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Repeat markers for SmartMusic accompaniments

In SmartMusic, the number and iteration of each repeated section is displayed on the main interface window during the SmartMusic performance as shown below:

You can add markers in Finale to indicate these repeated sections for display during the performance, including repeats with multiple endings, as well as DS and DC repeats.

To Add Repeat Markers Automatically

In most cases, the following steps are not necessary to incorporate repeats into your SmartMusic accompaniment. However, you can preview the automatically generated repeat markers prior to saving your file by following these steps.

  1. Add repeat barlines and text indications as described in the Repeat Tool chapter. Add any type of repeat you like, first and second endings, D.S. al Coda, etc.
  2. From the Document menu, choose Add SmartMusic Markers. The Add SmartMusic Markers dialog box appears.
  3. From the List on the left, choose Repeats.  
  4. Click Create/Update Repeat Markers. The score is scanned for all repeat indications. The list of repeat markers appears in the main window.
  5. Click Done. All repeat markers have been added to your score automatically based on the repeat barlines and markings.

If you want more control over SmartMusic Repeat Markers, or want to edit the ones created for you automatically, you can also add/edit them manually with the Expression tool as described below.

To Add Repeat Markers Manually as Expressions

Repeat markers can be added to the Finale score as expressions like the other SmartMusic markers. Unlike other markers, these require additional parameters to specify the number of the repeat (i.e. the first, second, third, etc. repeated section in the score), the iteration of te repeat and the measure number. For general information on adding SmartMusic markers, see To add SmartMusic Performance Markers.

If repeats are already defined in a score for playback, you can easily convert the file to a through composed format by exporting it as a MIDI file, and then importing the generated MIDI file back into Finale. Repeated sections are then written out sequentially. Since all playback data is saved with MIDI files, information relevant to SmartMusic accompaniment creation is not lost in this conversion. See MIDI files for details. If you do this, ensure the solo staff is assigned to a different channel than the accompaniment staff(ves) in the Instrument List window.

Here is a list of the types of repeat markers, where to add them, and how they are defined for different types of repeated sections. To use pre-defined repeat marker expressions, load the SMS Markers library.From the File menu, choose Load Library, and then double-click “SMS Markers”.

An expression defined as a Repeat marker is required to mark the beginning of each iteration (or pass) of a repeated section of music. Additional numbers are then added to the Description text box in the Expression Designer to indicate the following:

r,t,m

r = Repeat number (starting with 1 on the first repeat pair and increasing by 1 for each successive pair).

t = Time through the repeat. 1 for first iteration, 2 for second, etc.

m = Measure number of the repeat in the original score. This number should be the same for each iteration of a repeat (even though the measure number in the through composed Finale document may differ).

Example:

This Repeat marks the location in the Finale document of the third repeated section, beginning at the second iteration. This appears at the beginning of measure 12 in the original Finale score. An expression containing this SmartMusic marker would appear at a later measure in the modified (through composed) Finale document.

If there are multiple endings in a repeated section (first ending, second ending etc.), an expression defined as a Repeat Ending marker is required to mark the beginning of each ending. For these markers, the following parameters are then added to the Description text box in the Expression Designer to indicate the following:

r,m

r = Repeat number.

m = Measure number of the ending in the original score.

Example:

This Repeat Ending marks the location in the Finale document of an ending for the first repeat. This appears at the beginning of measure 3 in the original Finale score. (The ending number is not required).

If there is a Dal Segno repeat in the original score, an expression defined as a Repeat DS marker is required to mark the first pass of the Segno (sign), the actual D.S. section, and the end of the D.S. section. For these markers, the following parameters are then added to the Description text box in the Expression Designer to indicate the following:

d,f,m

d = Dal Segno number (starting with 1 for the first D.S. and increasing sequentially for each D.S section.

f = Flag to denote whether this marks the location of the Segno (sign) going by the first time (f=1), the actual beginning of the D.S. section (f=2), or the end of the D.S. section (f=E)

m = Measure number of the location in the original score.

Example:

This Repeat DS marks the location in the Finale document of the ‘actual beginning’ of the first DS section. This appears at the beginning of measure 3 in the original Finale score.

