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“Whether I’m using the variety of Finale’s well-crafted speed tools to keep up with my creative output, or using the latest advancements in Linked Parts to prepare my final printed scores and parts in a flash, I know that I can count on Finale.”
– David Shipps, Nashville-based arranger/orchestrator and composer
First thoughts on Finale 2012:
This year's update to the world renowned Finale notation program from Make Music has perplexed many. What does Finale 2012 offer that is genuinely new? Will it improve your work in meaningful ways? Does Finale represent good value as an upgrade from Finale 2011? And, perhaps most pertinently, why was the latest release so very late this time around? It seems those nice people at Make Music have been tweaking, tweaking and tweaking some more. At first glance, sublety is the order of the day. Finale starts out by making just about anything possibe, but this does imply that complexity will be an inevitable consequence. So, developments that simplify your work could add immeasurably to your productivity (and, it has to be said, your feeling of well being). Little things like auto-detecting and configuring for any MIDI keyboards, and Score Manager, are going to make this latest version so much easier to live with, and will likely be amongst the first improvements that brighten your day. Now, if it would only auto-Authorise!
Whatever you want from your notation program, if you are playing in this league you will expect great sound - and you might be surprised. Using Garritan sounds has pushed Finale far in front of Sibelius for playback quality for some time now, and as MakeMusic now own Garritan, your aural experience can only get better. For a notation program (this is not Vienna Instruments, remember), it sounds uncannily vibrant and life like, making it so much easier for those of us still unable to hear our new opus using only our mind's ear (you too, huh?) to be sure we got it right before handing out parts to players for the first rehearsal; obviously, this becomes rather more important if those players belong to a studio orchestra who will be recording your film score this afternoon!
Focus on your art; leave the rest to your manager
Finale’s ScoreManager™ takes care of the details – controlling how your staves look and sound – so you don’t have to.
Easily change a flute staff to a clarinet staff. Switch between flute and clarinet on the same staff. The ScoreManager knows how a clarinet staff transposes, looks, and sounds, so it makes all the necessary arrangements. The ScoreManager also handles playback and sound setup, so you don’t have to navigate to various players or assign correct MIDI channels.
In one setting, the ScoreManager lets you change staff name, order, transposition, clef, and playback sounds. Let Finale’s new ScoreManager handle all the details, so you can focus on the music.
The highest-quality virtual instruments - with improved sound management.
Finale has long set the benchmark for sound amongst music notation software. But, naturally, we are always going to want more. With Finale 2012, you have access to a number of new Garritan instrument sounds, as listed below.
Based on user requests, new additions include:
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The compliment of Garritan Personal Orchestra sounds included has now grown to in excess of 400 instruments. Additionally, Finale 2012 also includes sounds from the makers of Virtual Drumline and more.
Sound setup.
With the updated Setup Wizard, you simply indicate what instrument you’re writing for. No need to specify a sound library first. Finale automatically associates the instruments you’ve selected with the sound libraries on your computer, even if you’ve added libraries not included with Finale. It even remembers which sound libraries you prefer.
More ways to communicate.
Unicode text support.
Easily write and share your music with Finale 2012’s Unicode font support. Now you can use all the characters in your fonts. Want to correctly type Dvořák’s name? Are you translating a hymn to Korean? Need to add a hard-to-find symbol? Today’s Finale can display any character you wish.
Create PDF files.
Now it’s simple to create PDF files within Finale, whether you use a Mac or a PC. Easily combine all your pages into a single document, share a single page, or any excerpt of a page.
Your files always play back.
Send a Finale file to someone who doesn’t have the same software libraries installed, and all your staves will play back the instruments you intended – even if they’re using a PC and you’re using a Mac. Finale uses the libraries you’ve specified whenever possible, and provides the best alternative when they’re not. No matter how you share your music, everyone gets the best possible playback – automatically.
Whats New?
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Finale 2012 brings you Unicode Support - allowing you to use characters from all alphabets in the font of your choosing.
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Finale 2012's ScoreManager™ intuitively changes the look and sound of a staff, while transposing between staves.
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Experience more Garritan sounds than ever before - in excess of 400 first-rate instrument sounds from the makers of Garritan Personal Orchestra.
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Finale 2012 will automatically detect and select any midi-input devices eliminating the need to manually configure your Midi keyboards.
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Send files to another PC (or even a Mac) that doesn't have the same software libraries preinstalled, and your staves will still play back the instruments you had intended.
Authorization
The headache you Do Not Want! Luckily, by buying from Northern Music, this particular problem is easily avoided. Finale 2012 requires that you authorize the software within 30 days after installation. You are allowed to install Finale on two operating systems (multiple licenses excluded). Fortunately, we make this is easy as ABC for you. Just watch out for the special information that ships automatically when you order from NORTHERN MUSIC ONLINE. Please note: at this time, MakeMusic do little to help UK customers who encounter problems with Authorisation - based on experience, our service will help you keep your stress levels low and authorisation blissfully quick and easy.
File Compatibility
Finale family software can open files in the same or newer software version, but files created in a newer version cannot be opened in an older version unless converted via MusicXML.