FINALE 2007

I wonder why I have so much trouble with speedy entry. I've never found it very easy...maybe because I have trouble remembering little bits of information like that and making them habit. Pointing and clicking may be a bit more time consuming, but it's closer to the analog pencil-and-paper method I grew up with.

I would like to be able to enter things quicker though. I'm working on an interface with my keyboard, but there are some problems.

Does anybody have any suggestions regarding speedy entry? Or is it as simple as learning and making it habit?

Yeah, ideally I would like to hook up my roland digital piano to my computer (they are in the same room) but I have to go buy some sort of cord to connect them first. I think it would be cool to see an improvisation all notated for you and what not.

I guess I just learned speedy entry out of habit - really I only use it to enter notes, rhythms, rests, and accidentals. You use numbers 1-7 for different note values (5 is quarter note) and you use the arrow keys to move up and down the staff and right and left of the staff. '+' sharps a note (2 pluses double sharps it) '-' flats a note. '*' gives the note a cautionary accidental. If you press backspace on a note, it turns it into a rest.

Those are the only buttons I use 95% of the time. Of course there are other ones, 'p' puts the accidental in parentheses, 'L' flips the beam from up to down or vice versa, '/' breaks or unbreaks a beam, '9' gives you the enharmonic note, and ';' turns a note into a grace note (pressing it again gives you the slash through the beam too). Also, if you have a slur selected, pressing ctr+f will flip it upside down or vice versa. Pressing ctr+f on a note with a tie will also flip the tie line.

I know it takes a little practice, but it really is worth the effort in the end. When I learned it I learned just a little bit at a time - I've been using it for over 2 years now.

I'm not sure whether it was sibelius of fine ale but I saw someone inputting through a chromatic keyboard. Of course, the software had nothing precise to sync to so the result was, yes, basically what was played but with the note durations represented exactly. So if the guy held the note a tiny bit over a quarternote value, the software gave a quarternote tied to a 16th tied to a 32nd, tied to a 64th, etc.
And he was left to sort out the mess at the end. Apparently he could snap it to a grid or something but that had the opposite effect.
And rubato just doesn't work.
But...I have to admit that if you like composing by improvising and getting notated music out, and don't mind clearing up, this is the way forward.

I'm not sure whether it was sibelius of fine ale but I saw someone inputting through a chromatic keyboard. Of course, the software had nothing precise to sync to so the result was, yes, basically what was played but with the note durations represented exactly. So if the guy held the note a tiny bit over a quarternote value, the software gave a quarternote tied to a 16th tied to a 32nd, tied to a 64th, etc.
And he was left to sort out the mess at the end. Apparently he could snap it to a grid or something but that had the opposite effect.
And rubato just doesn't work.
But...I have to admit that if you like composing by improvising and getting notated music out, and don't mind clearing up, this is the way forward.

Both can do it, IIRC. I use it a lot in finale, it's great and really fast if you can play the part

Does anybody have any suggestions regarding speedy entry? Or is it as simple as learning and making it habit?

I don't use the letter keys at all - I use the left-right-up-down keys with my right hand and then place the note by number with my LEFT hand with the querty numbers - NOT the keypad.
With my right hand by those arrow keys - I can also use it for =, Cntr Shift, del, backspace (rest) Shift= (+ or sharp),etc. I could probably get faster if I used the number pad shortcuts, but I'm not displeased with how this works for me.

Thanks, guys. Maybe I'll try it again.

Yeah, ideally I would like to hook up my roland digital piano to my computer (they are in the same room) but I have to go buy some sort of cord to connect them first.

I have the cable you're talking about, but I still can't get it to work. It's not exactly "plug-and-play." I need to call the tech support people, but I hate tech support calls, so I'm putting it off. These days if I have to wade through too much technological bullshit to make something work, it's not worth it to me.

I've seen Finale's interface in action, and if you stick to the click track, you're good. You can set a tolerance for just how far off you can be before it makes an assumption about what you really want. I'd probably set the click track slower if necessary and play stuff in carefully and accurately. I'm thinking it would be especially useful in putting stuff I've already composed into Finale. I'm not sure I want to compose with it. My music happens in my head, not at a keyboard.

"I have the cable you're talking about, but I still can't get it to work. It's not exactly "plug-and-play.""

Yeah - I have exactly the same problem, but with Sibelius.
It's getting the computer to recognize the damn thing.
There's no way I'm making a tech call though. Not my style, lol. Plus, they wouldn't know anyway, because the connection I'm using isn't some big brand name.

Perhaps we should have a Finale training session.

Seriously guys, for those of you who are using the computer keyboard to type notes into Finale 2004 or later, I'd like to help you learn to use the Simple Entry with the keystrokes. It's much, much faster than Speedy - literally several times as fast. I used Speedy Entry with Finale for many years, and I'm quite proficient with it. For MIDI entry it's still useful as well, since it uses a different technique. But if you're not inputting from a MIDI keyboard with Speedy, you'll definitely be able to go faster with Simple with a little bit of practice.

Why is it faster? It's just fewer keystrokes - a lot fewer. The program comes with a training exercise that helps you learn the system. It's found in the tutorials folder, and I've attached it here as well. This is the one from Finale 2005. It will work fine in 2006 as well. If you have 2004, look in the tutorials folder for the EntryExercise.mus file.

If you're just starting out with Finale, starting from the very beginning might give you some useful tips. Otherwise you might just read over it in case there's anything you've missed. For speedy entry users, the duration and accidental keystrokes will feel comfortable right away, and the first 6 pages will feel like review. Once you get to page 7 you start learning the real keystrokes that will help you go much faster. Sibelius users will likely feel comfortable quickly with these letter shortcuts for notes. It's a very similar system, but once you get into the more advanced stuff, you'll start to pick up on the improvements, such as being able to lock on triplets, quick access to any articulation or expession (faster than the Sibelius keypad system), mistake correction, etc.

After you finish going through the document, consider altering some of the keystrokes to speed things up even more. I for example have set the letter q key to move the caret up an octave and z down an octave. My hands never have to leave their normal position this way.

Getting the basic feel for Simple Entry takes an hour or two. After that you'll start to learn some of the more advanced stuff. One thing that you should add to your skills quickly are the shortcuts for correcting mistakes. Enter a note with the wrong rhythm and you can correct it with a single keystroke, without backing up to the note. Enter a note with the wrong pitch and you correct it without backing up to the note.

One more tip - many people get annoyed with the automatic fill with rests feature. You can turn that off in the Simple menu -> Simple Entry Options.

Interesting... I'll have to give this a try.

Yes, I've been meaning to get into using the keystrokes in Simple Entry, but I've been putting it off because I'm so good at using my previous method - left hand on keyboard for duration tools, right hand at mouse for note location. I'll get to the keyboard stuff eventually...