Time-Waster of the Day: Jam With Chrome
When I was a kid, I really wanted to play the drums, but my parents thought it wasn’t very “ladylike,” so I had to go with the more traditional violin and piano. Boring.
Now, thanks to Google, I might be able live out my dreams, after all.
Today, the company introduced Jam with Chrome, an interactive Web app for Chrome that lets you play a variety of instruments and invite friends to play with you in real time.
The app offers 19 different instruments, including a classic steel-string guitar, a standard drum set and a brass synth keyboard.
By default, it’s set to “easy mode,” where you can use your mouse or trackpad to play the various instruments. For advanced players, there’s a “pro mode” that lets you control the instruments using your keyboard. There are also four autoplay functions that let the instruments do all the work (where’s the fun in that?).
If you feel like jamming out with some friends, you can invite up to three different people using the “Invite Friends to Jam” button at the bottom of the screen.
Jam with Chrome is a product of Chrome Experiments, and was built using various Web technologies, such as HTML5, WebSockets and CSS3.
You can check out how the app works in the video below, which features a special appearance from Keyboard Cat.
Me? I’m off to channel my inner Cindy Blackman.