Finale has an extremely rich set of features for individually editing the shape and position of notation elements such as notes and beams, which were available mainly as various dedicated tools in the Special Tools and Plug-ins.
In this article, I’d like to compare Dorico's features for advanced editing with those of Finale, focusing on the features of these Special Tools and Plug-ins that were available in Finale.
Note that this is not intended to judge the superiority or inferiority of a product based on the presence or absence of a certain feature. Because I think, from a general slant, the more “extra” features that users rarely use, the worse the usability of the software as a whole may become.
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3. Comparison by feature
3-7. Tie
3-8. Accidental Mover
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1. Features to be compared and the results
The features to be compared and the results of the comparison are as follows.
Finale | Dorico |
Note Position Tool (move notes horizontally) | Yes |
Note Shape Tool (select a different notehead shape) | Yes |
Stem Length Tool (adjust the length of the stem) | Yes |
Stem Direction Tool (fix the stem direction up or down) | Yes |
Reverse Stem Tool (change the position of the stem to the other side of the notehead) | No (can be reproduced with other function) |
Beam Angle Tool (adjust the length and angle of the beam) | Yes |
Beam Extension Tool (extend the beam to the left or right beyond the barline) | No (can be reproduced with other function) |
Tie Tool (adjust the shape of the tie) | Yes |
Beam Width Tool (make the beam narrower or wider) | Yes |
Notehead Position Tool (move the notehead horizontally) | Yes |
Accidental Mover Tool (move the accidental horizontally) | Yes |
Broken Beams Tool (remove a split beam) (Change the direction of the beam) | Yes |
Double/Split Stem Tool (Add another stem or split stem) | Yes |
Custom Stem Tool (Create or hide stems) | |
Secondary Beam Break Tool (Split beams of 16th notes or less) | Yes |
Secondary Beam Angle (Adjust the height and angle of inner beams) | Yes |
Dots Tool (Move augmentation dot up, down, left, right) | Yes |
Beam Stem Adjust Tool (Adjust the length of stems within beams) | Yes |
Plug-in: Easy Tremolos | Yes |
Plug-in: Mid Measure Repeats | Yes |
Plug-in: Resize Notehead | Yes |
Plug-in: Ledger Lines (Hide) | Yes |
Plug-in: Create Coda System | Yes |
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2. Example used for comparison
Here is the Finale file used for comparison.
Here is the score reproduced in Dorico from a newly created file, not from MusicXML import. Chaconne EX is used as the music font.
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3. Comparison by feature
Let's take a closer look at the following, starting from the first measure.
3-1. Note Shape, Beam Width
Note Shape Tool (select a different note head shape)
Beam Width Tool (make beam width thinner or thicker)
In Dorico, you can change noteheads by right-clicking on a note and using the pull-down menu that appears. Noteheads that are not there can be registered by the user as a notehead Sets.
Some of the noteheads in the upper part of the first measure in this figure are user-registered noteheads in the first half from the Kousaku music font and in the second half from Finale Maestro. The vertical X note head of Kousaku #158, which was often used in Finale for guitar brushing techniques, can also be used in Dorico, as shown here.
The Beam Width tool has settings in the lower zone of the Engraving mode.
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3-2. Stem Direction, Stem Length
Stem Direction Tool (fix stem direction up or down)
Stem Length Tool (adjust stem length)
You can set stem direction by right-clicking, but it's quicker and easier to select it and press F key.
Finale's Stem Length Tool can adjust not only the stem length, but also the connection position with the notehead. In Dorico, the stem length is adjusted by dragging the handle that appears on the stem in Engrave mode, but the connection position with the note head cannot be adjusted in the same way. This can be expressed by registering a user-defined notehead that connects to the stem at any position.
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3-3. Note Position, Custom Stem, Easy Tremolos
Note Position Tool (move notes horizontally)
Custom Stem Tool (create or hide stems)
Plug-in: Easy Tremolos
Note placement can be adjusted in “Note Spacing” in Engrave mode.
Tremolo is a little difficult to find, but there is a menu in the “Repeat Structures” category in the right toolbox, and its style can be set in Engraving Options.
For custom stems, there is no function to choose from presets or custom stems like in Finale, so you must hide the stems and write them with the Lines tool. In this case, please note that they will not follow layout changes.
Note that stemlets are set in the first half of the top line of this example. In Finale, there is no dedicated function for setting stemlets, and users had to set them in the Document Options, but in Dorico, there is a dedicated function in the right-click menu, and individual settings can be made.
