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The Finale Notation Series

Win/Mac Software

New Version!

Finale 2012
Finale PrintMusic
Finale SongWriter
DVD-ROM
CD-ROM
CD-ROM
$600 $119.95 $49.95
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Overview

The Finale Notation Series

"We use Finale because it’s the best. Enough said."

Wynton Marsalis, musician, composer, band leader,
   Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award winner

From inspiration to applause, bring your music to life with Finale. Finale 2012® builds upon that power by transforming the creative process. Now, the way you create can be as flexible as what you create. Finale 2012 adapts to the way you work.

  • Creative control – With Finale’s new ScoreManager™, your staves look and sound perfect.
  • World-class sounds – The best playback. Even more Garritan sounds.
  • Share without boundaries – Write in any language – Unicode support. Share files that always play back.
  • Inspire your students – More tools and resources to help your students excel.
  • Finale 2012 includes multiple years of innovation!

From our partner MakeMusic. MakeMusic celebrates 20 years Celebrating 20 years of innovation.

Features

Finale ScoreManager
(Click image to enlarge)

ScoreManager™ (New for Finale 2012!)

Focus on your art. Leave the rest to your manager. Finale’s ScoreManager™ takes care of the details – controlling how your staves look and sound – so you don’t have to.

Easily change a flute staff to a clarinet staff. Switch between flute and clarinet on the same staff. The ScoreManager knows how a clarinet staff transposes, looks, and sounds, so it makes all the necessary arrangements. The ScoreManager also handles playback and sound setup, so you don’t have to navigate to various players or assign correct MIDI channels.

Watch video

In one setting, the ScoreManager lets you change staff name, order, transposition, clef, and playback sounds. Let Finale’s new ScoreManager handle all the details, so you can focus on the music.

Garritan logo

Garritan players

World-class Sounds

Hearing is believing
In this video, what you SEE is an orchestra, but what you HEAR are the sounds of Garritan Personal Orchestra. Over 400 Garritan sounds are built in. Tapspace Virtual Drumline™ sounds. External sound library support.

With Finale 2012, you get the highest-quality virtual instruments and improved sound management. Finale’s sound libraries are without equal. With Finale 2012, you have access to even more Garritan sounds. Based on your requests, new instrument sounds include:

  • Soprano sax
  • Celeste
  • Mandolin
  • Accordion
  • Euphonium solo
  • Recorder
  • Pipe organ – Baroque Plenum Reed stop
  • Pipe organ – Pedal stop

Hear your music come alive with Garritan™ Instruments for Finale. Finale 2012 includes more than 400 world-class instrument sounds from the makers of Garritan Personal Orchestra. Free sounds include orchestral instruments, jazz brass, saxophones, piano, choirs, drum set, guitar, marching percussion, world instruments, church organ, a variety of electric guitars, five octaves of handbells, steel guitar, and a brush drum kit containing 50 additional sounds. Download the complete list of Garritan sounds (.pdf).

Listen to these orchestral excerpts showcasing the Garritan Instrument sounds included in Finale:

mp3 | wav — Pictures at an Exhibition, Modest Mussorgsky

mp3 | wav — Capriccio Espagnole, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

mp3 | wav — Symphony No. 9, Antonin Dvorak

mp3 | wav — Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, Johann Sebastian Bach

Authentic and Expandable
Garritan provides different players to fill the section realistically. Exciting libraries of additional instruments are available from Garritan and TapSpace. Human Playback® further enhances the integration of Garritan Instruments in Finale by including customized legato and a variety of instrument techniques.

Automatic sound setup
With the updated Setup Wizard, you simply indicate what instrument you’re writing for. No need to specify a sound library first. Finale automatically associates the instruments you’ve selected with the sound libraries on your computer, even if you’ve added libraries not included with Finale. It even remembers which sound libraries you prefer.

1GB RAM or more recommended for optimal use of Garritan sounds.

New Improved Percussion Notation

More Ways to Communicate.

Unicode text support
Easily write and share your music with Finale 2012’s Unicode font support. Now you can use all the characters in your fonts. Want to correctly type Dvořák’s name? Are you translating a hymn to Korean? Need to add a hard-to-find symbol? Today’s Finale can display any character you wish.

Create PDF files
Now it’s simple to create PDF files within Finale, whether you use a Mac or a PC. Easily combine all your pages into a single document, share a single page, or any excerpt of a page.

Your files always play back

Send a Finale file to someone who doesn’t have the same software libraries installed, and all your staves will play back the instruments you intended – even if they’re using a PC and you’re using a Mac. Finale uses the libraries you’ve specified whenever possible, and provides the best alternative when they’re not. No matter how you share your music, everyone gets the best possible playback – automatically.

