Accidentals
Accidentals must always be indicated along with the diatonic pitch name unless
the pitch is natural. Accidentals up to double-sharp/flat can be displayed in
VHV (no triple sharps/flats or higher can be rendered with verovio, although
they can be represented in **kern data):
VHV will automatically calculate which accidentals should be visible in the graphic notation. In the following example, the key signature contains an F-sharp, so in the first measure no sharps are displayed on the F’s. The second measure contains an F-natural since there is no chromatic alteration of the F, so a natural is shown to cancel out the key signatures F-sharp. And at the end of the second measure, the second F has a sharp alteration which must be shown; otherwise, it would appear to be an F-natural.
Try removing the key signature, and see what happens to the accidentals displayed in the example.
Cautionary/Forced accidentals
When accidentals are not required according to the algorithm for
calculating visual accidentals, but the accidentals are desired in
order to add clarity for a performer, the accidental of a note can
be forced to be displayed (whether it would be required or not) by
adding X after the accidental.
In the first measure, two F-naturals are given, with only the first F-natural displaying its natural alteration. In the second measure, the first F has a sharp, but this sharp would not normally be displayed since it is within the key signature, and the barline canceled out the F-natural of the previous measure. To avoid confusion, the first F-sharp in the second measure should have a cautionary sharp added to the note as is shown in the above example.
Natural signs do not require X, as they are always displayed when
given, but when they are used to indicate a cautionary accidental,
the X is necessary. The X can also be used in diplomatic
encodings to indicate a visual accidental in the source manuscript. Also,
to force or indicate that an accidental is implied in a diplomatic
score, use y immediately after the accidental to force it to be
hidden.
Editorial accidentals
Editorial accidentals can be indicated by adding an RDF reference record
for a user-signifier (character) used to mark the editorial accidentals
in the data. Typically the character i is used to mark editorial
accidentals in Josquin Research Project
Humdrum encodings, displaying the accidental above the note:
The RDF reference record can be placed on any line of the file but typically is placed at the end of the data. Notice that editorial accidentals may affect the visual display of accidentals after the current pitch. Try making the natural sign on the last note in the above example an editorial accidental as well.
Also note that the style of the editorial accidental can be controlled
from the RDF entry. Add the string brack or bracket to the RDF description
so that the editorial accidentals are displayed as regular accidentals enclosed
in brackets. Also try adding paren or parentheses to the RDF line to
display the editorial accidental in parentheses.