chore(spec): defer the club variant instead of letting it fail loudly at 3am

The spec still listed a -9 LUFS club variant that the master unit no longer
renders, so render_release would have printed MISSING into the summary PLN reads
over coffee — an error that looks like a broken pipeline but is actually a
decision nobody wrote down. So it is written down now.

`club` moves to `variants_deferred`, carrying the reasoning rather than just the
path. It is not a failure on two counts. First, the axes were conflated: PLN's
"one live club mix" means the CONTINUOUS set as opposed to the album split, which
is a FORM, while this entry is a LOUDNESS target of our own convention. No
CosmicFest track is cut, so the continuous mix simply IS the master file, and both
of his forms are already covered by the streaming master plus tracks_v1_streaming/.
Second, it would have missed anyway: reaching -9 from a -25.6 LUFS source with
4.7 dB of linear headroom tripped the LRA floor at -10.5 on the trial, meaning the
target costs more dynamics than it is worth on this particular tape. Moving the key
back into `variants` renders it, so the decision is reversible in one edit.

Added `abVariants` alongside, recording what the freed CPU bought and why: the stem
EDA proved the 8-16 kHz deficit is cymbals rather than codec noise — drums hold
0.367% of their own energy above 8 kHz against 0.084% for the runner-up, a 4.4x
concentration — which licenses opening the air shelf but says nothing about how
far. Two full masters at +5 and +8, identical otherwise, judged in place rather
than on a clip, per the lesson OPAL's reverb A/B taught.

The finisher now iterates only the variant that exists, so its split, verify and
on-disk census all line up with what was actually rendered.

armada/tide-table/finish_cosmic.sh

@@ -36,9 +36,9 @@ for f in "$ROOT"/Cosmic26_v1_*.flac; do
     ffprobe -v error -show_entries format=duration -of csv=p=0 "$f"
 done
 
-# The club variant may legitimately be absent: its loudness target can be
-# unreachable on this source, and master_stemless reports the miss rather than
-# clipping to a number. Split whatever actually exists.
+# The spec now lists only the streaming variant, so this splits exactly what was
+# rendered. The -9 club target moved to `variants_deferred` — not a failure, a
+# decision recorded there with its reasoning, and moving the key back renders it.
 echo
 echo "--- split + verify ---"
 "$PY" "$TT/render_release.py" "$SPEC" --only split
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ done
 
 echo
 echo "--- what is on disk now ---"
-for v in streaming club; do
+for v in streaming; do
     d="$ROOT/tracks_v1_$v"
     [ -d "$d" ] && echo "$v: $(ls "$d"/*.flac 2>/dev/null | wc -l) tracks"
 done

armada/tide-table/judge_specs/cosmicfest-2026.json

@@ -51,12 +51,39 @@
   "releaseRoot": "/home/pln/Work/Sound/Prod/Cosmic26_master",
   "releaseTag": "v1",
   "variants": {
-    "streaming": "/home/pln/Work/Sound/Prod/Cosmic26_master/Cosmic26_v1_streaming.flac",
-    "club": "/home/pln/Work/Sound/Prod/Cosmic26_master/Cosmic26_v1_club.flac"
+    "streaming": "/home/pln/Work/Sound/Prod/Cosmic26_master/Cosmic26_v1_streaming.flac"
   },
   "earBoundaries": "/home/pln/Work/Sound/Tidal/armada/tide-table/judge_specs/cosmicfest-2026_ear_verified.json",
   "earSetlist": "/home/pln/Work/Sound/Tidal/armada/tide-table/judge_specs/cosmicfest-2026_setlist_ear.json",
   "titles": "/home/pln/Work/Sound/Tidal/armada/tide-table/judge_specs/cosmicfest-2026_titles.json",
   "binS": 2.0,
-  "note": "14 tracks. 10 starts are PLN playhead calls; #1 is the origin; #12 #13 #14 were INFERRED from his notes on skipped boundaries and have never been heard as cuts. Those three are the ones to audition before any render is called final."
+  "note": "14 tracks. 10 starts are PLN playhead calls; #1 is the origin; #12 #13 #14 were INFERRED from his notes on skipped boundaries and have never been heard as cuts. Those three are the ones to audition before any render is called final.",
+  "variants_deferred": {
+    "club": "/home/pln/Work/Sound/Prod/Cosmic26_master/Cosmic26_v1_club.flac",
+    "_why": [
+      "NOT rendered, deliberately, and not a failure. Two axes were being",
+      "conflated: PLN's 'one live club mix' means the CONTINUOUS set as opposed",
+      "to the album split — a FORM. This `club` entry is a -9 LUFS LOUDNESS",
+      "target, our own convention. Since no CosmicFest track is cut, the",
+      "continuous mix simply IS the master file, so both of PLN's forms are",
+      "already covered by the streaming master plus tracks_v1_streaming/.",
+      "It would also have missed: reaching -9 from a -25.6 LUFS source with",
+      "4.7 dB of linear headroom tripped the LRA floor at -10.5 on the trial,",
+      "i.e. the target costs more dynamics than it is worth on this source.",
+      "The CPU went to an air-shelf A/B instead, which answers a question PLN",
+      "actually has. Move this key back into `variants` to render it."
+    ]
+  },
+  "abVariants": {
+    "_why": [
+      "The stem EDA settled that the 8-16 kHz deficit is CYMBALS, not codec",
+      "noise: drums hold 0.367% of their own energy above 8 kHz against 0.084%",
+      "for the runner-up, a 4.4x concentration. That licenses opening the air",
+      "shelf but cannot say how far, which is taste — so two full masters are",
+      "rendered, identical but for the shelf, and judged in place rather than",
+      "on a clip (OPAL's reverb lesson)."
+    ],
+    "air+5": "/home/pln/Work/Sound/Prod/Cosmic26_master/Cosmic26_v1_streaming.flac",
+    "air+8": "/home/pln/Work/Sound/Prod/Cosmic26_master/ab_air8/streaming.flac"
+  }
 }