But this papers over a lot of useful information. An accidental is clearly marked when we use a key signature. A stack of twelve tones does not clearly mark which tones belong to the key center and which do not. This is very useful information when reading.

We use twelve tones, but most harmony is arranged in seven note scales. Representing those scales easily is important.

Question, so I better understand where you're coming from: are you a musician, and if so, at what level would you consider yourself?

I suppose I understand this stuff far better than most people who have bothered to learn an instrument. I frequently arrange music for flute, trumpet (my primary instrument), and garklein recorder.

I'm at the level where usability matters. Top experts, not that there are enough of them to care about, can handle anything. Beginners will be lost in any case.

I would greatly prefer a chromatic notation. Accidentals ought to be reserved for quarter-tone needs. Chromatic notation gives music the same shape on the page no matter what pitch it is transposed to; this is an extremely valuable property. Sight-transposition would be trivial. Imagine a world in which an ordinary clarinet player could play music for the flute, horn, or bassoon. Sight-transposing, even by other than an octave, would be easy for most players.

Gotcha, thanks for that. I wasn't sure if you were coming from the place of a musician who's super deep into it, or a novice or non-musician who just can't really grok notation because that just isn't their world. Obviously it's the former.

I think your ideas here are so interesting! I totally see what you're saying with accidentals being reserved for quarter tones. I studied microtonal music in college and hated the notation systems. They truly feel "bolted on" to standard notation.

Have you developed any sort of concrete "replacement" system? If so, I'd love to see it. This is super cool stuff.