If there is a D.C. repeat in the original score, an expression defined as a Repeat DC marker is required to mark the beginning of the score, the ‘actual beginning’ of the D.C. section, and the end of the D.C. section. For these markers, the following parameters are then added to the Description text box in the Expression Designer to indicate the following:

d,f,m

d = D.C. number.

f = Flag to denote whether this marks the location of the beginning D.C. (f=1), the actual beginning of the D.C. section (f=2), or the end of the D.C. section (f=E)

m = Measure number of the location in the original score.

Example:

This Repeat D.C. marks the location in the Finale document of the ‘actual beginning’ of the first DS section. This appears at the beginning of measure 3 in the original Finale score.

On the first beat following the last iteration, an expression defined as a Repeat End marker is required to mark the completion of the repeated section and establish the measure to continue from in SmartMusic. The following entries are required in the Description section of the Expression Designer for a Repeat End marker to indicate the following:

r,E,m

r = Repeat number (starting with 1 on the first repeat pair and increasing by 1 for each successive pair). This should be the same “r” value used for each of the prior iterations.

m = Number of the measure, in the original score, following the repeated section.

Example:

This Repeat End marks the location in the Finale document of the ending of the fourth repeated section. This appears at the first beat of measure 16 in the original Finale document. This marker would appear at the first beat following the last iteration of the fourth repeat in the modified (through composed) Finale document.

To add markers for repeats without endings as expressions

  1. Open the Finale document. If it already contains repeat bars, text repeats, or other repeat indications that apply to playback, remove them. If the music is through composed already, skip to step 3.

Tip: To remove all repeats in a document at once, select the Selection tool. From the Edit menu, choose Select All (or press CTRL+A). Then, from the Edit menu, choose Clear Items. Select Only Selected Items, choose Measures, check Repeats, and then click OK back to the score.

  1. Copy and insert music to reproduce the flow of the original playback. See Copying music for details.

  1. Choose the Expression tool image\Expression_Tool.gif.
  2. On the solo staff (or the top staff of an ensemble score), double-click the first note of the first iteration of the repeat. If there is not a note on the first beat of the section in the top/solo staff, double-click the measure. The Expression Selection dialog box appears.
  3. Click Create. The Expression Designer dialog box appears.
  4. Type “Repeat 1” (optional). This text will appear in the score as a reminder, though you could leave this box empty if you do not care to display any text in the score. If you do not enter any text here, skip the next step.
  5. Highlight the text, and then from the Text menu, choose Style > Hidden. Now, the expression is defined to appear in light gray in the score, and will not print.
  6. Click the Playback tab.  
  7. From the Type drop-down menu, choose SmartMusic Marker. The SMS Marker drop-down menu appears.
  8. From the SMS Marker drop-down menu, choose Repeat Start.
  9. Choose the Text tab in the upper left.
  10. In the Description text box, separated by commas, type the values for r, t, and m. For example, if this is the first repeat pair in the score, first time through, starting on the first measure, you would enter the following:

  1. Click OK. You return to the Expression Selection dialog box.
  2. Click Select. The Expression Assignment dialog box appears.
  3. If you are assigning the marker as an Expression, in the Expression Assignment dialog box, under Begin Playback at, choose Beginning of Measure.
  4. Click OK. The expression appears above the score. Now, we’ll add another expression to indicate the beginning of the second iteration of the repeat.
  5. On the solo staff (or the top staff of an ensemble score), double-click the first note of the second iteration of the repeat. If there is not a note on the first beat of the section in the top/solo staff, double-click the measure. The Expression Selection dialog box appears.
  6. Click the expression you created for the first iteration and then click Duplicate. Since we just need to make a few changes to this expression, it is easiest to duplicate the one we’ve already made. The duplicate expression in highlighted automatically.
  7. Click Edit. The Expression Designer dialog box appears. Here, in the main text editor, you can change the text if desired to indicate this is the second pass. For example, you might type “Repeat 1 pass 2.”
  8. In the Description text box, separated by commas, type the values for r, t, and m. For example, if this is the first repeat in the score, second time through, starting on the third measure*, you would enter the following:

Note*: The measure number (third entry in the description field) for the first and second iteration should always be the same, even though the measure number in the Finale score will be different (since the piece is through composed). This instructs SmartMusic’s measure counter to return to the first measure of the repeated section. To adjust Finale’s measure numbering to correspond to the repeated sections, you might want to adjust the measure number regions for your own reference. This can be particularly useful if there are many repeated sections. See Measure numbers.

