Avid Pro Audio Community

Avid Pro Audio Community

How to Join & Post  •  Community Terms of Use  •  Help Us Help You

Knowledge Base Search  •  Community Search  •  Learn & Support


Avid Home Page

Go Back   Avid Pro Audio Community > Legacy Products > 003, Mbox 2, Digi 002, original Mbox, Digi 001 (Mac)

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 01-08-2008, 06:52 PM
djcream djcream is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Brooklyn
Posts: 116
Default Midi Setup for Finale 2008 with Mbox 2 Pro & PT LE 7.3.1

Hi. I've just installed Finale 2008 & need help figuring out how to set it up with my system. Finale has a "Midi Setup" dialog box where I'm to choose Input & Output devices for each bank of Finale channels. My I/O choices in the dropdowns are:

-Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro
-Finale 2008 Input 1
-Finale 2008 Input 2
-Finale 2008 Input 3
-Finale 2008 Input 4
-MIDISport 4x4 Port C
-MIDISport 4x4 Port D
-P-140
-XP-50

Do I simply choose the Mbox Inputs & Outputs for each bank? There are 8 banks with 16 channels each.

With the exception of P-140 & XP-50, I also have the option to choose one of the above for "Recieve MIDI Sync" and "Send MIDI Sync".
As well there is a "Send MTC Sync To" dropdown with the same choices.

Is anyone familiar with using this program with PT? Can you help me out? I have no idea what I'm doing & the Finale documentation is a bit over my head on the MIDI stuff.

Thanks!!!
dj
__________________
PT LE 7.4.2/Mac Pro 2.8 Ghz 8 Core/10Gb RAM/OS X 10.5.8/Mbox 2 Pro/MIDISport 4x4/Roland XP-50/Yamaha P-140
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 01-08-2008, 08:47 PM
BFrederick BFrederick is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 78
Default Re: Midi Setup for Finale 2008 with Mbox 2 Pro & PT LE 7.3.1

What exactly are you trying to do with Finale and PT? Finale doesn't talk directly with PT, or vice versa.

You can connect your MIDI gear either through your Mbox or your Midisport. I'm not sure how the Mbox's MIDI works with other programs- for instance, with my 002, the MIDI connections only work with PT (not in standalone mode for other apps). I'd recommend hooking to your Midisport, as it can talk to PT and Finale.

Finale can export your composition as an audio file - which would save you the effort of manually recording your composition back into PT. Granted, this won't be rendered from your external gear.

Finale can also export a MIDI file of your composition that you could import to PT. This is the way you need to go to hear your Finale composition played back on your external gear.

Let me know if I'm going off in left field here - have I described what you're trying to accomplish?
__________________
BRENT FREDERICK
Musical Director, Arranger, Pianist
PT10, MOTU Audio Express, 10.7.2
http://www.BrentFrederickMusic.com
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 01-09-2008, 06:46 PM
djcream djcream is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Brooklyn
Posts: 116
Default Re: Midi Setup for Finale 2008 with Mbox 2 Pro & PT LE 7.3.1

Thanks BFrederick. Yes, you're definitely on the right track.

My MIDI gear is connected to the MIDISport.

There are two things I want to do with Finale:

-I'd like to be able to take a composition that I've recorded in PT and send it to Finale so I could print the notation.

-I'd also like to be able to play a composition on one of my MIDI controllers (the P-140 and/or the XP-50 keyboards) and have it go directly to Finale & print the notation.

I'm not sure if whatever I play would have to be recorded into PT first, or if I could create a score in Finale directly from one of my keyboards. Ideally I could do both.

I haven't explored Finale enough yet to know what else I'd like to do with it. For now, if you could tell me how to configure the MIDI setup to use as above, that would get me started. Is that enough info? Let me know if I need to be more specific.

I really appreciate your help!
dj
__________________
PT LE 7.4.2/Mac Pro 2.8 Ghz 8 Core/10Gb RAM/OS X 10.5.8/Mbox 2 Pro/MIDISport 4x4/Roland XP-50/Yamaha P-140
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 01-10-2008, 10:58 AM
BFrederick BFrederick is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 78
Default Re: Midi Setup for Finale 2008 with Mbox 2 Pro & PT LE 7.3.1

Method one - taking your score from PT to Finale:

It's a shame this kind of stuff isn't easier to do with Finale... but with Digi's acquisition of Sibelius and it's subsequent integration with PT, I don't see such a future.

