I have a number of Finale files I need to import into Dorico, everything from Lead Sheets (melody and lyrics with chord symbols) to full orchestral arrangements which include a rhythm section lead sheet (as one part of the orchestration), I am using the latest version of Finale and Dorico. I recently exported a lead sheet from Finale as an XML file, and imported that into an orchestral template. As expected, the part was imported as a new Flow at the end, but it is missing the chord symbols. I verified that the Finale file has all chord symbols entered using the chord tool (not as text) and if I open the XML file the chorus symbols are present. The Rhythm player (and all rhythm section parts) are set up to display chord symbols. I have tried an AI search (everything is already correct) and I have opened the XML file and it does correctly display chord symbols, so I do not know why Dorico is not importing them correctly. All suggestions appreciated.
Please go to Setup Mode, right-click on any player and check in the context menu that the chord symbols are not hidden for all instruments.
Already verified that. Right click on any instrument and selections are Show in Full Score and Parts and Show in Rhythm Section Instruments. What I do not understand is that it pastes the lead sheet into a new flow as an unnamed part (despite my specifying that it match if possible), so I don’t know how Dorico determines what type of part it is pasting into the new Flow. I suspect that it does not recognize the lead sheet as a rhythm section part. How can I tell/force Dorico to recognize that?
You can mark an instrument as Rhythm section instrument in the Edit Instruments window. You can get there by selecting Instruments… in menu Library or by (left!)-clicking on the three dots of the instrument in Setup Mode,
If Finale is exporting the chord symbols as text, they will not appear as Chord Symbols in Dorico, and depending on your import settings may not be visible at all.
Does it work if you import it into a new project rather than an orchestral template? Just throwing out guesses here. I have imported a bunch of songs made in Finale that included chord symbols so it should work.
Can you share a file that’s not working?
Vadian’s suggestion worked, sort of. When I renamed the imported part as Rhythm (the same name in the template score), and instructed that Player to display chord symbols in all parts, the chord symbols appeared in the imported part. However, when I tried importing that part into the Score, it carried with it several System breaks and Frame breaks (likely done in Finale to make the page look correct), so the last few pages of the score were crushed onto 2 pages (graphic attached). I removed all of the System breaks and Frame breaks so the part looked normal and unformatted. However, when I copied and pasted the part into the Score, things looked identical. I ultimately had to go into the Score and ‘remove the removal’ of the system and score breaks to get anything that looked remotely correct. Clearly there must be a better way of avoiding this formatting nightmare each time.
For what it’s worth, I was able to fix the Score by resetting the Layout (in Engrave mode, on the left side Rest Laout under Lock layout. I suspect if I re-set the Layout of the imported part before putting it into the Score it will import with no artifacts. I will try that on my next Xml import and advise
You control this in Preferences>MusicXML>Import options. Most users leave all these unchecked (except perhaps the Text items) to allow Dorico to use it’s own options to handle the score.