How can Finale 2004 for OS X communicate with my software sampler/synthesizer or MIDI sequencer?

You can either use Inter-application MIDI, which Finale 2004 fully supports, or an IAC Driver (OS 10.3 only).

Inter-application MIDI:

When a software supports inter-application MIDI (ex: Finale, Digital Performer, Unity DS-1,…), you can have it publish its own virtual drivers/ports. Details on how to enable these virtual ports/drivers are provided by the manufacturer of the application. Once these virtual drivers are enabled, they can be selected as a MIDI Input and/or Output in other MIDI applications that support inter-application MIDI.

Specifically, in Finale, if your other software publishes virtual ports/drivers, you will just need to go to the MIDI menu >> MIDI Setup and choose as your MIDI Output device the virtual driver/port of that application. In the case of Digital Performer for example, you would select “DP Input” in the MIDI Output Device list of Finale. In Unity DS-1’s case, you would select “Unity Destination”.

Finale can also publish its own virtual drivers. To do so, go to the MIDI menu >> MIDI Setup. Check “Inter-Application MIDI” and Finale will generate four “Finale 2004 Input/Output” ports which you can select in your other MIDI applications as far as they support inter-application MIDI.

IAC Driver (OS 10.3 only):

When your MIDI applications do not support inter-application MIDI, you may be able to ‘link’ them by using an IAC Driver. The IAC driver is OFF by default in OS 10.3, therefore you will first need to configure it. Here are the steps:

* Go to your Hard Drive >> Applications >> Utilities, and open the “Audio MIDI Setup” control panel.
* Click on “MIDI”.
* Double click the IAC Driver icon to get the IAC Driver Properties window.
* Expand the window by clicking on the “More Information” arrow.
* Click the “Ports” button in the lower section.
* Make sure that you see at least one “IAC Bus 1” port in the list. If not, click the “Add Port” button.
* In the upper section, check “Device is Online”.
* Click APPLY.
* Close the window.
* Quit the Audio MIDI Setup.

Now, go to the MIDI setup of your MIDI Applications and select the “IAC Driver” for MIDI input or output. In Finale, when you go to the MIDI menu >> MIDI Setup, you will see in your MIDI Input and Output Device lists “IAC Driver IAC Bus 1”. If you use the “IAC Driver IAC Bus 1” for Output in Finale and you select the IAC Driver for input in a software sampler/synthesizer (like Reason) or MIDI sequencer, Finale communicate with that software and send its MIDI data to it via the IAC Bus.

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