Music Technology in Education

The folks at MakeMusic announced the chance to pre-order latest version of the well-known notation software program, Finale. I have used Finale since the 2.0 days, and I must say, every single year the product gets better and better! Finale 2010 has a very impressive range of new features and every Finale user will love the upgrade. I am always really impressed with what the engineers at MakeMusic come up with. The program has been around for more than 20 years and the product has grown with their huge user-base. Here are some of the new features of 2010:

Easier percussion notation: it’s never been easier to create percussion parts with Finale. They’ve simplified the process with drag & drop functionality.

Chords: you can now change notes within a chord without changing the symbol.

More Garritan Sounds: improve the playback of all of your Finale scores with an expanded sound palette from the folks at Garritan.

Automatic Rehearsal Marks: the improved keyboard shortcuts will make creating all types of rehearsal marks even easier.

Music Education Worksheets: choose from 300 ready-made worksheets designed specifically for music educators, or create your own!

Improved Graphics Support: you can now export your Finale files as JPEGs and PNGs and import JPEGs, PNGs and BMPs.

Broadway Copyist Font: great new font to add some pizzazz to your scores.

Improved VST/AU Support: Finale 2010 now works with all third-party VST/AU Instruments and effects.

These features are truly exciting, and I know that all Finale users will love what MakeMusic has given them in this fantastic update. To keep updating every year and continue to satisfy their most loyal customers is an amazing feat, and Finale keep getting better year after year. I strongly recommend checking out the Finale site for yourself to find out even more features that aren’t listed here. No release date has been published yet, but a free demonstration copy of the software will be available for download in the near future.