Quarter Tone Accidentals and Playback in Finale

Last edited by Ward Baxter, 1/17/2005

This article is in response to an OAQ (Occasionally Asked Question) on the forums at www.finalemusic.com. A few years back, I posted a method for playback of accidentals, and have received several e-mails on the subject asking for more details and a step-by-step tutorial. Since this is too large to post on the forum, I opted to just store it on my web server. I originally wrote the article from a Finale 2002 standpoint, but have now rewritten it to take advantage of newer features. Things are a lot easier in Finale 2005, now that you can automatically position note-attached expressions. Keep in mind that this is pretty advanced, and if you're new to Finale, it gets confusing. As a description before the walkthrough, what we're going to do is this:

OK, let's create a test document just to practice the process.

  1. Create a new document (File > New > Default Document)
  2. In the first measure, enter in 2 quarter-notes on C and 2 on C# (in the staff)
  3. In the second measure, enter in 2 quarter-notes on D and 2 on D# (in the staff)

Setting playback for "raise by one quarter-tone":

  1. Select the expression tool (mf)
  2. Double-click on beat 2 of the first measure...the "Expression Selection" window appears
  3. From the right-hand side of the window, choose "Create..."
  4. Choose "Font..." from the Text menu (next to Edit: Text > Font...)
  5. Change the font to "Maestro Percussion", "Regular", "24" and click OK
  6. Back in the Text menu, choose Text > Inserts > Symbol...
  7. Choose the symbol you would like to use for "raise by one quarter-tone", I recommend symbol 181
  8. Under description, type "raise by one quarter-tone"
  9. Click on the Playback tab
  10. Under the Type dropdown menu, select Pitchwheel
  11. Under effect, next to "Set to Value", type 341 (or 2048 if not using Human Playback or using a version of Finale earlier than 2003)
  12. Click on the "Note Positioning" tab
  13. On the left side of the window, under "Horizontal," select "Right" from the "Expression Alignment Point" dropdown menu
  14. select "Left of Primary Notehead" from the "Note Alignment Point" drop-down menu
  15. Set "Additional Horizontal Offset" to -0.02778 (this is the same number in your Document Options > Accidentals > Space Between Accidental and Note, except negative...to offset to the left)
  16. On the right side of the window, under "Vertical," select "Top Note" from the "Position" drop-down menu
  17. Set "Additional Entry Offset" to .01
  18. Click OK, and the symbol with playback is created
  19. Make sure "Note Expression" (NOT "Measure Expression" is selected at the bottom of the window, and click SELECT to assign that symbol to the note
  20. In the "Note Expression Assignment" window, set both H and V values to "0" and click OK

(This should have created a quarter-tone sharp symbol to the left of the notehead vertically aligned with the regular sharp symbol on beat 3.)

Setting playback for "set pitchwheel to zero":

Now, you must create an expression to set the Pitchwheel back to zero, otherwise ALL notes will be played up a quarter-tone.
  1. Select the expression tool
  2. Double-click on beat 3 of the first measure...the "Expression Selection" window appears
  3. Scroll down to the bottom, and select the symbol you just created
  4. From the right-hand side of the window, choose "Duplicate"
  5. Now choose "Edit..." for the duplicated symbol
  6. From the text menu, choose Text > Style > Hidden
  7. choose Text > Inserts > Symbol... (like we did before)
  8. Choose the symbol you would like to use for "set pitchwheel to zero", although it may seems confusing, I recommend symbol 78 which is the parenthesized natural symbol. Just keep in mind that this doesn't mean natural...just that it is returning the pitchwheel to normal
  9. Under description, type "set pitchwheel to zero"
  10. Click on the Playback tab
  11. Under the Type dropdown menu, select Pitchwheel
  12. Under effect, change Pitchwheel's "Set to Value" to 0
  13. Click on the "Note Positioning" tab
  14. On the left side of the window, under "Horizontal," select "Center" from the "Expression Alignment Point" dropdown menu
  15. select "Center of All Noteheads" from the "Note Alignment Point" drop-down menu
  16. Set "Additional Horizontal Offset" to "0"
  17. On the right side of the window, under "Vertical," select "Above Staff Baseline or Entry" from the "Position" drop-down menu
  18. Set "Additional Baseline Offset" to -0.1 (leave entry offset at 0)
  19. Click OK, and the symbol with playback is created
  20. Make sure "Note Expression" (NOT "Measure Expression" is selected at the bottom of the window, and click SELECT to assign that symbol to the note
  21. In the "Note Expression Assignment" window, set both H and V values to "0" and click OK