  1. Click OK. You return to the Expression Selection dialog box.
  2. Click Assign. The expression appears above the score. A repeat marker should now appear at the beginning of each iteration.

.

The image above shows a repeated section of music duplicated for compatibility with SmartMusic. A repeat marker expression appears on the first beat of each iteration. The numbers in parentheses show the values for r, t, and m (as if this example begins on measure 1).

  1. On the solo staff (or the top staff of an ensemble score), double-click the first note following the final iteration of the repeat. If there is not a note on the first beat of the section in the top/solo staff, double-click the measure. The Expression Selection dialog box appears.
  2. Type “Repeat End 1” (optional). This text will appear in the score as a reminder, though you could leave this box empty if you do not care to display any text in the score. If you do not enter any text here, skip the next two steps.
  3. Highlight the text, and then from the Text menu, choose Effects > Hidden. Now, the expression is defined to appear in light gray in the score, and will not print.
  4. Click the Playback tab.  
  5. From the Type drop-down menu, choose SmartMusic Marker. The SMS Marker drop-down menu appears.
  6. From the SMS Marker drop-down menu, choose Repeat End.
  7. Choose the Text tab in the upper left.
  8. In the Description text box, separated by commas, type the values for r, and m (as described above under Repeat markers for SmartMusic accompaniments). For example, if this is the end of the first repeat, that continues on measure 3 of the original Finale score, you would enter the following:

  1. Click OK. You return to the Expression Selection dialog box.
  2. Click Assign. The expression appears above the score.

You have completed defining a basic repeat for transfer to SmartMusic. Now, follow the instructions under SmartMusic to create the accompaniment SMP file. To create markers for repeats containing multiple endings, see To add markers for Ending repeats. To create markers for DS or DC repeats, see To add markers for D.S. and D.C. repeats.  

To add markers for repeats with endings as expressions

The same basic procedure for creating basic repeats also applies to the creation of repeats with a first and second ending, only an additional Repeat Ending marker is required to mark the first beat of each ending. You can define as many endings as you like. Ending repeats do not appear in the Repeat window of the SmartMusic interface, but are required to accurately display the appropriate measure number in SmartMusic’s measure counter.

  1. Open the Finale document. If the document is already through composed without repeat markings, skip the next two steps.
  2. If the repeats are marked in the score, copy music from the opening repeat through the measure prior to the first ending. Insert this music before the first measure of each ending (as shown below).See Copying music for details.
  3. Remove the repeat bars and endings. The repeated section should now be through composed (to playback as if the repeats were still there).

Tip: To remove all repeats in a document at once, select the Selection tool. From the Edit menu, choose Select All (or press CTRL+A). Then, from the Edit menu, choose Clear Items. Select Only Selected Items, choose Measures, check Repeats, and then click OK back to the score.

  1. If it already contains repeat bars, text repeats, or other repeat indications that apply to playback, remove them.
  2. Choose the Expression tool y and add an expression defined as a Repeat marker on the first beat of each iteration. Add the Repeat End marker on the beat following the final ending. See To add markers for repeats without endings for instructions.
  3. On the solo staff (or the top staff of an ensemble score), double-click the first note of an ending (start by clicking the first ending). If there is not a note on the first beat of the ending in the top/solo staff, double-click the measure. The Expression Selection dialog box appears.
  4. Type any desired text in the text editor window (e.g. “First Ending”) (optional). This text will appear in the score as a reminder, though you could leave this box empty if you do not care to display any text in the score. If this was the second ending, you might type “Second Ending.” If you do not enter any text here, skip the next two steps.
  5. Highlight the text, and then from the Text menu, choose Effects >> Hidden. Now, the expression is defined to appear in light gray in the score, and will not print.
  6. Click the Playback tab.  
  7. From the Type drop-down menu, choose SmartMusic Marker. The SMS Marker drop-down menu appears.
  8. From the SMS Marker drop-down menu, choose Repeat Ending.
  9. Choose the Text tab in the upper left.
  10. In the Description text box, separated by commas, type the values for r, and m (as described under Repeat markers for SmartMusic accompaniments). For example, if this is the first ending of the first repeat, that starts on measure 3 of the original Finale score, you would enter the following:

