IWBNI it were possible to specify that left and right broken beams be the same length and that the same length be used for up-stemmed and down-stemmed notes.

As it is now, broken beams in Finale look like this (stem lengths have been shortened in this image to reduce space):

As can be seen from this image, for up-stemmed notes, the first broken beam is longer than the second. For down-stemmed notes, the first beam is shorter than the second.

For up-stemmed (down-stemmed) notes, it appears that the length of a broken beam is being measured from the right (left) side of the stem. This behavior can be seen more clearly with large stem widths such as .5 spaces.

Here are two possible ways to implement this feature:

Implementation Option 1:

Change this behavior so that broken beam lengths are measured from the edge of the stem from which the broken beam emerges, and/or

Implementation Option 2:

Provide 4 settings in place of Options>Document Settings>Beaming>Broken Beam Length for:

a. up-stemmed left broken beam length
b. up-stemmed right broken beam length
c. down-stemmed left broken beam length
d. down-stemmed right broken beam length

Option 2 is more flexible but it may be unnecessary.

Created: November 15, 1999
Last Updated: December 1, 1999
Version: Finale 2000b