Click Input

$image\Click_Input.gif$

How to get there

Click the HyperScribe Tool $image\HyperScribe_Tool.gif$ , and select Transcription Mode from the HyperScribe Menu. Click a measure in the score and choose Click Input from the Time Tag Menu.

What it does

After recording a real-time performance in the Transcription window, you generally have to make a second pass, during which you tap in tempo along with the playback of your performance, telling Finale where the beats fall in relation to the notes you played. You don’t have to choose the Click Input command at all, in this case; if you’re recording Time Tags in a separate pass, Finale assumes that any key you tap is meant to be the tempo tap, provided that (1) you’ve remembered to click the Record button under the words Time Tag, and (2) that you’re transmitting the Time Tag signal on MIDI channel 1. See Transcription window.

If, however, you want to record the performance and the Time Tags simultaneously, use the Click Input command to help Finale distinguish between the notes of the performance and the note representing the tempo tap (for example, the highest key on the keyboard). If you plan to play a melody with one hand while tapping a key with the other, for example, use this command to tell Finale what key you’ll be tapping. If you’re transcribing a sequence being played by your synthesizer or another computer capable of generating a MIDI click track, once more you can tell Finale what to listen for. Finally, if you plan to transmit your Time Tags to Finale on any channel other than MIDI channel 1, use this dialog box to specify the new channel.

Input Code. These three text boxes display special codes which, taken together, identify the MIDI event (tapping a key or pedal, for example) that Finale will be listening to as a tempo reference (Time Tag input). Use the Listen button to change the codes in these text boxes.
Listen. When you click this button, Finale displays a message telling you that it’s "listening." The program will translate the next MIDI event you transmit—by tapping a key or pedal, for example—into the MIDI codes. You’ve just specified the device (key, pedal, or controller) and the MIDI channel Finale will listen to for Time Tags; now you’re ready to record Time Tags and a performance simultaneously.

If the "Finale is listening" message doesn’t disappear when you play a key or pedal, then your MIDI system is not connected properly (and Finale is receiving no MIDI events at all). For help, see Troubleshooting in the User Manual.

Ignore First Data Byte. In short, this checkbox tells Finale how particular it should be about the MIDI event it’s receiving—in other words, whether to consider any key (or controller) to be a Time Tag, or only a specific key (or controller). As a practical consideration, don’t select this checkbox if you plan to record both Time Tags and a keyboard performance simultaneously, because Finale needs to be tuned to a specific key (or controller) to register the Time Tags in order not to confuse them with notes (or controllers) played in the performance. (Technical note: This option is called Ignore First Data Byte because it tells Finale to ignore the second text box—the first data byte—when determining whether or not a MIDI event matches the event you’ve specified for your Time Tags.)
Second Data Byte Greater Than Zero. This checkbox should almost always be selected. The only time it shouldn’t be selected is when you’re recording a performance and Time Tags simultaneously, and the Time Tags are being generated by a source (such as a drum machine) that Finale could confuse with an actual note in the performance.

The "second data byte" is the one that lets Finale know the qualitative value of the specified tag transmission—the key velocity of the Time Tags, for example. Therefore, unless you strike the key with precisely the specified key velocity, Finale won’t know that a Time Tag has occurred. Because a drum machine can generate a click track where every "tap" has a uniform key velocity, you can tell Finale only to register incoming Time Tag signals with that specific velocity by turning off this option; thus Finale won’t confuse the drum machine’s click track notes with notes of the same pitch you happen to play during your performance, because it will only register notes of the precise key velocity value you specified as Time Tags.

OK • Cancel. Click OK to confirm your Time Tag input settings and return to the Transcription window. Click Cancel to tell Finale to ignore any changes you made in this dialog box and return you to the Transcription window. The default settings (a tap on any key or pedal, over any MIDI channel, will be considered a Time Tag) remain in force.

Tip: Click on Listen and play your MIDI note if you are unsure of the Input Code to enter.