Today I thought it would be fun to mix it up a little with some great online synthesizers and applications that provide diverse opportunities to experiment with music and sound. The links vary from very simple to complex. I hope you find a link or two that will start your week off on a good note!

1. Hobnox Audiotool is a flash-based online entertainment/media creation and publishing platform. The site offers tools that allow you to create, record, and publish your own media content, all online and free. “Live recording of your tracks is finally possible. Choose your set-up, add, remove and arrange the devices you need and record your track to the myFiles section of your Hobnox account. From there, publish and share. The first step towards timeline & sequencer, saving arrangments & remixing tracks is done!” This app was the most complicated and fascinating tool I explored while researching tools for this post. It was also a tool I recommend for secondary students and those students who are most interested in mixing music and sounds. It is currently one of the few tools I discovered that allows users to record and post their music tracks.




2. Life in school can be stressful. Use the Sound Sleeping/Relaxation Mixer to bring that stress down a notch. “The free relaxing music and nature sounds on this website have been carefully chosen for their ability to aid sleep, reduce stress, and provide a relaxing atmosphere for activities such as yoga, tai-chi, and meditation.”




3. Use the Super Mario Brothers sound effects synthesizer to mix and play various sound clips from Mario. To start pick music from the column on the left; then, play sound effects from the window on the right. Students will no doubt enjoy this synthesizer; however, for the sake of teacher sanity, headsets highly recommended!




4. The WD-1 DJ-Trainer [Musical Keyboard] by World Drie Productions is an online musical keyboard with 10 professional soundbanks. Use this online tool to create club, dance music, trance, reggae or even jazzdance and samba. As you work with the tool you will also learn about timing, “building” a song and creating a dance track.




5. Pianographique is a multimedia instrument where each letter on the keyboard sets off a sound and an animation. You must have Flash loaded on your computer to experience this visual/auditory wonder. Select your language, choose a sound system or continuum. After the loading has taken place move your mouse around and type on the keyboard to view pictures and listen to sounds mix together. IThe combinations are endless and fascinating!




6. The Infinite Wheel Dub City Rockers series features colorful images that young students will enjoy clicking on to hear different musical sounds. There are several versions of these tools available as you choose various options at the bottom of the screen. Generally speaking, you can choose a loop of music and then click on various objects to add “punches” of sound.




7. OneStudio Sequencer by BBC SHOCKWAVE is a simple 4 track sequencer. There are 5 samples categories to choose from: Bass, Drums, FX, Short Synths, and Melody and you can use the samples as many times as you like. Pan and volume controls are available for each track. There’s also a simple mixer available that allows you to mix and tweak loops in different styles, dance, drum’n'bass, garage, and indie. This is a much simpler sequencer than the hobnox synthesizer I shared at the beginning of this post.




8. Buttonbeats, is a site that features interactive instruments and resources that can be saved as widgets to included on your blog, webpage, or socialnetwork site (think Facebook, for example). If you go to the site you can use your keyboard to play various songs. This site would be a nice way to practice keyboarding skills (as long as students had headphones). I have posted one of my favorite widgets below:
   
   ButtonBeats.com




9. OK, so this is not a synthesizer, but it it too cool not to include in this post. The Online Metronome by emusicinstitute.com is ideal for quick and easy use while practicing music. This music tool helps with your rhythm as well as tempo selections. Music teachers…you will definitely want to share this resource with your students.




10. I am going to end today with a fascinating collaboration tool for musicians. “Bojam is an online music collaboration service that brings professional and serious amateur musicians from all over the world together to record and mix original music, and discover new music with each other.” I think it holds tremendous possibilities as students could use this online site to jam with musicians…peers, amateurs, or professionals…from around the world. I have posted a Techcrunch 50 video that describes the service below…
    Bojam TechCunch50 Launch

To explore additional electronic music tools visit the databaseaudio site, a (slightly out of date) directory of the free software available for electronic musicians and sound/audio artists. Go forth, make beautiful music, and enjoy!