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Hi: I’m a brand new user of Studio One + Notion, planning to migrate from using Finale+Garritan for orchestral composition.

In Finale it’s possible to use nonstandard key signatures - is this possible in Notion? I checked the User Guide and did not see any reference to it, but maybe there is a workaround?

While I would ultimately need to use it in Studio One’s score editor, I thought I’d check first about Notion’s capability since it presumably has more features than Studio One’s score editor.

And for those wondering why I don’t prefer to just use all accidentals: This is for my use during the composition process (where being able to use a non-standard key signature is a big help if there is a long section in a non-standard scale), and not meant for other players sight-reading my score (where non-standard key signatures could be confusing, Bartok notwithstanding).

Thanks for any assistance.
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by Surf.Whammy on Thu Apr 08, 2021 1:02 pm
NOTION has a standard set of modes but no easy way to do custom modes . . . :)

THOUGHTS

These are the standard modes supported by NOTION:

[NOTE: There is a bit of redundancy in the list, since "Major" is the same as "Ionian". "Minor" might map to one or more of the other standard modes, but perhaps not. Some of the standard modes are minor, but perhaps not "Minor" as it's defined in NOTION. There are many minor scales, and some of them are fascinating, but nearly none of them map to actual modes in a strict sense. All the mode stuff is a bit confusing, especially since what matters is scales rather than modes, where for example I like Hungarian Minor and other scales associated with Gypsy music. There is the "I Don't Play Lydian Mode A Lot" thing {Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian}, but there are many more scales than modes, even though a scale is a mode. After doing extensive research on this, I decided to focus on scales rather than modes . . . ]

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As you know, you can play all seven "standard" modes with the white keys of a grand piano, where starting on C produces an Ionian scale, while starting on D produces a Dorian scale, and so forth . . .

Irving Berlin did everything in F# Major and had a mechanically transposing keyboard piano so when he was playing a new song for a potential singer, he could move a lever and make the actual key become whatever the singer preferred, with nearly nobody preferring F# Major, but so what . . .

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The advantage of F# Major for composing on piano is that it has all the black keys, which emphasizes the "pentatonic" aspects of popular music scales, which are especially useful in lead guitar . . .

COMBINATIONS AND PERMUTATIONS

It's all about mathematics, and intuitively there might be a way to do some of what you want to do, although I make no guarantees . . .

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[SOURCE: Modes (Wikipedia) ]

My thinking here is that using one of the NOTION-supported modes in a non-standard way might provide a solution, where for example perhaps you need a non-standard mode in G# but there is none, so instead you map the notes and intervals and discover that B𝄫 Locrian has the notes you need . . .

This is an interesting hypothesis, so time-allowing I might investigate it; and it might be an interesting computer program . . .

It's possible that having staves with different key signatures for the same song might map to the desired set of notes, where for example one phrase might be on one staff while another phrase for the same instrument might be on the second, differently key signatured staff for the same instrument, where there are two staves for piano, one used for some phrases but the other used for different phrases that require different notes . . .

The strategy I use maps to everything being in C Major or A Minor (no sharps, no flats) and using accidentals when I want a note to be sharped or flatted, where it merits mentioning that the arch enemy of rhythm guitar players is the horn section, since horn sections (a) have one mind and (b) demand that songs are play in key signatures that are difficult for rhythm guitar players, at least until the rhythm guitar players discover Barre chords, at which point no horn section can defeat them . . .

Horn sections are nice, of course, but they prefer keys like B𝄫, E𝄫, F, and other keys that generally (a) are not sharp and (b) are not easy to play on guitar in the open position . . .

I do everything primarily "by ear", so when dealing with a horn section all I need to know is which fret maps to the root chord, while for electric bass it's just the single root note, and there you are . . .

I have a set of what I call {low, middle, high} guitar chords, where the "low" chords key on the low-pitch "E" string; the "middle" chords key on the low-pitch "A" string and include Barre and four-note chords, where the four-note chords are on the middle four strings; and the "high" chords are on the four highest pitch strings, typically but not always keying on the low-pitch "D" string or high-pitch "e" string, where for example a John Lennon style four-note D Major chord keys on the high-pitch "b" string and is like an open position D Major, except the"D" string is playing F#, so the chord is a D Major but with two F# notes, but it's also an F#m#5, whatever that. Here in the sound isolation studio, it's a "John Lennon D chord" . . .

