Finale Drift like bad Fruity Loops

[@?,*???&?]

I had a client in last week with midi guide tracks created with Finale.

What he had was midi programmed material that he rendered as .wav file audio to be imported into Pro Tools for overdubs.

Any variation- whether a simple stereo pair or individual part bounce had serious tempo drift per track- so much so, that running a click track simultaneously in Pro Tools and working through Grid mode, no consistent tempo could be worked out. Pretty infuriating.

The client had a crack/free version of Finale on his Mac Laptop. The guy who had programmed the stuff was unavailable.

I've noticed this problem in the past when having to import Fruity Loop tracks into a Pro Tools session. They've been unreliable as well.

In perusing the Finale messageboard- seems as though this is a known problem. The only work-around I could figure is to do a midi lock with Pro Tools directly with the Finale program- but of course the client has no interface other than the internal sound card with the Mac laptop. He certainly doesn't have the $$ for a midi interface.

[chris harris]

The only work-around I could figure is to do a midi lock with Pro Tools directly with the Finale program-

Could you use Beat Detective to conform the session tempo and grid to the pre recorded audio?

[@?,*???&?]

The only work-around I could figure is to do a midi lock with Pro Tools directly with the Finale program-

Could you use Beat Detective to conform the session tempo and grid to the pre recorded audio?

I'd love to, but can't do it with PT 6.4

Also, even with a tool like that, the main tracks are legato voice style tracks with no drums or percussion. Might be difficult or time-consuming to sort that out. Client doesn't have budget to mess around in the studio. They came to my place because I can record 4 isolated vocals. They are leaving all editing to be done by someone who is unpaid, outside of this studio situation.

[JGriffin]

PT 6.4

[@?,*???&?]

PT 6.4

Yeah, with UAD plugins and an array of URS plugins. Go figure.

[apropos of nothing]

Fruity Loops will rewire politely, but does not MIDI sync especially well. If I'm using it, I export loops, and use those in place of programming.

I'm not sure why someone would be using a transcription programming for audio recording, but... Live and learn.

Anyway, the best fix might be to have them export MIDI files from their Finale and use a real DAW to render them. You could also use PT.

[Nick Sevilla]

Fruity Loops will rewire politely, but does not MIDI sync especially well. If I'm using it, I export loops, and use those in place of programming.

I'm not sure why someone would be using a transcription programming for audio recording, but... Live and learn.

Anyway, the best fix might be to have them export MIDI files from their Finale and use a real DAW to render them. You could also use PT.

+1 especially if you want to keep a solid tempo timeline throughout. Otherwise, just record the whole thing over again, instead of wasting time trying to come up with a "computer" fix.

[@?,*???&?]

So we found a workaround to the problem that doesn't require a Midi lock with Pro Tools and Finale.

The client saved the Finale session as midi data and then opened the midi file with Garageband. He then rendered audio from that program.

Tempo is rock solid and Grids to Pro Tools with no problem.

This affirms that the audio side of Finale is completely secondary to allowing the user the ability to 'write' sheet music.

[@?,*???&?]

I'm not sure why someone would be using a transcription programming for audio recording, but... Live and learn.

Weird, huh?

Here's why- it's sort of choir music. This is an ensemble of Indian singers doing Bollywood and Western songs- all acapella.

All songs are broken down in to 4 parts- Bass/Tenor/Alto/Soprano and then lead vocals overdubbed on that. All parts are written on sheet music generated by Finale. The Finale tracks are merely a reference for parts that will actually be vocals.

The band came here needing to isolate 4 vocalists at once who were recording simultaneously. So there have been 4 vocalists each singing one part- for example, bass, with some variation. Then Tenors overdub 4 at a time, altos, etc.

As a singer was struggling today with a pick-up note singing a guitar style riff, she hadn't heard the original song, but was trying to read the note off the sheet music.

Site-singing! All punch-ins happen at specific bars too! Most of us don't think that way when we record an album, so this session is very much about music 'theory' in fucntion and form. The punching in at bars is an interesting concept and the vocal producer is merely looking at the sheet music to make decisions on where to punch-in. Additional editing is obviously needed because of the crudeness.

[apropos of nothing]

Just remember, at some point this will seem as pointless as a dumb terminal's duplex switch.

[exalted wombat]

This affirms that the audio side of Finale is completely secondary to allowing the user the ability to 'write' sheet music.

Well yes. Did you think otherwise? It (and Sibelius) isn't meant to be a performance sequencer, it's a score publisher with playback.

[@?,*???&?]

This affirms that the audio side of Finale is completely secondary to allowing the user the ability to 'write' sheet music.

Well yes. Did you think otherwise? It (and Sibelius) isn't meant to be a performance sequencer, it's a score publisher with playback.

I didn't expect anything, the client did!

[casey campbell]

i was about to say that you could lock mtc via a usb to midi connector available for pretty cheap.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOUNO

[@?,*???&?]

i was about to say that you could lock mtc via a usb to midi connector available for pretty cheap.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOUNO

Right and thanks...I haven't looked, but does this thing work with OS X?

[casey campbell]

hmmm. good question. i would suppose it would work with osx...but there are a few brands available and you'd have to look at the specs. it would be handy for synth midi work as well of course.