MIDI files

Finale both imports and exports standard MIDI files. A MIDI file has a format that can be understood by music programs from different companies, including most sequencer programs—even on other operating systems. If you prefer to compose by improvising in your favorite sequencer, you could save your piece as a standard MIDI file and let Finale notate it for you.

When you save a MIDI file, Finale saves the instrument name (from the Instrument List) as the track name. When you open a MIDI file, Finale uses the track name as the staff name (which appears in the Staff Attributes dialog box).

To import a MIDI file

To create the MIDI file, follow your sequencer’s instructions. There’s no need to quantize the sequence; however, you’ll probably find Finale’s quantization powers to be more effective than your sequencer’s.

1. Choose Open from the File Menu. The Open dialog box appears. The file types are listed in the drop-down list at the bottom of the window.
2. Click MIDI File. The names of any available MIDI files appear in the list box.
3. Double-click the desired document name. The Import MIDI File Options dialog box appears, listing various transcription options.
4. Specify the way in which you want the MIDI file extracted onto Finale staves. If you click Tracks Become Staves, each sequencer track becomes a Finale staff. If you click Channels Become Staves, the contents of each MIDI channel (regardless of their track assignments) become a Finale staff. In either case, Finale will choose a clef for each resultant staff based on the range of notes in the track. (If it discovers that the notes in a track have a very wide range, it will automatically notate its contents on two staves. See Import MIDI File Options dialog box for details.) For even greater control over the track and channel extraction, click Set Track-to-Staff List; the Track/Channel Mapping to Staves dialog box appears, in which you can specify extremely sophisticated track and channel splitting.
5. Click Quant Settings. The Quantization Settings dialog box appears.
6. Click the icon representing your smallest note value.
7. Choose your quantization type. See Quantization Settings dialog box for more details.
8. Click More Settings. The More Quantization Settings dialog box appears.
9. Select the quantization settings you desire. You can select options for grace notes and voice 2, as well as retain key velocities and note durations. See More Quantization Settings dialog box for details.
10. Choose Key and Time Signature options. Most MIDI files contain key and time signature information already, so you usually won’t have to change the default selection (Use the File’s).
11. If you’ll want to hear the sequence played back with its original tempo fluctuations and continuous data (controllers and wheels) data, make sure Tempo Changes and Continuous Data are selected. These options capture some of the MIDI performance data from your sequence.
12. Click OK (or press enter). Finale transcribes the MIDI File into standard notation. If you discover that your settings weren’t quite right, you can close the new Finale document and try again—the original MIDI file is unaffected by Finale’s transcription efforts. Or, for smaller sectional changes, use the Retranscribe function under the MIDI/Audio Menu. For more information about the elements of the Import MIDI File Options dialog box, see Import MIDI File Options dialog box and Retranscription.

To export a MIDI file

1. Prepare your Finale file. Keep in mind that any playback data will be retained in the MIDI file. This includes tempo changes (for those sequencers that support a tempo, or conductor, track), dynamics, pitch wheel data, MIDI channel assignments, in addition to Human Playback settings configured in the Playback Settings dialog box. To export a specific region, in the Playback Settings dialog box, check Observe Playback Region when saving to MIDI or audio file, and the specify the region you would like to export in the options above.

Be sure to specify other important playback options in the Playback/Record Options dialog box (choose Playback Controls from the Window Menu; click the expand arrow; click Playback/Record Options). Remember that you are exporting a MIDI file, text and layout will not be retained in this format.

2. Make sure that you have assigned Instruments correctly (one for each resultant sequencer track). When Finale creates a MIDI sequencer file, it places the music you’ve assigned to each Instrument in the Instrument List dialog box in a separate sequencer track. Therefore, make sure the Instrument configuration is set up the same way you want the resultant tracks set up. See MIDI channels for further instructions.
3. Choose Save As from the File Menu. The Save As dialog box appears.
4. From the List Files of Type: drop down list choose MIDI File, and enter a title in the text box. Note, too, that you don’t have to click anything if you add the suffix “.MID” (including the period) at the end of the title, as in “Overture.MID”; if you do this, Finale automatically saves your document as a MIDI file.
5. Click Save (or press enter). Finale now asks which type of MIDI file you want to create: Format 1 (multiple tracks), Format 0 (a single, multichannel track), or just a tempo map. Format 1 is by far the most common format. Also, choose whether you want to save any bookmarks you created in Finale as sequencer marks in your MIDI file.
6. Select a MIDI file format by clicking the appropriate button.