HyperScribe Notation Appears Late / Behind the Beat
When composing using the HyperScribe Tool 
, you are performing in time with Finale’s metronome click. If any latency exists between your MIDI input device and computer, Finale might perceive that you are playing notes later than you actually are. This kind of latency can result in your notation appearing differently when compared to your intended results, often appearing delayed. You can configure Finale to anticipate this latency and enter notes as expected.
Update Drivers
First, ensure that your MIDI drivers and audio drivers are up-to-date.
Most MIDI devices will function after connecting to your computer without the need for further updates. In some cases, a MIDI device may need to have its drivers updated if the MIDI device is no longer compatible with your operating system or it is not designed to work as a plug-and-play device. In this case, you will need to visit the website of the MIDI device manufacturer to confirm Operating System compatibility and download drivers.
The steps for updating your sound card drivers will differ if you are using a Windows or a Mac computer.
For Windows users, please reference the steps found in Updating Sound Card Drivers to do this.
For Mac users, audio driver updates are handled through updates to the operating system. You can refer to How to update the software on your Mac to confirm that your Mac operating system is up-to-date.
Calibration Test
Once your MIDI and Sound Card drivers are up to date, we can test the amount of latency that exists between your MIDI input device and your computer.
- Download the file MIDI Input Latency Test.musx.
- Double-click the downloaded file to open it in Finale.
- From the top menu bar, choose MIDI/Audio > Quantization Settings.
- Under Smallest Note Value, choose the 64th note and click OK.
- Click on the HyperScribe Tool
- Click on measure 1 of the top staff and play the bottom staff passage in time with the metronome click.
- It is important to ignore the audio latency from the playback at this time and only focus on the metronome click.
- Confirm that the notation matches the second staff (refer to Interpreting Your Results below). If not, proceed to step 8.
- Under the MIDI/Audio menu, choose Device Setup > MIDI Setup (MIDI/Internal Speaker Setup on Mac).
- Choose Show Advanced and type “10” into the MIDI In Latency field. (This value is measured in milliseconds.) Click OK.
- Repeat Step 6 to test HyperScribe again and notice how the results have changed.
a. If HyperScribe is still notating later than the example staff, repeat Steps 6 & 7 and increase the MIDI In Latency value by 10 milliseconds.
b. Repeat the HyperScribe test, adding 10 milliseconds between each test, until the two passages match.
c. In most cases, the final MIDI In Latency value typically falls between 30-70 milliseconds.
You can now return to your original document and set your quantization settings for your own composition.
Interpreting Your Results
While you are narrowing down the amount of latency between your MIDI input device and computer, you may find the results of your notation to be confusing. Here are some examples to help you understand if you have accounted for too much or too little latency.
Note - It is important to focus entirely on the metronome click and limit how many measures you record at once. This will make the notation as metronomic as possible and help prevent HyperScribe from interpreting any human performance incorrectly.
Top Staff Is Delayed Compared to Bottom Staff
From this example, we can see that there are 64th rests before the C and the D in measure 10. This tells us that there is still some natural latency between your keyboard and computer. It indicates that you will need to increase the value of the MIDI In Latency field of the MIDI Setup dialog box.
Top Staff Is Ahead of Bottom Staff
From this example, we can see that the D in the top staff of measure 7 precedes the bottom staff by a dotted 32nd note. This pattern is repeated with each note in the example. This indicates that you have accounted for too much input latency. You will need to reduce the value of the MIDI In Latency field of the MIDI/Setup dialog box.
Configuring Your Document
If you find a need to recreate this test in your own document, then you can create the same playback environment as the test file by following these steps.
- From the top menu bar, choose MIDI/Audio > Quantization Settings.
- Under Smallest Note Value, choose the 64th note and click OK.
- From the MIDI/Audio system menu, choose Human Playback > None.
- From the MIDI/Audio system menu, choose Play Finale through MIDI.