So far, you’ve explored ways of entering
music into Finale note-by-note. Simple Entry is useful for working without
a MIDI keyboard, and Speedy Entry makes good use of the MIDI keyboard
with the computer keyboard for extra speed.
One of Finale’s most useful features, however,
is its ability to record and transcribe a live performance in real time.
To do this you’ll be using the HyperScribe Tool, which notates your performance
almost as fast as you can play it. By the end of this tutorial, you should
be able to get notes on the page by playing on your MIDI keyboard with HyperScribe.
If you don’t have a MIDI keyboard or microphone,
skip ahead to Tutorial 2.
Introduction to HyperScribe
Each time you play a note on your MIDI
keyboard, the computer receives certain information via the MIDI cable:
which key you struck, how hard you hit it, and how long you held it down.
But to convert your performance to standard notation, the computer needs
to know how each note’s duration relates to the beat and the measure.
In the past, music programs solved the
“where-does-the-note-fall-relative-to-the-beat” question by producing
a metronome click while you play. In other words, the computer itself
provided a point of reference, forcing you to align your playing with
the computer’s beat.
Finale offers this option, but also introduces
a novel concept: let the musician provide the click. The computer gets
what it needs to transcribe the music—a reference point for each beat—and
the musician gets what he or she wants—the freedom to speed up or slow
down while playing.
What’s more, Finale lets you decide what
you’re tapping to provide this tempo reference; if you’re playing a single-line
melody, you might tap along on a very high or low key on your MIDI keyboard.
For two-handed performances, you’ll probably choose to tap your foot on
a pedal. But any MIDI controller, from breath controller to modulation
wheel, can provide the tap.
HyperScribe, as this recording mode is
called, can be extremely accurate. First, however, Finale needs you to
answer some questions concerning what you’re about to play:
- What’s the
rhythmic value of your tap? Quarter notes? Eighth notes?
- Will there
be inner voices or triplets?
In this tutorial we’ll explore how these
settings affect your transcription. HyperScribe, by the way, isn’t just
for keyboard virtuosos. No matter how slowly you go, HyperScribe is still
an excellent means of entering music—single-line or simple music in particular—into
a score. Even non-keyboardists often come to prefer HyperScribe for quick,
accurate note entry. With the MicNotator feature, you can even play your
favorite instrument, like clarinet or saxophone, to enter notes. See MicNotator for more details.
In the following sections, you’ll give
HyperScribe a try. For a more complete discussion of various settings
and how you might use them, see the User Manual under HyperScribe
Tool or the Quantization Guide
in the Appendix.
Creating
a New Document Style
There are hundreds of variables in published
music notation: thickness of the staff lines, size of the notes, distance
between accidentals in a key signature, and so on. Finale will let you
change settings for some of these variablesalmost every variable you can
think of.
However, you probably won’t want to set
up your favorite design rules each time you create a new piece. Teaching
Finale precisely how you like your music to look could take you half an
hour every time you launched the program.
The good news is that Finale lets you determine
all these variables once, after which it remembers your preferences for
any future piece. The Finale 2009 folder houses a collection of “Document
Styles,” each a collection of settings that can be applied to new files
when you begin a new document using the Setup Wizard. There are several
Document Styles already included with page numbers at the bottom of the
page, specific music spacing rules, and so on.
Of course, you can and should create your
own Document Styles, using your own favorite setup; the ones we’ve provided
are meant to serve as an example. When you’re finished with these tutorials,
simply create a new document (or modify one we’ve provided), edit the
desired Document Options, load desired libraries, and save it in the Finale
2009/Document Styles folder.
For this tutorial we will start a document
with a single treble clef staff using the “Engraved Maestro Style.”
- From
the File Menu, choose New, then Document with Setup Wizard. Finale
displays page 1 of the Setup Wizard. The list box on the right displays
all of the available Document Styles. Ensure “Engraved Maestro Style”
is selected.
- Click
Next. In the lest on the left, click the “Empty Staves” category.
- In
the middle list, double-click “Treble Clef Staff” to add it to the list
on the right. Then click Next, Next, and Finish to complete the
Setup Wizard. The document appears displaying the single staff in Page
View.
- From the View Menu, choose Zoom, then (Custom Zoom 3) 75%. Now we need to make sure the settings are correct for our experiment.
Click and Countoff
- From the
MIDI/Audio Menu, choose Click and Countoff. The Click and Countoff dialog box
appears, which allows you to control a variety of settings related to
Finale’s click and countoff features. For example, you could instruct
Finale to provide a metronome click during playback of your score; or
you could instruct Finale to wait for or provide a 2-measure countoff
before recording, so that you have a chance to settle into your tempo.
