Our take
Song Maker is a grid. Each column is a beat in time, each row a note, and the bottom two rows are drums. Click a square and it lights up; press play and the loop runs, playing every lit square in turn. That is the whole idea, and it is enough for a surprising amount of fun.
You choose the instrument for the tune (marimba, piano, strings, woodwind or synth) and for the drums, set the tempo, and can even sing or hum into the microphone to place notes, if you press the microphone button. A MIDI keyboard works too. When a loop sounds right, Save gives you a link to share and lets you download the song as audio or MIDI.
It never scores you and never asks for anything. There is no level, no daily task and nothing that counts down, which makes it one of the gentlest things to open on an evening.
A first sitting
Start with the drums: light four squares on the kick row, evenly spaced, then a few on the snare. Add a tune on top one column at a time. You will have something worth playing back within five minutes.
Where to stop
Song Maker has no natural end, so give it one: when a loop is saved or sent to someone, close the tab. Saving puts the song online behind its link, so keep personal recordings for the microphone out of it.
Worth knowing
- Teachers use it in classrooms, so it is plain and friendly rather than flashy.
- The microphone is only used when you press its button.