Online Music Maker

What this online music maker is

This page is a step sequencer, a tool for building a short repeating pattern by switching sounds on and off in a grid. It has sixteen steps across and ten rows down: four drum sounds and six melody notes. You tick the squares you want, press Play, and the pattern loops. When you like the result, you can export it as a WAV audio file. Nothing needs installing and no account is required.

All the sounds are generated in your browser, so no audio files are downloaded. They are simple synthesized drums and a soft bell-like melody voice, made for sketching ideas rather than finishing a professional recording.

How a step sequencer works

A step sequencer divides time into equal slots called steps. Each column in the grid is one step, and each row is one sound. When the sequencer reaches a column, it plays every sound that is switched on in it, then moves to the next column, and after the last one it jumps back to the first. Because the timing is fixed, the pattern always stays in time, which makes the tool easy for beginners.

Here, each step is a sixteenth note and sixteen steps make one bar of four beats, so every group of four columns is one beat. The numbers at the top mark the steps, and the first step of each beat is highlighted. The grid is drawn in groups of four to make the beats easy to see.

Building a drum pattern

Most simple beats are built from the same three parts. The kick drum gives the low thump and usually lands on the first beat, which is step 1, and often the third, which is step 9. The snare gives the sharp crack and commonly lands on beats two and four, which are steps 5 and 13. The hi-hat keeps time with small, regular ticks, often on every second step. The open hi-hat is longer and sizzles, so it works well on the off-beats.

Start with those three and listen. Then move one kick or snare by a step to change the feel. Leaving gaps is just as important as adding sounds, since a beat with space in it often grooves better than a full one.

Adding a melody

The six melody rows use notes from the C major pentatonic scale: C, D, E, G and A. The rows are, from top to bottom, C6, A5, G5, E5, D5 and C5. A pentatonic scale has only five notes per octave and no sharp or flat, so almost any combination sounds pleasant, which makes it a friendly starting point.

Put one note on a step and the note rings and fades. Try placing notes on the beats first, then add notes between them. Repeating a short pattern, then changing a single note, is a classic way to make a tune that feels both familiar and fresh.

Using it with a mouse, touch screen or keyboard

Mouse. Click a square to switch it on or off. Hold the button and drag across the squares to switch several on, or several off, in one stroke.
Touch screen. Tap a square. The grid is wider than a phone screen, so swipe sideways to reach the later steps.
Keyboard. Press Tab to reach the grid, move between squares with the arrow keys, and press Enter or Space to switch one on or off. Press P to start and stop the playback.

Each time you switch on a square, you hear its sound once, which helps you choose notes. You can edit the grid while the loop is playing, and the change is heard the next time that column comes around.

Tempo and feel

Tempo is measured in beats per minute, or BPM, and the slider runs from 60 to 180. A slow pattern around 70 to 90 BPM feels relaxed, and many hip-hop beats sit in that area. Around 100 to 120 suits pop and funk, and house and dance music is commonly around 120 to 130. These are rough guides rather than rules, and any pattern can be tried at any speed.

Changing the tempo while the loop plays takes effect smoothly from the next step. The same pattern can feel very different at two speeds, so it is worth trying a few before you decide.

Exporting your loop as a WAV file

The Export button renders your pattern in the browser and saves it as music-maker-loop.wav. The file is stereo, 16-bit and 44.1 kHz, which plays on any phone, computer or audio editor, and it contains two full loops at the current tempo plus a short tail so the last notes can fade out. Nothing is uploaded, because the file is created on your own device.

The export is a plain, dry version of the sound and does not include the small room effect used while playing, so it can sound slightly drier than what you heard on the page. It also does not follow the volume slider. You can load the file into any audio editor to trim it, layer it or use it as a starting loop.

Beginner exercises

Load a preset. Press Basic beat and Play, then switch hi-hat squares on and off to change the groove.
Change the snare. Move a snare from step 13 to step 14, and hear how a small shift changes the feel.
Four on the floor. Load the preset of that name, a steady kick on every beat, and add a melody note on step 1.
Write a four-note tune. Place C5, E5, G5 and E5 on steps 1, 5, 9 and 13, and loop them over a beat.
Export it. Press Export WAV, then open the file on your device to hear it outside the page.

What a music maker is good for

A step sequencer is a simple way to learn rhythm. Beginners can see how a beat is structured, songwriters can sketch a loop to build a song around, and teachers can show how patterns repeat. It pairs well with the online metronome for practicing along, with the virtual drum kit for playing beats by hand, and with the online synthesizer for exploring other sounds.