The default settings should be correct, but we’ll double-check.
- From
the Countoff pop-up Menu, select While Recording.
- In
the Measures text box, type the number of countoff measures you want to
hear before recording begins. The default setting is 2.
- From
the Click pop-up Menu, select While Recording.
- Click
OK. You have just instructed Finale that a 2-measure countoff is
to be used before recording, and that a click is to be used during recording.
Now, we’ll instruct Finale that it will be providing the tempo information,
not you.
Transcribing a Scale
(with a Click)
- Click
the HyperScribe Tool .
A new menu appears on the menu bar called HyperScribe, where you’ll make
your transcription settings.
- From
the HyperScribe Menu, choose Beat Source, then Playback and/or Click.
In the Playback and/or Click dialog box, you specify a start signal,
set a tempo for recording, and tell Finale whether or not you want to
hear the other existing staves in your piece played back while you record.
Your settings should be Use Playback Tempo, which is 96 by default (shown
on the Playback Controls).
- Click
the drop-down (Macintosh: pop-up) menu to the right of Start Signal for
Recording and choose Any MIDI Data. This setting tells Finale to
use any MIDI signal as a cue to start the countoff for a HyperScribe session.
Note that you can access the Click and Countoff
dialog box from here. For more details, see Click
and Countoff dialog box.
If you wish to use the internal speaker on
a Macintosh, select the MIDI Menu, then Internal Speaker Playback.
- Click
OK. That’s it! Finale is now ready to provide you with a metronome
click.
- From
the HyperScribe Menu, choose Record Mode. Make sure Record into
One Staff is selected.
- Click
the first measure. A dotted frame surrounds the measure you clicked,
indicating that Finale is ready for you to begin. It doesn’t matter whether
you play staccato or legato (short or connected notes); HyperScribe expands
any note you play to the beginning of the next note (or beat), so that
you won’t find scattered sixteenth rests cluttering your music when you’re
finished. Finale is waiting for you to send a signal that you’re ready.
Because we set the Start Signal to Any MIDI Data, it doesn’t matter which
key or pedal you hit.
- Play
a note on the keyboard. Finale begins to click, giving you two
measures countoff to get a feel for the tempo. If you don’t get a click,
you may wish to review Installation
for Windows or Installation
for Mac for information on setting up your MIDI system. You may also
wish to consult the MIDI Setup dialog box.
- When
the two countoff measures are up, play a two-octave C scale, in quarter
notes, starting on middle C, as shown below.
As you play each measure, it fills up with
notehead-like dots; only when you’ve completely filled a measure (and
moved on to the next) does the full-fledged notation appear.
- When
you’re finished, click your mouse anywhere on the screen. The editing
frame goes away. Take a look at what Finale did: did you get your C scale?
If you didn’t, try entering a slower tempo in the Playback and/or Click
dialog box. Now let’s try a real melody instead of a scale. Only this
time, we’ll provide the Tap or tempo instead of Finale.
Transcribing
a Melody (with a Tap)
Before we start recording our melody, we
need to change a few settings, such as the countoff measures.
- Click
the HyperScribe Tool .
- From
HyperScribe Menu, choose Beat Source, then Tap (even if its already checked).
You have to tell Finale which key or pedal (or other MIDI controller)
you’ll be tapping to provide the tempo reference. The Tap Source dialog
box offers several choices: the standard sustain pedal, a “nonstandard”
sustain pedal (whose on/off polarity is reversed, as with some Yamaha
pedals), a key on your instrument, or another MIDI controller.
For this test, you’ll use a key. If you know
the MIDI key number of the note you want to tap, you can enter it into
the MIDI Note text box (middle C = 60). Otherwise, you can enter the note
information just by playing it:
- Click
Listen, then play C below middle C. (You can, of course, use any key on
your MIDI keyboard.) If your MIDI equipment is set up properly,
the “Finale is listening” dialog box disappears, and Finale types the
number of the key you played into the text box #48.
- In
the Beat section of the dialog box, make sure the quarter note icon is
selected. In other words, one tap equals one quarter note.
- Click
OK. You return to the score.
- Click
the first measure. You don’t need to erase your C scale; a new
HyperScribe pass overwrites whatever was there before.
- Play
“Ode to Joy” as shown here. Remember to tap steady quarter notes
with your left hand on C below middle C.
- When
you’re finished, click the mouse. Scroll back to the first measure.
Look over your piece and see how you did. Feel free to try it again; anything
new you record will simply overwrite whatever music is there now.
When using HyperScribe
with a Tap, make sure you play the first note at the same time or after
the first tap.
Recording Audio (Optional)
If you have a microphone attached to your
computer, and would like to learn how to record an audio track, continue
with the steps in this section. Otherwise, skip ahead to Setting
the Time Signature Beaming Patterns.
