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
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Worth keeping?
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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
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.