What: A music experimentation playground can be found at musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Experiments. This is especially compelling because in almost all of the experiments, music is not only auditory, but visual as well.
At the top right of each experiment, there is a “?” that gives a quick overview of what the tool does and some tips for how to use it.
Audience: All ages will have fun experimenting with various tools in the Chrome Music Lab. This could be great for a “music class” and some of the experiments could be used to address particular curricular outcomes (Sound Waves). However, this would also be a great addition to an exploratory choice board. This could also be a “station” in MakerSpace.
Time to Play: There are currently 14 experiments.
Some of the tools are pretty simple like Chords, Sound Waves, Arpeggios, Strings, and Oscillator where you poke a few buttons to see how the sound changes. Other tools like Rhythm, Sound Maker, Melody maker are more involved with original experimentation.
If the tool has a microphone (Song Maker, Spectogram, Piano Roll, Melody Maker, Voice Spinner) you can add your own voice to the experiment… this is where the learning can go deep quickly!
Equipment: This works on a Chromebook or laptop. Of course it works in the Chrome browser, but it also works in other browsers such as Edge.
It works on mobile devices like an iPhone or iPad too (through a browser like Safari). It is even easier with the touch screen that these devices offer. Do note that if your device is set to “silent” (eg. no sound notifications or ringing phones) that there will be no sound produced, so be sure to turn the sound on.
Fun Features: In the Shared Piano and Song Maker experiment you can save and share your creation. Check out this little sample.
And in the Shared Piano, you can share a “Live” link to your composition and have a friend on a different device join you as you play and experiment with music and sound.
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What I learned today... 