I just recently purchased my mac along with finale and VDL and am trying to set everything up.  I have done everything up to setting finale's MIDI input and MIDI thru. I am not sure how to do/where to find this. I do not have an external MIDI keyboard, and am not really sure how to get the playback going on my score. Please help me out.

upon further review, i am getting some sound, but it is very quiet. If my external speakers aren't plugged in i can't hear it.  I was also wondering how I can toggle between sounds, say...a rim shot as opposed to a normal stroke. 

Tholm9,

Assuming you're using the VDL Template for Finale, you might find it helpful to toggle through your sounds in speedy entry by placing the cursor over the note in question, then hitting the UP or DOWN arrow keys.

Eventually, entering your notes with a MIDI keyboard will be a very helpful time saver. If you look at the Keymap diagrams of some of the VDL instruments within the VDL User Guide (in the VDL>Documentation folder), you'll see that different sounds on each instrument are assigned to different keys on the MIDI keyboard (aka midi pitches). Entering notes with a MIDI keyboard can be extremely helpful in telling Finale which sound you intend for it to playback. When you do this while using the template, it'll also place these notes on the staff with an appropriate notehead so it looks good as well.