Sample List for Executable Shape dialog box

How to get there

  1. Choose the Expression tool icon and double-click a note or measure. The Expression Selection dialog box appears.

    If the expression already appears in the score, double-click its ClosedhandleA small square which appears on currently "selectable" elements in the score. Handles allow you to select, edit and adjust musical elements in the score. to open the Expression Selection dialog box.

  2. Select an expression and click Edit. The Expression Designer dialog box appears.
  3. Select the Playback tab.
  4. Select Execute Shape and then click Select. The Executable Shape Selection dialog box appears.
  5. Select an existing executable shape and click Edit or Create. The Executable Shape Designer dialog box appears.
  6. Select the Use List checkbox.

What it does

An Executable Shape is a line that Finale uses to define how music should be played to produce changes over time of some musical aspect: tempo or volume, for example. The Executable Shape is created in the Executable Shape Designer dialog box Usually, Finale samples (consults the contour of) an Executable Shape at regular intervals. For example, Finale might sample the shape you’ve drawn for a rallentando every eighth note so that the tempo decreases with each passing eighth note.

If you want Finale’s playback to respond only to specific samples (instead of every sample), select Use List to display the Sample List for Executable Shape dialog box. Enter a series of numbers, one in each text box, to tell Finale which samples provided by the Executable Shape you want it to register for playback.

  • [Text boxes]. Use these text boxes to specify which of the samples generated by the Executable Shape you want Finale to respond to in creating the playback effect. Enter the sample numbers, in sequence, in the successive text boxes. You can enter up to six specified sample numbers.
  • << >> [buttons]. Click the left or right arrow buttons to scroll through the six text boxes.
  • Clear. Click Clear to reset the numbers in all the text boxes to 0. If you click OK at this point, Finale deselects the Use List checkbox and will sample the Executable Shape at regular intervals in the usual way (every eighth note if the Time Scale is 1:1).
  • Cancel • OK. Click OK (or press RETURN) to confirm, or Cancel to discard, the changes you’ve made and return the Executable Shape Designer dialog box. The sequence of samples you entered will now repeat in an endless loop for as long as the Executable Shape (or the music it affects) lasts.

    If Quit at End of Sample List is selected in the Executable Shape Designer dialog box Finale only plays through your list once.

See also:

Executable Shape Designer dialog box