Audio

Finale's audio options include the ability to add an audio track to your document suited for either recording a live performance or inserting an external audio file. Additionally, any document can be saved as an audio file using the same high-quality results you hear during playback.

Wave, AIFF, or mp3 files can be loaded into a Finale document's audio track. To add an audio track to a Finale document and add an audio file, see To import an audio file (below). To record audio in real-time with HyperScribe, see To record an audio track. The Mixer controls and Studio View Staff Controls that are used for controlling staff volume, panning, and other playback parameters also apply to audio tracks. See Studio View.

Note: Finale does not include any audio editing capabilities. To make changes to an audio file itself, use an audio editing product. (Pro Tools, Sonar, and Cubase are examples of audio editing products).

You can save a Finale document as a standard AIFF file (for burning to a CD), or as a compressed Mp3 (for storing on your computer or transfer over the Internet). See To export an audio file (below). Finale generates the audio file based on the MIDI performance of the Finale document. For sound, Finale uses a General MIDI SoundFont installed to the Finale/Component Files folder named “synthgms.sf2.” This file contains the sounds used to ‘record’ the audio file. To use a different General MIDI SoundFont, from the MIDI/Audio Menu's Internal Speaker Playback Submenu, choose SmartMusic SoftSynth Playback Settings, and then click Select to open a different SoundFont.

To burn audio files to a CD, follow instructions included with your CD burning software to organize the files into tracks and burn them to a recordable CD.

Note: Finale can use AU sounds when saving as audio, although the file is recorded in real-time, and is not in a compressed (MP3)format.

To import an audio file

1. From the View Menu, choose Studio View. Audio tracks are only visible in Studio View.
2. From the MIDI/Audio Menu, choose Audio Track, then Add Audio Track. An empty audio track appears beneath the TempoTap staff.
3. From the Audio/MIDI Menu, choose Audio Track, then Load Audio. The Open File dialog box appears.
4. Navigate to the desired audio file and click Open. The Audio Clip Attributes dialog box appears where you can adjust the start point of the audio file in the score, or specify at what point to begin/end the audio file (the portion you would like to play).

To export an audio file

1. Review playback. The audio file created by Finale is generated from the MIDI performance, so changes to the document’s MIDI data will apply to the generated audio file.

IMPORTANT: Human Playback settings apply to saved audio files, so all generated audio files sound the same as the document played from Finale. To use MIDI data added deliberately (with the MIDI Tool for example), set Human Playback to None in the Playback Controls. To edit Finale’s MIDI performance manually (instead of using Human Playback), you can use the MIDI or Expression Tool. See MIDI Tool and Expressions.

To export a specific region, in the Playback Controls, 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.

2. Review playback. Your audio file will sound the same as playback in Finale.
3. From the File Menu, choose Export to Audio. The Save As Audio File dialog box appears. Here, you can choose to generate a standard, or compressed audio file.
4. Choose the destination folder and click Save. Finale generates the audio file and saves it to the specified folder.

See Also:

To record an Audio Track