MakeMusic Finale PrintMusic 2011 - Music Notation and Composition Software

New Features

Improved Lyric Entry and Spacing

• Lyrics are more easily entered, instantly appear exactly as they'll print out, and are automatically spaced with engraver precision
• Offers unlimited verses, automatic verse numbering, and more time-saving enhancements
• Punctuation, at the beginning or end of a lyric, can now be ignored for better alignment and centering of different verses
• The first note of a melismatic passage no longer receives unnecessary space
• Turn on Auto-Number Verses and appropriate numbers instantly appear at the beginning of each verse - add a new verse and it's numbered too
• Special Characters - if you don't recall the associated keystroke for a needed umlaut, grave accent or other diacritical character, you can now simply select those items by sight
• Word extensions automatically draw to the next rest and also wrap to the next staff system - if the music expands or contracts, the extensions stretch or shrink to fit
• Automatic hyphen placement with precision results even in tight spacing - plus Lyric hyphens automatically wrap to the next staff system

New Fonts

• Hundreds of new font characters are included for percussion, mallet and handbell graphics
• Finale Percussion Font contains the most complete collection of percussion characters available - including handbell symbols, castanets, vibraslap, cannon and repeatable characters like sine waves, scribbles, and more
• Finale Mallets Font includes icons to represent any variety of mallet usages, including the ability to create cross-mallet symbols - e.g., you could use images to indicate that the performer should use a hard and soft mallet in the left hand, and a medium and steel mallet in the right hand
• Choose from a wide variety of document styles to instantly personalize the appearance of new documents, controlling text and music fonts, all libraries, text, graphics and page layout

Music Education Worksheets

• LPrintMusic now includes more than 150 ready-made, customizable music education worksheets and flashcards
• More than 30 ready-made, customizable worksheets are now included - designed for K-12 students, these educator-approved worksheets help teach basic elements of music, including clefs, scales, key signatures, circle of fifths, and more
• 126 flash cards designed to print double-sided (with the answers on the back) for classroom use or self-quizzing - topics include keys, note names, rhythm, vocabulary and musical symbols
• 10 titles of Classroom Repertoire are also provided, including Bach Inventions, traditional and holiday titles, and more
• Because they're provided as PrintMusic files it's easy to edit them to your specific needs and print them out, or distribute them via email to be printed with the free Finale Reader

Easier Staff Layout

• New Staff Layout capabilities make it simple and intuitive to hide, move, and edit staves
• Incredibly easy to move staves - want to increase the distance between staves? Click and drag:
  1. Your music updates automatically as you drag and you receive on-screen feedback about the distance between the staves and what staves will be impacted
  2. Dragging or nudging one staff now also moves the staves below it to retain relative staff spacing and the dragging moves the staves in real-time, so you instantly see the results
  3. When you add a new system it will now reflect the staff spacing of the previous system

• PrintMusic makes it easy to move staves or groups of staves with a single click - while retaining all positioning
• Need parts for an instrument that you don't want to appear in the score? Simply hide staves in the score
• Want an unseen playback effect? Hide a staff

Handbells Used Chart

• PrintMusic can automatically create a chart at the top of your handbell music that lists every bell used

Improved Pickup Measures and More

• Pick-up measures automatically insert the correct rests when you start your score, improved file support for multiple-user environments, and updated screen display colors

General

Getting Started

• Whether you're setting up your score or watching a QuickStart Video, getting started is easy as Finale PrintMusic guides you through the process of printing and sharing your music
• Launch Window saves you time by putting everything at your fingertips
• Choose to scan existing sheet music or work from provided templates
• Create a score with up to 24 staves from scratch with PrintMusic's Setup Wizard - which configures things like instrument transpositions so you don't have to
• Use the textured paper backgrounds to make your on-screen page easy on the eyes and apply document styles to personalize the look of your scores
• New Quick Reference Guide shows you how to complete common tasks quickly and easily
• PrintMusic's QuickStart Videos guide you through the process of putting your music on the page
• Comprehensive help that is contextual, interactive and searchable

Entering Notes

• Enter notes in a variety of ways - from MIDI to your mouse, scanning or by playing in a melody using MicNotator
  1. Enter notes with your computer keyboard and/or mouse
  2. Play your MIDI keyboard - with or without a click track - and watch your music appear on-screen in real-time
  3. Use your MIDI keyboard in combination with your computer keyboard and mouse to enter notes and chords
  4. Scan existing sheet music
  5. Import MIDI, MusicXML, SmartScore, or Finale family notation files
  6. Use the exclusive MicNotator to play notes into your microphone with a brass or woodwind instrument

