Playing with NOTE

Play with the onscreen keys, touch the scene, or use A–K on your computer keyboard. W, E, T, Y and U play the black keys. Z and X move the octave. Choose an instrument in Sound and a world in Scene.

Scenes and looks

Choose the scene name to browse all eleven scenes; they replace the keys until you close the tray. Each scene has a few looks — choose one under the current scene, or press { and } to step through them. Press [ and ] to step to the previous or next scene. Escape closes the tray. Changing scenes ends a film take.

A MIDI program change from 0 to 10 selects a scene in tray order: Constellation, Aquarium, Living Garden, Pool, Night Passage, Signal, Nature, Galaxy, Prism, Ink, Dance Floor. Some keyboards send program changes from their patch buttons, which also switch scenes.

Key and scale

Key / transpose shifts your keyboard, MIDI input, scene notes, and accompaniment together from C. Choose D to play the same fingering two semitones higher. Free keeps every chromatic note available; In key snaps your playing to the selected scale. The scale buttons are available only in In key mode. Changing key transposes the accompaniment immediately without restarting its loop. For imported MIDI, set Original MIDI key to the file’s source key (defaults to C). Load MIDI accepts local .mid and .midi files, preserves tempo changes and sustain, and uses your selected sound; drum tracks are omitted. Imported files clear on reload unless included in a saved setup.

First sound

Tap a key to enable audio. Grand piano and Felt download piano samples on first use; Rhodes, Organ, Waves and Glass are synthesized. If a piano download fails, choose it again to retry. MIDI keyboards require a browser that supports Web MIDI and a secure HTTPS connection. Onscreen and computer keys work without MIDI.

Your setups

In Library, choose Setups. Name and save your current instrument, effects, scene, visual settings, key, tempo, accompaniment, and tracks. Opening a setup restores those choices, including an imported MIDI accompaniment; its tracks return paused. Setups stay in this browser on this device. Loaded songs and sampler audio are not included.

Tracks

Choose Tracks on the rail to open two tracks above the keys. Click a track's name to choose where your notes record. Press ● on the display and choose Film + sound or Sound only: the take records and your notes record into the selected track at the same time. Recording starts with your first note, and the first recording sets the loop's length in whole bars; recording again adds a layer over what is there. Press ● again to stop: the take saves and your notes stay on the track. ▶ plays the tracks from where they stand and ■ stops them (■ twice goes back to the start); ↻ turns looping on or off. On each track, M mutes, S solos, Q quantizes to ¼, ⅛ or 1/16 (Off restores your timing), and ⋯ clears the track or every track and offers copy, paste, duplicate, split, Cycle to selection, Undo and Redo. Click a track's header to select it, then press Delete to clear it (⌘Z brings it back). Each recording is a region: click its top strip to select it and drag the strip to move it (to the other track, too; hold Option for fine steps); drag the loop handle at its top right to repeat it. Click a note to select it, drag it to move it or drag its right edge to resize it, drag across a region to select several, double-click an empty lane to add a note, and press Delete to remove the selection; ⌘Z or Ctrl+Z undoes. The bar along the top is the cycle: drag its body to move it, an end to resize it, or drag across the empty top of the ruler to draw a new one; click the ruler to move the playhead. Zoom with − and + or the slider, ⌘ with the scroll wheel, or a pinch; Follow keeps the playhead in view (scrolling by hand pauses it until you play). Count-in sets how many bars of clicks lead into a recording. Drag the line between the tracks to resize them; double-click it to even them. Your tracks are kept in this browser: after a reload they come back paused, ready to play. Leaving the tab or interrupting audio pauses playback.

Tracks shortcuts

With the Tracks open, and the cursor not in a text field: Space plays and stops; Return goes to the start; C turns the cycle on or off; Delete or Backspace deletes the selection (a selected track: clears it); ⌘Z undoes and ⇧⌘Z redoes; ⌘A selects all notes (of the selected track); ⌘C copies and ⌘V pastes at the playhead; ⌘D duplicates; ⌘E splits the selected region at the playhead; the arrow keys nudge selected notes (Left and Right a grid step, Up and Down a semitone, with Shift an octave); ⌘= and ⌘− zoom in and out; ⌘0 zooms to fit the song; Escape deselects. On Windows and Linux use Ctrl for ⌘. Letters other than C stay the computer keyboard's notes. The list is also in each track's ⋯ menu, under Shortcuts.

