Oh, or making reductions - I think you can pick the two staves once you've done what I said before and make like it's a piano reduction
and combine bothe parts to a single stave - but then I think you have to do a lot of specifying about if you want layers or voices or not -
in the long run, my first post may be the easier way unless someone has something else...

> Hi,
> Could someone please tell me how I can combine 2 layers into 1? Is it possible?
>
> Thanks,
> Michael

Oh, man, I've done it before.
Hmmm...

Copy everything to a second staff (or blank measure(s) after)
Use the Mass Edit tool and delete layer 2 from the original, and layer
1 from the copy.
Use the ME tool to switch layers in the 2nd staff (moving the notes to
layer 1).
Then, there's a way to copy and merge the data, rather than
overwriting it. It seems like this is in Mass Edit too, but there may
be a merge data command. I'm getting my programs confused.
There may be an even simpler way but in the old days, this is how I
seem to remember having to do it. Seems like everything's possible in
Finale, but somtimes you have to trick the program!

Sorry I couldn't be of more help - I'm sure someone will offer
suggestions!
Good Luck.

Michael wrote:
> Could someone please tell me how I can combine 2 layers into 1? Is it possible?

This is very workaround-ish, but possible. Realize that this will only
work well if the two layers are homophonic (i.e. they have the same
rhythm). Here are the steps:

1. View > Show Active Layer Only
2. Choose the Staff Tool
3. Create a new staff below the staff you're altering (if the staff
you're altering is not the bottom staff, you can create two new staves,
copy the original music into the first new staff, perform the steps, and
then copy the result into the original staff)
4. Choose the Mass Edit tool (for version 2002 and earlier, this is the
Mass Mover tool)
5. Choose Layer 2
6. Select the section of layer 2 that you want melded into Layer 1
7. Copy into the new staff (or the second new staff if you created two
in step 3) by whatever method you choose
8. Clear the music selected in Step 6 (Clear on Mac, Backspace on Windows)
9. View > Show Active Layer Only (uncheck it)
10. Select the copied music on the new staff
11. Mass Edit > Move/Copy Layers...
12. Move Layer 2 into Layer 1 (You should now have the two original
layers on separate staves, both now in Layer 1)
13. Select the music on both staves that you want to combine
14. Mass Edit > Utilities > Implode Music, and choose Top Staff of Selection
15. Delete the staff you added

Viola! You now have one staff with both original layers in it, combined
into Layer 1.

--
Brad Beyenhof
http://augmentedfourth.blogspot.com

select the measure tool (looks like a single bar with a whole rest), and a measure menu will appear in the menu bar. click "measure", and then select "add". a dialog box will appear, allowing you to add however many measures you want to the end of the piece. you can always delete extra measures later.

: hey people, i just got finale 2003, and i was in the middle of making a song, but then halfway through , i find that i can't do more than two pages and two bars! how do you extend it? it's automatically a double barline, and it's frustrating!

Select the Page Layout Tool.

Go to the Page Layout menu and choose Systems >> Edit Margins. In the system range, specify systems 2 through the end of the piece (we don't really want to change system 1, as it incorporates the title). Now change the top margin, bottom margin, and distance between systems value to be something like .4 each. Click Apply.

To move music, just highlight it with the Mass Mover Tool and ctrl+click where you want it to go.

To erase the contents of measures or delete measures, highlight the measures with the Mass Mover Tool and press Backspace to erase, or delete to delete.

I recommend you try WIDI. We used this and it worked well and not only the notes, but the timing was very accurate.

: has somebody finale 2001? how does the included midiscan work?. I have an old
: version of midiscan (2.1 i think)and it is absolutely useless. It doesn't reco-
: gnize even a fine printed score. And what about the micnotator? These things never work as well as they sound. Almost every software audio to midi, besides of being very expensive, makes a lot of mistakes and you waste double time creating a simple score

I have worked with Finale over five years now, and I have seen so many programs who can print music. But the best ever is still Finale!

Finale is the most powerful music notation program in existance. Sibelius has some bells and whistles which make it appear impressive upon first use, but it lacks MANY of the features of Finale. With Finale you will also get free unlimited technical support.

: I am a music major. I need to find the right program for me. What program do you recomend?

Sin ninguna duda, recomiendo Sibelius, es el mejor del mercado.

Yes, yes... Sibelius takes a day to learn, Finale takes 2 days. But professionals are in agreement that Finale is by far more powerful than Sibelius. It's also quite a lot faster in getting your piece done. There is nothing terribly difficult about Finale, not anymore. It got that rap back in its early days, but things have really changed since then.

Igor is really a bit of a joke in its current state. It has a few original features, but it isn't even as powerful as Sibelius overall. Not to mention that it's incredibly slow even on a G4 733MHz Mac with 640MB of RAM (a system that puts 1.7GHz PIV's to shame).

Did you ever hear of KAZAA?

: I really think FINALE is the best notation software. Ive tried everything else...FINALE is my SMOKIN' BABE. It gives me endless capabilities to put what I feel on paper. I think Im Addicted to FINALE.

Have you tried Sibellius? I haven't had a chance to try the Finale demo, but I've tried the Sibellius demo. I still don't know what is the best software. Is Finale the one used by most music professionals? I want to get the one that has not just the best software capabilities, but is also compatible with the market.