Finale allows you to record audio directly
into a document with the HyperScribe Tool. You might use this feature,
for example, to record a solo vocal line.
- From
the View Menu, choose Studio View. Audio tracks are only visible
in Studio View.
- From
the MIDI/Audio Menu, choose Audio Setup. Use the Mic Level slider
to test the mic input. Make sure the Input Meter peaks in the mid-upper
range of this bar at the volume you will be recording. Click OK.
- From
the MIDI/Audio Menu, choose Audio Track, then Add Audio Track.
An audio track appears above your instrument staves, and below the TempoTap
staff.
- Choose
the HyperScribe Tool . At this point the steps are basically the same
as recording a HyperScribe session. Let’s return to using a click track
for this recording.
- From
the HyperScribe Menu, choose Beat Source, then Playback and/or Click.
Click the drop-down (Macintosh: pop-up) menu to the right of Start Signal
for Recording and choose None (Record Immediately). Recording will begin
after a 2-measure countoff.
- Click
the first measure, listen to two bars of metronome clicks, then begin
singing the “Ode to Joy” (the rendition of your choosing) into the microphone.
- When
you are done, click the score to stop the recording. The audio
you just recorded is visible in the audio track. Click Play in the Playback
Controls to listen.
- Finale
can also import audio files into a document’s audio track. See
Audio for details.
Setting the
Time Signature and Beaming Patterns
When you feel confident with playing a
single-line melody, you might like to try this experiment: playing with
two hands while tapping with your foot.
In the previous experiments, you used Finale’s
default setting of quarter-note key taps. In the next experiment you’ll
be trying a piece in N time, which will require you to change some of
HyperScribe’s settings.
Open the file called “Tutorial 1c.” This
is a grand staff like one you can create with the Setup Wizard.
- Click
the Time Signature Tool .
- Double-click
the first measure. The Time Signature dialog box appears.
- Using
the upper scroll bar, click the left scroll bar arrow twice. This
might surprise you. We’re changing the meter to N, so you might expect
the top number to be 6. Why are we subtracting beats (so that it is now
2)? Read on.
- Using the
lower scroll bar, click the right scroll bar arrow once. When you
increase the beat duration (lower number) to a dotted quarter-note value,
the new meter suddenly makes sense: two dotted quarter notes do, in fact,
make a N meter.
-
Note that with the Time Signature Tool
selected, you can also right (Mac: )-click a measure to choose
a new time signature.
The Time Signature setting does more than set
the meter; it also determines the beaming patterns for the music you’re
about to enter. You could have increased the top number to 6, and decreased
the bottom number to eighth notes, like this:
But then you’d wind up with no eighth notes
automatically beamed together. By specifying a meter formed
by two dotted quarter notes (instead of six eighth notes), you’ve instructed
Finale to beam the eighth notes together in dotted-quarter note groups—that
is, in groups of three.
- Select
Measure 1 through End of Piece (if it’s not already selected).
- Click
OK.
Two-handed HyperScribing
- Click
the HyperScribe Tool . The HyperScribe Menu appears.
- From
the HyperScribe Menu, choose Beat Source, then Tap (even though
it may already have a check mark next to it). Since you’re playing a 6/8
piece, you have to tell Finale that each click should equal ayou’ll be
tapping every dotted quarter note.
- Click
the dotted quarter note icon. You’d click the same button for a
piece in 3/8, 9/8, or 12/8 meter.
- Click
Standard Sustain Pedal, then click OK. You’re telling Finale that
you’ll be tapping on the pedal rather than on a MIDI keyboard key.
- From
the MIDI Menu, select Quantization Settings. The Quantization Settings
dialog box appears.
- Under
Smallest Note Value, click the eighth note. Finale’s sense of rhythm
is much finer than ours; in fact, it perceives subdivisions of rhythm
down to 1024ths of a quarter note. (These very small rhythmic increments
are called ENIGMA Durational Units, or EDUs.) Because Finale’s perception
of time is so precise, the program must round off, or quantize, each note
in your performance to the nearest eighth note (or whatever rhythmic value
you specify), in order to produce readable notation. Since the smallest
rhythmic value in a N meter is often an eighth note, that is the value
you selected.
- Click
OK. You’ve told Finale that you’ll be tapping the sustain pedal,
tap is to represent a dotted quarter note, and you’ve specified a quantization
value. One other parameter has changed since your first HyperScribe efforts:
You’re using two staves now. HyperScribe can split your performance onto
two staves (to be played by right and left hands), but it needs you to
specify a split point—a key on the MIDI keyboard, below which all notes
will be transcribed onto the lower staff; the note you play and all higher
notes will be placed on the upper staff.
