To design a new clef

You’re not limited to using the traditional clefs in Finale; you can create your own clef, using any symbol, with any notational meaning. You can even create your own clef in the Shape Designer; see To design a shape clef. Each document you create can have eighteen clefs; in order to create your own, therefore, you’ll have to replace one of the eighteen default clefs. You can save your newly designed clef into a Clef library, so you can use the same clef in new documents. See Save Library dialog box.

1. From the Document menu, choose Document Options, select Clefs, then click the Clef Designer button. The Clef Designer dialog box appears.
2. Click on the clef whose characteristics you want to alter.
3. Next to Character, click Select. A palette of all available characters in the currently selected font appears. To change the font for this clef, click on Set Font and choose a different font. To change the font for all clefs, see Document Options-Fonts. If you don’t see a font character you want, see To design a shape clef.
4. Double-click the desired symbol.
5. Set the middle-C line for this clef by typing a number into the Middle C Position text box. A value of zero places middle C on the top line of the staff; this number indicates the number of lines or spaces that middle C is to be positioned away from this top line. For example, the treble clef, which places middle C one ledger line below the staff, has a Middle C Position value of –10, because one ledger line below the staff is ten lines and spaces down from the top line of the staff (whose number is zero).
6. Set the vertical positioning of the clef symbol by typing a number into the Clef Position text box. This value, measured in lines and spaces, determines where the new clef will sit on the staff. A value of zero places the baseline of the clef on the top line of the staff. Note that the baseline of a clef is based on its musical meaning, and isn’t quite the same as the baseline for regular text. For example, the baseline of the treble clef isn’t the bottom of the character—it’s the “curl” that sits on the G line of the staff; the baseline of the bass clef is centered between the two dots (the F line), and so on. Thus the Clef Position for the treble clef is –6, six lines and spaces lower than the top line of the staff.
7. If you’re using a font other than Maestro, Petrucci, Engraver or Sonata, select Musical Baseline Offset and type a value into the text box. This number sets the distance, in lines and spaces, between the normal baseline for the clef (as defined in the previous step) and its vertical position when it occurs as a clef change in the middle of the score, and hence at a reduced size. Finale positions clefs automatically if the Maestro, Petrucci, Engraver or Sonata music font is selected as the default music font, but symbols from a font you design yourself might require this extra adjustment.
8. Click OK (or press enter). From now on in this document, any time you access the palette of clefs, you’ll see the new clef represented as one of the eighteen available. Any music that follows it will be notated according to the definition of middle C (and the “stem-flipper” value) you’ve created. If you want to use this clef in other documents, see Save Library dialog box.

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