SmartMusic logo

Inspire Your Students

There are more tools and resources in Finale 2012. For example, SmartMusic integration – a Finale exclusive! Instantly save your Finale creations as SmartMusic® solo or ensemble accompaniments. Assign the piece to your students, assess their performance, and celebrate their success. Don&38217;t forget, with Finale’s Exercise Wizard, more than 50,000 exercises are at your fingertips, and ready to use in SmartMusic.

What is SmartMusic?
SmartMusic provides the ideal practice environment for students, including access to the world’s largest accompaniment library and instant feedback on each performance.

An expanded library of resources
Finale now provides more than 1,000 examples of music education worksheets, repertoire, and more for you to use or to customize for your needs. New to Finale 2012: Renaissance music, early jazz piano repertoire, intermediate piano pieces, holiday titles, manuscript paper templates, chant notation, and Schenkerian analysis.

The Finale Numerics font
The Finale Numerics font makes it easy to type in Roman numeral or harmonic analysis. Simplifying the stacking of numbers, it’s also ideal for notating figured bass and can even be used to create Schenker graphs.

Unicode Text

Improved Percussion Notation

Whether you’re an expert user customizing percussion scores, or not sure where a bass drum goes on the staff, Finale gets your percussion notation to look and sound perfect in no time.

Music Educator Worksheets

Over 300 Music Educator Worksheets

Finale now includes more than 300 ready-made, customizable, music education worksheets. Designed for K-12 students of general music, theory, band, orchestra, and choir, these educator-approved worksheets help teach basic elements of music.

Broadway Copyist Font

Broadway Copyist Font

Introducing the Broadway Copyist font – created by Robert P., designer of the esteemed November and Medieval music fonts. Inspired by the golden era of handwritten Broadway scores, the Broadway Copyist font offers a lighter, classic appearance and:

  • A "cleaner" look with greater legibility (especially with text)
  • Expanded support of upper ASCI characters
  • Improved cross-platform capability

Contents screen
(Click image to enlarge)

Streamlined Notation Interface

Note selection, entry, and placement of expressions is quick and intuitive. Once in your score, they are easily moved. You can instantly change the appearance of, for example, all your dynamics or rehearsal markings. You’ll accomplish more – in less time – without sacrificing any of Finale’s awesome power and control. It’s also easy to move your markings around your score once they’re entered.

TapSpace drum sounds

Tapspace Virtual Drumline™ Sounds

Finale now includes more than 100 sounds from Tapspace Virtual Drumline, the world’s most powerful marching and concert percussion software instrument, featuring the world-champion Santa Clara Vanguard percussion section.

Garritan Aria Player
(Click image to enlarge)

Garritan Aria player

The Garritan Aria Player is included FREE and is fully integrated into Finale 2011. The level of custom integration is unsurpassed and offers superior sound, more control, and a vastly improved user playback experience. Multiple sound libraries work together seamlessly in Finale. Combine all the included sounds, including Tapscape Virtual Drumline™ Sounds, Finale’s Garritan Instruments, Row-Loff™ Marching Percussion, Jose Cortijo’s Latin Percussion, and the SmartMusic® SoundFont.

MultiPage
(Click image to enlarge)

Multiple Page Editing

Added true multi-page viewing and editing which allows users to both see more of their music and edit everything they see. While Finale has always been able to display multiple pages on your computer screen, edits could only be made on one page at a time. Now you can simultaneously view and edit as many pages as you choose to view on your monitor.

  • Copy and paste measures from one page to the next
  • Drag slurs from the end of one page to the beginning of another, and much more.

Choose from multiple viewing options including single pages, facing pages, and tiled pages. Click to the next page, next pair of pages, or choose to scroll continuously – horizontally or vertically. You can even choose to view your entire piece on screen at once with a tiled view. No other music notation software offers this flexibility. Best of all, you can edit any page in any view at any time.

Record and Import Audio
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Import and Record Audio

Give arrangements authenticity and life with a real vocal or instrumental track. Record or import a mono or stereo audio file to enhance playback. No other notation software offers this capability.

Finale’s audio support opens up a new world of possibilities.

