forever components

Playful Geometric Notation

Polyphony Grid

A 16x6 color grid swept by a column playhead; active cells flash with scale and glow on each pass, voices re-seeded each lap for evolving compositions.

cssmedium complexitymoderate motion

Open on the canvas to copy the code → Free account · 3 copies a day · membership goes unlimited

Live demo — the real component, running in a sandbox. One self-contained HTML file, zero dependencies. Open it on the canvas →
Worth keeping? Votes steer what gets built next — sign in to cast one, free to read

When to use it

Ambient creative backgrounds, music/audio visualization metaphors, or Bauhaus-inspired art installations.

When not to

Contexts requiring static or minimal motion — the constant sweeping playhead is always active. Not suitable as a functional audio sequencer without additional wiring.

Working with an AI agent

Every component ships agent-ready metadata. An example instruction for this one:

Change COLS to 24 and ROWS to 8, set playhead speed by changing the dt*COLS*0.9 multiplier to 1.4, and add a sixth palette color PAL.cobalt='#2a4a8c'. Theme: dark tokens live in :root, the light variant in :root[data-theme="light"]; ?theme=light or a {type:'forever:theme'} postMessage switches at runtime.

Safe to edit

  • grid dimensions (COLS=16, ROWS=6)
  • palette colors (PAL object)
  • playhead speed (dt*COLS*0.9)
  • flash intensity (f*0.12 scale, 8+12*f glow)
  • re-seed rate (3 cells per lap)
  • initial cell density (Math.random()<0.22)
  • theme tokens (:root dark defaults + [data-theme=light] overrides)

Keep intact

  • IIFE wrapper
  • prefers-reduced-motion guard
  • visibilitychange pause/resume
  • flashLatch deduplication per column pass
  • theme hook (?theme= bootstrap + forever:theme message listener + theme tokens)

Known limitations

  • CSS grid cell count fixed at build time — changing COLS/ROWS requires matching gridTemplateColumns/Rows updates
  • No touch or pointer interactivity; purely passive
  • Re-seeding is random, not musical — no scale or rhythm logic

gridsequencerplayheadcolorgenerativemusic-visual

More Playful Geometric Notation components

  • Magic Square7x5 grid of color blocks in terracotta, teal, mustard, slate, and plum that slowly breathe — scaling and shifting saturation — evoking a Bauhaus…
  • A Line Goes WalkingA single ink line wanders the warm paper canvas step by step, tracing a random path from a teal start-dot to a terracotta head; fades and resets on a loop.
  • Arrow FieldA grid of colored arrows rotates and pulses in a slow flow-field current, each pointing direction driven by sine waves and radial angle from center.
  • Glyph GardenChildlike pictographs — fish, moon, arrow, face, tree, star, boat — drawn stroke-by-stroke on warm paper, held, then erased and reseeded in a cycling grid.
  • Twittering ContraptionFour Bauhaus-style wire birds bob on a horizontal wire and chirp musical notes while a hand-crank below spins. Inspired by Bauhaus's 1922 painting.
  • Colour Staircase9 color-graduated bars ascend like a staircase, each breathing in height and marching hue in staggered CSS keyframe loops. Warm parchment background.