• Using Simple Note Entry, click notes onto the staff or use MIDI to indicate pitch
• Or enter notes with the numeric pad and keys "A" "B" "C" "D" "E" "F" and "G"
• You can also:
  1. Change octaves
  2. Enter rests
  3. Add accidentals
  4. Create triplets
  5. Add grace notes
  6. Add notes in a chord to an existing note
  7. Enter articulations on the fly or 'lock in' an articulation to place on several notes
  8. Change the key or time signature simply with key commands
  9. Add expressions like dynamics or tempos
  10. Enter a rhythmic pattern using a single note and then re-pitch the repeated notes using your MIDI or computer keyboard

• Keystrokes are intuitive and a special key map for laptop users is provided

Adding Markings, Lyrics, and More

• PrintMusic helps you enter guitar tab and fretboards, lyrics, percussion notation, repeats, and everything besides notes
• The process of getting notes on percussion staves to look - and playback - exactly the way you want them to has been simplified
• Enter chord symbols by typing in their names or playing them with a MIDI keyboard - change or delete notes without changing your chords
• PrintMusic's Set-up Wizard includes tablature (in standard tuning) for guitar and bass
• Tablature can be generated automatically by dragging standard notation onto a tab staff, or you can create it from scratch by typing numbers directly into the tab
• Notes are automatically spaced as they're entered and you can add dynamics, tempos, and percussion notation to your score
• Also automates other tasks like entering slurs, repeats and codas, rehearsal marks and tuplets
• Metronome Markings are now easier to create and dynamically linked to playback so changes to the metronome marking affect your score's playback tempo
• Offers standard, German and Roman Numeral chord symbols and you can select from a library of chord suffixes to indicate harmonic analysis

Editing Tools

• Easy to perfect your score with handy editing tools like the Selection tool, intuitive cut/copy/paste options, and staff layout options
• Selection Tool takes the guesswork out of editing nearly anything on the page
• Intuitive cut/copy/paste enhancements ensure that you always get the results you seek - the first time
• Multiple Undo lets you reverse any number of changes you made in the current session (even past the point you saved your score)

Hearing Your Music

• Includes 128 professional instrument sounds, Row-Loff marching percussion sounds, and Human Playback to make sure your music sounds as good as it looks
• The sounds have minimal system requirements (compatible with nearly any computer), offering consistent playback when your PrintMusic files are heard in Finale NotePad and other MakeMusic products
• Supports all third-party VST/AU instruments and effects, providing users with unlimited sonic possibilities
• Fine-tune your music using the included mixer with integrated sequencer controls, and Human Playback which makes even notes entered with a mouse play back with the nuance of live performers

Sharing Your Music

• In addition to printed pages, and audio files, PrintMusic can also export MIDI, JPEG, and MusicXML files
• Print professional quality sheet music
• Create MP3, WAV or AIFF files - press one button and save your PrintMusic files into an audio format for recording onto an audio CD or save as MP3 to play on an iPod
• Export MIDI or MusicXML files
• Create textbooks, worksheets, or quizzes by exporting music into a word processing program
• Allows you to save entire pages or just a section as a JPEG file - you can also import JPEG graphics into your score
• Imported graphics are embedded to make it easy to share your files
• Sharing your Finale files with anyone who downloads the free Finale Reader to view, print and play your music
• Collaborate with others by sharing your Finale files with users of Finale family notation software like Finale, Finale SongWriter and Finale NotePad.
• Post your music at the Finale Showcase, a free site hosted by MakeMusic where people can see, play and print your music

Composing and Arranging Tools

• Exclusive idea-generating features, the ability to extract parts, along with transposition capabilities are all included
• Transpose to any key and for any instrument
• Extract parts for your performers when you're done writing your score
• Automatic Rehearsal Marks dynamically update when you delete, insert, or move measures in your score - the program automatically sequences them correctly regardless of what order you enter them
• Idea-generating Tools offer arrangers tools to save time and suggest creative options
• Band-in-a-Box Auto-Harmonizing automatically turn your melody into two or three voice harmony
• Easily add custom drum parts in a variety of styles
• Add to the list of available styles by placing any MIDI file into the Drum Groove folder

Educator Tools

• Includes customizable music education worksheets and the ability to share files with students
• Full compatibility with downloadable MakeMusic software lets your students - at home or on school computers - complete tests or assignments created in Finale
• Create worksheets or quizzes by exporting music as a JPEG into a word processing program