I apologize for the post, but after looking through the forum I haven't found an answer as to why I can't get sound in Finale.

I'm using Finale 2003 on XP with a Sound Blaster Audigy card. I have my VDFULL soundfont loaded into Bank 1.

In my midi setup I am using the Audigy Synth A which is the device I loaded the sount font into in AudioHQ.

In the instrument list I have each instrument set to Bank Select 0, Program Change and each staff has 1 as its Bank Select 0. Each staff is set to its proper program (1,2,6,8). Also each staff is set to Play.

I have yet to purchase my midi keyboard, but when I enter any note at all I just hear piano during playback. I am entering notes that are on the map and should produce a sound (any sound, I just got Virtual Drumline and I'm anxious to start playing with it).

I hear the sounds great on the Audio HQ keyboard, but not in Finale. I've also tried setting this up in Sibelius 3 with an equal lack of success.

Thank you.

TenorDrummin,

No worries...this is the place to come if you have questions. Welcome.

I'm no Finale guru, so if anyone else has some ideas, feel free to chime in. Here's a couple things to try...

Make sure MIDI Thru is checked and set to the "smart" setting. If that doesn't seem to correct the problem, try this more roundabout setup:

Go to Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio (tab)
For MIDI music playback, select your Audigy Synth A. By doing this, you're specifying it as your default midi device.

Then in Finale, go back into your MIDI setup, and for the MIDI OUT setting, select 'Default MIDI Output Device'.

See if that helps (if you haven't already tried it...), and let us know how it goes.

good luck,
jim

Jim,

Unfortunately those suggestions didn't quite do the trick -- I am still getting piano output.

I tried both the smart setting (which it was not set to) and also tried the default output settings as well.

It shouldn't matter that I'm not using a midi keyboard should it? I mean an F#5 is an F#5 right?

Also, I have Sibelius 3 although I am not quite as fluent in it as I am in Finale so I have been hesitant to switch over completely. It looks to me like all support for Sibelius is the older version 2 (including sound maps). Do you plan on getting that up to Sibelius 3 anytime soon? (or is there really not that much of a difference to put the effort into it?)

Sibelius 3 maps and soundsets are just about ready for public consumption, so those aren't far off. I can email a beta copy to you if you'd like to try those. Still, the current Sibelius template will work fine. Just don't bother with the v2 soundsets because they're coded differently.

An F# isn't necessarily an F#. Because that F# is mapped to appear elsewhere in the staff, inputting with out a midi keyboard isn't advised. However, the fact that you're still hearing a piano sound says that Finale is still not sending info to the soundcard correctly. You might try altering the instrument settings (patch) to BANK SELECT 0, BANK SELECT 32, PROGRAM CHANGE. I'm not sure if it'll make a difference. To me, Finale is wierd this way, and I don't totally get it. This aspect of the setup is more logical in Sibelius in my opinion.

You might also try tweaking your midi settings in the midi input window and trying different audigy settings (if there are any). If you do so, you should also change the SOUNDFONT DEVICE in AudioHQ's Options tab. It sounds like you were doing it correctly, but the windows world can be a little fussy I've found. A little trial and error might be in order. Worst case scenario, you could always contact Finale's technical support and let them know that your staves aren't accessing the desired soundcard bank.

The mac version of finale has some options to the effect of "internal speaker playback" which has been a problem for mac users. Unfortunately, I think this is an interface difference on the PC version of Finale.

Jim -- for whatever reason using the select 32 and putting that to the correct bank enabled me to hear the sounds.

Thank you so much for your help, you guys have done composers a great service by putting this library together.

I would be interested in the beta of that as I'm almost to the point where I think it's time to switch to Sibelius. You can reach my email at jubelche@vt.edu

Also good luck this year. I'm incredibly excited about the show.

Great! Sometimes you just have to talk nice to it, and everything starts to work... :)