Guitar chords are fascinating! :+1

[NOTE: This is one of my songs that has a horn section (EW ComposerCloud X) . . . ]

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Project: "The Ballad of Dare L. Dupree" (PreSonus NOTION Forum)

[NOTE: This is another of my Stupid genre songs, and at present I have no idea what the actual chords are, which is a clue to how important key signatures and all that stuff is to me here in the sound isolation studio. I put notes on the staves and then listen to it. If a note sounds "bad", then I change it to a note that sounds "good", although some "bad" notes actually are "good". This song is sung by my Pretend Country Western singer, Ferliss Nuberton . . . ]

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Project: Simple and Stupid (PreSonus NOTION Forum)

SUMMARY AND IMPORTANT FACT

As a child, I was in a liturgical boys choir and learned to sight-sing soprano in different key signatures, but after thinking about it decades later, the entire thing about different key signatures is wrong . . .

Why is it wrong?

It's wrong, because moving the flats or sharps into the key signature make the notes appear to be either C Major scales or A Minor scales, and it teaches people to be able to look at notes in C Major or A Minor scales but to sing them in other key signatures and modes, which essentially is teaching people how to sing deceptively . . .

It looks like an F, but due to the key signature it's really an F# . . .

What happens is that people learn to sing notes that are not the real notes . . .

When you use C Major or A Minor, then accidentals tell you the real notes or pitches, and when there are no accidentals, the note is what it actually is . . .

If I want an F to be sharped, then I add a sharp to it, and then it's F#; but I don't do it in the key signature, because it's too much stuff to remember and to compute mentally . . .

I learned how to do it for soprano treble staves, but it's confusing when the sharps and flats are done in the key signature . . .

You are sight-singing and encounter what looks to be an F, but is it an F♭, F, or F#?

Answering the question for every note in real-time on the fly takes too long, so I don't do it with key signatures and occasional accidentals . . .

I know each of those {F♭, F, or F#}, so for me it's easier to use what I call "absolute scale notation" . . .

In one respect, it maps to a bit more data inputting work; but the benefit is that it requires you to know what you are doing throughout the composing process, which is a bigger and more valuable benefit in the grand scheme of everything . . .

For example, knowing that the song requires an F# for a specific note kicks-in a lot of music theory and makes you better at advanced composing skills . . .

From this perspective, I suggest using key signatures and modes is lazy, and it hides, disguises, conceals and obfuscates what really is happening . . . :ugeek:

Lots of FUN! :)

P. S. Another mathematical and geometrical simplification I make here in the sound isolation studio is to declare there are exactly 12 notes and 10 or so octaves, at least two of which octaves are reserved either to annoy or to entertain bats, birds, cats, dogs, dolphins, porpoises, sea turtles, and whales, since they are the only biologics that can hear them, other than children who never have attended a KISS, Miley Cyrus, or Justin Bieber concert and sat anywhere near the sound system's deep bass subwoofer loudspeakers and metal horn arrays, which (a) always violate every OSHA rule designed to prevent permanent hearing loss and (b) in the case of the deep bass subwoofers are set to massive volume levels to conceal the fact that none of the vocalists can sing on pitch outside of a recording studio . . .

Hooray! :ugeek:

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
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by welltempered on Thu Apr 08, 2021 4:00 pm
Thank you for the time you’ve taken to reply.

The scale I’m working with currently does not just have half and whole steps, but also one instance of a minor third interval (so 3 half steps) between 2 adjacent notes. So unfortunately your idea of using the Notion-supported modes in a non-standard manner would not work, since all the Notion-supported modes are restricted to half and whole steps. But thanks again for your ideas.
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by Surf.Whammy on Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:10 am
welltempered wroteThank you for the time you’ve taken to reply.

The scale I’m working with currently does not just have half and whole steps, but also one instance of a minor third interval (so 3 half steps) between 2 adjacent notes. So unfortunately your idea of using the Notion-supported modes in a non-standard manner would not work, since all the Notion-supported modes are restricted to half and whole steps. But thanks again for your ideas.


Is it a heptatonic scale? :)

THOUGHTS

With a minor third interval between two adjacent notes, one might suppose it's possibly a six-note scale (hexitonic), six-pitches if you prefer . . .

