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#629863 12/13/20 04:25 AM
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Lately I like to use notation in key of C and just mark where sharps and flats are needed. Band in Box is forcing unnecessary naturals on the notation that makes it hard to read. I can work around by editing the notes and all looks ok until I try to print preview the leadsheet where the extra natural symbols come back. Any ideas of how to fix? Thanks.

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I imagine that the clutter you describe is coming from one of the principles of music theory. That principle is that any accidental lasts for the length of a bar, or a tied not across a barline, unless another accidental is added to the note.

So...

If a bar full of notation is a melody that goes

| g f# f e f f# f e | (for example),

and if you put a f# in, it will display with a natural on the 'f' notes that follow f#.


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Here is a simple example of what I mean. As I enter notes in bar 2 it (helpfully I assume) adds unnecessary natural marks.
[img]https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sVZPVuTPiM-jCme9IfOndIfm0LteXyb6/view?usp=sharing[/img]

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Ya, that is a mess. Musescore for notation or any of countless other fine performing options. Sorry I can't help more...


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Those ( ) are called Courtesy Accidentals, and are implemented differently in different notation software. While I think the theory definition as given by Noel is clear enough, you don't often have a choice in how it's implemented.

VideoTrack and I found one case in BIAB where BIAB did NOT use a courtesy accidental and we thought they should have: an accidental early in a measure in the bass clef of a grand staff carried over into the treble clef later in the bar. Confused both of us at first, especially me since I don't play piano.

I do not think there is a checkbox in BIAB to allow or suppress courtesy accidentals, I suggest you make a post in the Wishlist Forum.

Me? I usually like them, even in the example above. I can't tell you the amount of penciling I have made into show books to remind myself in case attention wanders in the slightest. The most important is the first note of an entrance, if there is any possible question whether there is an accidental applying, I write it in and erase it when the show is over. Don't want to come roaring in with a trumpet on the wrong pitch. Other trumpet players do the same thing, based on the erasure marks when I get the book!

You write in C? Are you one of them 'jazzers'? cool We do often write in C now and let the modulations go where they will, without many key signatures.

Upon further research, I found something interesting in the Help. Look up Help, Index, Accidentals. Read about Intelligent Accidentals and the setting in the Notation Options Window. I could not solve your problem, though.



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I like the 'courtesy' accidentals most of the time. But on some of the jazz melodies I notate some chords like the above example in which case they clutter things up. I actually like notating in biab because you can quickly hear the melody entered against the chords to know if you are on track with the given style etc.

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