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Each staff in Finale has four transparent layers of music. Each layer can play back over a different MIDI channel and synthesizer patch, and each can have its own dynamics. You can view one layer at a time, or all simultaneously. When you’re placing expression marks, you can tell which layer is receiving the mark by the indicator in the lower-left corner of the screen, which identifies the current layer by number. (You can switch from one layer to the other by clicking the layer buttons.)

Finally, each layer may be taught to flip its stems up or down automatically, to help distinguish the multiple voices.

To enter multiple voices using layers

  1. Choose Document > Document Options > Layers. The Layer options appear, letting you specify the characteristics of each layer.
  2. Specify stem direction, tie direction, and rest placement for each layer.

    In general, you’ll want the stems of Layer 1 to flip up, but only when Layer 2 is present, and the stems of Layer 2 to flip down, but only when Layer 1 is present, and so on. Furthermore, you’ll probably want ties to flip the “wrong way”—in other words, if there are notes in Layer 2, you’ll want ties in Layer 1 to flip upward, even though the Layer 1 stems are upward.

    Therefore, you’ll probably want to select options as follows. For Layer 1, choose Up from the Freeze Stems drop-down menu; select Freeze Ties in the Same Direction as Stems; and select Apply Settings Only if Notes are in Other Layers. For Layer 2, choose Down from the Freeze Stems drop-down menu; select Freeze Ties in the Same Direction as Stems; and select Apply Settings Only if Notes are in Other Layers. The settings for Layers 3 and 4 are up to you, since their stem and tie directions probably depend on the piece you’re notating.

    In addition, you may wish to specify that the placement of rests in one layer is such that they don’t “get in the way” of notes in another. You tell Finale how far out of the way you want these rests to appear by entering numbers into the Adjust Floating Rests By text box. This text box measures the distance, in lines and spaces, from the center line of the staff. In the usual situation, you’d enter a positive number for Layer 1 (such as 6), and a negative number for Layer 2 (such as -6). If you choose not to use the Adjust Floating Rests option, don’t worry—you can always drag rests vertically later.
  3. Click OK (or press ENTER). If you like, choose View > Show Active Layer Only. When this option is selected, only the current layer (as indicated by the drop-down menu in the lower-left corner of the window) is visible; the other layers are hidden. You can switch to another layer by clicking the Layer push buttons menu.
  4. Choose the layer you want to edit first, using the Layer push buttons menu in the lower left corner of the screen.
  5. Click the Speedy Entry tool , and click a measure in which you want to enter music. The editing frame appears. Enter the music for the first layer in the usual way (see Speedy Entry).
  6. Press SHIFT+’ (apostrophe) The editing frame flips to the next layer, and the first layer is dimmed. (SHIFT+’ cycles you through the four layers– from Layer 1 to Layer 4.) You can now enter and edit music in this layer.
  7. To flip an individual stem, position the cursor on it and press the L key. Press L again to make it flip back.
  8. If you need to adjust colliding noteheads, use Music Spacing. See Document Options-Music Spacing for more information.
  9. To drag a rest, position the cursor on it and press the asterisk (*); then drag it up or down. If you want the rest to snap back to its default position, position the cursor on it and press the asterisk (*) key again.
  10. To hide a note or rest, position the cursor on it and press the letter O key. Press O again to restore the entry. Use this feature to hide a Layer 2 half rest, for example, to give the appearance of a second voice entering on the third beat. See also Notes and Rests (Hide) Plug-in, Notes and Rests (Show) Plug-in.
  11. Press zero (0) to exit the editing frame. When you use the Selection tool to copy music, you’ll copy whichever layer or layers are showing. To copy Layer 1 only, for example, choose Show Active Layer Only from the View menu, and choose Layer 1 from the layer push buttons (lower-left corner of screen); copy in the usual way (see Copying music).

 

 

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Finale 2014 for Windows

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