If so, then it might be possible for one of the "standard" modes to work, where instead of using all seven pitches, you only use six of the pitches . . .

SUGGESTION: If you can provide an example of the scale using C as the root note, then this might be helpful . . .

On a related note, while finding the proper name for a seven-pitch or seven-note scale (heptatonic), I found the term "anhemitonic scale"; and its entry in Wikipedia has a list of scales and corresponding modes, which is fascinating if one is intrigued by scales and modes . . .

I knew about the "hyper----" modes, but this list expands the number of modes and gives each one an unique name, which is a bit mind-boggling . . .

Anhemitonic Scale (Wikipedia)

These are new words and concepts for me, and reading the various information also provides a better understanding of the term "diatonic", which until yesterday I thought mapped to seven . . .

My current understanding is the "diatonic" refers to scales with half-steps (semitones) and whole steps (whole tones) . . .

I was thinking "di" is two and "tonic" is five, but so much for my junior high school Latin, especially since it might not be Latin . . . :P

Several years ago--perhaps a decade--I made a list of what I thought were all the possible scales that were not totally abstruse;, but I like the new information found in the "an------" terminology . . .

Scales and modes are vastly more complex than I had imagined; and while I thought I had a pretty good understanding, i now recognize that it's like not being Russian but awakening in Russia and having no idea what anyone is saying . . .

My university training is Computer Science and Mathematics, and all my Music training is a combination of being in a liturgical boys choir, being in a series of "by ear" garage bands, and a bit of researching and reading . . .

Based on the information about the "an-------" aspects, I think scales and modes is as complex as designing a nuclear reactor or a particle collider . . .

It might not be so complex as Einstein's General Relativity, but it's definitely not trivial . . .

On another related note, NOTION supports quarter tones; and about 10 years ago I composed a song in NOTION 4 with quarter tones in 24/4 time as an experiment to determine how absurd one could make the NOTION guitar tab articulations, which as you can see is more absurd than I think most folks might imagine . . .

[NOTE: I like it when the vertical green "current beat" indicator jumps backward and then forward a few times, which makes it a bit like a Timex® watch . . . :reading: ]

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Lots of FUN! :)

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The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
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by Surf.Whammy on Sat Apr 10, 2021 11:25 am
There is a reason I suggest a solution might exist . . . :)

THOUGHTS

About 15 years ago, I decided to record a science fiction radio play on a Mac and already had recorded the voiceover and Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster, which I composed, played, and recorded in real-time on the fly . . .

I was happy with the audio, but it needed spaceship and other science fiction sounds; so I bought an Alesis ION Analog Synthesizer and started using it to make the various sounds . . .

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Quite by serendipity, I discovered (a) that all the white keys sounded good and (b) that due to being in a liturgical boys choir and learning how to sight-sing soprano music notation, I had an intuitive and natural knowledge of which white keys to play when an idea for a bit of melody, harmony, or counterpoint appeared . . .

On the electric guitar, I played chords and melodies keyed to the low-pitch "E" and "A" strings, although I did not know the key signature and names of some of the chords (not all the chords, but some of them) . . .

Five or so years later, I started using NOTION 3 and refreshed and enhanced my proficiency in music notation, which mostly was easy due to being able to use all soprano treble staves, something I continue to do, with a few exceptions (for example, Realivox Blue [RealiTone], since she requires using deep bass keyswitches to select the phonetic phrases she sings) . . .

Drawing on the "all white keys sound good" serendipity and my general dislike of articulations, dynamics, sharps, and flats when doing music notation, I focused on not specifying a key signature, which maps mostly but not exclusively to C Major and A Minor . . .

A few years later, I discovered that all seven "standard" modes can be played with white keys according to the sequence {Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian}, depending only on the starting note with respect to the specific scale, where for example when the first note of the diatonic scale is D, then it's D Dorian . . .

When the first note of the diatonic scale is E, then it's E Phrygian, and so forth . . .

C Major is Ionian, and A Minor is A Aeolian when on white keys, only . . .

To keep it simple, I consider that all my songs are in C Major (Ionian) or A Minor (Aeolian), but since the actual scale depends only on the position of the "root" note, I suppose I might be doing songs in a variety of modes like E Phrygian, F Lydian, G Mixolydian, and so forth, although the electric bass tends to map to something around E, A, G, and so forth--all determined "by ear" . . .