  • Record a vocal track to a soprano aria
  • Add a trumpet solo to a jazz chart
  • Import a stereo mix of a rock band and add a horn arrangement
  • Import audio for transcription/take-down
  • Create learning files for choir students with accompaniment and sung text
  • Import an audio recording of music, use the TempoTap feature to line-up notation barlines and times, then add additional orchestration

Getting Started

  • Launch Window
  • QuickStart Videos – 'How-to' demonstrations right on your screen
  • Setting up your score.
  • Personal Document Styles – Choose from a wide variety of styles or create your own
  • New and expanded text inserts. Now you can specify the arranger, lyricist and a sub-title in addition to the composer, title and copyright.
  • Expanded spacing control – Just click the "Add Vertical Space" button for more space between staves.
  • Intelligent page layout that automatically adjusts system position, size, and space between staves to reduce white space on the page.
  • Specify the number of measure in your score.
  • 60 pre-made templates
  • Finale Reference and Encyclopedia

Easy Entry

  • Scan music
  • Simple Note Entry – just pick a note and 'click' it on the staff. That's all it takes
  • Guitar and bass tablature
  • Download MIDI files and see them notated instantly. Import and export MIDI files
  • MicNotator®
  • Play the melody from a brass or woodwind instrument directly into your score
  • Import and Export Music XML files
  • Play your MIDI keyboard and watch your music appear on-screen in real time.

Composing & Arranging

  • Linked Parts
  • Video Support
  • Auto Arrange
  • Dozens of Plug-ins
  • Import Graphics
  • Band-in-a-Box® Auto Harmonizing
  • Drum Groove
  • Create Coda Systems
  • Intelligent Repeats
  • Engraver Tuplets
  • Lyrics – unlimited numbers of verses and automatic lyric placement
  • Textured Paper
  • Percussion notation
  • Chord symbols & guitar fretboards
  • Automatic note spacing and more
  • Multiple Undo – Everyone makes mistakes. This makes it easy to change them.

Incredible Sound

  • Human Playback™ – Choose from a variety of musical styles
  • Row-Loff™ marching percussion sounds
  • Free Software Synthesizer Included

Sharing Your Music

  • Save as Audio File
  • Export as EPS, TIF, or PICT (Mac only)
  • Connecting to Finale NotePad® – Open PrintMusic® files with Finale NotePad for FREE!

Finale 2011® is developed by MakeMusic®.

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Plug-ins

Plug-ins let you add capabilities to Finale for specialized notation tasks. The following plug-ins are included in Finale 2012:

