Finale 2005

Rating:
Summary: Not perfect, but it is still the best!
Review: Likes...
Once you learn the program you can do some pretty extraordinary things with it. Finale offers a lot of flexibility. The print output put looks fantastic. It plays back your piece flawlessly!!! Recent versions come with tutorial videos so it makes it very easy for a beginner to get started right away. Also, the help forum at Makemusic is very good. Anyone can get their Finale question answered in very little time! Finale now comes with a GM soundfont. Now you can hear your files played back with decent sounds without having to buy any external equipment. 2005 is now compatible with Garritan Personal Orchestra so you can have your files played back with some of the best available! I would bet VST and DXi will be in the next release. (Don't quote me on this!)

There are a couple free pdf writers on the net. Download them and then you will be able to send your arrangement via email! This is a very cool feature!

Dislikes...
Finale still makes some common tasks very difficult. Rits and accels are a nightmare to figure out. You have to have a third party plugin to get decent results. If you try and do them with Finale's method you better be a rocket scientist!!! Something this common should be really simple! There are other cryptic, hard to learn features lurking amidst some of the menus but Make Music is getting rid of them with each new release.

I use Finale almost every day of my life! It is amazing. It isn't as hard to learn as it used to be thanks to the tutorials it comes with. Anyone that loves writing music should get Finale! It is the most extensive music notation program there is.

Dave Morehead (trumpet/composer/arranger)
Davemorehead.com