Custom key sig with C clef on lowest line

Thanks your reply John. I tried doing it exactly the way you have outlined, and that has worked fine for the tenor clef, but in the soprano clef the Eflat has dropped an octave - understandably because that would be the rational thing to do, but I can’t get the soprano clef to appear the way you have done it!

Oh dear! I was afraid you might ask about that.

When this topic began yesterday, I confess that I had never used a custom tonality system or a custom key signature. To create the key signature I pictured in an earlier post, I started with a new tonality system in which the only accidental provided was the natural sign with zero pitch delta. I added the flat accidental with zero pitch delta because at that time I didn’t know how to modify the pitch delta. I then created my custom key signature as I described in my previous post and when I applied it to the staff with the soprano clef, Dorico put the third flat in the key signature above the staff. Since the flat accidental in this key signature doesn’t lower the pitch of a note, it is not suitable for entering music or playing it back correctly. When I changed the pitch delta to -1 as it should be for a 12-EDO tonality system, Dorico put the third flat down an octave.

Perhaps someone more clever than I can figure out how to display the key signature the way you want while allowing the music to be entered and played back correctly.

Maybe it’s just not possible?

c clefs example
I don’t think the placement of the b (for E flat) in the upper system above the top line is essential.
The default placement on second line is absolutely fine.

There is one thing one has to be aware of though: sometimes copyists would place an accidental into the key signature more than once - this sometimes leads to a wrong interpretation of the main key…

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Extra cleverness takes extra time, but I have figured out how to display the key signature the way you want while allowing the music to be notated and played back correctly. The revised custom key signature takes several steps to create and every Eb in the piece takes one or two steps to make it look and sound correct, but it can be done. Let me know if you’re interested in the details.

Wow that’s reall dedication. Yes I would like to know the details please, although I’m hoping that the editor will accept that it just makes sense to use the regular layout for C-clefs that we use in the 21st century. But I would still like to know. Best wishes.

The following steps assume that the current custom key signature was added to the 12-EDO tonality system or a copy of it.

  1. At the beginning of the piece, change the key signature to Eb major to obtain a standard arrangement of three flats while the custom key signature is being modified.
  2. In the right-hand panel in write mode, select the tonality system containing the current custom key signature and click the pencil icon to edit it.
  3. Below the column of accidentals in the middle of the dialog box, click the + sign to add an accidental.
  4. In the upper right-hand corner of the second dialog box, change the pitch delta to 4. Select the glyph for the single flat and click where it says “Add Glyph”. Then click OK.
  5. Select the current custom key signature in the right portion of the first dialog box and click the pencil icon beneath it.
  6. Select the treble clef. Then select the third flat in the key signature and delete it. In the list of accidentals near the bottom of the current dialog box, select the new accidental at the end of the list. Now add this accidental to the key signature and place it on the fourth space. Then click OK.
  7. Click OK again to close the first dialog box.
  8. At the beginning of the piece, apply the revised custom key signature. Every existing Eb note will now display an explicit flat. Select all of these notes and use the properties panel to hide the accidentals.
  9. If you enter or edit the music and try to obtain an Eb, you will get a note that looks like an E without an explicit accidental but sounds like an Ab. To correct this problem, start by selecting the note(s) with the wrong pitch. At the bottom of the right-hand panel below the custom key signature is a list of accidentals. Click the first single flat in the list and not the one at the end of the list. Once again, use the properties panel to hide the explicit accidental(s).

That’s all, folks! Aren’t you glad you asked about the details?

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