I think that's a mischaracterization, because it assumes that it was ever designed. At each point in time it was assembled from the notation conventions familia

I think that's a mischaracterization, because it assumes that it was ever designed. At each point in time it was assembled from the notation conventions familiar from the previous generation of music to record the current generation. As you go back in time you find a nice, continuous progression back to about the 9th century.