This article was published on March 12, 2021

Dance your way into the weekend with Google’s funky synth simulator


Dance your way into the weekend with Google’s funky synth simulator

It’s Friday, folks, and I’ve discovered a great way to get in the weekend mood that I think you’ll enjoy.

Earlier in the week, Google Arts & Culture created a new digital exhibit celebrating different pioneers of electronic music. It also released an interactive 3D synth tool as a part of that — and it’s highly addictive.

You can head to the site on your phone or desktop browser and line up five well-known syth machines to play music using pre-defined grids and dials. These synths include the Moog Memorymoog, the ARP Odessy, the Akai S900, the Roland CR-78, and the Fairlight CMI.

Don’t worry if you don’t know much about making music, you can try auto-generated randomized patterns, and the algorithm makes sure it produces something that’s in sync. Be assured, it won’t sound horrible.

A simulation of Roland CR-78 machine. You could tap of different squares of the grid to change the sequence and music

Once you feel comfortable, you can play with these grids and dials on the synths to create your own tunes. The best thing about this is that you can change a few things and make a composition that you would want to listen to while working. No need to rely on Spotify or Youtube for those beats.

While I used the 3D mode on the desktop to play with this tool, you could use the AR mode on your compatible Android phone as well. You’ll need the latest version of Google’s ARCore app for that.

You can visit this link to launch this experiment. Happy Friday.

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