Scott Green writes: >Question for Mr. Smith and the list: > ><snip> Same for "voices", I learned here >on the list never to touch them, and to use layers instead, even >though it is one of the first topics in the tutorials.</snip> > >I'm a regular user of Finale, almost exclusively for church music >purposes, since 3.7 or so. I attended the "Unaccredited Finale >School of Hard Knocks" for my education in the tool, but can get by >pretty well - and recently, in large part, with much information >gleaned from this list. > >But this snip from a very recent post has me scratching my head again. > >I transcribe/arrange/compose for church choral use a fair amount, >and in doing SATB 2-staff notation, there are definitely some times >when the flexibility afforded by voices/layers is required. May I >ask why there seems to be such a prejudice in the list for layers >over voices? Probably due to my lack of skill and experience with >them, I find layers to be difficult to use, mostly because they >introduce extraneous rests into the combined staff parts. > >Sorry to drag up again what must be a well-worn subject for much >more experienced Finale sages. > >Scott Green >Baton Rouge, LA
Dear Scott, There are times when using Voice 1/Voice 2 is the best solution - when there are only a few places where a single part needs to branch for a note or two, or in a piano score where the middle part jumps between staves here and there. However, there are problems with Voice 1/Voice 2 that are easily overcome by using layers. With V1/V2 it is very difficult to assign lyrics if there are differences in the lyrics between the two voices. Have you ever entered V1/V2, made an error, and decided to empty the measure and start again? Put the cursor at the beginning of the measure in Speedy Entry and hold down the delete key and notice the order in which the notes are drawn out. There is a very useful tool in the GT Tools collection in the section called "Parts." It can get rid of the extra rests you mention throughout the piece. It finds places where the rests in the layers are the same and combines then into single rests placed in the middle of the staff. Remember as well, when you are entering music in Layer 2 and don't want a rest to show, just enter it and press Letter O to hide it. Another useful plug-in is the one called "Voice 2 to Layer 2." It can avoid the V1/V2 problems by separating the voices into layers. I have used it on my very old files made in the early 90s before layers were added to the program. I hope this may be helpful. Hal -- Harold Owen 2830 Emerald St., Eugene, OR 97403 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit my web site at: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~hjowen FAX: (509) 461-3608 _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
