Tuplet Tool

This tool lets you create, edit, and adjust the positions of tuplets. (The word tuplet describes a class of irregular note divisions such as triplets, quintuplets, or septuplets.) You can use it to describe the visual appearance of the tuplet (whether or not it has a bracket, for example) as well as its rhythmic definition (how many quarter notes in the space of a half note, for example).

You can predefine the default appearance of tuplets when you first create them (with the Simple Entry, Speedy Entry or HyperScribe Tools) including whether or not a slur or bracket appears, at what height it appears, and so on. To do so, ctrl-click the Tuplet Tool; Finale displays the Tuplet Definition dialog box, where you can specify how you want new tuplets to look. To do so, use the Simple Entry Tuplet Tool. See Tuplets (Simple Entry). For pre-define more advanced tuplets, see To enter a duplet, septuplet or other tuplet.

Tip: Change Tuplet settings over a selected region with the Selection Tool. Choose Tuplets from the Change Submenu of the Utilities menu.

Click the first note of a tuplet to display its positioning handles.

There are six positioning handles. Two control the horizontal and vertical length of the bracket. One controls number position. Another controls the position of the entire bracket and number. Two others control the angle of the bracket and the position of the bracket without moving the number.

Drag a positioning handle to adjust the height and position of the tuplet’s visual elements (bracket, slur, number, and so on). See Tuplets for details on how these handles control the bracket and number.
Double-click a positioning handle, or right-click the handle and select Edit Tuplet Definition from the contextual menu to display the Tuplet options, where you can change the temporal or visual definition of the tuplet.
Click the first of a series of notes you want to turn into a tuplet grouping to display the Tuplet options, where you can specify a temporal and visual definition to create a tuplet. (If this first note is in Voice 2, shift-click below the staff.) You can even click a note that’s part of an existing tuplet grouping if you want to create an inner (nested) tuplet.
Ctrl-click the Tuplet Tool, or right-click the handle and select Edit Default Tuplet Visual Definition from the contextual menu to display the Tuplet Definition dialog box, in which you can specify the default appearance of new tuplets you create with the HyperScribe and Speedy Entry Tools. You can also display these options in the Document Options dialog box. From the Document menu, choose Document Options and select Tuplets. See Document Options-Tuplets for complete details.
Select a tuplet handle and press delete, or right-click the handle and select Delete from the contextual menu to delete the tuplet.
Press Backspace to reset a selected tuplet to the default settings.

You can create Tuplet Metatools—one-key equivalents for tuplet definitions—that can save you time if you need to create many tuplets from non-tuplet notes in your score (because you avoid having to access a dialog box).

To program a Tuplet Metatool

Click the Tuplet Tool. Press shift and a number key or a letter key. Finale displays the Tuplet options; create the tuplet you want to correspond to the number or letter key you pressed. Click OK.

To use a Tuplet Metatool

Click the Tuplet Tool. While pressing the number or letter corresponding to the Metatool you programmed, click a note (or, if the note is in Voice 2, click below the staff). Finale automatically transforms the note you clicked and subsequent notes into the tuplet grouping you predefined, complete with a bracket or slur (if you specified one) with the positioning you specified.

Contextual menus are reached by right-clicking on the handle of an object or right mouse-clicking on the Main Tool Palette tool. A contextual menu will be displayed where you can select various items.

Tuplet Tool

Menu item	What it does
Edit Default Tuplet Visual Definition	Displays Document Options-Tuplets

Tuplet Handles

Menu item	What it does
Edit Tuplet Definition	Displays the Tuplet Definition dialog box
Shape Type: Nothing • Slur • Bracket	Change the bracket style for this tuplet
Placement: Manual • Stem/Beam Side • Note Side • Above • Below	Change tuplet placement for this tuplet
Always Flat	Flatten the tuplet bracket
Avoid Staff	Place the tuplet above the top or below the bottom staff line
Bracket Full Duration	Extend tuplet bracket to enclose the full rhythmic duration
Center Number Using Duration	Center the tuplet number based on the rhythmic center
Flip	Flip the tuplet to the other side of the staff
Reset	Reset tuplet to settings specified in Document Options-Tuplets
Show	Check this option to show, or uncheck to hide (on the printed page)
Relink to Score (parts only)	Restore the link to its corresponding score item
Unlink In All Parts (score only)	Break the link between the score and this item in all parts
Relink In All Parts (score only)	Restore the link to all corresponding items in parts
Delete	Delete selected tuplet