To create the MIDI file, follow the
instructions of your sequencer. There’s no need to quantize the sequence; however, you’ll
probably find Finale’s quantization powers to be more effective than your
sequencer. Note: Finale uses the Maestro Default File as a template
when importing MIDI files. If you don’t see all of your percussion layouts,
try loading the percussion layout library into the Maestro Default File.
- Choose File > Open. The
Open dialog box appears. The file types
are listed in the drop-down list at the bottom of the window.
- Click MIDI File. The names of any available
MIDI files appear in the list box.
- Double-click the desired document name.
The Import MIDI File Options dialog box appears, listing various transcription
options. The Track/Channel Mapping to Staves dialog box allows you to
specify some extremely sophisticated track and channel splitting, as well
as clefs, distances between staves, split points and multiple percussion
maps. See Track/Channel
Mapping to Staves dialog box. Finale will choose a clef for
each resultant staff based on the range of notes in the track. (If it
discovers that the notes in a track have a very wide range, it will automatically
notate its contents on two staves. See Import MIDI
File Options dialog box for details.)
For most files, the default Tracks become Staves option will work fine.
- In the Create Percussion Staves area, click
on the Select button near Percussion Layout. The Percussion Layout Selection
dialog box appears. For most percussion staves, you’ll want to choose
the General MIDI Entry and Playback. If you’re using a specific instrument,
you may wish to select the percussion layout with your instrument’s name,
such as Triangle.
- Click OK. You return to the Import MIDI
File Options dialog box. In the Create Percussion Staves area, you can
also select a different clef or playback channel for the percussion staves
in the file. These settings will affect all percussion staves; for individual
settings for more than one percussion staff, see Track/Channel Mapping to Staves dialog box.
- Click Quant Settings. The Quantization
Settings dialog box appears.
- Click the icon representing your smallest note
value.
- Choose your quantization type. See Quantization Settings dialog
box for more details.
- Click More Settings. The More Quantization
Settings dialog box appears.
- Select the quantization settings you desire.
You can select options for grace notes and voice 2, as well as retain
key velocities and note durations. See More
Quantization Settings dialog box for details.
- Choose Key and Time Signature options.
Most MIDI files contain key and time signature information already, so
you usually won’t have to change the default selection (Use the File’s).
- If you’ll want to hear the sequence played
back with its original tempo fluctuations and continuous data (controllers
and wheels) data, make sure Tempo Changes and Continuous Data are selected.
These options capture some of the MIDI performance data from your sequence.
- Click OK (or press ENTER).
Finale transcribes the MIDI File into standard notation. If you discover
that your settings weren’t quite right, you can close the new Finale document
and try again—the original MIDI file is unaffected by Finale’s transcription
efforts. Or, for smaller sectional changes, use the Retranscribe function
in the MIDI tool. For more information about the elements of the Import
MIDI File Options dialog box, see Import MIDI File
Options dialog box and Retranscription.
