I'm trying to enter a bass part with muted left hands (bassline lite) through a midi keyboard (Casio WK-3500) into Finale 06 (Windows). The keyboard only has 76 keys, so it does not have quite enough keys to notate the muted LH. Is there a way to use the keyboard to enter the notes in without changing the bass drum mapping?

John Weisiger

Check to see if you keyboard has an octave key to shift up or down.

Gabe

I have an octave shift on my keyboard, but when I shifted the octave, I still got the same sounds as before.

John Weisiger

You have to shift the octave, [u][i]then[/i][/u] enter the note. The octave shift button on your keyboard will not affect notes that have already been entered.

I shifted the octave and then entered the note, but I still get the same sound as before.

John Weisiger

Then it sounds like your keyboard didn't actually shift octaves.

What kind of controller do you have?�� Do you have Prodikeys?�� I [b]HAD[/b] the Prodikeys and the transpose buttons would stop working all the time and I would have to restart my computer to get it back.�� Just a thought.

The octave shift works fine, and I can hear the octave change come out of speakers of the the keyboard, but it does not notate it as such in Finale. Also, how do I find out what kind of controller I have? (I'm not quite familiar with what it is)

When someone asks you about your midi controller, they're usually referring to the keyboard. I wonder if this Casio unit is simply not sending octave transpositions via MIDI. I don't know much about Casio keyboards, but if it's something basic and kind of cheap, perhaps this is a limitation of that device.

Many people just use keyboard controllers without sounds on them as they're simply being used as exactly that...a controller, which sends midi data to your virtual instruments. You might want to check if there's any documentation with the keyboard that says whether or not it's sending these octave shift messages via MIDI. If it's not able to do that, you have a couple choices.

1 - Obtain an actual keyboard controller that's intended for this type of use. The M-Audio units are generally quite economical and do a decent job.

2 - If you can get a LH Muff sound for bass 6, perhaps enter that, then simply move that note up to other staff spaces so the correct drum will sound. I've done that in Sibelius before, but I think it should work the same in Finale.

AH, I re-read and I missed the part about it being a Casio.��

Regarding controllers:�� I have a Korg K25 conroller (25-key) and it is just plug-and-play.�� It works beautifully and I have not had a complaint.�� I would recommend this controller.�� It has octave-switch buttons right on the left side and would be able to be used for all of your VDL needs.�� Here is a link ot the keyboard:

[url]http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/K25/[/url]

You might not think that $99.95 is not that inexpensive, but is a great deal and you will not get a controller that will not fall apart.

[b][url]http://www.casio-europe.com/euro/emi/productarchive/highperformance/wk3500/specifications/[/url][/b]

Looking at that keyboard, I am not seeing the type of transpose button that may be needed.�� I see a Key Transpose and Tuning Control though, but this may not be what you want to use.�� It is also a 76-key keyboard so you shouldn't have to use that too much I wouldn't think.�� Just my observation.�� I am not too familiar with that keyboard though.