If a note needs to be sharped or flatted to sound "good", then this is what I do but not via a key signature and generally not via flats, since if an accidental must be used, then I prefer to use sharps rather than flats . . .

PERSPECTIVE: I do not arbitrarily exclude the possibility that there are ways to make music notation, scales, and modes easier to use and more intuitive.

Consider my more recent Stupid genre song sung by my Pretend Country Western singer, Ferliss Nuberton . . .

What key and mode is it?

I don't know, and why should I know?

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Consider one of my songs from a few months ago that has a horn section (EW Hollywood Pop Brass [EW ComposerCloud X]) . . .

What key and mode is it?

I don't know, and why should I know?

[NOTE: It's entirely possible that the horn section presets automagically handle the flats that horn players favor, but for me it's all white keys in the music notation and no flats or sharps . . . :ugeek: ]

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What about articulations, dynamics, and all that stuff?

(1) Articulations: instead of using music notation to specify articulations, I select specific sampled-sound library instances where the respective instrument is played in the desired articulation, which is the best way to get the most realistic performance for the specific articulation, since the real musician played the notes in the desired articulation.

(2) Dynamics: I control dynamics with various effects plug-ins which are designed to be melodic and to provide control of dynamics automagically, with this including doing selective "ducking", which I do with Pro-C2 (FabFilter Software Instruments) using a side-chained instrument or vocal track to control when and how other instruments or voices are "ducked"--this making it possible to lower the volume of other instruments and voices when the side-chained instrument or voice needs to be moved to the front of the mix, which is what "ducking" does.

(3) Everything Else: This is done primarily with a combination of (1), (2), arranging, composing, producing, and audio engineering, including automation, where the level of something is controlled by automation curves, typically volume level but also panning and other effects plug-ins or virtual instrument parameters that can be automated (generally nearly all knobs, buttons, and so forth). I include the Melodyne Editor (Celemony) in this aspect, and when already recorded audio (instruments or vocals) are run through Melodyne, every type of scale and mode can be specified, at which time Melodyne "snaps" the notes and pitches to the specified scale, mode, and so forth, where there are hundreds, if not thousands of available scales, modes, and so forth available in Melodyne. If a scale or mode exists, then Melodyne support it, and this includes Asian, Middle Eastern, Indian, Greek, and other scales and modes. Melodyne maps it all, which is as fascinating as it is mind-boggling. Studio One Professional includes a version of Melodyne, and there are upgrades to more advanced versions of Melodyne, as well. I have Melodyne Editor, and it works intuitively and natively with Studio One Professional.

Consider violins for a moment . . .

If I want legato, then I have a staff for legato and use legato samples . . .

If I want pizzicato, then I have a staff for pizzicato and use pizzicato samples . . .

Overall, it requires a few more staves, but (a) when it's loud, a lot of the "fancy" and "elaborate" stuff does not sound so different, especially where there are other instruments and a lot of complex interactions and (b) for so-called "popular music", everything tends to be loud by design, hence the key criterion is that stuff is heard clearly and distinctly, because otherwise (If it can't be heard in the mix), then it's undesired noise and needs to be removed to avoid "muddy" and "garbled" mixes . . .

Lots of FUN! :)

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The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
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by miloslavnepil on Sun Apr 11, 2021 3:20 am
@Surf.Whammy: Standard modes represent just a single (yet most widely used) pitch class set. There are many more heptatonic modal families which are NOT equivalent with any standard mode upon rotation and inversion. Probably most comprehensive source containing all possible scales and their characteristics is this: https://ianring.com/musictheory/scales

For instance, Double Harmonic scale starting on C (https://ianring.com/musictheory/scales/2483) could be represented by a key signature consisting of A-flat and D-flat. Therefore, your suggestions are completely wrong. You cannot use any "standard" key signature for those alternative modes.

A short answer for @welltempered: Unfortunately, no, Notion is not able to utilize alternative key signatures. If you need them, have a look at Dorico.
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by Surf.Whammy on Sun Apr 11, 2021 1:35 pm
miloslavnepil wrote@Surf.Whammy: Standard modes represent just a single (yet most widely used) pitch class set. There are many more heptatonic modal families which are NOT equivalent with any standard mode upon rotation and inversion. Probably most comprehensive source containing all possible scales and their characteristics is this: https://ianring.com/musictheory/scales

For instance, Double Harmonic scale starting on C (https://ianring.com/musictheory/scales/2483) could be represented by a key signature consisting of A-flat and D-flat. Therefore, your suggestions are completely wrong. You cannot use any "standard" key signature for those alternative modes.

