JOHNHENRYSHERIDAN

hEY guys, I'm with you on the MIDI file things. i am on dial up most of the time myself so downloading mP3's is something I usually won't even consider. I also tend to like the option of looking at scores as pdf files b/c I can do that on downtime at work but I can't listen to music so . . .

Wowwee! Dunael, are you currently studying to be a physics proffesor because I think you may qualify:D I am aware of the imperfections of equal temperment, but if you want to have a trippy experience, try playing your favorite major melodies in the Persian scale on piano by flatting your 2, 5, and 6. It's a very interesting experience:thumbsup: Colin, if you provide a mailing address I could send you a CD of those Persian experiment pieces. But only if you would really like to hear them, otherwise there is no point. It is nice to be aware of the scientific specifics of what is going on in the sonic kingdom, but remember that this is music not science and the main thing is to have a good old time!:cool:

Thanks for the links. What be the price of GPO in US Dollars?

It is a little too complicated to write down the steps here, but rest assured you can do it. It has to do with going under PLayback Options > Type > Tempo and then choosing an Executable shape ofr a slow, medium or fast ritard. I know this is unclear. I would recommend purchasing the book Finale Power by Mark Johnson or maybe a more updated version. It has been an invaluable reference for in using Finale and has helped get me through scoring a a full musical amongst many other diverse applications like using tablature, Codas, and percussion maps. =O) Supposedly you can also just use the JW Tempo Plug-in on the companion CD-Rom of Finale 2003 (maybe later versions too). John Henry

Thanks for the insight Mark. Appreciated. Do you have any idea of the Price of GPO or where I can hear Qccowboy?

Hey Colin, I am a big fan of exploring strange, weird and wonderful scales. I would recommend purchasing the book "The Guitar Grimoire - Scales and Modes" put out by Carl Fischer. I know it is not on the internet but it has exactly what you're looking for. But here's a little something to play around with: The Persian Scale - 1 b2 3 4 b5 b6 7 or (C Db E F Gb Ab B) Harmonic Major - 1 2 3 4 5 b6 7 or (C D E F G Ab B) My recommendation to learn how to familiarize yourself with these modes is to write out a harmony chart for the mode you are interested in. This just means to write out the triad that would occur beginning on each note of the mode. For example the Major Scale harmony chart is: CM Dm Em FM GM Am Bdim. When you do this for the Persian Scale for example you get some seriously strange chords and sounds. I tried to come up with a name for some of these chords such as Augminished (1 3 b5) and Dimented (1 bb3 b5). If you are interested and you have FInale I can send you a number of short compositions that I wrote as experiments in learning the Persian Scale better so you can get a feel for what characteristics the scale has. It is a strange scale... do not confuse it with the Spanish/Indian scale...it is stranger. John Henry

I'll be the first to tell you that aside from Finale I am not very good with computers. :) What I would like to do is to burn tracks onto a CD. These are currently exisitng as .mus files in Finale which I cannot burn onto a CD to be played in a stereo. My question is what are my options for getting these .mus files into a a .wav file or something similar so that it can be listened to on a stereo? And then the second half of the question is can I possibly get a Finale file to have better sounds than Finale provides without investing in an ultra-expensive sound library?

Can anyone recommend the simplest way to get a finale file onto a CD? And once that is accomplished can anyone recommend the cheapest or most feasible way for it to sound listenable and not like the soundtrack to an 80's Nintendo game? John Henry

I've been working with Finale for about 7 years now and I am a guitar player. Finale is now good for the guitar. What I ended up doing when I was writing a full band score for a musical which included a guitar part is to use rythmic notation like you said and then to avoid getting that constant E note sound you just go to Instrument List under the Window menu and mute the guitar part. You are not going to get the guitar to playback the notes in the chord you want unless you put those notes in for each chord in place of your unwanted E-notes. There is a chord playback function on Finale but as far as I know it only plays on beat one and even if you could get it in the rythym you want it, it tends to pick strange voicings and ends up sounding very unnatural anyway. So I just notate the guitar part so it is visually accurate and either live without hearing the guitar on playback or just strum along myself with the playback. Unfortunately the playback on Finale is just a limited tool and nothing more.