Today's Google Moog Doodle, Play Music!!

What is google doing Today? The answer is They playing music...Why do Google Doodlers build the things they do? They’re fans, that’s why. When Google’s Chief Doodler Ryan Germick and Google Engineer Joey Hurst decided they wanted to build the Google Moog Synthesizer Doodle, it was to “Pay tribute to someone who was like a patron saint of the nerdy arts,” said Germick.

As with the Les Paul Doodle, you’ll want to have the volume on your computer turned up. When you click the mini-synthesizer’s keys you’ll hear the sweet sounds of electronic tones. Even sweeter, you can tweak the oscillators and modulation.

The concept was to recreate the Mini Moog Analog Synthesizer in a Web browser. Germick thought there was no way it could be done. Hurst, who knew someone who owned an original Moog, was instantly excited by the project.

Learn How To Play Moog Doodle:

 

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Hurst obviously succeeded, but it wasn’t easy. The project, which was done on Hurst’s 20% “work on what you want at Google” time (he is not on the Google Doodle team), took almost four months from the first mention to the roll-out. That unveiling actually began yesterday in parts of the world where it was already the 23rd. Hurst explained it was probably one of the most involved engineering efforts they’ve ever had for a Google Doodle and required thousands of lines of code.

Hurst said he was excited to show the first functioning version to Germick. “It looked terrible,” said Germick with a laugh, but it was producing audio. “That’s the joy of programming in general. You spend a little bit of time and you can make these really amazing things,” said Hurst.

Interestingly, there was a recent development that helped make the fully-functioning, virtual Moog device possible: a new API from Google. Hurst said Google recently added the Web Audio API to Google Chrome. It provides, he said, “Really high-quality, low-latency audio” in the browser, but not in all Web browsers. Outside of Chrome, the Moog Doodle turns into pure Flash.

If you haven’t checked out the Google Doodle yet, then you may not understand how complex it really is. The Google Moog has 19 full-functioning knobs, one wheel, a switch and four tracks that let you record up to 30 seconds of overlaid audio. As with the Les Paul Guitar doodle, you can play, record and share, via a link or Google Plus.

Of course, all that complexity can be overwhelming. I fiddled around with the Moog Doodle, but had no idea what any of the knobs did. Fortunately, both Google and Moog Music are providing a key that offers a larger image of the Moog Doodle and guides on what everything does.

“This is our most technically ambitious Doodle yet,” Germick said. The chief software engineer of the Moog Doodle, Joey Hurst, even designed it so you can use your  keyboard and the number row to play the keys. You can record, play back, and share songs with a link or on Google+.
The Moog Doodle or the Sonic Doodler should be live all day on Google’s homepage (www.google.com). Make some sweet music and share it