MakeMusic Finale v26 is a music notation software that provides musicians, composers, and arrangers with a set of reliable tools for capturing their musical inspiration, engraving beautiful sheet music, and clearly communicating their artistic vision, whether creating a simple lead sheet, a Broadway score, a large Hollywood film score, or something truly unorthodox.
Version 26 is designed with an emphasis on making your creative process faster and more efficient with new features for automatically stacking articulations and avoiding collisions with slurs, as well as expediting the entry of chord symbols and expressions. Also on board are instant tremolos and rolls, horizontal centering, Go to Measure, and a variety of other performance enhancements. These improvements maintain the flexibility to work in the order and manner that best supports your inspiration, while reducing the time it takes to write your music—especially when operating under looming deadlines with no room for mistakes.
The setup Wizard handles all the details to get you started right away. Finale lets you input notes via a MIDI keyboard, with the mouse, or from your computer keyboard. You can also import a wide variety of file types, including MIDI and MusicXML. The software's powerful editing tools enable you to quickly move measures, change keys, and transform your music in countless ways. There is even an editorial input function, which indicates when notes have been written out of an instrument's range.
Included is a large collection of Garritan instrument sounds, great for playing back your music, inspiring your creative process, and making sure your score sounds exactly the way you want it. The Human Playback feature ensures that the music plays back with all the feeling, phrasing, and nuances of a live performance.
Thanks to the built-in MusicXML support, Finale enables you to share files back and forth with other users as you create. Completed projects can be exported as printed sheet music, audio files, pdfs, or MIDI files, allowing you to choose the best output format for your application.
What's New in Finale v26
Templates
- 31 new templates added to the collection included in previous versions
- Updated and refined current templates
- New templates include greatly expanded choral and small-ensemble options
- Two ukulele templates (with fretboards)
- Engraved lead sheet
Libraries
- Improvements to articulation, expression, and chord libraries
- Document styles, templates, and default documents updated with new Smart Shape libraries
Smart Shapes
- New Smart Shape lines include slide, tap, crescendo, diminuendo, and accelerando
- Additional keyboard shortcuts (metatools) for Smart Lines
Go to Measure
- New feature allows you to quickly navigate to a specific measure in a document by simply typing the measure number
Auto-Stacking Articulations
- When you add more than one articulation to a note, they now stack automatically and intelligently, eliminating the need for manual edits
Slur/Articulation Interaction
- As you add or adjust slurs, existing articulations automatically adjust to avoid collisions
- Finale knows what articulations should go inside and outside a slur and splits up stacked articulations so that everything fits
Instant Tremolos and Rolls
- When placing a tremolo or roll on a note, Finale adjusts the note’s stem as necessary, whether the note is flagged, unflagged, or part of a beamed group
- Enjoy engraver-quality results without the fuss
Horizontal Centering
- Finale v26 allows you to flip articulations from note side to stem side with a keystroke
- Software knows when to center an articulation on the stem or the note, and does so as you make changes
New Expressions and Articulations
- Expression and articulation libraries have been overhauled, expanded, and refined for playback
- Save time by not having to create or configure them
Enhanced Chord Suffixes
- Whether you prefer one-, two-, or three-letter chord suffixes, Finale now recognizes your favorites as you type them, and sets them up to look and sound great
Opening Older Finale Documents
- The first time you open a pre-Finale v26 file, you're asked if you want to update the document
- This removes any existing manual positioning in favor of automatic collision avoidance, and is an option that you can globally specify in the Preferences dialog box
Installation and Authorization
- When installing Finale v26, you are prompted to choose between replacing your Finale v25 installation (saving you the hassle of uninstalling to ensure you're always using the latest version) or retaining both versions (allowing you to switch between them)
Key Features
- Setup Wizard for getting started right away
- Multiple note-entry methods include MIDI, mouse, computer keyboard, or importing files
- Includes a vast library of world-class Garritan instrument sounds for hearing your music as you notate it
- Human Playback feature for playing back with the nuance of a human performer
- Includes ARIA player
- Automate and streamline the process of entering lyrics, guitar tabs, chords, and more
- Create tall time signatures easily
- Perfect a score with handy editing tools like the selection tool, multiple page editing, Score Manager, and intuitive cut, copy, and paste options
- Collaborate and share electronic documents with expanded MusicXML import and export, in addition to printed pages, pdf, MIDI, and audio files
- Includes idea-generating features along with essential tools like transposition and range checking
- Open or save a standard MIDI file to work in conjunction with the industry's most in-demand production and sequencing programs
- Video support for writing to picture
- 64-bit support
- ReWire support makes it possible to use Finale simultaneously with audio software such as Digital Performer, Pro Tools, and Logic
