If, as you say, previous iterations of the handbells did not ring so long, you should start be checking the Ambience/Reverb page of the Aria player to see what settings exist there. My experience with real handbells is that players seldom mute them as soon as the written value has expired unless directed to.

It's a little off topic, but handbells usually do play the notes that are written, unless they're totally beginners. YouTube is FULL of videos of excellent handbell choirs from all over the world that play as written, which has been my experience for 20 years. Some sloppy performances should not reduce the quality of our Finale-based playback.

Back on topic, the Ambience settings are only general. Not related to the notes on the page. It's like an ON/OFF choice when the bells playback. Sometimes bells are malleted, thumb-damped, martellatoed, or use other staccato-type effects, and they don't do that anymore either. In Finale 2014, when I put a staccato mark over a bell's note, it was short. In Finale 25, staccato markings for bells have no effect.

In a related question, why do none of the handbell techniques play as written? Martellato, malleting, echoes, these all used to playback the way the instrument sounds. But now they're all just playing a generic ringing.

(The printed aspects are working wonderfully, but I really would like to create WAV files that sound right.)

>Earlier versions of Finale did this<

What library are are you using?

Is it really reverb or note duration? Reverb is ambience (natural or artificial) and has nothing to do wth the duration of the notes. 

I worked with MakeMusic's tech support and we got it figured out. Apparently the new versions of Garritan and Aria that come with Finale 25 do not bring in proper playback from files created in previous versions. That includes creating a new handbell score based on a template or ensemble created in previous versions. Exporting old files as MusicXML and importing them into a new document also does not work.

The key seems to be the Document Style. If you choose Document Style = Handbells (under General), everything plays perfectly. If you create a generic default document or anything with the Setup Wizard that does not use the Handbells document style, the playback for handbells does not work correctly.

If you want to Export an Audio File for older music that will still playback handbells correctly, you need create a brand new document based on the Handbells document style, then copy the entire older score and paste it into the new document. All the handbells playback functions work fine. You just have to readjust all the Page Layout elements if you want it to be printable.

You should be able to set up a new handbell template the way you want it, and copy the old score into it. That will save a lot of extra layout work.

You're right, Mike. That's a great idea. Thank you.

Hi Scott and Mike,

I'm a newbie here.  I am currently using PrintMusic 2014 to arrange piano music for handbells/chimes.  

A few newbie questions?:

1. Do I have to upgrade to Finale v.25 or v.26 in order to get the chime/square noteheads?

2. Does PrintMusic 2014 already have the sounds of bells & chimes available for playback (including articulations)? Or, do I have to upgrade?

2a. I've done some digging and found some VST sound libraries for chimes and bells---are these better to use?

3. Is it best practice to put bells on one layer and chimes on another, or use different "instrument parts" to separate the two? (I would like all the notation to be on one staff, separated by middle C "living" in the bass clef--our bell choir has assigned notes to each ringer)

Any help for this newbie would be much appreciated, as I don't want to get into bad habits.

Fran B

I’m away from my computer, but the place to start is the handbell template. If there is something missing from that start, it may well not be possible in PM.

Yes, if I recall correctly, the handbell articulations are there.

Start with the built-in sounds. If you don’t like them, then you can try others.

Look at other handbell/chime charts, and use those as a staring point for best practices. The template is a grand staff.