A short answer for @welltempered: Unfortunately, no, Notion is not able to utilize alternative key signatures. If you need them, have a look at Dorico.


All well and good, but it's not my hypothesis . . . :)

THOUGHTS

My hypothesis depends on the number of notes or pitches in the scale with the minor third interval, which at present has not been specified, hence all one can do is guess what it might be . . .

The hypothesis is based on the scale having six or perhaps fewer pitches or notes . . .

Consider the following example, where one needs a "standard" key signature for a scale which has only six pitches or notes, in this example {C, D, E, F, G, A} . . .

C Major (or C Ionian) will work even though it's a heptatonic (seven-note), diatonic, and so forth scale . . .

Specify it as the key signature, and it provides the solution, since the six notes are included in the set of seven notes . . .

Including B is not a problem, because B is not in the six-note or hexatonic scale . . .

In other words, call it a "workaround" or whatever one desires, but it's using a standard heptatonic scale (one of the seven "standard" modes) to provide a solution for a hexatonic scale . . .

It's the same as suggesting the notes or pitches of a C Major or C Ionian scale are included in the chromatic scale where all 12 notes are part of the higher-level scale . . .

Without knowing the notes or pitches of the scale which is the focus of this topic, all anyone can do is guess, which is not so precise . . .

My thinking is that if one of the scalar intervals is a minor third, then perhaps the scale only has six or fewer notes rather than seven notes . . .

Explained another way, if there are only six notes, then is there a heptatonic scale which includes the six notes, and if so, then is it one of the "standard" modes supported by NOTION?

Consider there is an eight note or octatonic scale that has the notes for a heptatonic scale plus one more note or perhaps a hexatonic scale with two more notes . . .

It's a variation of the problem where there are 25 green socks and 25 orange socks in a box, and the goal is to determine the smallest number of socks to select with no advance knowledge of their color so that the subset has 3 green socks and 3 orange socks . . .

This is a variation of the problem where the goal is to select a pair of matching socks of either of the two colors, where the solution is to select three socks as the minimum, which for reference is not the same as determining the number of "fair tosses" of a coin required to get two heads, this being different because the series never converges, and as such there could be a run of more sequential tails than grains of sand on all the beaches on all the planets in the Milky Way galaxy before a head appears . . .

If your desired scale has six notes, where one interval between two adjacent notes is a minor third, then who cares if the "standard" mode for a heptatonic scale provides a solution?

It has seven notes, but you only need to provide for six notes . . .

Coverage for a seventh note is there, but just don't use it . . .

Lots of FUN! :)

P. S. The scale theory links you provided are excellent, and I bookmarked them for more study! :reading:

I like music theory information packaged like this, since it's mathematical and geometrical, which makes more sense to me . . .

If you make no requirements regarding intervals, then there are 792 possible heptatonic scales, but when you add the requirement that no interval is greater than a minor third, the number reduces to 413 for heptatonic scales, and with the same added "minor third interval" constraint the number for hexatonic scales drops to 336 . . .

If I think about it a while, then there should be a relatively easy way to determine how many of the hexatonic scales are subsets of the hepatonic scales, which intuitively one might suggest is all of hexatonic scales . . .

Decades ago, I had various musical groups for purposes of playing at nightclubs; and I used what I call the "40-4" rule, which is that when a musical group knows 40 songs, it's possible to play 4 hour nightclub gigs when there are breaks between sets . . .

Since with the exception of horn players and one piano player, nobody read sheet music--hence were "by hear" players and singers--I know that it's possible and practical for folks to memorize 40 songs, pretty much note-for-note, which in some respects is a lot of information to memorize, although there a some handy mnemonic devices, many of which map to specific knowledge of the way the recording artists play, sing, and so forth . . .

One of the perhaps more unusual mnemonic devices "by ear" musicians and singers use is to map chord patterns and melodic phrases to songs and musical groups, where for example when you know these mnemonic devices, a cryptic "musical language" develops where such folks only need to know that a song is a "Purple Haze", "James Brown", "Sleepwalk", "Louie Louie" and so forth to be able to play it--this making sense only to myself and a few of my mutant garage band friends, all of whom are "by ear" folks . . .

