A temporary medium for storing mnemonic words in order to evade physical attackers.
BIP-39 words are composed of 11 bits per word. Each 0 and 1 is represented by a half note and a quarter note, respectively. You may need to fill the remaining portion of the measure with rests or tie two quarter notes to form a half note. Some examples are shown below:
or:
00000000000
or:
abandon
The chose time signature is 4/4, meaning four quarter-note beats per measure. Additionally, a half rest can be used to fill the first two beats of the first measure. Binary numbers are read from the right to the left.
or:
01000011011
or:
drop
Each tied quarter note represents a zero. In this case, a quarter rest was used because the 11 bits were already written and the measure still needed to be filled.
or:
11111111111
or:
zoo
The first beat of the first measure is shown as a dotted half rest. This should be self-explanatory based on the first example, but with quarter notes replacing half notes, and the second half of the last measure filled with a half rest.
You don’t need specific software for this if you're not a musician—just blank paper and a pen will do. Focus more on the time signature, the half note, the quarter note (and their respective rests). The other symbols, like the percussion clef (which I couldn't remove), the horizontal line, and the double bar at the end, are not mandatory.
The passphrase can also be included in the sheet music; however, each character must be converted to binary using an ASCII table or a conversion tool. Just remember what 0 and 1 correspond to in your notation.
For simplicity’s sake, this post isn’t intended exclusively for musicians, although they may find creative ways to increase its complexity.