Have you ever looked at a system architecture diagram and felt⌠confused?
Not because itâs complex, but because it doesnât tell you anything about what actually happens?
Iâm going to show you why the best software systems sound like carefully crafted symphonies - and how understanding this changes everything about the way you build, scale, and maintain your architecture.
Hereâs what happened when I finally heard what software was supposed to sound like.
The Workshop That Changed How I Look at Event Models
I was co-leading a workshop with Adam Dymitruk when he said something that stopped me in my tracks:
âSoftware is like musical notes.â
This resonated. The system is a choreographed symphony - a sonata with carefully crafted notes.
At first, I thought it was just a nice metaphor.
But then I really sat with it.
Musical notes flow from left to right in an ordered way. When crafted well, they paint a beautiful melody, a clear picture. The best symphonies tell stories. Software is the same - well crafted, one step after the other. It only works if everything plays well together.
That night, I grabbed one of my daughterâs piano books.
I opened it up and stared at the sheet music.
There it was - notes flowing left to right. Even without being a music expert, you could see the flow, understand the structure, follow the story as it unfolded through time. I never made the connection to software.
I couldnât get the image out of my head.
Whenever I look at an Event Model now, I see musical notes. I see the sound of the system. Itâs really the very same principle. I never made this connection.
Most Systems Are Like Those One-Man Bands
Most software doesnât follow this flow.
Itâs more like a spiderweb, where everything is connected to everything. You canât see the underlying structure anymore.
You know those street performers who try to play five instruments at once - foot on the bass drum, harmonica in the mouth, guitar in hand, tambourine on the knee?
Thatâs what traditional systems often look like to me.
Kind of works. Completely impractical long term.
You canât look away, but disaster is inevitable if played long enough.
And the disaster shows up in predictable ways:
You need to add one attribute to a table. Should be simple, right?
But now you need to adjust a few other tables. And all those other features depend on those tables. Suddenly youâre in the middle of changing things that worked perfectly before, just because the structure changed.
The ripple effect spreads.
This is why software gets more expensive the longer you work on it.
Every change becomes more risky, more time-consuming, more costly. Your velocity slows down. Your estimates balloon.
The one-man band canât keep all those plates spinning forever.
The Missing Storyline
Thereâs one thing that is missing from all those architecture diagrams:
The story behind the system.
Thereâs no flow. No timeline. No sense of what happens first, second, third.
They try to map the functionality - boxes and arrows instead of notes and flow - that alone doesnât make software tick.
The real beauty lies in the storyline.
Thatâs why the music metaphor is so strong. Music isnât just notes - itâs notes in time, telling a story as they unfold.
Crafting the Symphony, One Note at a Time
Crafting a perfect symphony starts with a single note.
And then another.
And then another.
The equivalent in software is the slice - the smallest piece of functionality that delivers value.
You just put them together one by one, crafting a flow of ânotes.â
Hereâs the beautiful part:
To craft the next note, you donât need to understand the whole symphony.
You need to understand where you are and the last few notes to determine what comes next.
When I first explained this to a team, they had the same fear everyone has:
âBut wonât we lose the big picture?â
No. The big picture is always there - ready to be zoomed out in the Event Model whenever you need it.
Look at your symphony whenever you need to.
But the closer you get to implementation, the less you care about the big picture and the more you care about the current note.
This is also true for AI, by the way. AI doesnât need the full Event Model to generate code - it needs the current slice and a handful of slices that came before. Thatâs it. The context window can be very small.
What You Hear Changes What You Build
When you start seeing systems as symphonies instead of spiderwebs, everything changes:
- You stop trying to understand everything at once
- You stop fearing change because each slice is isolated
- You stop watching costs spiral because changes donât ripple uncontrollably
- You start building systems that are elegant, maintainable, and actually tell a clear story
The flow is there. The timeline is there. The story is there.
And just like reading sheet music, even if youâre not an expert, you can basically get it.
You can see whatâs happening.
You can hear the sound of the system.
Learn to Craft Symphonies in Software
This is exactly what Iâll be teaching in my Event Sourcing + Slicing Foundations Workshop - January 19, 20, 21.
Over three days, youâll learn how I craft and build symphonies in software using slices, event sourcing, and Event Modeling.
Youâll see how to:
- Break down complex systems into elegant, flowing slices
- Build each note without needing to hold the entire symphony in your head
- Create systems that stay maintainable and cost-effective over time
- Turn chaos into choreography
Limited spots available, 50% sold out. Book until December 31 - and get Event Modeling Foundations on January 19 for free.
DM me âSymphonyâ if you want to reserve your seat. Iâll send you some more information.
Letâs turn your system into something worth listening to.
â Martin
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