Metronome markings

Because a metronome marking generally appears in all parts, it’s best to create it as an expression, which allows you to specify in which staves it will appear. (Note that you can also generate full-featured metronome marking expressions with the Create Tempo Marking Plug-in plug-in. See Create Tempo Marking Plug-in). See also Engraver Font. 

To create a metronome marking (such as )

  1. Click the Expression Tool  image\Expression_Tool.gif.
  2. Double-click above the measure to which you want to attach the marking. The Expression Selection dialog box appears.
  3. Click the Tempo Marks category.
  4. Click Create. The Expression Designer dialog box appears.
  5. Type any desired text (e.g. Allegro, Largo, etc). If you don’t need text prior to the metronome marking, skip this step.
  6. From the Text Menu, choose Font. Set the font to Maestro 24 point, and click OK. Of course, you can choose a larger or smaller point size if you want the tempo marking to appear larger or smaller.
  7. Create the metronome marking by typing the appropriate characters, according to the table below.

Keystrokes

Resultant marking:

Lower-case x, then option–shift-\, then option-numbers

Lower-case e, then option–shift-\, then option-numbers

Lower-case q, then option–shift-\, then option-numbers

Lower-case q, then lower-case k, then option–shift-\, then option-numbers

Lower-case h, then option–shift-\, then option-numbers

Lower-case w, then option–shift-\, then option-numbers

In the Maestro music font, the x, e, q, h, and w characters correspond to the , , , , and symbols, respectively; a lower-case k produces the dot; option-shift– backslash (\) creates the equal sign; and the small numbers are when you press option while pressing a number key.

 

 

You can use multiple fonts in the same expression. Simply highlight the text you want to change, and then, from the Text Menu, choose Font to edit the font, size or style.

  1. To edit the baseline, or vertical positioning of text, highlight the text you want to adjust, and then from the Text Menu, choose Baseline Shift. The measurement units here correspond to the units selected under the Edit Menu.
  2. Click OK or Select in each dialog box until you return to the document.

To move or delete the marking

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

To define the metronome marking for playback

  1. Click the Expression Tool  image\Expression_Tool.gif. If you haven’t yet placed the marking in the score, double-click any measure. When the palette appears, click the metronome marking, click Edit, then skip to step 4.
  2. Double-click the handle. The Expression Selection dialog box appears.
  3. Click Create or choose an existing expression and click Edit. The Expression Designer dialog box appears.
  4. Click the Playback tab to display the playback options. From the Type popup menu, choose Tempo. In the Set to Value box, enter the metronome setting. For example, if your tempo is q =60 beats per minute, type 60 in the Set to Value box. (You can change the rhythmic unit by choosing it from the Tempo popup menu; you could, for example, specifyh =60just as easily.)
  5. Click OK, OK, Assign.

Note: To easily record, or ‘conduct,’ a unique tempo change for any region, use TempoTap.

To create complex metronome markings

The usual method of creating metronome markings (above) is quick and easy, but it can’t handle sophisticated tempo indications like these:

In these cases, you can use Finale’s Shape Designer to create metronome indications as complex as you wish.

We’ve provided a swing indication as a Shape Expression in your default library. You can use this indication, duplicate and edit it, or create your own using the Shape Designer.

  1. Click the Expression Tool image\Expression_Tool.gif.
  2. Double-click a note or measure. The Expression Selection dialog box appears.
  3. Click the Shape radio button. Notice the swing indication in the list.
  4. Select the swing indication and click Duplicate, then Edit. The Shape Expression Designer dialog box appears. If you would like to create a metronome marking from scratch, click Create, Select, Create and skip to step 6.
  5. Click Edit. The Shape Designer dialog box appears.
  6. Use the tools in the Shape Designer to design your metronome marking. See Shape Designer for additional information. You can use the Maestro Times font to place musical characters and numbers on the same baseline.
  7. Click OK. You return to the Shape Expression Designer dialog box.
  8. Click the Playback tab. Assign the playback effect here. For Type, choose Swing to specify a swing feel, or Tempo to specify a tempo (beats per minute). For Effect, choose Set to Value and enter the swing value, or the number of beats per minute (respectively). See Expression Designer - Playback dialog box for more information.
  9. Click OK then Assign to return to the score. The shape expression appears.

To hide the scratch staff

  1. Choose the Staff Tool  image\Staff_Tool.gif.
  2. Double-click a measure in the scratch staff. The Staff Attributes dialog box appears.
  3. Check Hide Staff and click OK.  

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