Google loves using sequencers as a way of teaching folks how to make music. The repository for all of these experiments is Chrome Music Lab, a suite of music making tools for musicians. Now, Google added Song Maker, a way for you to craft your own basic tunes.
Song Maker is the newest experiment in Chrome Music Lab, is a simple way for anyone to make and share a song. Built by Google Creative Lab, Yotam Mann, and Use All Five using Web Audio API, WebMIDI, Tone.js, and more.
It’s no FL Studio, but it’s fun and you get to choose between a few instruments like a piano, strings, woodwinds, a synth and a marimba. There’s also a small rhythm section that lets you add drums to your songs. Some of the more nifty features include the ability to attach a Midi keyboard to your computer to play the instruments and a recording feature that will translate your singing into notes.
Google says it’s launching Song Maker in concert with Music in Our Schools Month, an initiative of the National Association for Music Education.
Once you created your masterpiece, Song Maker gives you a permalink so you can easily share it with the rest of the world. While you’re at it, also have a look at the other instruments in the Music Lab. The Kandinsky translates your drawings into music.
And once you have graduated from Sound Maker, there’s all kinds of more complex browser-based sequencers that you can experiment with, too, including the likes of Soundation. Sampulator and Acid Machine.
Anyone who grew up using Mario Paint Composer to re-create the pop hits of the day will be familiar with how Song Maker works. Simply click a block and you can create a ditty, although you’ll need to tweak the settings to make it longer than a few seconds long. Then, you can share your works with friends, and they can tweak your experiments to further make the next great pop hit.
