Finale sunsetter here. Like all, the recent news was unwelcome, but also a little breath of fresh air. I have been using Finale since the days it was on my old Mac SE-30. But I was getting tired of all the macros and work arounds and was considering Dorico for awhile. Now the day of reckoning has begun. Maybe some step-by-step comparative examples are needed.
I didn’t have any problems with installation, but I did have to set up the output to speakers which has led to the problem of having to redo that procedure every time I open Dorico. Is that a bug or preference I must save?
Looking at other comments on the forum, it looks like one of the biggest hang-ups is the infamous “pitch before duration” tug-of -war between Finale and Dorico. My method was always this way: play the pitch on the MIDI controller and hit the corresponding rhythmic figure. I have been able to accomplish that but is there a tool combination that must always be used for this scenario? Seems I need two tools to accomplish this. Tools seem to stick on (I think I read that somewhere), so clicking on another seems to compound a flow that Finale never had, a tool is closed when you click on another tool. Am I missing something in this scenario?
Another thing to get used to is clicking in a measure to enter notes and the caret is an 1/8th note off so when a whole-note is selected, it creates a giant convoluted rhythm that must be undone and redone.
Ties are also not obvious in their use. In the 5-step intro there’s an example of adding a half-note on count 4 and it automatically makes 2 ¼’s that tie over the barline, then a note is to be altered by a ½ step on count 1. The procedure using just the computer keyboard is convoluted but makes the bottom note tie over but not the top altered note. Using the MIDI keyboard entry method, neither note will be tied and then you can’t add a tie to the bottom note from the previous measure to the bottom of the following measure. Again, am I missing something?
I appreciate the help this forum has provided and beg for members patience in the upcoming months as us Finale-folk learn a new musical instrument…
