How to keep Accidentals "simple"

[aceastwood]

I use the “alt-” and “alt+” keys ("option key on the MAC) all the time to fix accidentals and I’m very pleased with it.

For me, however, it has one major drawback : that is in addition to switching from say G sharp to A flat if I keep on pressing those keys I end up seeing double flats or sharps.

Can it be set so that it never creates any kind of double accidental?

[As background I see there is a lot of discussion of this topic. What I would like is well described here:]

@dko22

in most cases people just want accidentals to be kept to a minimum without too many arbitrary changes between flats and sharps and certainly no double and triple accidentals

Incidentally: this “Common sense if theoretically unsound approach” definitely holds true for classical guitar music. Not much guitar music is written in keys sharper than E or flatter than B flat. Many guitarists have hardly have ever seen a double sharp and still less a double flat so in a passage in F sharp minor it’s very common to see the leading note written as an F natural.

[Vadian]

@aceastwood

@dko22

in most cases people just want accidentals to be kept to a minimum without too many arbitrary changes between flats and sharps and certainly no double and triple accidentals

The quote is about atonal music.
In classical music we need double flats and sharps.

A pretty extreme example is from Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev.

If you ran into too many accidentals you can press Undo or the opposite direction key

[dko22]

@Vadian

The quote is about atonal music

exactly - it’s in atonal music where the problems lie and what I was primarily referring to.

[aceastwood]

@Vadian

In classical music we need double flats and sharps.

[/quote]

That’s traditionally true but times have changed and many folks now write tonal music with no key signature. (My academy-trained tutor insists on removing my key signatures! )

Its also standard practise for film or session scores :

How to Score

" Key Signatures
As with most modern music, we do not use key signatures in film scores. That’s true even if the score is completely tonal. It is much easier for the players to have each accidental labeled. If we did use key signatures, players would end up writing in a lot of courtesy accidentals, as they will be sight-reading and they do not want to miss any."

So what I was hoping for was something that only ever got me single flats, single sharps or naturals and that, for example, where Dorico would today have offered me D double sharp it would stick at E natural.