I'm going to assume that you recorded your composition into PT on MIDI or instrument tracks. If you only recorded audio, you're out of luck.

This operation can't be done in real-time... there isn't any rewire functionality between these programs and I can't think of any way that Finale can take realtime MIDI input from a sequencer (ie playing PT and having Finale transcribe as it goes).

You'll need to export your MIDI tracks from your PT session - and import them into a Finale composition as new staves. Then you finesse it in Finale to make it readable, printable, etc... I'm not going to go into the mechanics of this here as it's laid out pretty clearly in the PT Reference Guide.

If you haven't already, I'd highly recommend recording in PT to a click in Grid mode with all your time signatures and key signatures mapped into the PT session. This way, Finale can take all that information from the MIDI file you generate in PT and your resulting score will be a lot cleaner. These kind of imports can look pretty crazy in Finale, depending on the quantization level and the intricacy of your composition.

Honestly, if you plan on using this workflow frequently, my suggestion is to learn Sibelius. Granted, that costs a good pile of money, but if you are new to Finale (ie, not saddled with having to relearn a notation program) you might save yourself a lot of time and effort.

I'm definitely NOT trying to sound like a shill for Sibelius... in fact, I much prefer Finale. My point is that both programs do pretty much the same things, but it's difficult to acclimate to a new one if you are proficient in another. The only reason I don't use Sibelius is because I've used Finale since version 3 and I just don't have the time to waste on learning a new program when I have a client depending on the output.

Method Two - playing into Finale:

You certainly can play your MIDI gear directly into Finale - either using Speedy entry (out of time, one note/chord at a time), or the Hyperscribe tool (realtime to a click or a tap). The setup is easy. Just pull up the Finale MIDI setup and choose the inputs that your gear is connected to. I'm not going to delve into the mechanics of this either, as it's pretty clear from a glance through the Finale manual and tutorials. Finale also has some active user forums at www.finalemusic.com

I hope this helped!
__________________
BRENT FREDERICK
Musical Director, Arranger, Pianist
PT10, MOTU Audio Express, 10.7.2
http://www.BrentFrederickMusic.com
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 01-10-2008, 07:42 PM
djcream djcream is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Brooklyn
Posts: 116
Default Re: Midi Setup for Finale 2008 with Mbox 2 Pro & PT LE 7.3.1

Excellent info BFrederick thanks! Now I wish I had done more research & compared Finale & Sibelius before I got Finale. But it's a bit of a reach for the technically challenged like myself to even do such a comparison. As it is I'm putting my eggs in Finale & see how it goes. I have read & reread your post & will continue to do so until I get a grip on the info you presented & am able to apply it.

I suspect I will be back with more questions as I dig deeper into Finale (or scratch the surface). For now - many thanks - I greatly appreciate your knowledge & your taking the time out to help get me started!!

dj
__________________
PT LE 7.4.2/Mac Pro 2.8 Ghz 8 Core/10Gb RAM/OS X 10.5.8/Mbox 2 Pro/MIDISport 4x4/Roland XP-50/Yamaha P-140
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Multiple MBox Pro Instances/Icons in Audio MIDI Setup -> MIDI Studio lpeckham macOS 8 04-24-2014 06:39 AM
How do I setup my MBox 2 Pro, Yamaha XS7, and MacBook Pro 2008 firewire newproducer Tips & Tricks 5 01-29-2009 11:31 PM
mbox2 with finale 2008 nerfolt 003, Mbox 2, Digi 002, original Mbox, Digi 001 (Win) 2 01-14-2008 07:26 AM
Trying to setup Finale Songwriter midi w/001 newdawg 003, Mbox 2, Digi 002, original Mbox, Digi 001 (Mac) 0 03-01-2007 06:52 PM
finale Midi galifur 003, Mbox 2, Digi 002, original Mbox, Digi 001 (Mac) 0 04-13-2005 06:22 PM


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 11:47 PM.


Powered by: vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Limited. Forum Hosted By: URLJet.com