  • Add Cue Notes on any staves in any layer at any percentage.
  • Apply Human Playback applies discrete Human Playback styles to specific regions of your piece, and allows you to edit the output of Human Playback with Finale’s MIDI Tool.
  • Automatic Barlines can place double-barlines automatically before all key changes and a final barline at the end of the score.
  • Auto-Dynamic Placement automatically places dynamics on the score based on the key velocity of notes entered.
  • Auto Slur Melismas analyzes your lyrics, and automatically places slurs anytime a syllable lasts for more than one note. You can even specify dashed slurs in situations with multiple verses.
  • Band-in-a-Box Auto-Harmonizing lets you automatically create an entire orchestration from any melody with or without chord symbols.
  • Beam Over Barlines lets you easily create beams over barlines.
  • Canonic Utilities transforms the selected region using inversion, retrograde, transposition or any combination of these. Also use this plug-in to apply or remove accidentals to every note within a selected region and remove ties in any selected region.
  • Cautionary Accidentals can be added to your score including accidentals displayed on all notes.
  • Change Font allows global editing of text blocks, staff names, group names and lyrics.
  • Change Noteheads changes the noteheads of all the notes in the selected region.
  • Change to Default Whole Rests changes all the whole measure rests in the selected region to default rests.
  • Change to Real Whole Rests changes all the default measure rests in the selected region to real whole rests.
  • Check Range verifies the range of notes for selected instruments with settings for beginner, intermediate and advanced players.
  • Check Region for Durations checks the selected region for any measures that have too few or too many beats.
  • Classic Eighth Beams beam eighth notes together when using common time over the selected region.
  • Clear Lyric Positioning resets any changes you have made to your lyric baselines in the selected region.
  • Clear Measure # Positioning clears all measure number positioning in the selected region and sets it back to the default position.
  • Command Line allows for quick note entry by typing in specific text commands.
  • Chord Analysis looks at your notes and generates chord names from the harmony, analyzing any number of staves across any region and placing chord symbols automatically according to your specifications.
  • Count Items displays a count of various items in your score such as measures, notes and articulations.
  • Create Coda System automatically creates a separate Coda section and adjusts the layout, with space before the coda, text, symbols, and properly configured playback.
  • Create Tempo Markings is an easy way to make tempo markings that also affect playback.
  • Cross Staff plug-in moves notes across staves with a single keystroke.
  • Drum Groove. Add drum parts to your score. Add more by simply placing any MIDI file in the drum groove folder. The plug-in intelligently cuts and pastes ONLY the drum and percussion information.
  • Easy Measure Numbers easily places measure numbers over a region of the score.
  • Extract Lyrics lets you save your lyrics to a text file and share. (Windows only)
  • FinaleScript®. Apply a change or series of changes using many of Finale’s features and options to a single Finale document, or batch process multiple Finale documents at once.
  • Find Range finds the highest and lowest notes in the selected region.
  • Global Staff/Group Attributes applies the same staff or group attributes to any staves or groups.
  • Latin Percussion for lively, authentic rhythms. Add these rhythms - all correctly notated - to any piece, instantly.
  • Midline Stem Direction changes the stem direction of notes on the middle staff line to follow the direction of the melodic line.
  • Mid-Measure Repeats makes it easy to put a repeat in the middle of a measure, without impacting measure numbering.
  • Move Rests moves rests in the selected region to a different vertical position.
  • Number Repeated Measures places numbers over measures that are repeated again and again.
  • Patterson Beams applies additional beaming options for the most elegant beams imaginable.
  • Piano Reduction creates a piano reduction of the selected staves.
  • Resize Noteheads can resize regions of notes including any specific voices within a staff making it easy to notate harmonization.
  • Rhythmic Subdivision changes the selected region to eighth notes, or divides all your notes in half.
  • Score System Divider automatically inserts or removes system separation marks between staff systems on the same page.
  • Smart Cue Notes. Search an entire score for cue note opportunities, and add them automatically.
  • Smart Page Turns. Tell Finale to intelligently edit the layout of an entire part to avoid awkward page turns.
  • Split Measure automates the process of splitting a measure across two systems, right down to the proper flow of measure numbers.
  • Split Point. This plug-in lets you reset the split point between two staves in the selected region.
  • Staff Set-up places selected instruments automatically adding appropriate clef, transposition and instrument name.
  • Text Search and Replace lets you search and replace text items or phrases.
  • TGTools lets you align/move dynamics; add easy string harmonics fast; create tremolos for display and playback; write your own script to automate common tasks; and add a playback effect to glissandi, hairpins, and trills; the ability to specify a different split point for selected regions (or automatically analyze your music and make intelligent split point decisions); easily create parts from staves in which multiple instruments have been notated; automatically minimize rests by expanding preceding notes, and to automatically generate a "handbells used" chart.
  • Update Brackets & Groups changes multiple items simultaneously. Convenience and flexibility sure to please engravers.
  • Vertical Collision Remover easily adjusts white space between staves, systems, and instrument groups.
  • Voice 2 to Layer moves Voice 2 entries to the selected layer.
  • Word Extensions is a very easy way to add or remove word extensions to or from your lyrics.
  • Also: Flat Beams (Add/Remove) Ledger Lines (Hide/Show) Notes and Rests (Hide/Show) Slash Flagged Grace Notes (Add/Remove)

Compare

Click here to download a full comparison chart of the Finale products.

The Finale Notation Series

Essential Features – Comparison Chart

Finale 2012
Finale PrintMusic
Finale SongWriter
$499.95 $99.95 $49.95
Getting Started Quickly
Score Set-up Wizard Yes Yes Yes
QuickStart Videos Yes Yes Yes
User Interface
Page View Yes Yes Yes
Scroll View Yes Yes No
User Interface Skins 7 1 1
Mixer Window Yes Yes No
Mixer Window Yes Yes No
MIDI Graphic Editor Yes No No
Handwritten and
Engraved Fonts
Yes Yes No
Features and Tools
Number of Staves Unlimited 24 Stave 8 Staves
Number of Lines
Per Staff
0 to 100 1 or 5 (plus TAB) 5 (plus TAB)
Lyrics
Number of Verses
Unlimited Unlimited 6
Note Entry with
Mouse or MIDI Instrument
Yes Yes Yes
Note Entry with
Acoustic Instrument
Yes Yes No
Hyperscribe Notation
(user tempo with MIDI)
Yes No No
Record or Import
Audio Files
Yes No No
Save as audio file
.MP3, .WAV. and .AIFF
Yes Yes No
Drum Grooves and
Percussion notation
Yes Yes Yes
Tuplets, Jazz Rhythms,
and Tempo Changes
Yes Yes Yes
Import MIDI Files Yes Yes Yes
Import MusicXML Files Yes Yes Yes
Automatic Exercise
Creation
Yes No No
Smallest Rhythmic
Value
128th Note 128th Note 32nd Note
Guitar TAB Yes Yes Yes
Guitar and Bass Chords
and Fretboard Diagrams
Yes Yes Yes
TempoTap™ Yes No No
Human Playback Yes
(customizable)
Yes
(1 style only)
Yes
(1 style only)
Latin Percussion Rhythms Yes No No
Non-Standard
Key Signatures
Yes No No
User-Definable Clefs Yes No No
Advanced Tools Yes Limited No
Free SmartScore Lite
(included)
Yes Yes No
Built-in Kontakt® Player
and Garritan™ Professional
Instruments
Yes No No
Row-Loff Marching
Percussion Sounds
Yes Yes No
Tapspace Virtual
Drumline™ sounds
Yes No No
Compatible with
VST/AU Instruments
Yes Yes No
Rhyming Dictionary Yes No No
Band in a Box
Auto Harmonization
Yes Yes Yes
Video Support
Movie and SMPTE support
Yes No No
Instant Orchestration Yes No No
Time-Saving Plug-ins Yes No No
Tempo Map Yes No No
Share your music
with Finale Reader™
Yes Yes Yes

