> > At 8:18 AM 09/21/02, Bernard Savoie wrote: > >> I second Linda's comment. I've also been a long-time user [...] >> But once I >> understood the way the lyrics tool works I have seldom had any problems, >> [...] But you have to be aware of the pitfalls which you can easily fall >> into. > > Actually, I think that most of the people who complained about the lyrics > tool weren't complaining about actual problems experienced. Rather, they > objected that the pitfalls exist at all, and that a user must learn how to > avoid them. They are taking the position that the tool ought to be 100% > safe from the get-go. > > mdl
I understand what they are saying but it is impossible to have a tool be "100% safe". Even a simple tool (in concept) like a hammer cannot fit for every job (i.e. a big hammer does not do a good job inside a tight space). In Finale's case, we are talking about a very complex tool which has to deal with an even greater complex situation, that is working with music notation which not only has so many variants that not one set of rules can cover all of the possibilities which have to be dealt with, but is also in constant flux with composers trying to create new ways of figurating sound concepts which are ill served by standard traditional musical notation. Of course the current subject does not fall into the category the most complex aspect of music writing which Finale has to deal with. I'm all for Coda revamping the lyric tool to make it easier and clearer to manipulate. I've also always tought that the graphics tool was far from adequate and should include features like being able to rotate characters and/or items and should allow much more control of the graphics in page view, for example. But we are living in the real world, with real deadlines. There are only a few ways to deal with the frustating parts of the program. One way is, as often happens on this list, you can rant and rave and show your frustations, which probably helps alleviate some of the stress for some. But for myself, I find this counterproductive as the next deadline is always too short and the work is always to large. That is why I prefer to try and cope with each problem and find a working solution which often means using some work-around which probably never occured to the programmers but which, along with several others on the list, I have found and have used. I let the programmers do their work, which up till now has mostly resulted in improvement after improvement over time since the late 1980s when Finale first came out. For instance, I can remember a time when we had to readjust the articulations manually after transposing a part (I get chills up my spine just recalling the late nights working to get the parts out in those days), happily we don't have to think to much about this now. And I am grateful for these programmers who created such a tool and continue to find solutions (and I include the plug-in creators [thanks guys, keep up the great work] as well as the crews at Coda and their competitors which are forcing more advances). The other solution is to go out and create your own software/tool. This is not for me. I rather deal with the musical problems and leave the programming to others. That being said, I would still like to see improvements made in, among other things the graphics tool and the lyrics tool even though I can work well enough with what we do have in hand. Bernard S. _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
