Finale - How Music Software Dies

Tantacrul May 2, 2025
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Tantacrul

@tantacrul

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Welcome to my channel, a place dedicated to exploring mainly music... but sometimes other things too. Philosophy, design and reflections on contemporary culture may pop up from time to time, so don't say I didn't warn you. About me: I'm a musician first and foremost. I also have a product design background and I currently run two open source creation apps: Audacity and MuseScore.

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Finale: once the industry-standard of music notation software, now a cautionary tale. In this video, I explore how it slowly lost its crown through decades of missed opportunities - eventually leading to creative collapse due to various bureaucratic intrigues, unforeseen technological changes and some of the jankiest UI/UX you've ever seen. This marks the final part in my series on interface design and notation software, which had previously looked at Sibelius, MuseScore and Dorico. SUPPORT Help me become a full-time creator so I can release more videos: https://www.patreon.com/c/Tantacrul You can also support me on Nebula using this affiliate link: https://go.nebula.tv/tantacrul --- ARTICLES & BLOGS Review of Polywriter https://www.music-tech-solutions.co.jp/en/post/finale_polywriter_en Contemporary review of Polywriter https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/the-gentle-art-of-transcription/7906 Early review of Coda’s Finale: https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/coda-music-finale/2300 Finale obituary by Scoring Notes https://www.scoringnotes.com/news/makemusic-ends-development-and-availability-of-finale/ Phil Ferrand’s website https://philfarrand.com/contact-me/ MakeMusic acquire Weezic https://techinmusiced.wordpress.com/2015/07/09/makemusic-acquires-weezic/ Gear Fischer https://www.scoringnotes.com/people/following-up-with-gear-fisher-makemusic-ceo/ Peaksware Article https://endurance.biz/2018/industry-news/peaksware-holdings-announces-launch-of-ventures-division/ Andy Stevens - We’re ‘Profit Cycle Hunters’ https://www.artisanpartners.com/investment-professionals/news-insights/thought-leadership/insights/bloomberg-interviews-andy-stephens.html Conquering Finale https://www.scoringnotes.com/tag/conquering-finale/ Changes of Peaksware & MakeMusic management, 2020 https://mmrmagazine.com/stephens-transitions-to-ceo-of-peaksware-leading-both-music-and-sports-brands/ Erato https://www.scoringnotes.com/meta/preparing-david-newmans-matilda-score-live-orchestra/ On Igor Engraver https://www.ooloi.org/home/why-resurrect-igor-engraver-now PAPERS ON SHORTCUT USAGE Hidden Costs of Graphical User Interfaces https://www.ruf.rice.edu/~lane/papers/hidden_costs.pdf Keyboard Shortcut Usage: The Roles of Social Factors and Computer Experience https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/154193120404800513 'Satisficing' and the Use of Keyboard Shortcuts https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8154909 Accommodating Both Expert Users and Novice Users in One Interface https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221096713_Accommodating_Both_Expert_Users_and_Novice_Users_in_One_Interface_by_Utilizing_Multi-layer_Interface_in_Complex_Function_Products SEC FILINGS https://www.makemusic.com/investors/sec-filings-annual-reports/ VIDEOS Mockingbird notation demonstration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dxaEDKoTys&ab_channel=ComputerHistoryMuseum Interview with Phil Farrand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b2IlzMbupw&ab_channel=EvangelUniversity SCORES FEATURED IN THIS VIDEO Yoshiaki Onishi - Envoi I für Violoncello solo (2015) Copyright © Edition Gravis Verlag GmbH, Germany. https://www.amaverlag.com/produkt/envoi-i-fuer-violoncello-solo-2015/ ---------- CHAPTERS ---------- 00:00 - Our modern technological landscape. Yum. 04:43 - Introduction 06:45 - The beginning: how Finale was born 13:50 - Getting started in V27 17:31 - Pain 26:18 - Shortcuts 31:57 - Note input 41:17 - Pain 2 - The progressive disclosuring 53:48 - Engraving 57:47 - What happened at MakeMusic? 01:09:30 - The Kelley Krew 01:16:46 - The Rooster 01:18:16 - The eternal backlog 01:20:12 - Ascension 01:21:55 - Garbla-sinc, alon, a-maralurbre

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