Starting in the early 1980s, Ellen Banks developed a visual transcription system for translating written musical scores into paintings. Individual measures served as the formal basis for this methodology, with notes being assigned specific colors: red stands for A, orange for B, yellow for C, green for D, indigo for E, violet for F, and “neutral” for G. The system, which was initially strictly rule-based, was further developed over time, but has had a lasting influence on her entire oeuvre since the 1980s.