Oh how I agree!
I have been using Finale's lyric entry for 10 years, since v.2.0 and have no problems, it just takes a little time invested in understanding how it works and is best adapted to suit your particular work project. Too many people give up at the first hurdle and not just with lyrics.
Finale is a complex application with many facets some of which are bound to be more involved and require more effort. But the pay-off is good.
USE TYPE INTO SCORE
Why not? It is the most natural way to input lyrics, let's face it, if you were using pen and pencil isn't that exactly the way you would go about it? Returning for edits and spelling corrections is pretty simple to understand and why make mistakes in the first place, would you do that with a pen? If I don't know the word or the break, I go and look it up in the dictionary. That way I learn and remember far more than letting a spell checker do it for me!
The main thing to understand is that the words and syllables are attached to the notes, so if you go into edit lyrics box and just start typing in words between what you've already got, you'll end up in a mess.
Hal uses clone lyrics for a once-and-only edits, it's perfect. Others like me, use the technique of keeping each stave of lyrics in a different verse. This is great when the lyrics and rhythms vary a great deal amongst voices. It entails that any editing won't mess up the other lines as they are all independent. O.K. so you may need to copy similar lyrics over from other staves but DON'T BE TEMPTED in this case. Copy and paste from the edit lyrics box instead, make the changes there, but then use the click assignment to get them placed (or opt-click which flows them all in at once).
I think the whole Finale lyrics thing is pretty good and like Hal I don't want it radically changed. Just take a long look at the menu too see all the versatility you have at your disposal. Sibelius is much more restricted.
Jonathan
Harold Owen wrote:
While the discussion of what's wrong, how it really works, and what changes might be made in lyric entry rages on, let me just add that in spite of all that's been said, (and is likely to continue to be said ad nauseam), I have no trouble at all with lyric entry for large and small choral pieces from solo voice up to 8-part chorus. A few fixes or improvements to the lyric system would be welcome, but a complete overhaul would likely lead to a frustrating relearning situation for those of us who deal with lyrics every day.
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