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In words

8 November 2026 · Day 8 · Built with Claude, on 9 November

Do words help you hear a sketch, or get in the way? Nine sketches of the phrase I sang for Day 3, each described in plain words by fixed rules. Read the words, listen, and find the sketch they describe.

All nine, named, with their words

  1. The seed

    Seven notes over about four and a half seconds, sitting low, around F3. It rises to its highest note in the middle, then comes back down part way. It spans a sixth, and its biggest jump is a third. The notes vary in length. It pauses twice. It's loudest early on, and quiet by the end.

  2. Up a fourth

    Seven notes over about four and a half seconds, sitting in the middle, around B♭3. It rises to its highest note in the middle, then comes back down part way. It spans a sixth, and its biggest jump is a third. The notes vary in length. It pauses twice. It's loudest early on, and quiet by the end.

  3. Reshaped

    Seven notes over about four and a half seconds, sitting low, around F3. It rises to its highest note in the middle, then comes back down part way. It spans a sixth, and its biggest jump is a third. The notes vary in length. It pauses twice. It's loudest in the middle, and quiet by the end.

  4. Ornamented

    Nine notes over about four and a half seconds, sitting low, around F3. It rises to its highest note in the middle, then comes back down part way. It spans a sixth, and its biggest jump is a fourth. The notes vary in length, with two very short ones. It pauses twice. It's loudest early on, and quiet by the end.

  5. Ornamented + Reshaped

    Ten notes over about four and a half seconds, sitting low, around F3. It rises to its highest note in the middle, then comes back down part way. It spans a sixth, and its biggest jump is a tone. The notes vary in length, with three very short ones. It pauses twice. It's loudest early on, and quiet by the end.

  6. Pushed about

    Seven notes over about four and a half seconds, sitting low, around F3. It rises to its highest note in the middle, then comes back down part way. It spans a sixth, and its biggest jump is a third. The notes vary in length, with one very short one. It pauses once. It's loudest early on, and quiet by the end.

  7. Busier

    Twelve notes over about four and a half seconds, sitting low, around F3. It rises to its highest note in the middle, then comes back down part way. It spans a sixth, and its biggest jump is a tone. The notes vary in length, with two very short ones. It pauses twice. It's loudest early on, and quiet by the end.

  8. Wider

    Seven notes over about four and a half seconds, sitting in the middle, around G3. It rises to its highest note in the middle, then comes back down part way. It spans an octave, and its biggest jump is a tritone. The notes vary in length. It pauses twice. It's loudest early on, and quiet by the end.

  9. Upside down

    Seven notes over about four and a half seconds, sitting low, around A2. It dips to its lowest note in the middle, then comes back up part way. It spans a sixth, and its biggest jump is a third. The notes vary in length. It pauses twice. It's loudest early on, and quiet by the end.

What's going on here

Each sketch is described by a few fixed rules, from its notes alone and how loud each one is: how many notes, how long, where it sits, its shape, its biggest jump, its rhythm and where it's loudest. No AI writes these words, and nothing judges. The same notes always get the same words, and every word comes from a number.

The nine sketches are the seed I sang for Day 3 and its eight relatives from Day 4. No two get the same words, but they're close: two of the relatives differ from the seed's words in a single sentence, and three more in two. Where one says "around F3" and another "around B♭3", only listening can tell you which is which.

What words can't hold

None of these words say what the voice sounds like, and that's most of what I hear. Does reading "it pauses twice" make the pauses easier to hear, or does it stop you listening for anything else? That's what the game is for.

In the factory

My overnight factory writes a short note with each crop. Claude writes it from the measurements, told to describe and never to judge, and its words are checked before they go in. These words come from fixed rules instead, so every one can be traced back. Whether either kind helps me hear a crop, or just gives me something to read instead of listening, is still open.

The sounds are the ones on Grow; only the words are new.