Specimen / Opus 12Carnival of Venice
Theme & Variations

A musical design system

Wynton

Built from a cornet showpiece - Jean-Baptiste Arban's theme, handed forward by Wynton Marsalis - translated into type, rhythm and grid. Every section is a movement. One mark of vermilion carries the tension.

Key
A♭ major
Tempo
Allegretto
Grid
24 col
Accent
#B82E24
I

Cadenza Leap

Carnival

of Venice

The headline rides the viewport. A 12vw slope means the leap between a phone and a wall is enormous - tension you can feel before you read a word. Drag the width to hear the interval change; the type tracks in at -0.03em so the larger it gets, the tighter it locks.

64vw
Rendered size
131px
C
II

T-T-K Stagger

Triple-tonguing - tu-tu-ku - is how the cornet machine-guns the variations. Trigger the attack and the blocks enter on a 45ms grid, the same syllables in the same order, each landing a beat after the last.

T+0ms

Tongue

Single - clean front of the note

T+45ms

Tip

Repeat - daa, daa on the staccato run

K+90ms

Back

Double - ka closes the triplet

T+180ms

Tongue

Variation I - slurred then struck

T+360ms

Tip

Variation II - the chromatic climb

K+540ms

Back

Variation III - the held high A♭

Delays - 0 · 45 · 90 · 180 · 360 · 540

III

24-Column Variation Micro-Grid

Twenty-four subdivisions, no gutters. Variations are placed as overlapping modules so they share seams the way phrases share a bar line. Toggle the grid to read the underlying meter.

Var. Icol 1-13

Theme, stated plainly

Sixteen bars, no ornament. The grid at rest before the variations crowd in.

Var. IIcol 12-24

Sixteenth-note run

Overlaps Var. I by one column - the zero-gutter seam where two ideas argue.

Var. IIIcol 1-8

Lower brass

Cadenzacol 9-17

Free time

Codacol 17-24

Final A♭, fortissimo

The held note. Everything resolves to the right edge of the system.

Cadence
IV

Palette

Parchment#EFECE6
Charcoal Ink#1C2022
Teak / Walnut#3E2F25
Vermilion Lacquer#B82E24
Wynton - a musical design systemTheme by Arban · forward by Marsalis