JAM with Chrome: rock out with your friends, on your browser

We all that Google does fairly nifty things sometimes and they’re fun, for sure. But every now and then it pulls something mind-bogglingly awesome out of its drawer of tricks. JAM with Chrome is one of those things.

The web app allows friends in different locations to play music together in the Chrome browser on their computers. When you enter the site, you can choose from a selection of 19 different instruments, from acoustic and bass guitars to drum kits and keyboards. Once you get playing, says Google, you can switch instruments as often and as many times as you like.

The default “easy mode” allows you to experiment by clicking individual strings, drum pads or keys, or play around with the four different autoplay functions and let the machines do the work. Switch to “pro mode” to play any instrument using your keyboard.

One issue we did find was that the app doesn’t do so well on slower connections, reverting to an error screen.

The Chrome Experiment reportedly uses HTML5 features such as the Web Audio API, Websockets, Canvas and CSS3. If all the code-driven geekery floats your boat, then you can find out more about it by clicking on the technology link in the app.

Me? I’m off to go perfect a face-melting solo.