), the half note needs to be divided into a dotted quarter tied to an eighth, with the gliss attached to the eighth note per the notation in Ex. 2:
Correctly defining an Instrument’s Glissando Playback Defaults in Sibelius
Q: How do I get glisses in Sibelius 7 to automatically respond correctly by instrument type? Even though the Inspector is set to the default ‘auto’, for wind instruments, it still plays a mod wheel-type slide instead of a chromatic run, which must be set manually.
A: Strangely, a number of the woodwind instrument definitions in Sibelius 7 have their default glissando type set to “Continuous” while others are set to “Chromatic”. This is not unique to Sibelius 7 – these instruments are defined this way in Sibelius 6 as well. The Instrument Families that are affected are Clarinets, Saxophones and Recorders.
more >> “Correctly defining an Instrument’s Glissando Playback Defaults in Sibelius”
Incorporate a time signature into a line of text in Sibelius
Q: My question is about tempo changes. I’m copying handwritten parts to Sibelius so musicians can easily read what’s written, and there is a tempo change that states, among other things, that the music is to have a 12/8 feel, where the 12 is above the 8, no slash, just like you’d see in a time signature. Is there a way to do this in Sibelius or am I stuck writing writing out “12/8” just as you see it here?
A: Yes, absolutely. First of all, Sibelius 6 (and 7) have a text style called “Time Signatures (one staff only)” which allows you to place a regular looking time signature as text anywhere you want, independent of their normal staff location(s). This text style is located here:
- Sibelius 6 : Create > Text > Other Staff Text > Time Signatures (one staff only)
- Sibelius 7 : Text Tab > Styles Gallery > Time Signatures (special) > Time Signatures (one staff only)
But you can also create a new text style which will allow you to display a time signature as part of a line of text, like this:
more >> “Incorporate a time signature into a line of text in Sibelius”
Creating Tone Clusters in Finale, part 1
Q: Sometimes I need to notate cluster notes (tone clusters). But the Finale software doesn’t seem to support these. How can I create them?
A: Finale allows you to notate tone clusters following a couple of different conventions easily in a few steps…
Printing Two Separate Parts Side By Side As Matched Pairs of Pages
Q: I’m preparing a score in Finale 2011 for a piano ensemble, i.e. for two pianists playing simultaneously at one piano. How can I print the score so that the 1st and 2nd parts are printed on even and odd pages correspondingly?
A: Finale doesn’t have a specific feature to do this. However, it is possible to print individual pages in such a way that everything is sequential, as well as in matched pairs. There are just a few things to keep in mind:
- Match the layouts in two separate parts so that the starting and ending bar numbering for each pair of pages will be consistent between the two parts.
- Hide the page numbers in the Finale file, since these will not be correct when you line the pages up side by side. Right click the page numbers, and uncheck “Show”.
- Print the individual parts and tape the pages together in pairs so that Piano 1 and Piano 2 pages line up correctly. As mentioned above in #1, the bar numbering and layout for each part should match at the start and end of every page.
ADD PAGE NUMBERS & PRINT AS A BOOKLET
Using a PDF editing program such as Acrobat Pro, you can combine the pages in proper order after the fact. Save each page of each of the two parts as separate PDF files, then combine the files to assemble them in order: Piano 1, page 1, Piano 2, page 1, Piano 1, page 2, Piano2, page 2 etc.
Once the file is assembled linearly, you can optionally add page numbers to the assembled PDF file, as well as use any of the normal features supported by your printer to create a booklet etc.
Finally, add a title page the front cover, then start the Piano 1 part on a left facing page (even numbered) rather than the standard right facing page (odd numbered) in order that pairs of pages will always be displayed as you open out the printed booklet.
OTHER LAYOUT OPTIONS
It should be noted that another, perhaps more standard approach would be to create a part which is 4 staves, with piano 1 and piano 2 vertically aligned; essentially a “mini-score”. If your score is 2 pianos only, you can do the layout right in the score. If the two pianos are parts in a larger score, from Managed Parts, create a single part which contains both instruments by selecting the Piano 1 Instrument in the left column of Managed Parts, then selecting Piano 2 in the right column, and selecting “Add to Instrument” so that it shows up in the “Staves and Groups in Part” center column under Piano 1. Finally, select “Edit Part Name” and rename to “Piano 1 & 2”.
That’s it!
robert
related : Piano Music for Four Hands in Sibelius