Recording and downloading

Press ● on the display, then choose Film + sound or Sound only. Whichever you choose, your notes also record into the selected track. Press ● again when you finish; the take opens in Library → Recordings and your notes stay on the track. There is no fixed time limit; very large takes stop at the recording buffer limit. If the take shelf is nearly full, download and delete earlier takes before starting another recording. Changing worlds ends a film take; putting the app in the background also ends a recording. For a continuous film, stay in one world and keep this tab and its window visible. Avoid minimizing or covering Safari while filming.

Finished takes save automatically in this browser. Wait for “Saved in this browser” before leaving. Play a take in Library → Recordings. Choose More to rename it or download it in another format. If saving fails, the take stays in this tab: use Retry save or download it before leaving. Browser cleanup, clearing site data, and private browsing can remove local recordings. Keep local library requests storage protection where available; downloads are still the best backup. A download button requests a save; check Downloads or Files to confirm it completed.

Film exports as MP4 when the browser supports it, otherwise WebM. Sound exports as M4A or WebM; WAV is 24-bit stereo audio. MIDI contains instrument notes, not microphone slices, imported songs, or the rendered sound. The metronome is not included. If audio or graphics are interrupted, check the partial take before deleting it.

Session downloads one zip for a music app (DAW): the 24-bit stereo mix as WAV, a MIDI file with a tempo track and a track for your playing and, when used, one each for the backing and the loop, session.json with the tempo, meter, key, sound and scene, and a README. Set your project to the tempo and meter the README gives, then place the WAV and the MIDI file at the start of bar 1; both begin at the same instant. When a backing, loop or metronome set the beat, both files start early enough that bar 1 falls on its downbeat. Your sustain pedal and pitch bends are in the MIDI. The WAV is the finished mix; separate tracks for each sound are not included.

Where the browser can share files, as on most phones and tablets and in Safari, More also offers Share. It hands the film, or the sound for a Sound only take, to the system share sheet, named as the download would be. Elsewhere, download the take instead.

Download and delete old takes to free memory for another recording. Deleting an undownloaded take asks for confirmation. To save or delete several at once, choose Select in Library → Recordings, choose the recordings, then Save (several download as one zip) or Delete. The exact length and resolution a device can record smoothly depend on its browser, available memory, and graphics performance.

Home screen and offline

To keep NOTE on your home screen, choose Share, then Add to Home Screen in Safari on iPhone or iPad, or Install app in Chrome. It then opens full screen, clear of the camera notch. After one visit, the instrument and the opening scene work without a connection. Other scenes, Grand piano and Felt work offline once you have used them online; a scene that has not been opened yet says it needs a connection, and the keys keep playing. Signal’s films always need a connection. A new version replaces the offline copy the next time you open NOTE online.

Your audio and privacy

The instrument processes microphone recordings and imported sounds in your browser. The application does not upload them. Samples and songs are held temporarily in this tab. Setups, included MIDI accompaniments, and finished takes are stored locally in this browser and are not uploaded. Your latest instrument settings are saved in local storage. A different browser or device has a separate library. Browser caches may retain the instrument's downloaded assets.

This site uses Google Analytics to count visits and see how the instrument is used. Google receives ordinary page-view information, such as your IP address, browser and device, the pages you visit, and the referring page. There is no advertising and there are no accounts. Your audio, recordings, MIDI, setups and takes are never sent to analytics. The instrument requests its other scripts, graphics assets, piano samples, and demos from the same site. The hosting service receives ordinary web requests and may keep access logs such as IP addresses and request times. Microphone and MIDI access are requested when you choose those controls.

Motion and access

Menu animations respect your reduced-motion preference. The scenes remain animated musical visuals; choose a calmer scene and stop playing when needed. Menus support Tab, Shift–Tab and Escape; Escape closes the scene tray. [ and ] step through scenes; { and } step through looks. Tab to the piano, use Left/Right to choose a key, and hold Space or Enter to play. Focus the tempo value and use Up/Down to adjust it. Page zoom remains available outside the playing surfaces.

Credits

Piano: Salamander Grand Piano V3 by Alexander Holm, under CC BY 3.0. Selected stereo velocity layers were trimmed with tail fades; see the sample preparation notes and license.

Thank you to stagebench by wustep, an independent benchmark for recreating a stage keyboard as a browser instrument, which helped fine-tune the instruments.

Play → Backing offers twelve original backing arrangements for playing over. Each loops using your selected instrument; use Stop inside the scene to end it early. See source and adaptation notes. Pool uses Three.js; its MIT license is included. Pool toy models were made for the instrument.

Report a problem

When sending feedback to the person who shared NOTE with you, include your device, browser version, chosen sound/world, and the steps that caused the problem. Do not include private recordings unless you intend to share them.