Finale is a proprietary music notation software developed and released by MakeMusic for Microsoft Windows and macOS from 1988 until 2024, when it was discontinued. It offers many fundamental workflow changes not seen since the program's inception, such as the organization of expressions by category. Also notable is the re-designed Page View, which enables the viewing and editing of multiple pages within the same document window: these pages may either be arranged in a horizontal line or tiled vertically within a window. Finale 2009 includes Garritan's new Aria Player Engine, and has new samples for this. The older Kontakt 2 Player is still supported, and the samples load under this also.

Finale 2010 was released in June 2009 with improvements to percussion notation and chord symbols. This version also introduced measure number enhancements, auto-ordered rehearsal marks and support for additional graphic formats.

Finale 2011 was released in June 2010 with additional Garritan Sounds, Alpha Notes (notation with note names inside), a new lyric entry window and other lyric enhancements, and a reworking of staff, system, and page layout handling. Introduced the new "Hide Empty Staves" command under the Staff menu, which hides all empty staves in systems. If notes are added to the system, the staff reappears automatically. (The capability of intentionally hiding staves containing notes is still available using a Staff Style). Other improvements to this Finale version include easier capo chords and a new Aria Player.

Finale 2012 was released in October 2011 with new functions as Finale's ScoreManager, Unicode text support, creation of PDF files, an updated setup Wizard, improved sound management.

In 2013, MakeMusic signed an agreement with Alfred Music. Under this agreement, Alfred Music became the sole distributor of Finale and Garritan products.

Finale 2014 was released in November 2013 with new functions. As with all previous releases, a new file format was introduced, which is incompatible with older versions of Finale. However, this time easier file exchange with future versions of Finale was promised. Finale 2014's new functions include a rewritten file format for forward and backward file compatibility, improved Apple OS X support, a new audio engine, additional Garritan sounds, and a new user interface. 2014d is the last version. An updated version, Finale 2014.5 fixes several problems.

Finale Version 25 was released on August 16, 2016. Some new features include: ReWire support, so that Finale can be used simultaneously and in sync with digital audio software. The new "Aria Player" speeds up and simplifies the choosing of Garritan instruments. Beginning with this version, the user manual is found entirely online. Band-in-a-Box and a couple of other plug-ins were removed. The ability to import scanned documents was removed. Several other features were added.

Finale Version 26 was released on October 10, 2018. This release includes new features such as automatically stacking articulations, automated slur collision avoidance, expedited processes for entering chord symbols and expressions, and additional templates.

Finale Version 27 was released on June 15, 2021. This release includes new features like interactive music sharing functionality, Standard Music Font Layout (SMuFL) support, an improved instrument list, MusicXML 4.0, and numerous bug fixes.

On August 26, 2024, Greg Dell'Era, president of MakeMusic, announced that the software would no longer be developed or sold, and that support would end one year from the announcement date. A partnership with Dorico's developer, Steinberg, was also announced as an alternative for Finale users.

Awards

  • Best Book/Video/Software at the 2015 Music & Sound Awards

See also

  • List of scorewriters
  • List of music software
  • Comparison of scorewriters

References

General references

  • Matthew Nicholl & Richard Grudzinski, Music Notation: Preparing Scores and Parts, ed. Jonathan Feist. Boston: Berklee Press (2007)

Inline citations

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