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New for 2008! 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

New for 2008! More Garritan Sounds

More than 250 world-class sounds from the creators of Garritan Personal Orchestra®. Free new sounds include saxophones, choirs, guitar, marching percussion, world instruments, and more.

Multiple sound libraries now work together seamlessly in Finale 2008. Combine all the included sounds, including Finale’s Garritan Instruments, Row-Loff™ Marching Percussion, Jose Cortijo’s Latin Percussion, and the SmartMusic® SoundFont.

Garritan provides different players to fill the section realistically.

Integrated KONTAKT® Player 2

The most respected name in playback technology now comes included with Finale – absolutely free! Listen to your music played with stunning realism thanks to the integrated KONTAKT® Player 2 – now updated to run natively on Intel Based Macs. The KONTAKT® Player 2 is automatically configured and loaded by Finale's Setup Wizard. Simply click and play! Human Playback further enhances the integration of Garritan Instruments in Finale by including customized legato and a variety of instrument techniques. One simple process authorizes both Finale and the KONTAKT Player 2. Exciting libraries of additional instruments are available from Garritan and Native Instruments®.

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 2008® is developed by MakeMusic®.

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

• 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)

* 1GB or more RAM recommended for optional use of Garritan sounds/Kontakt Player (more RAM = more available sounds)
** An additional 1.6GB of free disk space is required for all Garritan sounds.