Accidentals when no key signature
Hi -
I'm trying to create a score for a short piece of chamber music I've composed (in Cubase), but I can't find key signatures that naturally fit. I'm told the key in many places is ambiguous and that the tonal centre sometimes shifts quite rapidly, and so it's difficult to find the right key signature.
So, even though it's probably not atonal in any sense, I'm wanting to create a score without key signatures. But this is presenting its own challenges, as I'm told I need to balance a number of general principles (like sharps on clear upward runs and flats on clear downward runs), consistent notation for the same pitch, consistency of pitch representation across instruments, and so on.
I've had a go, and if anyone is willing to take a look and advise me of any difficulties musicians might have in reading it, that would be immensely valuable. It is actually going to be played by a chamber group as part of a composition course I've signed up to at a London College, but it will not have the opportunity of any further feedback before submission.
You can see the score (and hear the MIDI audio render) at Track 28 - Chamber Octet (May 2026) -
This is a slightly dangerous question for me to ask, as I am not musically trained and may not understand your answer if it is expressed in terms of tonal theory.... If possible, please assume that I'm a beginner at all this and that I'm most likely to understand what to do if the answers are expressed in simple terms.