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So, I was looking through my scores and found a piece that doesn't have a recording and I was curious about transcribing it into Finale to hear how it would hypothetically sound. The piece opens with an extended portion that is unmetered (marked by an X) and every "cheat" I found online just seemed too... clustered. Turns out, Dorico has this functionality built in. You can simply change the time signature to be unmetered. While I'm not necessarily looking to switch to Dorico just to do that, I am surprised it seems to be the only one of the big four notation programs that has this functionality. It's kind of a "didn't realize how much you'd use it until you realize you don't have it" situation. I'd love to see unmetered time signatures incorporated into the program itself instead of "hacked" in.

 

At the end of the day, I'm not going to spend an hour figuring out how to bend Finale to my will to do something I know other programs can do because I got a cool idea, I'll just end up not doing that cool idea. I'm a composer, not a computer hacker, and every minute I spend in Google trying to figure out how to do something a bit different than standard is a minute not spent on composition.

 

I know that it's a common joke that to do the weird stuff in Finale you have to find cheats and work-arounds, but at the end of the day, some of this stuff shouldn't be. Large time signatures are a prime example. There should be no reason I should have to go in and mess with document settings to get Large time signatures when that could be something that could be controlled elsewhere.

 

So TL/DR: Give me easy access to unmetered music writing without the cutesy "cheats" and also, if you have time, be a dear and give me an easier way to make large time signatures. 

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Set your time signature to something large, like 100/4. After your notes are entered, JW Meter and Rhythm (IIRC) automatically fixes it.

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What you want is possible already and MikeR gives you one way to do it. Not everyone reads Feature Requests.

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MIKE ROSEN I appreciate that you're trying to help, but I already knew that. You seem to missing the point of what I'm saying. The issue is not that it isn't possible. I know it's possible... with "hacks" and plugins. Essentially, putting extra work into something that we all know other software is capable of doing from the offset. What I want out of Finale is not to have to do the extra steps in order to do a very common thing in contemporary composition. It's like saying, "Well dad wouldn't beat you if you just did what he said." True, he wouldn't, but it shouldn't be a thing anyway. If I want unmetered music, I need to fight the software to get it. If I want a custom time signature marking like an X, I have to do these special hacks. (Which your "hack" doesn't address btw. I'd have to make a separate smart shape for that.) Meanwhile there is another software out there that has this as a built in feature so it's clear that it is possible to incorporate.

Just because something is (technically) possible doesn't mean it cannot be improved upon, and as much as I love Finale, it is very cumbersome when it comes to doing certain contemporary scoring stuff. Frankly it doesn't bode well if Finale cannot keep up.

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Finale is, at heart, designed for classic western music. It’s also quite old, and we’ll be the first to admit that it hasn’t seen much in the way of expanding its range. There are many things that could be fixed or updated, and we’ve been waiting for years, if not decades, to see them.

 

Make an X as an expression. Hundreds of fonts to choose from. What’s so tough about that? I’m sorry, but save the gripes for big things. Just my humble opinion, of course.

If this is the major type of music you write, then perhaps one of the other apps will do what you want with a single keystroke.

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I'd say this is a big thing. It's indicitive of a larger issue which you yourself admit it has: Finale has not expanded it's range to keep up with more modern ways of notation in a user-friendly manner. Frankly, I don't appreciate the insinuation that my issues with the software is not a valid criticism because "it's old." Lots of things are old but that's the beauty of technology, we can update it. Last I checked, Finale has made many huge advacements its its capabilities since Finale 2004. To be honest I'm not looking to argue about the merits of a feature request. I've said my piece and hope somebody with sense at MakeMusic sees it. After all... it's called a feature request for a reason. You know... to request a feature... you'd like to see added... to a new version.

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And this is at the root of all the problems: we all have different needs and different concerns. In my case, I can go for the rest of my life without needing meterless music and large time signatures. And I'm sure you feel the same about what I do.

 

In any case, submit you suggestions to them directly, with the Submit a Request tab at the top of the page. I think that's the only way to be sure they read and log your comments.

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