What is Paint With Music?
Paint With Music is a Google Arts & Culture experiment that links painting and composing. Pick an instrument, then drag your brush across the canvas. Higher strokes play higher notes, and the line you paint is played back as a melody.
It was created in June 2021 by Simon Doury and Caroline Buttet, artists in residence at the Google Arts & Culture Lab. The instrument sounds come from Magenta's DDSP machine learning library, the same technology behind Tone Transfer. You can paint in four settings, In the Sky, Underwater, On the Street and On Paper, each with its own background sounds, and teachers have picked it up as a simple way to show how pitch works.
What You Can Do
- Paint melodies with violin, saxophone, flute or trumpet
- Choose from four canvases with their own ambient sounds
- Hear higher strokes play as higher notes
- Paint over and over to build up a tune
How to Play Paint With Music
- Open Paint With Music on Google Arts & Culture.
- Choose a canvas and an instrument.
- Drag your brush across the canvas to paint notes.
- Press play to hear your painting as music.
Is Paint With Music Free?
Paint With Music is a free Google Arts & Culture experiment with no account or payment needed.
Who Will Enjoy It?
- Kids who like to draw and make noise
- Music teachers explaining pitch and melody
- Artists curious about sound
- Anyone who cannot play an instrument but wants to try
Websites Like Paint With Music
- Blob Opera: Another Google Arts & Culture music toy that anyone can play.
- Play a Kandinsky: Hear a famous painting through machine learning.
- Tone Transfer: The same DDSP technology, but it transforms your voice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Paint With Music free?
Yes. It is a free experiment from Google Arts & Culture.
What instruments does Paint With Music have?
Violin, saxophone, flute and trumpet.
Do I need to know music to use it?
No. You just paint, and the tool turns your strokes into notes.