Percussion map headache

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RICHARD AVERILL Posted August 16, 2019 17:45

Hi, all. I'm practically at my wit's end trying to make my drum part look right. I used to have a handle on the way Finale did its drum maps years ago. Now, getting back into it, I can't for the life of me figure out how new new system works.

The attached picture shows a bit of the drum part I am working with. It uses the JABB brush drum kit. The bass drum notes (MIDI note 36) show up fine, as do the MIDI note 37 snare notes. The extremely low notes you see are different snare sounds, MIDI notes 38, 39,and 40.

I've been to the Percussion Layout Designer in the score manager, which is a quite baffling. Not all the notes used for the brush drum kit show up. For instance, there is no MIDI note 36 (bass drum). And it shows a MIDI note 50 as a bass drum, although it is really a cymbal. The snare ghost stroke (MIDI note 39) is set to show up as a snare, but it doesn't in my score.

So I'm not really able to change anything in the Percussion Layout Designer. The notes in question either appear there to be correct, or they are not listed. And it doesn't have any affect on the appearance of my score.

I am totally at a loss as to what to do about it. Any help you kind folks can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Finale 26, Windows 10

4 comments

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PETER THOMSEN Posted August 16, 2019 21:04

There are Percussion MIDI Maps, and there are Percussion Layouts.

1) Percussion MIDI Maps are not saved inside your Finale documents.

They are stored in a special folder from which they are available to all your Finale documents.

This means that if a Finale document which uses a special, custom Percussion MIDI Map, is sent to someone else, then the Percussion MIDI map must be sent along with the Finale document.

This - By The Way - is similar to fonts; if a document using a special font is sent to someone else, then the font must be sent along with the document.

You may not ever need to do it, but you can create your own, custom Percussion MIDI Maps.

2) Percussion Layouts - On The Other Hand - are document specific, and they are saved inside the Finale document.

3) You can customise the view of the ScoreManager’s Instrument List, so that you can see the Percussion MIDI Maps.

You can also customise its size (Height and Width) so that you can see everything without scroll bars.

J ADRIAN VERKOUTEREN Posted August 16, 2019 21:25

If you temporarily tell the part to Show MIDI Numbers, that may help you adjust/create the appropriate MIDI Map for this drum set.

RICHARD AVERILL Posted August 17, 2019 13:07

Thank you for your kind replies. I I think I've got a handle on it now.

J ADRIAN VERKOUTEREN Posted August 17, 2019 15:02

Percussion is still one of the more arcane areas of Finale, a frustration for many people, even experienced users.

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