(This should have created a shadow of a parenthesized natural symbol above the staff centered on the notehead. This symbol will not print. It is only there to remind you that you cancelled out the pitchweel playback)

The dilemna for "raise by three quarter-tones":

In the example we're working on, we want beat 4 to be a three-quarter-tone sharp symbol, which is three quarter-steps away from C. But in terms of playback, the note preceding it is a C#...which is already raised 2 quarter-tones (1 full semitone). Therefore, on beat 4, we only want the symbol to appear as a three-quarter-tones sharp, but playback to be only "raise by one quarter-tone." To work with this option, just duplicate the quarter-tone sharp symbol you created, change the symbol to 247, and leave the description as "raise by one quarter-tone." However, if you actually have a case where you need a true 3-quarter-tone playback, say from a C natural to this note...you will need a separate symbol....one that looks the same, but has a pitchwheel value of 1024 (or 6144 if not using Human Playback or using a version of Finale earlier than 2003) Although this works, I prefer an alternate the following method.

  1. Select the "Speedy Entry Tool" and click in measure 1 if it doesn't automatically go there
  2. Put the cursor on the notehead of beat 4 (either by clicking or using your arrow keys on the keyboard)
  3. Press the minus ( - ) key. This lowers the pitch back to C.
  4. Press the Asterisk ( * ) key. This hides the natural accidental.
  5. A true 3/4 quarter-tone can now be created
  6. Select the expression tool
  7. Double-click on beat 4 of the first measure...the "Expression Selection" window appears
  8. Scroll down to the bottom, and select the quarter-tone sharp you created
  9. From the right-hand side of the window, choose "Duplicate"
  10. Now choose "Edit..." for the duplicated symbol
  11. choose Text > Inserts > Symbol...
  12. I recommend using symbol 247, but choose whatever you'd like
  13. Under description, type "set pitchwheel to zero"
  14. Click on the Playback tab
  15. Under description, type "raise by three quarter-tones"
  16. Click on the Playback tab
  17. Under the Type dropdown menu, select Pitchwheel
  18. Under effect, next to "Set to Value", type 1024 (or 6144 if not using Human Playback or using a version of Finale earlier than 2003)
  19. The Note Postioning values shouldn't need adjusting, so you can just click OK to create the symbol
  20. Make sure "Note Expression" (NOT "Measure Expression" is selected at the bottom of the window, and click SELECT to assign that symbol to the note
  21. In the "Note Expression Assignment" window, set both H and V values to "0" and click OK

Wrapping it up:

Using the symbols you already created, continue the pattern for the next measure, starting with assigning the "pitchweel to zero" symbol to the D. When assigning each symbol, set both H and V values to "0"

Just make sure that you assign the "pitchweel to zero" symbol after EVERY quarter-tone symbol, and you're in business. These few symbols should allow you the flexibility you need for most single-line notated quarter-tone music. You should now have enough background knowledge to create quarter-tone flat symbols, but below are the values to get you up and running.

Setting playback for "lower by one quarter-tone":

You may also want to create a quarter tone down expression. Just follow the steps above, but set the Pitchwheel to -341 (or -2048 if not using Human Playback or using a version of Finale earlier than 2003). I like using the backwards flat symbol (symbol 66), but there are other acceptible choices in the list as well, it's up to you.

Setting playback for "lower by three quarter-tones":

For a lowered 3/4 quarter-tone, set the pitchwheel to -1024 (or -6144 if not using Human Playback or using a version of Finale earlier than 2003). Symbols 73 and 245 are probably the most popular choices.

A few things to note: the pitchwheel is assigned to the entire channel for playback. Therefore, every note in a chord is affected by the pitchwheel. One possible method around this is to assign different channels to different layers and to assign the quarter-tone playback to one layer only... but that is beyond the scope of this tutorial. Please note that the Pitchwheel values presented here are common values for Creative Soundcards SoundFont (2048) and Finale's SoftSynth (341), but may not be accurate for all MIDI devices. If neither of the Pitchwheel values are working for you, find the value of a semitone on your MIDI device, and divide it in half. In other words, with Creative's SoundFont, a semitone is 4096...therefore a quarter-tone is 2048 (4096/2).