Finale offers many note entry options. Assuming you want to enter your notes quickly AND accurately, which method should you use?

The best answer will vary depending on the situation:

• Scanning works great, provided you have sheet music to scan.
• Playing your note in real-time (using HyperScribe) is as fast and accurate as your keyboard skills allow.

But what do you do when the music doesn't exist yet, and your keyboard chops are less than adequate?

The Repitch Tool, located in the Simple Entry Palette, lets you enter notes from a MIDI device while retaining previously entered rhythmic values. This means you could play the rhythm separately from the pitches. I've circled the Repitch Tool in red below:

If you have a MIDI keyboard (or any MIDI device), try this:

1. Select the HyperScribe Tool, wait for the two bar count off, then play your desired rhythm without any regard to pitch. (You might play the rhythm of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on any note).
2. Select the Repitch Tool, click on the first note, and play the pitches without regard for any rhythmic values - and watch the notation change to the correct pitch.

Cool, huh?

I love this one - like last week's post its a little treasure hidden right under your fingertips!

You may have noticed that my blog posts often focus on helping users streamline their workflow; I'm often highlighting shortcuts and tools that save time and simplify common tasks. We'll still occasionally hear from someone who believes that Finale is difficult to use due to the number of tools needed to complete common tasks. Typically these complaints come from folks who first used an early version of Finale, and who have never changed their workflow as Finale evolved and provided easier and faster solutions.

I recently spoke with a customer who was frustrated by the amount of moving around the Main Tool Palette he had to do. Intrigued, I watched him work. Here's an example of his workflow:

1. Select the Simple Entry tool and type in some notes.
2. Grab the mouse to click on the Articulation tool.
3. Click on a note, select the staccato articulation, then click Select.
4. Grab the mouse again and click the Simple Entry tool to resume entering notes.

To add an expression, he added the following steps:

1. Grab the mouse to click on the Expression tool.
2. Double-click on a note, choose a forte marking, then click Select.
3. Grab the mouse again and click the Simple Entry tool to resume entering notes.

Need to change a clef? More steps:

1. Grab the mouse to click on the Clef tool.
2. Double-click on a measure, select a bass clef sign, then press OK.
3. Grab the mouse again and click the Simple Entry tool to resume entering notes.

This IS tedious - and mouse-intensive. One solution would be to segment your work by tools, rather than measures - you could enter all the notes first, then add details like expressions, articulations, and clef changes. That works well, but not everyone's brain is comfortable working in this manner.

Fortunately the Simple Entry Tool now allows you to perform all of the steps listed above with one tool. Let's re-examine the above steps using some of the Add/Change Items options in Simple Entry:

1. Select the Simple Entry Tool and type in some notes.
2. Press the Numpad * key (to enter an articulation) and press S for the staccato marking. You can also press select and choose the marking from the list (Don't have a numeric keypad?  See my PS below!). 

Note that you don't need to return to the Simple Tool to resume entering notes: You never left. Need to enter an expression?

1. Press the X key (to enter an expression) and press 4 to enter a forte marking. Then resume entering notes.

Need a clef change?

1. Press Alt + C (Option + C for Mac) (to enter a clef) and press 4 to enter a bass clef marking. Then resume entering notes.

As you can see, with these new steps you can greatly reduce the number of mouse moves and keystrokes, and you never have to switch tools. After explaining this to the customer, he was floored.

Where did I get the metatool number/letter for each marking? They are found in the upper right corner of the specific marking's selection box:

I wanted to enter a forte marking, so I selected #4, which is the default metatool for that expression. As I mentioned in my October 29th blog, you can quickly customize the metatool keystrokes to your liking.

I think you'll find that using Simple Entry Tool in this way allows you to enter music much more efficiently without taking focus from the entry of notes.

To review, you can access the following tools via the Simple Entry tool by using these key commands:

• Expression Tool: X
• Articulation Tool: Numpad *
• Clef Tool: Alt + C (Win), Option + C (Mac)

In addition to the options covered above, the following tools are available as well:

• Time Signature Tool: Alt + T (Win), Option + T (Mac)
• Key Signature Tool: Alt + K (Win), Option + K (Mac)

For more on some quick shortcuts, check out the "Keyboard Shortcuts and Special Mouse Clicks" topic in the Finale User Manual!

Best to all and Happy New Year!

PS: Using a laptop? You can switch to the Laptop Shortcut Set for Simple Entry: To do so, from the Simple menu, choose Simple Entry Options  > Edit Keyboard Shortcuts, then, under Keyboard Shortcut Set, select Laptop Shortcut Table.

If like me, you're a movie fan, and you read every last credit of the movie before you leave, then you've read the name JoAnn Kane Music Service many, many times. They have prepared the music for countless Hollywood films - as well as for TV, recordings, live performances, video games, and much more. A few years back I had the good fortune to pay a visit to their Los Angles offices, for a Finale get-together, Q & A, and wine and cheese party (I also distinctly remember fruit, chocolate, and bread as well, but I digress....) for Los Angeles-area music copyists.

I arrived around noon and was greeted by Mark Graham who gave me the quick tour of their large, bustling office. Many copyists worked in the center of a large room where workstations were back to back, each with a computer monitor, keyboard, and small MIDI keyboard. Printers were housed along the walls and were busy printing out reams of prepared sheet music.

Amid all the activity I quietly set up my gear in the corner between an old upright piano and the food. Location, location, location. Besides the food, I noticed some sheet music on top of the piano in nice, organized stacks. Eventually my curiosity got the better of me - I took a peek and noticed it was all hand-notated, and on the manila-colored paper I associate with scores from the pre-software days of music notation. The manuscript was in pencil and I was thinking it was quite readable when I noticed the title: "The Prisoner of Azkaban!" John Williams' score was just sitting there, ready to be entered into Finale. In a warm glow I went back to my task and readied myself for the event.

When the 80 to 90 copyists had arrived and I had begun my workshop, I asked how many of the attendees used Finale. All but two did. That did not surprise me - it was a Finale event after all. Then I asked who was a Macintosh user. EVERY HAND WENT UP. I asked again, "You mean there isn't one Windows user here?" No one came forth. This fact did surprise me, but when I tell others this story they look at me as if I am the uninformed one. Obviously, the L.A. copyist community is very, very Mac-based.

I proceeded with my clinic and got to the part where I talk about entering notes in Simple Entry vs. Speedy Entry. Usually when I ask how many "Speedy" users are in the audience more than half the hands go up. This time, however, ALL the hands went up. My experience is that most people who prefer Speedy Entry learned Finale back when Speedy was undoubtedly the fastest note-entry method, and they have been using Speedy ever since. My guess is that described most of the people in this room. As I continued to explain Simple Entry they were quite vocal in their impatience in even thinking they would change their ways. "I am so fast at Speedy I would never change," one enthusiastic engraver avowed. Who was I to try to change their minds?

As a student of diversity my entire life, I respect that each Finale user has their preferred method for note entry. Of course we would. Each person is different. And as my father used to say, "That's a good thing as it would be a pretty boring world if we weren't." However, I think our best decisions are made when we have all the information at hand, and with that in mind, I invite you to read my next blog where I make my case why long-time Speedy Entry users might consider something new.