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Tuplet Definition dialog box

How to get there

The Tuplet Definition dialog box can be accessed with either the Tuplet tool or the Speedy Entry tool:

  1. Click the Tuplet tool .
  2. Click the first note to include in the tuplet group, or click the first note of a tuplet, then double-click one of its handles.

Or,

  1. Click the Speedy Entry tool .
  2. Click a measure to display the editing frame.
  3. Press CTRL+1 to define the tuplet you want to enter.

What it does

In this dialog box you can define both the rhythmic and visual aspects of a tuplet grouping—the number of eighth notes that are to be played in the time of a quarter note, for example—and whether or not a bracket or slur should appear, and so on.

Note that you can predefine the default visual aspects of the tuplets in your score, so that every tuplet you create automatically appears with a neatly positioned bracket (for example). To do so, CTRL-click the Tuplet tool; Finale displays Document Options-Tuplets, where you can specify these parameters. (See Document Options-Tuplets for a more complete discussion—although its contents are identical to almost all of this dialog box.)

Note also that you can store tuplet "definitions"—the settings you make in this dialog box—in a tuplet Metatool, so that you can instantly transform non-tuplet notes into tuplet notes (having the tuplet definition you prefer) with the press of a key. In fact, you can assign a different set of Tuplet Definition settings to each of the number and letter keys on your keyboard.

When you create a new tuplet, Finale usually places a number over it (such as the 3 above a triplet). In this dialog box, you can change the tuplet notation for each individual notation; for example, you could tell Finale to display a slur or bracket in addition to the number.

For example, suppose you want to create an eighth-note triplet. In the score, click the Tuplet tool, and click the first of the three normal eighth notes you want to transform into triplets. When this dialog box appears, enter 3 and 2 in the text boxes ("3 in the space of 2"); choose eighths from the drop-down list: 3 eighths in the space of 2 eighths. (Alternatively, you could create an eighth-note triplet by specifying 3 eighths in the space of 1 quarter.) These text boxes apply only to the tuplet you’re currently placing in the score.

Placement:

Position:

Tip. Enter a smaller value for Horizontal of the Shape to change the position of the entire shape in relation to the notes. Enter a smaller Vertical of the Shape to move the Shape closer to the note. Hook is defined as the small lines at the end of the bracket while Extension are the longer lines of the bracket.

 

See Also:

Tuplets

Tuplet Tool

Document Options-Tuplets

Change Tuplets

 

 

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