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3-4. Beam Angle, Beam Extension
Beam Angle Tool (adjusts the length and angle of beams)
Beam Extension Tool (extends beams to the left and right beyond bar lines)
Beam angle can be set in Engrave mode in the same way as in Finale.
Regarding beam extension, there is no function like Finale's where you can grab the handle at the end of the beam and drag it to stretch it. You have to create it yourself with the Lines tool and place it yourself, and it does not follow layout changes, so be careful.
In Finale, I think the Beam Extension Tool was mainly used to create beams that cross bars manually, but since there was a dedicated function called the Patterson plug-in, you might not have used it much actually. In Dorico, there is also a dedicated function in the right-click menu to create beams that cross bars, so I think a function like the Beam Extension Tool was not necessary for Dorico.
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3-5. Mid Measure Repeats, Secondary Beam Angle, Reverse Stem
Plug-in: Mid Measure Repeats
Secondary Beam Angle Tool (adjusts the height and angle of inner beams)
Reverse Stem Tool (changes the position of the stem to the other side of the note head)
Regarding mid measure repeat barlines, there is an item in the right toolbox as one of the general functions, not as a plug-in like Finale.
There is a special function for setting special beams when right-clicking, but again, you can also create them yourself with the Lines tool. In the example, the top beam was created manually, and the bottom three were created with the special function whose separation can be semi-automatically adjusted in the property.
Dorico does not have a function similar to the Reverse Stem Tool, but this is probably not used much except when creating beams that cross staves, so it was probably unnecessary as a special function for Dorico.
If you want to create a reverse stem, you can register a user-defined notehead that connects to the stem in the reverse direction, or in some cases you may be able to hide the stem and simply draw the stem with the Lines tool.
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3-6. Secondary Beam Break, Double/Split Stem, Dots, Resize Notehead
Secondary Beam Break Tool (breaks beams of 16th notes or less)
Double/Split Stem Tool (adds another stem or split stem)
Dots Tool (move dot up/down/left/right)
Plug-in: Resize Notehead
For beam break, there is a setting in the lower zone of the Write mode.
For the Double/Split Stem Tool, in Finale, it is easier to use layers for this kind of expression, so I think this tool has hardly been used. In Dorico, this kind of notation is achieved by adding a “voice” that is equivalent to a layer in Finale.
For dots, in Finale, you could move them up/down/left/right with the Dots tool, but in Dorico, you can only move them left/right. The spacing between dots can be set in the Engraving Options.
For resizing the notehead within the chord, there is a setting in the lower zone to change the size of each note.
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3-7. Tie
Tie Tool (adjusting the shape of a tie)
The shape of a tie can be adjusted in the same way as in Finale.
In Finale, when expressing unison/altered unison, it was necessary to manually devise the expression, such as making the note head smaller and placing it on the left and right, but in Dorico, the default setting is to automatically split the stem into a Y shape as shown in the example, so such devise is not necessary.
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3-8. Accidental Mover
Accidental Mover Tool (moving accidentals horizontally)
The setting item for adjusting the position of accidentals is in the lower zone of Engrave mode, and you set it numerically instead of grabbing and dragging the handle as in Finale. If an accidental approaches another notation element on the left or right, the overall spacing is automatically adjusted to maintain a constant distance, which is very Dorico-like.
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3-9. Notehead Position, Beam Stem Adjust
Notehead Position Tool (moves noteheads horizontally)
Beam Stem Adjust Tool (adjusts the length of stems in beams)
If you want to offset the position of a notehead to the left or right, Dorico does not have a function to adjust by dragging a handle like Finale, but you can achieve this by registering a notehead with an offset value set as a user setting.
To adjust the length of stems in beams, go to Engrave mode, Lower Zone > Beam > Thickness. Normally, this is set by “Separation” just below, but actually, the length changes depending on “Thickness”, so be careful.
With the above operation, the length of the stem can only be adjusted within the range of the beam side. If you want to extend the stem to the other side of the beam, it seems best to set the stem length to 0 and then draw it in with the Lines tool.
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3-10. Broken Beams, Ledger Lines (Hide), Create Coda System
Broken Beams Tool (changing the direction of split beams)
Plugin: Ledger Lines (Hide)
Plugin: Create Coda System
There is a setting item for broken beams in the lower zone. There is also a setting item for hiding ledger lines in the lower zone, but this only appears when Engrave mode is selected. Coda breaks are set automatically in Dorico.
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This investigation revealed that all of the main functions of the special toolbox tools and plug-ins included in Finale are included in Dorico.
As I wrote in the previous article, Dorico can use Finale-quality music fonts, so Dorico is likely to be a useful successor to Finale, not only for general sheet music but also for special sheet music production and sheet music engraving.