JW Lua scripts
Speed and power
JW Lua scripts that can supercharge your Finale workflow
Align secondary brackets
Some of the small secondary brackets can be hard to see in large scores because they are so close to the primary brackets. This script moves them further from the primary brackets to make them easier to read. Simply run the script.
Chord lines suite
Replaces the chord lines function of JW Staff Polyphony, meaning that you can get remove or keep chord lines in a fraction of the time it would take to use the plugin.
Conductor score
Optimizes a normal score for conducting. With these changes, conductors can run more efficient rehearsals with less effort. The script creates large time signatures, changes the score name to “Conductor”, creates large measure numbers below each measure, and removes all the default whole rests that visually clutter the score. Make sure to save a copy of the original score before running the plug-in and creating parts.
Determinate clusters
Creates determinate clusters for the selected region. This script was created by Jake Winkler.
Indeterminate clusters
Creates indeterminate clusters for the selected region. This script was created by Jake Winkler.
Move chord symbols suite
Sometimes you want to move the chord symbols closer or further from the staff. This script will easily lower the chord baseline. Just highlight the staff and run either script.
Move expressions suite
Sometimes you want to move the expressions closer or further from the staff. This script will easily adjust the expression baseline. Just highlight the staff and run the script.
Move staff suite
When working in a score, you'll often want to move staves further apart to remove collisions. This script will let you spread selected staves easily. And there's another script to undo the change.
Mute/solo selected staves
Mutes or solos the selected staves. Simply select the staves using the selection tool and then run the script. All other staves will become unmuted or unsoloed.
This also includes a companion script to play all the staves.
Remove articulations from rests
For the selected region, it removes any articulations accidentally placed on a rest except for fermatas, breath marks, and caesuras.
Set system to page height
Useful for large scores, especially scores where the number of instruments changes on each page (e.g. many string divis on some pages but not others). The system on each page will become the same height. Simply run the script. It will check to make sure that there is only one system on the page before it resizes it.
String harmonics suite
Set of four JW Lua scripts to create almost any string harmonic you'll need.
The first one is based on Jari Williams' script, this script will create string harmonics for any valid interval. Specifically, for anything between a m3 and P5.
The other three will take a sounding pitch, then create the touch 3rd, touch 4th, or touch 5th harmonics with their respective scripts. For instance, with the harmonics at the 4th script, it will take the sounding pitch, drop it two octaves, and then create a diamond note a 4th above the new note.
For all of them, simply use the selection tool to select the notes and then run the script. In comparison to the built-in TG Tools plugin, this script makes the diamond notehead slightly larger than the default for improved readability.
More resources
What is JW Lua?
JW Lua is a third-party plugin for Finale developed by Jari Williams. You can find more about the plugin at his website.
Installing JW Lua scripts
Quick disclaimer
These macros are not production quality. They may have bugs (though I do try to get most out). If you have issues, contact me. I may not have the time to fix any bugs, but I can't fix them if I don't know about them!
Also, I'm not responsible for any adverse consequences. It's freeware after all!