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STEVE LATHAM Posted
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I actually just installed 2010 on an old Mac (2011 10.6.8) from a new copy purchased but never installed! So I've just started using it!!!

It seems to be working great but I have a couple of questions:

1. Is there any way to access all the patches in my synth - like a "patch script" (used in Cubase for example). I can pull up a General MIDI bank, and it actually has all the GM, GM2, and GS Extensions that work with most Roland products. However, I have a synth (old Sound Canvas) that has many more patches than that and I'd love to be able to access them without having to create a new instrument and designate the MSB/LSB PGM numbers for it. Or is that the only way?

I don't  think I've ever tried in any version of Finale but is this possible in 2010, or out of curiosity, any version since then?

2. When I installed it, Garritan Instruments was checked. So I assume it installed those and I do have the option of selecting a number of pre-designated things (like String Quartet) using the Setup Wizard.

Once I've done so, if I look at the MIDI/Audio settings, the AU option is Final Smartmusic (or Smartsynth) - is that GP0? How can I check to make sure GPO is installed and that the sounds are actually being sent to it? Isn't there a separate Smartsynth that just has 128 GM patches that comes with Finale even if you don't install GPO?

I do by the way see other VSTs I have installed on my system.

I've got 3 synths with tens if not hundreds of thousands of sounds, and I'd prefer to use them if I can access all the patches.

 

TIA

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J ADRIAN VERKOUTEREN Edited
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  1. To connect to an outboard synth, you should try installing Bidule from http://www.plogue.com/phpBB3/  which will involve an additional learning curve and which you generally access via "Play through MIDI" rather than VST (although additional work with Bidule can attach you to VST libraries as well.
  2. SmartSynth is Finale's VST version of General MIDI (over)simply put. You should also be able to access the Garritan instruments, but I do not recall how that looks in Finale 2010. It has been a long time, and the Setup interface has changed a lot since then.
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STEVE LATHAM Posted
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Ah, so really, it looks like Finale simply doesn't support external synth patch libraries without a 3rd party application. I'll just port anything out to another application that does as I've done in the past.

Maybe someone who remembers can chime in on the 2nd bit. Yeah it seems I only have access to the SmartSynth - and I'll have to go back and listen intently to see if the Setup Wizard's GPO sounds are actually different from the SmartSynth. I'll likely port everything out to another application that lets me access external synths and VSTs too, so it's not a huge deal.

I use Finale primarily for the Notation aspect anyway.

 

Thanks Adrian

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STEVE LATHAM Posted
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Here's a funny thing - I hadn't installed the GPO for FInale.

 

So I went back to the install disk and did it.

 

So you know, there's a GM and GS set of banks in there, and now, with GPO loaded, I can select those sounds.

 

So Finale does seem to be using "patch scripts" for these devices. It should support external synth patch scripts too (well, it should have done it since day 1, but it should, like all other software, do it today). If one could write it in the right format...

 

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