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Reviews

What customers are saying...

"Over the years, Finale has become so much faster and easier to use and truly you are only limited by your imagination! There isn’t anything Finale can’t do."

– Chris Opperman, ASCAPLUS award-winning composer and
president of Purple Cow Records

"My day begins and ends with Finale. I simply could not live without it. I estimate that Finale gives me an extra three months every year to compose compared to my pen and paper days."

– David Ott, director of music
First United Methodist Church, Fort Walton Beach, Florida

"I use Finale for every aspect of instructing my students. Whether it be making exercises, transcribing recordings, arranging and composing pieces for my students or just instructing them how to write a piece themselves, Finale is the only program of choice."

– Bruce Wurst, music educator and
president of BAW Enterprises, Phoenix, Arizona

"Finale’s easy interface helps me prepare for class faster."

– Samuel Fritz, Director of Bands, Center Grove Middle School Central

"Using Finale to create custom SmartMusic accompaniments has been an invaluable tool in my teaching!"

– Lisa Galvin, Director of Bands, Hilliard Heritage Middle School

"Using Finale to make band exercises has proven extremely helpful... [it’s an] awesome program."

– Dr. Glenn E. Pohland, Instrumental music teacher, Grades 5-12

"Finale [let’s me] easily create appropriate material for my ensembles."

– David Dolgon, Clarinet Instructor, Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts

"Linked parts greatly improve my worklfow."

– Ron Sikes, Director of Music, Jefferson R-7 School District

"Creating SmartMusic accompaniments in Finale greatly enriches our music curriculum."

– Asa Burk, Director of Bands, Cross Timbers Middle School

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Requirements

Finale 2011 System Requirements

Windows®:
Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 (64-bit compatible)
Minimum 512 MB RAM
600 MB of free hard disk space*
DVD-ROM
Macintosh®:
G4 (or faster), Intel OK
Mac OS X 10.5 to 10.7
Minimum 512 MB RAM for Finale 2011
700 MB of free hard disk space*
DVD-ROM

* - 1GB or more RAM recommended for optional use of Garritan sounds/Aria Player (more RAM = more available sounds). An additional 2GB of free hard disk space is required for all VST/AU sounds included with Finale 2011.

A soundcard (including a DirectSound AS20 driver) is required for playing the Garritan sounds in Windows. System requirements vary for additional products by Garritan and other manufacturers.

Finale PrintMusic System Requirements

Windows®:
Windows XP (32-bit), Vista (32/64), Windows 7 (32/64)
Minimum 512 MB RAM
350 MB of free hard disk space*
CD-ROM
Macintosh®:
G4 (or faster), Intel OK
Mac OS X 10.5 to 10.7
Minimum 512 MB RAM
450 MB of free hard disk space*
CD-ROM

Finale SongWriter System Requirements

Windows®:
Windows XP (32-bit), Vista (32/64), Windows 7 (32/64)
Minimum 256 MB RAM
CD-ROM
Macintosh®:
G4 (or faster), Intel OK
Mac OS X 10.4 to 10.7
Minimum 256 MB RAM
CD-ROM

Optional for all products: MIDI interface. MIDI input and/or playback device, printer, scanner, microphone required for use of MicNotator®. A soundcard (including Standard Direct Sound, MME or ASIO drivers) is required for playing the Garritan and other VST sounds in Windows. Better processor and hard drive speed is required for simultaneous use of more VST/AU instruments.

Please note that the Rhythm Section Generator is not available for Macintosh.

Questions about system requirements? Contact our technical support department.