Dynamics

See also Crescendo/Decrescendo; Key velocity; Auto-Dynamic Placement Plug-in,  Align/Move Dynamics Plug-in. 

Dynamics, along with other Text Expressions, are stored in a Text Expressions Library. Finale's Document Styles all include libraries with dynamic markings so if you begin with the Setup Wizard (or with a template), a list of dynamic markings will be available in the Expression Selection dialog box as soon as the document opens.

Dynamics may be purely graphic or they may be defined for playback. (The predefined Text Expression dynamics provided with Finale have been defined for playback—but feel free to modify them, as described below.) If your synthesizer is velocity (touch) sensitive, you’ll hear Finale respond to these dynamic markings as the music plays back.

If you want to create dynamics for playback only, and don’t need the actual markings to appear in the score, you can quickly edit key velocity over a selected region with the MIDI Tool; see Key velocity for instructions.

To design a dynamic marking

If you started your document from the Document Setup Wizard, a template, or by going to the File Menu and choosing New > Default Document, all of the most common dynamic markings are defined for you already. You only need to go through the following steps if you want to create your own dynamic marking, or if you simply want to learn the process.

1. Click the Expression Tool  . Double-click any note or measure. The Expression Selection dialog box appears.
2. Choose the Dynamics category on the left and click Create. The Expression Designer appears.
3. Click the Font popup menu, and choose Music Font.
4. Type the letter that corresponds to the dynamic marking you want to create. A full list of the dynamic markings in the Maestro music font appears on the Quick Reference Card. For example, lower-case f is themarking, capital F is themarking, and so on (in the default music font, Maestro). The size and positioning characteristics are applied automatically as specified for Dynamics in the Category Designer dialog box.
5. Click OK and then Assign to enter the expression.

To insert a dynamic marking into the score

See also Auto-Dynamic Placement.

1. Click the Expression Tool  .
2. Double-click on, above, or below the note or measure to which you want to attach the marking. The Expression Selection dialog box appears.
3. Click the Dynamics category on the left. Finale displays the dynamic expressions in the preview window. Note the number or letter to the upper right of each expression. This is the expression's metatool assignment. You can hold down this keystroke and click the score to instantly add this expression. To change the metatool assignment, select the expression, hold down Shift, and type the desired metatool key.
4. Double-click the desired dynamic marking. Finale adds the marking to the score based on the positioning settings for dynamics specified in the Category Designer dialog box.
5. To enter a dynamic without entering the Expression Selection dialog box, hold down the metatool key and click the score. Remember, you can easily reference metatools in the Expression Selection dialog box.
6. Hold down a metatool key, click and drag over multiple staves to add the expression multiple times.

To move or delete a dynamic marking

See also Align/Move Dynamics Plug-in.

1. Click the Expression Tool .
2. Drag the handle to move the marking; select it and press delete to remove it.

To define a dynamic marking for playback

The dynamics preloaded into the Maestro Font Default file (as well as those in the Text Expression Library) have already been defined for playback. You can use these steps, however, to alter such definitions (to make a forte louder, for example).

1. Click the Expression Tool  . If the marking hasn’t yet been placed in the score and you simply want to edit its definition from within the Selection palette, double-click any measure or note; when the palette appears, click the marking in question, click Edit, and skip the next two steps.
2. Double-click the marking’s handle. The Expression Selection dialog box appears.
3. Click Create. The Expression Designer dialog box appears.
4. Click the Playback tab. The playback options appear.
5. From the Type popup menu, chooseKey Velocity. Enter a velocity value in the Set To Value box. The value you enter here is the MIDI key velocity value that Finale will apply to all the music, beginning at the point where it first encounters the dynamic marking and ending only when it encounters another marking. MIDI velocity is measured on a scale from 0 (silent) to 127 (very loud). If you’re editing a dynamic that came with Finale, you’ll notice that a velocity value has already been defined; feel free to change it. The changes you make only affect the definition of the dynamic marking in this document, although you can store this document’s set of modified dynamic marks in a Text Expressions Library, ready for use in other documents, by choosing Save Library from the File Menu. Then you can “borrow” the modified markings for use in other documents.
6. Click OK (or press return).