Thank you, Mark. Sounds as if we're going down similar paths, though I probably want a few more pre-defined expressions at my disposal than you. FYI, there is a button at the bottom of the "Category Designer" window that allows you to delete a category.
DH On Sun, Aug 1, 2010 at 1:37 PM, Mark D Lew <markd...@earthlink.net> wrote: > I did a big upgrade from v04 to v10 earlier this year, so adapting to the > new expressions is pretty fresh in my memory. > > Caveat: I doubt I'm a typical user. I've found that in general I'm more > detail-oriented than most here, and I tend to be a bit of a control freak. > >> If you don't mind sharing, I would like to know the various ways list >> members organize expressions into categories. Have any of you added >> new categories to the ones Finale provided? > > ALL of the expressions I used are in new categories. I didn't like Finale's > definitions in their default categories*, and I was having difficulty > editing them. At the time it seemed like there were some things that were > hard-coded and couldn't be changed. I'm not sure if that's actually true or > I just couldn't find the right dialog box. > > (*Is it just me or do Finale defaults have an awful lot of definitions that > are, um, eccentric? In general, MakeMusic's template style choices always > seem so weird to me.) > > In any case, I only wanted to use expressions that I myself had explicitly > defined, but I also found it useful at first to keep Finale's default ones > around for reference, so I made my own categories for my own expressions and > I only use those. > > I have four categories: tempos, dynamics, generic expressions, and rehearsal > numbers. For me category are purely typographic definitions, regardless of > musical meaning, so for example "dynamics" is anything I'd put in the music > font at that size, like a pedal mark or luftpause. Expressions default to > the usual italic, but I use that as a catch-all for anything that doesn't > fall into another category and I'll define the specific expression as > needed. > > I don't put many expressions in my template. Except for dynamics, my > categories start out nearly empty, with just a couple of really basic ones. > They exist primarily for the category definition, then I'll add expressions > as needed in each document. I haven't found it valuable to have a zillion > expressions pre-made. If I need, say, "molto allargando", it's easier to > just type it fresh than hunt through a list of 50 phrases looking for it. > >> A couple of related questions about category staff lists (some have >> 'em, some don't): Is there a way to get a new expression category >> with (or without) staff list capabilities besides through duplication? >> Is there a way to turn on/off the staff list feature for a given >> category? > > I remember wondering the same thing. After looking around a bit I just gave > up and used duplication. I also couldn't figure out how to delete > categories I don't want. I'm not sure that's possible either. > > mdl > _______________________________________________ > Finale mailing list > Finale@shsu.edu > http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale > _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
