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 phrase loop. Opening a setup restores those choices, including an imported MIDI accompaniment; its loop returns paused. Setups stay in this browser on this device. Loaded songs and sampler audio are not included.

Phrase loops

Choose Loop on the bottom rail, then Record phrase. Recording starts with your first note. Finish loop sets the end at the next whole beat and repeats your phrase. Choose Overdub to add another layer, then Finish overdub. Undo removes the last layer; Pause releases loop notes; Clear starts over. You can keep playing over a loop, change sounds, and adjust tempo. Loop notes retain their recorded pitches. Your loop is kept in this browser: after a reload it comes back paused, ready to play. Use Record to keep the performance as a take. Leaving the tab or interrupting audio pauses playback.

Recording and downloading

Choose Record, then Film + sound or Sound only. Stop opens your take in Library → Recordings. Press Stop when you finish. 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.