MicNotator

For best results with MicNotator, follow these basic guidelines:

The purpose of MicNotator is to allow users to input notes via a wind instrument instead of a MIDI keyboard. This version of MicNotator is not designed for use with a vocalist (i.e., does not accommodate wide vibrato, glissandi, etc.). When using MicNotator, keep in mind that the desired result is to notate and print the music as you want it, not to record your performance. So think of it more like a typewriter and less like a tape recorder.

Setting up MicNotator

1. Plug the microphone into your computer. Make sure it is plugged into the Mic In port, not Line In. If you’re using a Mac that does not have a Mic port, you may need a USB to microphone adapter, such as the iMic from Griffin Technology.
2. From the MIDI/Audio Menu, choose Audio Setup. Or, click the MicNotator icon on the MIDI/Audio Menu Toolbar. The Audio Setup Dialog box appears.
3. Place a checkmark on Enable MicNotator.  
4. Under Mic Level, use the slider to control the microphone input level. THE MIC LEVEL IS VERY IMPORTANT TO SUCCESSFUL NOTE ENTRY WITH MIC NOTATOR. For best results, use the small clip-on microphone available from MakeMusic Customer Service at 1.800.843.2066. To set the mic level, follow these steps:
5. Place the microphone as follows:

6. Play your instrument and watch the level lights.  
7. Move the slider next to the level light up or down to obtain the correct input level. The lights should be green most of the time; red is too high, blue is too low. Occasional red readings are acceptable. To ensure accurate pitch detection, follow the guidelines for mic placement and mic level above.

Using MicNotator with Speedy Entry

Before you begin, make sure you’ve set up the MicNotator for your instrument. See Setting Up MicNotator. You’ll need to use the Hands-Free MIDI method (unless you can play one-handed). For more details, see Speedy Entry.

1. Click the Speedy Entry Tool  , and click a measure. The editing frame appears.
2. Press caps lock; then press the number key on the computer keyboard corresponding to the value you want to enter. In other words, you’re now telling Finale what the note values are going to be before you specify the pitches.

The number you press appears in the lower-left corner of the editing frame.

3. Play the notes on your instrument. Each note you play appears in the document; if Jump to Next Measure is checked in the Speedy Menu, the editing frame advances automatically as soon as you fill each measure. It’s safe to outplay Finale, too; it will remember up to 500 notes (and continue to notate them as fast as your computer allows).

Using MicNotator with Simple Entry

Make sure you’ve set up the MicNotator for your instrument. See Setting Up MicNotator. You’ll be using the Simple Entry Caret to do this. For more details, see Simple Entry.

1. Click the Simple Entry Tool  .
2. From the Simple Menu, choose Use MIDI Device for Input.
3. From the Simple Menu, choose Simple Entry Options, and ensure Use Simple Entry Caret is checked. Then click OK. The Simple Entry Caret appears.
4. Click or use the arrow keys to place the caret where you would like to start entering notes.  
5. Choose the duration of the note you want to enter (by clicking a duration icon or pressing its corresponding keystroke). See Keycuts-Simple Entry Tool for details.
6. Play the notes on your instrument. Each note you play appears in the document of the duration selected. Use keystrokes to quickly change durations between notes. It’s safe to outplay Finale, too; it will remember up to 500 notes (and continue to notate them as fast as your computer allows). To record notes without help from the computer keyboard to specify duration, use the HyperScribe entry method (see below).

Using MicNotator with HyperScribe

Before you begin, make sure you’ve set up the MicNotator for your instrument. See Setting Up MicNotator. For more details about HyperScribe, see Recording with HyperScribe.

MicNotator will notate what you play, so your performance should reflect the desired printed results, rather than the desired sound. For instance, if you play eighth notes in a staccato style, they may come out as sixteenth notes rather than eighth notes. So you should play the full duration of all notes. Also, you will experience better results if you input notes at a slow tempo.

Follow the basic guidelines for quantization that you would use with MIDI input. As a general rule, you should quantize to the smallest duration that you will play (i.e., if your smallest duration is an eighth, quantize to the eighth note rather than the sixteenth). The No Tuplets quantization setting produces the best results. Even if you have triplets in your performance, you will have better results using the No Tuplets setting and then editing the triplet measures (using the speedy note tool).

If you encounter small rhythmic errors when entering sixteenth note passages, click on the More Settings in the Quantization Settings dialog box and change the Very Short Notes value from 20 EDUs to 0 EDUs.

1. From the MIDI/Audio Menu, choose Quantization Settings. The Quantization Settings dialog box appears.
2. Click on the More Settings button. The More Quantization Settings dialog box appears.
3. Under Very Short Notes, click in the Remove Notes Smaller text box and enter 20.  
4. Choose Remove Grace Notes.  
5. Under Options, ensure Include Voice Two and Allow Dotted Rests are unchecked.  
6. Click OK. You return to the Quantization Settings dialog box. Adjust the settings, then click OK. See Quantization Settings dialog box for more information.
7. Click the HyperScribe Tool  . The HyperScribe Menu appears.
8. From the HyperScribe Menu, choose Beat Source, then Playback and/or Click. The Playback and/or Click dialog box appears. (See Playback and/or Click dialog box) If you’d rather provide the tap or tempo yourself, see Tap Source dialog box.
9. Click the note duration you would like to use for your beat. Type in the number of EDUs for any duration that is not available from the palette.
10. If you know what tempo you want to record at, enter the tempo into the Tempo text box. If you prefer to have Finale calculate the tempo for you, click Listen, then tap your mouse in the dialog box at the desired tempo. Finale will enter the tempo you play.
11. Choose a start signal from the Start Signal for Recording drop-down list. Finale will delay starting the countoff measures and recording until it receives a start signal. Choose None (Record Immediately) if you don’t want to use a signal to start recording—Finale will immediately start recording (after playing the countoff if one was specified); choose Any MIDI Data for Finale to start recording upon receiving any MIDI signal that’s played; choose Current Metronome Sound to use the same MIDI signal as the metronome click; choose Standard Sustain Pedal or Nonstandard Sustain Pedal to signal the start by depressing the foot pedal; choose Other to define an alternate MIDI signal as the start signal in the MIDI Event dialog box (see MIDI Event dialog box).
12. Deselect Play Staves While Recording or make sure MicNotator is set to a unique input channel. See Audio Setup dialog box.
13. Click on Click and Countoff to set up your click and countoff options. For details, see Click and Countoff dialog box.
14. Click OK. You return to the document.
15. From the HyperScribe Menu, choose Record into One Staff. MicNotator only supports single pitch instruments.
16. To start recording, click the measure in which you want Finale to begin recording. Signal Finale to start (if you selected a start signal). Click a measure. Or, choose Playback Controls from the Window Menu, if it isn’t already selected. Change the measure if necessary, then click Record in the Playback Controls.

Note: If you click a measure to start recording, Finale will start recording into the measure you clicked, not the measure displayed in the Playback Controls.

17. When you’re finished, if you are providing the beat, give one extra tap. The extra tap is required to fill out the beat, for the benefit of Finale’s quantization feature.
18. Click anywhere on the screen to stop recording. If the quantization or split point settings weren’t quite right, change them; then click the first measure and try the performance again. HyperScribe will overwrite whatever music is already on the staff.

Note you can also adjust Finale’s MIDI In Latency setting for improved recognition. If notes tend to appear behind the beat during a recording session, do the following.

19. From the MIDI/Audio Menu, choose MIDI Setup, and then click the Advanced button.  
20. For MIDI In Latency, enter “50” and click OK. Try recording. You may need to experiment with different values until you find the amount of MIDI latency that works best.