If you are working with a document like a lead sheet that has a voice staff, lyrics, and chords, but would like the chords on this staff to playback with a piano sound, there is an easy way to accomplish this using the Instrument List.

Go up to the Window Menu and choose Instrument List - this will open the Instrument List Window.

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Since playback issues and VST/AU seem to go hand in hand, I decided to just write up a quick post detailing one way to eliminate extraneous memory waste.

The Kontakt Player 2 is a memory hog. Had to be said.

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There are two ways to create pickup measures within Finale - the easy way, and the right way.

The easy way is of course to use the Pickup Measure Option located under the Document Menu.

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Let’s say that even after the below steps, Finale still crashes after you start playback or enter a few notes.  What could the problem  be? Continued

If you are working with a large score, there is an easy way to eliminate staves that you may not need at the current moment so that you can display only the staves that you need on the screen - Staff Sets.

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Have you ever had a melody with chords and just wanted to mute the Chords? Never fear because there is a way:

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Do you ever find yourself listening to your playback and wanting more from your accents or more length from your fermatas? You’re in luck - using the Articulation Tools - Articulation Designer Window, you can edit the settings for the three playback effects that Finale will use when playing back the note affected by this articulation.

Here is how:

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While we are on the subject of midi drivers here is a quick step to take if you find that you have lost playback, your playback will only sound as piano, or your midi device will enter notes but will not playback using the SmartMusic Softsynth - reload the midi driver.

Go up to your Midi/Audio Menu and mouse down to the bottom option Reload Midi Driver. This should reactivate the driver and restore sound. I have run across a few situations will my playback will still be voiced as a piano, but if I scrub over a note the original voices will once again work properly.

This tip will only work on Windows machines and in older versions of Finale it was called 32-bit midi driver - it may or may not have a check mark in front of it. In any case, selecting it will reload the midi driver and restore your sound.

Nota bene:  this tip will not reload the driver for your external device.  If you are not able to enter notes using your external device than you will want to reload the driver for the specific device that is connected to the computer.