If there is an advantage to giving chord patterns and melodic phrases names based on the title of the first song you heard with the chord patterns and melodic phrases, then it's primarily useful to develop a survey of "hit songs", observing that {Louie Louie, Sleepwalk, Walk Don't Run, Stormy Monday} and a few other songs cover pretty much every "popular" song at least since the 1950s . . .

Based on these observations, mnemonic devices, and so forth, I think it's possible to memorize 413 scales and their corresponding modes, although it's not something I plan to do . . .

Years ago, when I worked at NASA on the Shuttle Mission Simulation System, I had access to what at the time was the largest supercomputer on this planet and I had permission from NASA to use it during free time . . .

I wrote a computer program that computed all the combinations and permutations of chords for an electric guitar and printed it on 132-column computer paper, which I have and is about three or so inches thick . . .

Today, you can get this type of information in things called "Grimories", and there might be some of these for grand piano, as well . . .

The information at the "A Study of Musical Scales" (The Exciting Universe Of Music Theory) website is superb and effectively is a "Scale Grimorie" of sorts, and it makes me very happy, which is fabulous . . .

"A Study of Musical Scales" (The Exciting Universe Of Music Theory)

Fabulous!! :+1

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
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by welltempered on Fri Apr 16, 2021 8:04 pm
miloslavnepil wrote
A short answer for @welltempered: Unfortunately, no, Notion is not able to utilize alternative key signatures. If you need them, have a look at Dorico.


Thanks - I surmised as much. Unfortunate and I'll learn to live with it, but I appreciate the confirmation.
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by Surf.Whammy on Fri Apr 16, 2021 8:21 pm
welltempered wrote
miloslavnepil wrote
A short answer for @welltempered: Unfortunately, no, Notion is not able to utilize alternative key signatures. If you need them, have a look at Dorico.


Thanks - I surmised as much. Unfortunate and I'll learn to live with it, but I appreciate the confirmation.


With C as the root note, what are the notes in your scale with a minor third interval between two adjacent notes? :roll:

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The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
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by welltempered on Sun Apr 18, 2021 10:06 am
The scale I’m working with is E F# G A# B C# D E
If C were the tonic, the scale would be C D Eb F# G A Bb C
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by Surf.Whammy on Tue Apr 20, 2021 4:28 am
welltempered wroteThe scale I’m working with is E F# G A# B C# D E
If C were the tonic, the scale would be C D Eb F# G A Bb C


It's a heptatonic scale (seven notes), so that makes it more difficult . . . :roll:

THOUGHTS

I prefer sharps to flats, so even though it's non-standard, I write the scale as {C, D, D#. F#. G, A, A#} . . .

I think the rule is to avoid having two of the same first parts of note names, but so what . . .

At present, the only thing that comes to mind is to use a key signature in NOTION which has at least a few of the sharps, which if possible then reduces the number of manual sharps you need to add in respective measures . . .

D@ Major has two of the sharps (F# and C#), so you only need to add a sharp manually to A, which probably saves time . . .

I'm working on a song with a flying saucer theme, and it has D# . . .

I'm doing it in C Major, A Minor, or something that requires no key signature; and when there is a D, I add a sharp to it manually.

There are not so many of them, and I do a lot of copying and pasting; so (a) it's not much extra work and (b) it reminds me that it's an odd key signature . . .

I think it has an Instrumental Surf music mood, which fits the song . . .

Lots of FUN! :)

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The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
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by welltempered on Sun Apr 25, 2021 10:32 am
Thank you. I’ve indeed been using the D Major scale and putting in the A#s.

Also a final point that may be of interest to you: I’m not concerned about the incremental work to put in accidentals. Rather, a major reason from my perspective why a (standard or non-standard) key signature is useful during composition/review of a long piece is as follows: I can instantly see based on the accidentals where I’ve used modal borrowing or other non-diatonic notes in the melody, or altered chords like secondary dominants, or a passage with modulation of key.

And when reading other scores, for example when I scan the score of a piece by Bach or any other tonal music composer, it allows me to quickly discern the above “moves” the composer used in the piece with a speed that would be impossible if all the accidentals were written into the score, especially in a key with several sharps or flats.

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