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Attention Mac Users
Apple will release macOS 15 (Sequoia) on Monday, September 16, 2024.
Finale v27 is not compatible with Sequoia and will not be updated.

For more information:
macOS 15 Sequoia and Finale Notation Products
Disabling Automatic macOS Updates

As of Finale v25 and later, the Garritan Instruments for Finale will automatically install to a specific default location depending on the platform you are using. On Mac this will be at the Macintosh HD > Users > Shared directory and on Windows at C:\Program Files > Garritan > Instruments for Finale.

 

However, if you would prefer to move this folder after installation, this is certainly possible. Please follow the appropriate instructions below to do so:

 

Windows

 

You can edit the product-specific registry key to point it to the right location. This task involves making adjustments to your computer's registry, which contains important data that controls your computer's operation. If you're not familiar with or not comfortable with modifying registry keys, you may want someone to assist you in person.

  1. Hold down the Windows key on your computer keyboard and press the letter "R" key at the same time to open the Run dialog box.
  2. Type "regedit" (without quotes) and click OK.
  3. Carefully navigate to the following registry key:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Garritan\[your product]\
  4. In the right-hand panel, double-click the key with the name "sample_dir."
  5. In the Edit String window, change the Value data field to match the current location of the library's samples folder.
  6. Click OK.
  7. In the left-hand panel, expand the [your product] folder and expand the Banks folder.
  8. For each folder under Banks (1 or more), repeat steps 4-6. Note that this may take some time: Garritan Personal Orchestra 4 has 54 of these folders.
  9. When you are done editing these keys, close the Registry Editor and try loading instruments through the ARIA Player.

If the instruments still can't be loaded, check to be sure you've typed in the samples folder path correctly. If you still encounter trouble, your best bet is to reinstall the library, which you can download from your account at https://www.finalemusic.com/MyAccount/MySoftware.aspx

 

Mac

 

You can edit the product-specific .plist file to point it to the right location. This task involves editing inside your Mac's preference directory, which contains important data that controls your computer's operation. If you're not familiar with or not comfortable with modifying these files, you may want someone to assist you in person. It's also a good idea to create a backup of the existing .plist file in case you make any mistakes in editing.

  1. Click the Finder icon in your Dock, then press SHIFT+COMMAND+G to open the Go to the folder > dialog box.
  2. Type "/Library/Preferences" and press RETURN. The Preferences folder opens within your Finder window.
  3. Open the "com.Garritan.[your product].plist" file.
    • MacOS TextEdit usually cannot display these files properly. You will need to download a free app from the Apple App Store, such as BBEdit from Bare Bones, to view the .plist files. Once you have downloaded one of these apps locate the file, right-click or CONTROL+click on the  .plist file and choose Open With > Other, and choose the the application you have downloaded to view these file types. 
  4. Look through the file for the tag "<key>sample_dir</key>". These tags point to the sample directory. You may see one or more of these tags in the plist file.
  5. On the following line of text, change the filepath between the <string> tags that follow the <key>sample_dir</key> to match the current location of the library's samples folder. Be aware that if you are using an external disk the file path directory must start with /Volumes/ then the location of the samples folder.
  6. Repeat step 4 for each instance of <key>sample_dir</key> in the plist file.
  7. Save the file. Note: You may have to make a copy to save the file, and then replace the old "com.Garritan.[your product].plist" file in the Preferences folder with the saved duplicate.
  8. Restart your computer and then try loading instruments through the ARIA Player.

If the instruments still can't be loaded, check to be sure you've typed in the samples folder path correctly. You can also replace the edited plist with the backup copy you created before editing, and try these steps again. If you still encounter trouble, your best bet is to reinstall the library, which you can download from your account at https://www.finalemusic.com/MyAccount/MySoftware.aspx, and choose the folder to which you wish to install the samples when prompted during the installation process.

 

 

 

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