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.
- Choose Document > Document Options > Layers. The Layer options appear, letting you specify
the characteristics of 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 list
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 list 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.
- Specify stem direction, tie direction, and
rest placement for each layer.
- 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 list
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.
- Choose the layer you want to edit first, using
the Layer push
buttons menu in the lower left corner of the screen.
- 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).
- 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.
- To flip an individual stem, position the cursor
on it and press the L key. Press L again to make it flip back.
- If you need to adjust colliding noteheads,
use Music Spacing. See Document
Options-Music Spacing for more information.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
