Quantization Settings

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How to get there

Choose Quantization Settings from the MIDI Menu. Or, click the Quant Settings button in a number of related dialog boxes.

What it does

The Quantization Settings dialog box allows you to specify the smallest note value Finale will quantize input to and the type of quantization it will perform such as allowing or ignoring tuplets. If you want more detailed quantization settings, click More Settings and the More Quantization Settings dialog box will appear. See More Quantization Settings dialog box.

Keep in mind that in Finale, the term Quantization refers to something slightly different than it does in sequencing software. In sequencers, when you Quantize a note, you shorten or lengthen the start/stop times of the notes so that they are aligned more precisely with the pulse. In short, you change how the notes sound. If you quantize a measure of 16th notes to a 1/4 note quantization, you will subsequently only hear four quarter notes (probably chords) in this measure.

In Finale, on the other hand, the quantization affects how the notes appear rather than how they sound. Quantizing the same measure of 16th notes in Finale by a 1/4 note will cause four 1/4 note chords to appear BUT may still play back the 16th note run.

Although you can instruct Finale to play the music literally as it appears on the page, by default when you import a midi file or input in real time using Finale's HyperScribe Tool, Finale will retain how the music sounds separately from how it looks (rhythms are expected to look differently than the sound in swing music, for example). See Playback/Record Options dialog box for more details.

Note: To update your Finale.INI file with the new settings you made (and all other current settings), remember that you must choose the Save Preferences command (File Menu) unless you selected Save Preferences When Exiting Finale in Program Options-Save. See Program Options-Save.

Smallest Note Value. Select the smallest note value you expect to play from the palette displayed. If the value is not available, type the EDU value in the text box. Remember that eighth note triplets are shorter than regular eighth notes. If you want to have triplets for eighth notes, either use sixteenth notes as your smallest note value or enter 341 in the EDUs text box (One quarter note = 1024 EDUs, so an eighth note triplet is 1024 divided by 3 or 341.
No Tuplets. This option tells Finale that there will be no triplets (or any other tuplets) in your transcription. You’re telling Finale to assume that all small rhythmic values are sixteenth notes, 32nd notes, and so on—but never tuplets.
Mix Rhythms. This option tries to distinguish between tuplet and non-tuplet rhythms, based on the timing of the notes within the beat. A Mix Rhythms setting requires that you play accurately enough for the computer to make such distinctions. You may need to play slightly slower to achieve good results with this option.
Space Notes Evenly in Beat. This option tells Finale to count how many notes you played during a certain beat, and to notate them on that basis. If you played three notes, no matter how unevenly, they’ll be transcribed as a triplet; four notes will appear as sixteenth notes, and so on. These characteristics make Space Notes Evenly in Beat a good setting for swing tunes, because triplets are perfectly transcribed, and all the swung eighth notes are transcribed as normal eighth notes—which is the correct notation for swing (provided you write "Swing" above the first measure, as a performance indication). If you played only two sixteenths and one eighth note, the notes will be transcribed as a triplet.
More Settings. Click this button to display the More Quantization Settings dialog box. This dialog box contains detailed options for transcribing your files such as allowing voice two and capturing Key Velocities. See More Quantization Settings dialog box.
OK • Cancel. When you click OK, Finale will change your Quantization Settings and return to the score. Click Cancel to return to the score without making any changes.