Percussion basics

Adding percussion.

One of the more powerful aspects of Finale is the ability to easily enter percussion and assign any percussion instrument to any staff position.

In this lesson you will learn how to:

1. Enter percussion parts with Simple Entry
2. Change the position of a percussion instrument on the staff

Note. To begin at this point, open "Tutorial 9.MUS."

Entering percussion notes with Simple Entry

Notes can be entered on a percussion staff with Simple Entry either by clicking them with the mouse or using the Simple Entry Caret. This example will use a basic drum set staff. (We already added a Drum Set staff to our project back in Chapter 4.) When you added a percussion staff with the Setup Wizard, Finale automatically assigns the appropriate Percussion Layout, which includes the appropriate instruments, or Note Types. This allows you to see and hear the instruments as you enter them. As you move your mouse over the percussion staff, you’ll notice that the cursor changes to display different noteheads for each note as well as display the name of the percussion instrument. Many percussion instruments will be notated on the same line or space. Let's add a simple rock ballad beat to our arrangement.

To enter percussion with Simple Entry:

1. Move to Scroll View if you're not in Scroll View already (View > Scroll View)
2. Select the Eighth note .
3. Move your mouse cursor to the top space (above the staff) until you see an X notehead with the text "Hi-Hat closed" next to it, then click. If you make a mistake and enter the wrong instrument, use your + and – keys to toggle through your options on that pitch until you find the correct instrument.
4. Press ENTER to activate the Simple Entry caret.
5. Use the UP ARROW to move the cursor to the top space until you see the text "Hi-Hat Closed."
6. Press ENTER.
7. Enter the following measure, as shown.

8. Once you’ve completed this measure, you can add additional notes for Kick Drum and Snare Drum using either the mouse or the Simple Entry caret. Click on spaces as shown. Or, to add the note using the caret, you would, for example, select the first Hi-Hat note and press SHIFT+9 on the number row (to add a 9th below). For the Snare, you would press SHIFT+5. In any case, once the note is added to the correct staff position, use the + or – to adjust the Note Type and select the appropriate instrument.

Watch video "Entering percussion with Simple Entry."

Note. Remember you can CTRL+Click on the Hi-Hat note to add a note below it.

To repeat this measure for the duration of the piece, use Finale's Copy Multiple command.

9. Choose the Selection tool .
10. From the Edit menu, uncheck Use Filter (if it is still checked).
11. Click the measure of percussion you just entered and press CTRL+C.
12. Click measure 2 of the Drum Set staff and press CTRL+ALT+V. The Paste Multiple dialog box appears.
13. Type "16" and click OK. Finale adds the 16 measures of percussion. 
14. Compose your own drum part for the last measure.

Changing the staff position

Percussion Layouts can be edited to suit your needs in a particular document. Once changes are made, they will affect notes you have already entered as well as any notes entered from that point on. In this case, you may decide that you want the Snare Drum to appear on the third line instead of the third space.

To change a percussion instrument's staff position:

1. Choose Window > Score Manager and select the Drum Set staff.
2. Click the Settings button next to Notation Style: Percussion.
3. Click Edit to open the Percussion Layout Designer.
4. Click Snare Drum.
5. On the right, click the handle next to the notes and drag down to move the Snare Drum from the third space to the third line.
6. Click OK, Select, OK.

Notice that the Snare Drum now appears on the third line. This will be the default position for this staff as you continue entering notes. You may find that you wish to customize your Layouts and use them in future documents. In this case, you can create a Percussion Layout, save it and load it into a new document.

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