- From
the HyperScribe Menu, choose Record Mode, then Split into Two Staves.
Now, choose the point between the two staves you want notes to split between
the left and right hand staves. If you’re familiar with MIDI key numbers
(middle C = 60), you can type a key number into the text box in the Fixed
Split Point dialog box that appears. It’s easier, however, to define a
split point simply by playing the key.
- Click
Listen. Finale asks you to play the key you want to use as a split
point.
- Play
the B just below middle C. Finale enters "59," the key number into the
text box. Now, notes played on or above the B below middle C will be placed
into the top staff.
- Click
OK. At this point, you’re ready to go. But you should be aware
that Finale has several more sophisticated options available, which you
might make use of as you become more familiar with the program. From the
MIDI Menu, choose Quantization Settings; click More Settings. The More
Quantization dialog box appears, listing a few additional options. Note
that Retain Key Velocities and Retain Note Durations are both selected.
If you have a velocity-sensitive MIDI keyboard—if it plays back louder
the harder you strike a key—then Finale will be able to play back your
HyperScribed piece with every nuance of your dynamics intact. Also, with
Retain Note Durations selected, Finale will remember and play back any
rolled chords, swing, rushing, or dragging you created when you first
played your piece. For more information on this dialog box, see Quantization
Settings dialog box.
- Click
Cancel twice. You’ve now told Finale all it needs to know about
the upcoming performance. You’ve told it that you’ll be tapping on the
pedal, that your taps represent dotted-quarter notes, that it should quantize
your playing to the nearest eighth note, that it should split your music
into right- and left-hand parts at middle B, and that you want it to record
your dynamics and rhythmic feel.
If you take this much care to set up HyperScribe
every time you play, you should get excellent results.
- Now, to setup the document, set the Key to A flat (three flats) using the Key Signature Tool . Double-click the first measure, click the down arrow in the scroll bar three times and click OK. You will learn more about key signatures in Chapter 2.
- From the Document Menu, choose Pickup Measure. Click the eighth note icon and click OK. Nothing changes visually, but the first measure is now actually an eighth note pickup.
Click the HyperScribe Tool .
- Click the first measure of the upper staff. Play this excerpt from one of Mozart’s horn concertos. Play as slowly as you like, but be sure you’re giving the sustain pedal a little tap every beat (that is, every dotted quarter note), as indicated by the arrows below. Since this excerpt starts on a pickup, you will need to tap the pickup measure too.
- When
you’re finished, click the mouse. Scroll back to the first measure. If all went well, you should have a fairly clean, correctly beamed transcription.
If the dotted-line rectangle never budged from
the first measure, there may be something wrong with your MIDI setup.
It’s possible that your pedal isn’t sending a signal; check your connections
and try again. Or try a non-standard pedal for the Tap.
If you got something, but it doesn’t look accurate,
check the settings you made in the HyperScribe Menu. Also, be sure your
foot taps were synchronized with your hands.
- Play
back your performance (click Play 1 on the Playback Controls).
Finale plays back your transcription complete with your dynamics and rhythmic
feel.
In this file, we’ve turned off Scrolling Playback,
so Finale simply plays the music it encounters in your score, but the
screen display doesn’t change. If you want, you can tell Finale to scroll
the music as it plays, so you can follow the score as you’re listening
to the playback.
NOTE: To play a score—a large score in particular—is
already a demanding task for a computer; to continuously redraw the screen
at the same time requires massive amounts of computational power. Therefore,
when using Scrolling Playback, the Playback Controls help the computer
cheat a bit by taking a moment to prepare the audio portion in advance.
Then, when you play back, only the visual portions are computed.
- On
Windows, click the Settings button. On Macintosh,
click the expand arrow button to reveal more options. Here,
you may want to specify a Human Playback style. Finale’s Human Playback
feature processes your score and generates a performance based on the
expressions, articulations, and other markings you’ve placed in the score.
You can choose from a variety of styles including Classical, Baroque,
and Jazz.
- From
the Play Mode drop-down list, select Scrolling. On Windows, click
OK to close the Settings box. On Macintosh, move the Playback Controls
down and to the right (so you can see the music).
- Click
Play 1. The Status or Message Bar keeps you apprised of Finale’s
progress in pre-computing the music. When it’s finished, you will hear
your recording again, and you should see the sheet music transcription
of it scrolling by.
When You're Ready to Continue
Feel free to experiment with HyperScribe.
For further information on quantization, consult the User Manual under
Quantization Guide in the Appendix. Close your file, saving it if you
want.
In the next tutorial, we’ll add more details
to our score with key and time signatures, lyrics, repeats, and guitar
chords.