Chrome Music Lab has launched a new music creation tool called Song Maker. A browser-based experience, Song Maker is a sequencer that allows you to program loops for two different instruments of your choosing, then save it or send to someone else for collaboration
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
Song Maker is a tad more complex, but is still very straightforward and foolproof. It has a sequencer format divided into two sections: a main portion for melody and a smaller bar at the bottom for rhythm. You can choose between several musical options for each section, then draw your notes in using your mouse, keyboard, or finger, depending on your device. (The notes don’t have to be individually clicked in either; you can drag across and paint in swaths of notes
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. I’m particularly fond of Kandinsky, which translates your drawings into music
Chrome Music Lab’s Song Maker is one of many browser-based music-making tools that can be played around with for free. For example, PIXELSYNTH lets you draw sketches and then turns those images into music as it scrolls across, and Novation made a browser version of its Launchpad hardware called Arcade that has you tap sample pads to program loops.