IWBNI there were an option that could be used to control the direction of broken beams in tuplets. As it is now, the broken beam tool may be used to change the direction of a given broken beam.

As it is now, a quintuplet consisting of a sixteenth note between two eighth notes would be beamed in the following way by default:

Some would prefer to have the broken beam directed to the left as shown in the following figure:

For a given note with a broken beam, the direction of the broken beam specifies the group of notes with which the note is associated. If a broken beam is directed to the left (right), the note is associated with the notes that precede (follow) it. In the first figure, the beam has been directed to the right to form a group of 2 sixteenths followed by a group of 3 sixteenths. In the second figure, a group of 3 sixteenths is followed by a group of 2 sixteenths.

For sextuplets, a similar decision must be made for the following four cases:

In all cases, by default, the broken beam is directed in such a way that the notes form two groups of three.

For septuplets, a similar decision must be made for ten different cases. In these cases, one must decide if notes are to be grouped as (5,2 or 4,3), (4,3 or 3,4), or (3,4 or 2,5). These cases are shown in the following figures:

Some would prefer 4,3: 

Some would prefer 3,4: 

Some would prefer 3,4: 

Some would prefer 4,3: 

Some would prefer 3,4: 

Some would prefer 4,3: 

Some would prefer 4,3: 
 

In each case the default direction that is automatically set by Finale is shown in the figure on the left. By default, the broken beams are directed to the right in all these cases. Some would prefer to have groupings (4,3 instead of 5,2), (4,3 instead of 3,4), and (3,4 instead of 2,5). For cases where the default behavior deviates from this preference, an alternative is shown.

This feature could be implemented by adding a button called Broken Beams to the Beaming Options dialog box. This button would display a new dialog box called Broken Beam Options that could contain the following controls:

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Broken Beam Options Dialog Box

Preferred Note Groupings for Broken Beam Direction:

Quintuplets:
( ) 3,2  or ( ) 2,3

Sextuplets:
( ) 4,2  or ( ) 3,3
( ) 3,3  or ( ) 2,4

Septuplets:
( ) 5,2 or ( ) 4,3
( ) 4,3 or ( ) 3,4
( ) 3,4 or ( ) 2,5
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For example, to obtain all the alternative configurations described in this suggestion that deviate from the default behavior, one would make the following selections for these options:

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Quintuplets:
(x) 3,2  or ( ) 2,3

Sextuplets:
( ) 4,2  or (x) 3,3
(x) 3,3  or ( ) 2,4

Septuplets:
( ) 5,2 or (x) 4,3
(x) 4,3 or ( ) 3,4
(x) 3,4 or ( ) 2,5
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Created: June 17, 2000
Last Updated: June 17, 2000
Version: Finale 2000b