Jim wrote:
Relative to your question about defining an expression or articulation
of "fp" so that it plays back, this can be done by defining the
expression as a text expresion, and defining playback. While I knew
what I would do to effect this, the defining shapes for playback is an
area I don't understand well, and I didn't have time to test what I
meant to suggest until today.
Here's what I'd do.
1) Select the expression tool, and open the expression selection dialog
box.
2) Select (of if need be, create) the "fp" expression. [If you need to
create it, it is at position 234 in the Maestro font.]
3) On the "playback" tab (or if you're using an older version of
Finale, pressing the "playback options" button to expand the dialog box)
choose as playback type "key velocity".
4) Select the option "execute shape", and press "select next to it to
open the "shape selection" dialog box.
5) In the "shape selection" dialog box, press the "create" button to
open the "executable shape designer" dialog box; press the "select" bar,
next to the "shape id" box to open (another version) of the shape
selection dialog box. \
6) On the right side of the box, select "create" to open the "shape
designer" dialog.
7) Select the shape designer item in the menu bar, and under "rulers
and grid" select "eighth notes"; I suggest defining the distance between
eighth notes as "1" or "2".
8) Again in the shape designer item in the menu bar, select the "show"
item, and select the button beside "grid".
9) Define the size in the upper right hand corner to 100 percent, and
if it is not there already, place a "0" in the H and V boxes to center
the origin.
At this point you have the shape designer open with a grid whose
horizontal axis is measured in eighth notes, and whose vertical axis is
measured in single units of measurement, in this case, of key velocity.
In the libraries distributed with Finale, "f" has a playback value for
key velocity of 88; "p" has a playback value of "49".
10) Select the broken line tool.
11) On the grid, place the cursor directly above the origin at the
point you want the "f" to sound, at a level that looks like "88" to you
[It may not, in fact be the correct level; you can adjust it later by
moving the endpoint up or down as needed.] and define the first point
of the shape line.
12) Move the cursor to the right the number of eighth notes you want
the decrescendo to take [I'd probably start out with half the duration
of an eighth note for starters], and place the second point of the shape
line above that point at a level which looks like 49 to you [I'd start
by assuming that 49 is about half the distance to the origin of 88;
again you can adjust the level up or down as needed] and set the second
point.
13) Finally, move the cursor to the right for the balance of the
duration of the shape, and place the third point.
14) Click "OK" to exit the shape designer; and "select" to exit the
shape selection dialog.
15) In the "executable shape designer" dialog, make certain that the
two boxes next to time scale, and the two boxes next to level scale both
contain "1", and select "OK" to exit the "Executable shape designer",
and "select" to execute the "Executable shape selection" dialog.
16) Click "OK" to exit the "Text Expression Designer" dialog, and
"select" to exit the "Expression selection" dialog.
17) Place the "f",. "fp" and "p" expressions in your score, and test
playback.
[Note: I used text expressions; the exact same procedure as outlined
above works for shape expressions, too, by designating that you are
defining playback for a shape-, instead of a text expression.]
Now, unless the forces of proper dynamics happen to be with you, you may
need to adjust the fp playback shape. There are two ways to do this.
The first way is to go back into the executable shape designer, and
adjust the location of the origin, intermediate, and endpoint of the
shape. Moving points to the left (which is the time scale) will make
that event happen sooner; moving points to the right will make them
happen later; so if the beginning and ending dynamic levels are about
right, but you want a faster decrescendo, move the intermediate point to
the left; if you want a slower decrescendo, move the intermediate point
to the right. If you want the sound louder at a given point, move the
necessary points up; if you want them softer, move them down. Keep in
mind that moving right to left, each grid point represents a duration of
the number of eighth notes you entered in the box in step 6. Moving
vertically, each point represents that same number of increments in the
key velocity value. If the shape you defined has the origin point at 88
above the origin (and if you have the frequency of the grid points set
to 2, this will be 44 points) above the origin, 49 a half eighth note
later, and the final part of the line remains parallel to the grid lines
for another eighth note and a half duration, your shape will start with
a key velocity of 88, a half eighth note later, decline to a key
velocity of 49, and stay that way for the remainder of the duration of
the shape. You can change any of these values by changing the
apporpriate points on the grid.
There is, however, another way the execution of the shape can be
affected. The two numbers next to the time and level scale represent
the numerator and denominator in a ratio. If you decide that the
duration of the shape is satisfactory, but that the sound needs to get
twice as soft over the duration of the expression playback, you can
control this by changing the numbers in the "level" field; changing the
first number to a 2 (from a 1) makes the level twice as much (2:1);
leaving the first number 1, but changing the second number to a 2, makes
the level half as much as the shape (1:2). Similary for the time; if
you decide the dynamic levels are good, but are happening too fast or
two slow, these can be adjusted by using the values in the "time scale" box.
I presently have active installations of 2k, 2k3, and 2k6, and the same
procedure works in all three.
ns
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