A video tutorial series teaching a comprehensive understanding of Finale Music Notation Software
23. The Missing Link(ed) Parts
23-1 The Missing Link(ed) Parts Lesson 1 (Basic)
An Introduction to Linked Parts
Welcome to Linked Parts! In this introductory video, you’ll get an overview of what Linked Parts are, how to navigate between your Linked Parts, and some general knowledge about why Linked Parts are important and how they operate in Finale. You’ll also get a quick introduction to the Manage Parts window and the printing options for Linked Parts.
Finale V26.3
23-2A The Missing Link(ed) Parts Lesson 2A (Basic)
Linked vs. Unlinked Items Part 1
Pretty much any element that can be positioned in your score can be positioned differently in the Linked Part if you unlink them. This video will show you the important mechanics for how this happens in Finale. There are a couple of important modifier keys that can help in this process if you know how they work. In addition to positioning, an item’s design, (like a slur’s curve), or even whether the item is hidden or not, can also be unlinked between the score and the parts.
Finale V26.3
23-2B The Missing Link(ed) Parts Lesson 2B (Intermediate)
Linked vs. Unlinked Items Part 2
In this video, we explore some of the other things that can be unlinked between the Score and Parts. A good portion of the video deals with unlinking enharmonic spellings and a very specific problem that occurs when certain Parts have transpositions that wrap around from keys with sharps to keys with flats. Also covered is applying Staff Styles to only the Score or only the Part, permanently unlinked Groups, unlinking the Instrument List part of the Score Manager, and a brief discussion of unlinked Measure Numbers and Page Formatting.
Finale V26.3
23-3 The Missing Link(ed) Parts Lesson 3 (Intermediate)
The Parts Manager
In the Manage Parts window, we have the ability to edit, create, and delete Linked Parts within our Finale files. Everything from the order in which the Linked Parts appear, to their names, and what staves exist within each Linked Part can be customized. This video will show you everything you will ever need to know about the Parts Manager… and maybe more!
Finale V26.3
23-4 The Missing Link(ed) Parts Lesson 4 (Advanced)
Voiced Parts (Shared Staves)
Get out your spreadsheets for this lesson because Voiced Parts in Finale requires detailed attention to some serious If/Then logic! It’s certainly possible to have two or more instruments share a staff in the Score and have both parts appear in separate Linked Parts, and hopefully, with my explanation of how this works, you may actually be able to do it. It does get complicated, and at a certain point when the shared staff becomes too complex, the Voiced Parts system in Finale does become pretty impractical to use. So in addition to exploring the Voiced Parts system, I’ll show you the basic setup for creating “dummy” staves where you can copy and paste the shared staff material to, and then in the next video, I’ll talk about some slick ways to quickly edit those staves so that only the correct part appears in them.
Finale V26.3
Spotlight on Plug-ins #10
TGTools Process Extracted Parts...
Download the TGTools Plug-ins here:
https://www.tgtools.com/index-en.htm
If you’re dealing with condensed scores using “dummy” staves to make Linked Parts, this TGTools Process Extracted Parts… plug-in is really invaluable. Unlike some of the other tools and plug-ins that are available that can help divide shared staves into individual lines, this plug-in is purpose-built for this specific task. It can be set up to choose which voice from chords with a variable number of voices, and it also treats chord voicings within the same Layers or from completely different Layers exactly the same. It’s hard to describe how useful this plug-in can be, so you’ll have to watch the video to see the demonstration.
Finale V26.3
23-5 The Missing Link(ed) Parts Lesson 5 (Intermediate)
Extracted Parts
In older versions of Finale, the whole Linked Parts system didn’t exist so we had to extract individual files for each Part Layout. Extracting Parts is still possible in the current versions of Finale. In the first half of this video, I’ll show you how to Extract Parts which includes some good information on the tokens available for naming the individual files that get created. In the second half of the video, I will wax philosophical about the (rare) reasons why Extracting Parts may be preferable to using Linked Parts.
Finale V26.3
23-6A The Missing Link(ed) Parts Lesson 6A (Basic)
Creating Multimeasure Rests
Creating and Breaking Multimeasure Rests in Finale is rather simple, so I’ll start by quickly showing you how to do that. What can be tricky is knowing why Finale will sometimes prevent you from creating them or why Finale will automatically split them in certain places. So the bulk of this video will give you a lot of information about all of that which will ultimately prove to be very useful in understanding Multimeasure Rests in Finale.
Finale V26.3
23-6B The Missing Link(ed) Parts Lesson 6B (Advanced)
Editing and Designing Multimeasure Rests
Multimeasure Rests can be designed either individually or globally in a number of ways. We can adjust the Start and End points of the H-Bar, the position of the number, whether the number is even visible or not, and the relative width of the whole Multimeasure Rest bar. We also have the option of using the old-style symbols in place of Multimeasure Rests if we want (6:54). I will also show you how to design the H-Bar itself using the Shape Designer (12:40).
Finale V26.3
23-6C The Missing Link(ed) Parts Lesson 6C (Advanced)
27.2 Update: Fixed-Sized H-Bars
In the 27.2 update, Finale managed to sneak in an extra option into the Multimeasure Rest Document Options and Multimeasure Rest Edit window that allows you to not stretch the shape. This makes it much easier to get Fixed-Size H-Bars for your Multimeasure Rests in Finale!
Finale V27.2