Design space of music notation

[Phaigo]

Previously I mentioned

Pitch and duration are essential attributes of a note. Piano roll represents them visually (non-abstract), higher y position -> higher pitch, longer x length -> longer duration. Staff notation is half-abstract, higher y position -> higher pitch, different symbols -> duration. Integer notation symbolizes both.

In general, each attribute of a musical note (pitch, duration, dynamics, articulation, etc) can be represented in different ways. All these different options form the "design space" of music notation. There are a few research papers on this topic. I'll provide links when I get to them. (There's even The International Conference on Technologies for Music Notation and Representation, aka "TENOR", that has been around for 10 years.)

Traditional notation is but a specific "point" in this space. Modern information technology allows us to explore this space more broadly. Given the diverse cultural background, music practices and individual differences, we can't expect a single notation system to suit every person in every scenario.

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Here's a simple taxonomy for representing pitch and duration

• Duration: graphical vs symbolic
• Pitch: graphical vs symbolic, diatonic vs chromatic

System	Duration	Pitch
Piano roll	Graphical	Graphical & Chromatic
Staff notation	Symbolic	Graphical & Diatonic
Jianpu	Symbolic	Symbolic & Diatonic
This integer notation plugin	Symbolic	Symbolic & Chromatic

So these are 4 among the 2x2x2=8 options. Other 4 options likely have been proposed but may not be very useful.