For the second ending of the repeat, add the number of measures in the first ending to establish the m value for the second ending. For this example, if the first ending defined above were one measure long, you would type the following for the second ending. (This should be consistent with the original Finale document)

 

  1. Click OK. You return to the Expression Selection dialog box.
  2. Click Assign. The expression appears above the score.
  3. Double-click the first note of the second ending, and then follow the last 12 steps for the second, third, or any additional endings.  

A repeat with a first and second ending properly defined for export as a SmartMusic accompaniment. The repeat and ending expressions are defined as Repeat markers and the final expression in the last measure is defined as a Repeat End marker. The values in parentheses are those that would appear in the Description text box of the Expression Designer.

Now, follow the instructions under SmartMusic to create the accompaniment SMP file.

To add markers for D.S. and D.C. repeats as expressions

  1. Open the Finale document.
  2. Copy and insert music to reproduce the flow of the original playback. In the image below, the D.S. section, up to the fine, is inserted after the last measure. For a D.C., music from the beginning up to the fine marking would be inserted after the last measure. If there are sections enclosed in repeat bars, duplicate them first. See Copying music for details.

  1. If the score contains repeat bars, text repeats, or other repeat indications that apply to playback, remove them.  
  2. Choose the Expression tool y and add Repeat markers for any repeat bars or endings. Add Repeat End markers at the conclusion of each repeat. See To add markers for repeats without endings and To add markers for repeats with endings for instructions. 
  3. Add an expression defined as a Repeat DS marker on the first beat of the Segno (first time through). Or, add a Repeat DC marker at the beginning of the score. In the Description text box of the Expression Designer, enter the appropriate d, f and m values (as described for Repeat DS and Repeat DC under Repeat markers for SmartMusic accompaniments). For example, if this is the first D.S., first pass, that starts on measure 3 of the original Finale score, you would enter the following:

If a Repeat DC or Repeat DS marker is required at the same point as a normal Repeat marker (that begins a repeat), place the Repeat DC/DS marker just to the left of the Repeat. To offset a marker by less than a beat, position the expression in the score accordingly, and then, in the Expression Assignment dialog box, for Begin Playback at, choose Position in Measure.

  1. Add an expression defined as a Repeat DS marker on the first beat of the actual Segno (that appears in the measure after the D.S. marking). Or, for a D.C., add a Repeat DC marker on the first beat of the second iteration of the music (that was copied earlier). In the Description text box of the Expression Designer, enter the appropriate d, f and m values. For example, if this is the first D.S., second pass, that starts on measure 3 of the original Finale score, you would enter the following:

  1. Add an expression defined as a Repeat DS marker on the first beat of the measure following the Segno section. Or, for a D.C., add a Repeat DC marker after the last beat of the music. In the Description text box of the Expression Designer, enter the appropriate d, f and m values. For example, if this is the end of the first D.S., that ends on measure 5 of the original Finale score, you would enter the following:

 

If the last measure of the Segno section is the last measure of the score, enter an expression just to the right of the last beat of the measure.

If a Repeat DS/DC end is required at the same point as a Repeat End marker, place the Repeat DS/DC marker just to the right of the Repeat End.

The image below shows an example of a D.S. repeat with the appropriate SmartMusic Performance Markers. The values in parentheses are those that should appear in the Description text box of the Expression designer.

Repeated sections are marked on the D.S. or D.C. even if the repeats are not played (for sections marked “repeat first time only” for example). In these cases, the Repeat marker should be set to “0” for the t (time) value in the Description text box of the Expression designer to signify that this is the only time through.

The following chart shows an example of a D.C. al Fine. The top portion shows an outline of the original file. The bottom portion shows the through composed sequence and the correct positioning of repeat marker expressions for the D.C. al Fine.

 

 

 

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