Fans of Google Doodle, you’re in luck – Google has just launched a musical counterpart, the so-called Chrome Music Lab, a plethora of interactive tools, instruments, and sequencers that allow you to manipulate music and audio within your browser. Utilizing Web Audio API technology, Chrome Music Lab instantly turns the beloved browser into an innovative, fully-functioning instrument designed to help both musicians and non-musicians learn the fundamentals of rhythm, melody, harmony, and arpeggios. As The Next Web reports, the Chrome Music Lab was created primarily for USA’s Music In Our Schools month, but ironically, it seems far more likely to drain working hours for adults than the typical Doodle. In addition to the more pedagogic tools, there is a Kandinsky-inspired sequencer, a spectrogram to engage with, and devices that allow users to record (through their computer’s built-in microphone) and manipulate vocals in a number of ways.
The Chrome Music Lab is the most recent browser feature powered by Web Audio API, although it is certainly not the first. Last year, Google added MIDI support to Chrome; since then, we have also seen a Roland-inspired drum machine and GarageBand-style sequencer. Best of all, the Music Lab features open-source coding so you can even create your own devices to get as whacky as you like.
