Patches

In the world of MIDI music, there doesn’t seem to be a consensus as to how to refer to the different sounds available from any MIDI device. Different manufacturers may refer to a specific violin sound (for example) on their MIDI device as a sound, patch, part, voice, or program. This can be very confusing when all you want to do is change the trumpet sound to the saxophone sound. In the interest of consistency throughout Finale and its documentation, we’ll refer to a specific sound as a Patch. This term comes from the early days of the synthesizer, when you changed the sound of your synthesizer by switching the configuration of the various “patch” cords or cables.

A patch could be as simple as a basic MIDI program change message, but it might also include bank change information, which may be required on certain MIDI devices to access all available patches.

Finale both records and plays back the MIDI data that allows a MIDI instrument to change patches (that is, programs or sound settings and optional bank change information) during playback. You can even edit this data directly using the MIDI Tool. Using Finale’s Instrument List, you can create sets of your favorite channel/patch combinations and select them, by name, from the Instrument drop-down list.

Finale begins numbering its patches at 1, but not every MIDI instrument begins the numbering of its programs at 1 (some begin numbering at 0). Therefore, if you find that the numbers you enter in the following examples change your MIDI instrument to a program number that’s one off, remember to change the numbers accordingly by adding 1. (If your MIDI instrument isn’t responding to the program changes, make sure that program changes have been “enabled,” for those synthesizers having such a control.)

The easiest way to set up patches is to select the instrument you want from the General MIDI drop-down list. This will automatically setup the Bank Select and Program Change for that instrument. If you prefer to setup specific Bank Select and Program Change information using the text boxes, the direction below provide more information.

To establish the initial program settings for each staff

1. From the Window Menu, choose Instrument List. The Instrument List window appears.
2. In the Instrument column, select the name of the instrument you want to assign to each staff. If the instrument you want does not appear in the Instrument column, choose New Instrument. Here you can type a name for your instrument, assign a channel number (that is not yet being used), and choose a general MIDI sound from the General MIDI drop-down menu. If you are using an external MIDI device, you can indicate the bank and program changes by choosing an option from the Patch drop-down menu and then entering the appropriate bank numbers. If you want to assign a program to a certain layer of a staff, click the upward arrow next to a staff name; the list expands to show you individual layer assignments. The Instrument List gives you a great deal of power over MIDI channels and patch assignments. See Playbackand MIDI channels for details.
3. From the bottom on the Instrument List window, ensure Send Patches Before Play is checked.

To set up a patch change on playback

These instructions tell you how to create an expression marking that produces a patch change during playback (such as “To strings”). If you don’t need a visual indication to appear in the score, you may find it faster to use the MIDI Tool to create patch changes (see “To set up patch changes using the MIDI Tool,” below).

1. Click the Expression Tool  .
2. Click on, above, or below the note at which you want the patch to change. The Expression Selection dialog box appears. If you’ve previously created the patch change marking, double-click it. The expression appears in the score, where you can adjust its position (see below).
3. Click Create. The Expression Designer dialog box appears.
4. Type a patch change indication (“To Clarinet,” for example). You can label the patch change any way you like, or you can leave the text box empty (if you want no graphic marking at all).
5. Click the Playback tab. The playback options appear.
6. From the Type drop-down list, choose Patch.
7. The Patch drop-down list appears, choose the type of patch change needed, select the appropriate Bank and Program changes.
8. Click OK or Select or Assign in each dialog box until you return to the document. Depending on your playback settings, you may need to begin playback at a measure prior to the patch change for it to take effect. To avoid this problem you can set Finale to “chase” the patch changes up to the point where you’re beginning playback. That is, Finale will quickly scan the piece all the way from the first measure, noting (and transmitting to your MIDI keyboard) any patch changes along the way, so that playback always begins using the current patch. See “To ‘chase’ patch changes before playback,” below. Chase only supports playback in non-scrolling mode.

To “chase” patch changes before playback

1. Choose Playback Controls from the Window Menu. The Playback Controls appear.
2. Click the speaker icon. The Playback Settings dialog box appear.
3. From the Dynamics and Markings drop-down list, choose Chase from First Measure Measure 1, then click OK. When you click a measure in the middle of a piece to begin playback, Finale will take a moment to scan your piece and “chase” any patch change markings that occur earlier in the piece up to the measure you clicked. In this way, Finale can keep track of any patch changes it encounters along the way, so that playback always begins with the correct current patch.

To set up patch changes using the MIDI Tool

1. From the Window Menu, choose Advanced Tools. Click the MIDI Tool  . The MIDI Tool Menu appears.
2. Double-click the measure in which you want the patch to change. The MIDI Tool split-window appears.
3. Drag through a small horizontal “slice” at the beginning of the graph area, as shown. Keep in mind that the actual patch change will occur at the beginning of the region you select (indicated by the arrow in the figure below). It really doesn’t matter, therefore, how much of the window you highlight; the patch change will be inserted at the far left edge of your highlighted region.

5. From the MIDI/Audio Menu, Choose Set To. The Set To dialog box appears.
6. Enter the appropriate Bank and Program numbers you want the staff’s playback to switch to. Click OK (or press enter). You return to the MIDI Tool split-window. Part of the graph area is now black. That’s because you’ve just inserted a patch change that’s in effect from the point you selected to the end of the piece. Repeat the entire process at other points in the score where you want the patch to change (for example, if you want the patch to change back to the original patch).

To remove patch changes you’ve created in this way, reselect the same region in the MIDI Tool windows and press backspace, or use the Selection Tool to clear Continuous Data.

To copy or erase patch change data created with the MIDI Tool

See  MIDI —To copy or erase captured (or edited) MIDI data.