Finale Drum Notation

Table of Contents

Adding a Drum Staff & General MIDI Drum Map

Editing Finale Percussion Maps

Slash Notation, Rhythmic Notation & Kicks Over Time

Articulations and Measure Expressions

Playback & Libraries

3

4

5

6

7

We are pleased to offer the new 1-hour series classes. Based on student’s comments, suggestions, and frequently addressed software concerns, we have expanded the Learning Center’s course curriculum. These classes are more focused and not as broad, covering less material in greater depth. The 1-hour series are all more advanced classes, so if you are unfamiliar with the software, we suggest you take the basics classes first.

Thank you, and as always we welcome your questions, comments and concerns.

Ricardo Poza rpoza@berklee.edu

Chris Fitzgerald cfitzgerald@berklee.edu

In Finale: Drum Notation we will cover General MIDI drum mapping, configuring drum staves, adding slash notation and stop time, manipulating playback, saving libraries and more!

Visit us at learningcenter.berklee.edu

(617) 747-2669 (150 Massachusetts Avenue Building)

Learning Center Staff

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Adding a Drum Staff & General MIDI Drum Map

Because drum sets are not pitch specific, they are notated differently than other instruments. The pieces of the drums played

with the feet are notated with the stems down, and those played with the hands or drum sticks, stems up. Cymbals are X noteheads,

and the rest are solid.

Crash _{Hi hat}

Snare

Toms

Kick

drum Hi hat _pedal

To add a drum set staff, go to the Staff Tool and choose New Staves (With Setup Wizard) from the Staff menu. Highlight the drum set, then click Add and Finish.

Each drum sound is assigned to a different MIDI note, and Finale uses Percussion Maps to translate where the drum belongs on the staff. In General MIDI, the drumset sounds

start 2 octaves below middle C

Kick (C2) Snare (C#2 – E2) Toms (F2, G2, A2, B2, C3) Hi Hat (foot F#2 closed G#2, open Bb2) Crash (C#3) (Eb3) Ride Splash (E3)

Finale has four layers in order to have multiple parts in one staff. Put stems up in layer 1, stems down

Editing Finale Percussion Maps

-Next do the same for the open hi hat at pitch Bb2 Simple Entry

Choose your duration from the Simple Entry palette and place the note on the staff. There are a few discrepancies between Finale and Berklee standards, and peculiarities with the drumset percussion map. For example, clicking to add a snare will give you an x notehead, and a rim shot sound. Also, Finale places the hi hat above the staff rather than at the top space.

Choose Edit for the Drum Set in the percussion map selection To change these two discrepancies, go to Edit Staff Attributes for the drum staff. Choose Select next to the percussion notation style.

Scroll down to pitch C#2, the side stick. Because the side stick is above the snare in order, Finale defaults to the side stick, and the X notehead. To change this, take the side stick out of the notes the drum map uses by selecting it and unchecking Highlighted Note.

Now scroll down to the hi hat at pitch F#2 and select it. Change the staff position by dragging the handle down from above the staff to the top space.

Now you can enter your drum notation to Berklee’s standards. Speedy Entry

If you are using a MIDI controller, entering the notes with speedy entry is much easier (refer to the drum map on page 2). Finale will translate the MIDI note to the right place on the staff according to the percussion map.

If you need to flatten a beam in the speedy entry tool, use the slash (\) key.

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Slash Notation, Rhythmic Notation & Kicks Over Time

There are a number of ways to simplify your drum scores, making it easier on you, and allowing your drummer more freedom with their playing. These are called Staff Styles and they are created with the staff tool.

Slash Notation

You can indicate a style and then use slashes to really give your drummer a lot of freedom. Select the measures you want slashes on, go to the Staff menu and select Apply Staff Style. When the window comes up, select Slash Notation.

If you are OK with your drummer improvising within a specific drum groove, you can input the drum notation for a few measures and then write “simile” above slashes.

Rhythmic Notation (or stop time)

You may want the whole band to break down to a particular rhythmic figure during a measure for accent. You can accomplish this with the Rhythmic Notation staff style. Add the rhythm in the measure on any pitches, and then create the staff style the same way as before.

Kicks Over Time

If you want the band to accent a certain rhythm, are not concerned with which specific drums are played, and want the

groove to continue

without going into stop time, you can add the rhythm on top of slash notation.

Apply slash notation, and add the rhythm in layer 2, above the staff. Point the stems up with the L key, and click and drag any rests up above the staff.

Choose Define Staff Styles from the Staff menu, and then Select from the Staff Styles window.

Now check Show Notes In Other Layers, and you have kicks over time.

Articulations and Measure Expressions

Add further playing directions with the Articulation Tool.

Open and closed hi hat

Let ring

Fills

Create a new text expression using the JazzText font. Type OPTION-COMMA, then the text. Change the font size as necessary.

Playback

In Finale, drum sounds are played through general MIDI, which always reserves channel 10 for percussion. If your drums are being played back as piano pitches, or something else, you’ll have to change the instrument channel.

Name your instrument, and change it to channel 10

Go to the Window menu and open up the Instrument List. If the instrument is anything other than drums on channel 10, click on the instrument name and select New Instrument.

Double-click to add an expression

and choose Create. Drum notation with the

Expression Tool

In the Text menu, change the font to EngraverFontSet, and

the size to 36 Then type in (i), which

will give you the “let ring” symbol

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Playback & Libraries

Finale has a lot of drum-style grooves stored for your use. With the Mass Edit Tool, highlight the measures that you want to add Finale’s drums. Go to the Plug-in menu, Scoring and Arranging, and Drum Groove.

Choose the style, and then choose to either add it to an existing drum staff, or create a new one. Unfortunately, the notation is all in

one layer, and looks like a big mess. You can put time slashes over it with the Staff Tool, and it will still play back.

For orchestral percussion, or other types of drums, look through the instrument list in the set up wizard

Each of these instruments makes use of a percussion map to translate MIDI notes to the correct staff position. All of these maps are editable to your liking, and you can even create your own percussion maps.

When you have your percussion maps set up, save the library from the File menu. Now they will be available in all the Finale files on your computer.