Macintosh users: skip to the next section, Installation for Macintosh.
If you are viewing this on-screen, you have likely already installed Finale. Skip to Preparing for Printing.
Installing Finale onto your hard disk is easy, whether you’re upgrading from a previous version or working with Finale for the first time. Before you begin installing Finale, make sure there’s enough room on your hard disk to hold the program and its associated files. For a full installation, you’ll need about two hundred megabytes (200,000K) of free space on your hard disk. An additional 1.6GB is required for all the Garritan sounds. You should also bear in mind that, like many other software programs, Finale creates and makes use of “temporary files” during its normal operations, which it then deletes from your hard disk when you exit the program. We recommend having an additional ten megabytes (10,000K) of free disk space for these files.
Because some virus detection programs can prevent certain files from installing properly, we recommend you temporarily disable anti-virus programs. Rest assured, your Finale CD does not contain any viruses. If you are installing on Windows XP Professional, make sure you are logged in as the System Administrator and reboot after installation.
The Installer sets up a folder called “Finale 2009” for the Finale program and its associated files and folders. Do not alter this setup.
If upon trying to install, you get the error message: “Cannot find the file,” your CD/DVD drive may be assigned to a letter other than D. Look in “My Computer” to find out which letter is associated with your CD or DVD drive.
When you open any older Finale family notation file (from the File Menu, choose Open, then navigate to your older file), Finale 2009 takes a moment to convert it into the new format, then opens it as an “Untitled” file. If you save the file in Finale 2009 using the same name as before, you will not be able to reopen that file using an earlier version of Finale. It is suggested, therefore, that you save the file with a slightly different name (for instance, “My Score” could become “My Score 2”), unless you are absolutely sure that you won’t need to reopen it in an earlier version of Finale.
Before you can print from Finale, you must set up Windows to work with your printer. See your Microsoft Windows User Manual for details.
For information on printing in Finale, see Printing in the User Manual or consult Tutorial 3 in this volume.
If you are not using MIDI, skip this section. If you’re just getting started with MIDI, this section provides basic instructions for connecting your equipment.
MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It’s the language spoken by computers and electronic musical instruments. We’ll assume that you’re connecting a MIDI keyboard, although you can use any MIDI instrument. In this book, “MIDI keyboard” refers to whatever type of MIDI device you are using.
We will assume that your computer is equipped with a sound card, which is designed to also act as a MIDI interface and has the appropriate driver software installed. If you are using a dedicated MIDI interface, you will need to consult its documentation for instructions on setting up your MIDI system. At the very least, in addition to the sound card you will need the following equipment for an operational MIDI system (not including your computer):
A MIDI keyboard
Amplifier/speaker or headphones
A MIDI cable
The last item, a MIDI cable, is an optional accessory, which may have been included when you purchased your sound card. MIDI cables are needed to connect most older keyboards to a MIDI interface. (Some MIDI controllers do not require a MIDI cord or external MIDI interface.)
Your connections should resemble those in this figure:
If you discover that Finale isn’t responding to your MIDI keyboard, check these connections again, and consult the manual that came with your sound card or interface.
Starting and Authorizing Finale
If you have Internet access (and are not running firewall, security, or virus software that would block information from being received back at your computer), simply select this option, and the rest is taken care of automatically after filling out the required information.
Otherwise, select one of the other options for phone, FAX, or standard mail, and a window will be displayed containing a User Code. You may print out this page and FAX or mail it to us, or you can call with your serial number and User Code. In either case, we will generate an Authorization Code that you manually type in to complete the process. In each case (including internet), our system automatically sends an e-mail confirmation of the information. If you selected the internet option, but have a firewall that blocked the information from being received, then you can manually type in the Authorization Code information that was sent to you.
Your copy of Finale can be authorized on two computers simultaneously. However, with an Internet connection, authorization can be moved from one computer to another at will. Simply choose Deauthorize Finale from the Help Menu to open up a free authorization slot. Your copy of Finale can now be authorized on a different computer. Also, deauthorize prior to making hardware changes to your computer, such as replacing a hard drive. Doing so will ensure a slot is open to authorize after updating your hardware. When you deauthorize, printing and saving are disabled until authorization has been restored.
PLEASE NOTE that the User/Authorization Codes are computer specific, and will only work on the given computer installation. Make sure that the Authorization Code is typed in using capital letters, and also verify that the correct serial number has been entered. If you have made a change to the computer (replaced the hard drive or motherboard, or installed a new operating system), and didn’t deauthorize prior to doing so, contact Customer Service directly by phone, FAX, or standard mail with your serial number and the location ID for the specific installation in question, and one of our representatives can clear the previous authorization from your account. If the software is not "reminding" you to authorize when you run the program, then the authorization has been successfully completed.
Next, the MIDI Setup dialog box appears. Here, you can choose the devices you want to use for MIDI Input and playback. You’ll learn how to configure MIDI using this dialog box in the next section.
The first time you launch Finale, the MIDI Setup dialog box will appear (subsequently it’s found in Finale’s MIDI Menu).
This is where you instruct Finale which MIDI drivers you’d like to use. Finale begins by scanning your system and finding the MIDI drivers that are already installed. On the left side of the dialog box, under MIDI In, the program will select the MIDI In Device that is present on your computer (for example, “Sound Blaster MIDI Input”). In the right-hand box, the program will select Finale’s SmartMusic SoftSynth (software synthesizer) which is installed with Finale. You can easily choose a different device to enter or play back your music. Any time you’d like to hear the music on your computer’s speakers (which are connected to your sound card), you’d typically choose a driver with the term “Synth” or “Synthesizer” in it. If, on the other hand, you’d like Finale to play back on an external MIDI device (which would require its own speaker and amplifier), choose a driver which has “MIDI Out” in its name.
You can leave SoftSynth selected for the MIDI output device to play back with your computer speakers using Finale’s default General MIDI sounds.
Or, choose from the available synthesizers on your computer. The following diagram shows the MIDI Setup dialog box properly configured to play back through the computer’s speakers via a sound card.
The diagram below shows the MIDI Setup dialog box properly configured to play back through an external MIDI device. Keep in mind that the specific driver names will change depending on what sound card or MIDI device you have.
For more information, consult the User Manual under MIDI Setup dialog box. You’re all set to explore Finale.
Skip to the next section, How to Learn Finale.