What is The Infinite Drum Machine?
The Infinite Drum Machine is one of Google's AI Experiments. It shows thousands of short everyday sounds, from claps and clicks to animal noises and orchestra hits, as a cloud of coloured dots. Sounds that are similar sit near each other, so you can wander through neighbourhoods of thuds, rattles or squeaks.
It was built by Kyle McDonald, Manny Tan, Yotam Mann and friends at Google Creative Lab, with some sounds from the Philharmonia Orchestra, London. The computer was given only the audio, no names or tags, and used a technique called t-SNE to place similar sounds close together. Pick four sounds and the built-in sequencer turns them into a looping beat.
What You Can Do
- Browse thousands of sounds on an AI-made map
- Hover to hear sounds and find similar ones nearby
- Pick four sounds for your drum kit
- Loop them in a built-in sequencer
How to Play The Infinite Drum Machine
- Open The Infinite Drum Machine on Experiments with Google.
- Move around the sound map and listen to the dots.
- Assign four sounds to the drum slots.
- Press play to loop your beat, then tweak it.
Is The Infinite Drum Machine Free?
The Infinite Drum Machine is free on Experiments with Google with no sign-in or paid version.
Who Will Enjoy It?
- Beat makers looking for unusual sounds
- Music and computing teachers
- Kids who love making noise
- Anyone curious how AI can sort things without labels
Websites Like The Infinite Drum Machine
- BeepBox: A free chiptune maker for building full tunes.
- Lo-Fi Player: Another Google Magenta music toy with AI-made beats.
- Chrome Music Lab: Simple rhythm and melody toys from Google.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Infinite Drum Machine free?
Yes. It is a free Google AI Experiment that runs in your browser.
How does it organise the sounds?
Machine learning listened to the audio only and placed similar sounds close together using t-SNE.
Who made The Infinite Drum Machine?
Kyle McDonald, Manny Tan, Yotam Mann and friends at Google Creative Lab.