This disclosure is directed to systems, methods, apparatuses, and techniques that utilize enhanced gesture-based input mechanisms to facilitate rapid creation and editing of digital music compositions. These technologies can be specially designed and configured to optimize creation, editing, and/or sharing of digital music compositions on mobile electronic devices that include capacitive sensing mechanisms. The technologies include multi-gesture functionalities that enable users to view and access various notation customization features in a compact space of a mobile device display. Additionally, the technologies encompass improved data storage models that enable underlying notation data to be accessed in multiple operational modes, and permit frequencies or pitches of notations to be accurately generated and incorporated into audio signals.