John Greschak - Finale Suggestion 360: Add Documentation that Compares the Various Input Methods

No. 360

Add Documentation that Compares the Various Input Methods

IWBNI there were a section in the on-line documentation that directly compared the various input methods that are available in Finale for a given set of excerpts representing various styles of music. As it is now, each input method is described in the on-line documentation with few examples where the goal is to describe all functionality that is associated with a given method. Some input methods are also discussed in the tutorials using simple examples where the goal is to introduce the novice user to some basic mechanisms in Finale.

Such documentation would be useful as a tutorial and as a tool for evaluating all the available input methods.

This could be implemented by selecting a small number of short musical excerpts from the literature that represent a broad range of styles and levels of complexity.

The input methods that would be compared could include the following:

Simple entry using palettes only
Simple entry using keyboard shortcuts whenever possible
Speedy entry using computer keyboard only
Speedy entry using MIDI keyboard whenever possible
Command-line plug-in
HyperScribe

For each excerpt, a complete and detailed list of steps that could be followed to input the excerpt when using each of these input methods could be provided. These steps could be designed to maximize speed and accuracy and minimize user stress.

In addition to notes and rests of various durations, excerpts could include a wide range of items such as: tuplets, slurs, crescendos, numerous accidentals, chords, multiple-voice textures, articulations, ties, beams, augmentation dots and clefs.

Created: March 2, 2000
Last Updated: March 2, 2000
Version: Finale 2000b