Working with the Instrument List

To assign staves to MIDI channels and instruments

1. From the Window Menu, choose Instrument List. The Instrument List window appears. Down the side of the screen you see the names of the staves in your document. At the right side of the screen, you can see the Instrument each staff is assigned to (and the MIDI channel that Instrument uses).
2. To change the MIDI channel for a staff, click in the Chan column across from its name, and type a new channel number. Keep in mind that you’re now changing this Instrument’s channel; if any other staves share the same Instrument, their MIDI channel numbers will change, too.

You can also change the channel for an individual Layer of a staff. To do so, click the triangle to the left of the staff name; Finale displays new rows of information that correspond to the staff’s Layers. Change any Layer’s Instrument assignment, using the Instrument popup menu across from its name, or just edit its Channel. If you want the Layers to have different MIDI channels, remember to assign them to different Instruments first.

3. Click the staff name’s downward-pointing triangle to “collapse” (hide) the list of layers.

If you plan to re-use a typical patch/channel configuration, consider defining it, and naming it, as an Instrument. To do so, choose New Instrument from the Instrument popup menu across from any staff name. Enter the patch and channel numbers, and click OK. Then, the next time you want to re-create a particular channel and patch configuration for a particular staff, your new Instrument's name will appear in the popup menu for quick access.

To load an Instrument Library

One of the advantages of Finale’s Instrument List is that, with a single command, you can configure a score with an elaborate MIDI setup, complete with channels, patch numbers, and their specific program names (“Breathy Winds.” for example).

1. Choose Load Library from the File Menu. The Open Library dialog box appears.
2. Navigate to your Libraries folder. Double-click the Instrument library you want to open. We’ve provided Instrument libraries for several popular MIDI instruments. You can, of course, create your own.

Once you’ve loaded a library, open the Instrument List. When you click the Instrument popup menu (in the Instrument column across from a staff name), you’ll see a list of a dozen or more Instruments, each set up to match the names and patch information on your MIDI Instrument. Simply choose a program name to assign it to a staff. (You can view the choices more clearly if you select the View by Instruments button.)

If you customize a MIDI configuration, or own a MIDI instrument for which we haven’t provided a library, it’s easy to create your own. Using the New Instrument command in the Instrument popup menu you can create several Instrument name/channel/patch setups. When you’re finished, choose Save Library from the File Menu, select Instruments, and click OK. Load this library the next time you want a quick way to assign channels and sounds to the staves of a score (see Save Library dialog box for a more complete discussion of libraries).

To configure a new device in Audio MIDI Setup

In OS X, you can use the system’s Audio MIDI Setup options to coordinate an external MIDI device with a list of patch names (or instruments) that match the factory settings on your external MIDI device. After you do this, you can simply choose the device in the Instrument Definition dialog box, and the appropriate instrument names will appear in the Patch drop-down to the right. This list of patches is held in a .MIDNAM file which may be included with the external MIDI device, or found online. (For example, www.digicake.com/midnam/index.html is one site that houses midname files for a variety of MIDI devices.).

1. Quit all applications.
2. Create a new folder in the "MIDI Devices" folder found on your Hard Drive >> Library >> Audio >> "MIDI Devices".
3. Rename the folder so it is named the same name as the device’s manufacturer. For example, if you have a Yamaha device, name the folder "Yamaha".
4. Place your ".middev" file as well as your ".midnam" file in that folder.
5. Open the Audio MIDI Setup (Hard Drive >> Applications >> Utilities) and click on "MIDI".
6. If you previously created and connected an external device in the MIDI Setup window, highlight it and choose "Remove".
7. Click "Add External Device".
8. Connect the In and Out of that new external device to your MIDI interface ports.
9. Double click on the new external device to get the "Device Info" window.
10. If your ".middev" and ".midnam" files are correct and correctly installed, you should be able to choose the manufacturer of your device as well as the model.
11. Close the Audio MIDI Setup.
12. Start Finale, go to the MIDI/Audio Menu >> MIDI Setup: choose the name of the device you just created.
13. Open a file, go to the Window menu >> Instrument List.
14. In the Instrument column, choose New Instrument.

You should now see the complete patch list of that MIDI Device at the bottom of the Instrument Definition window.