Plan

• What's the SIMPLEST online production tool?
• What needs are people using it for?
• Do Reddit or Quora search on what people are struggling with in each of these
• Make Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Observations

• Collab seems to be a big draw for online. Makes sense
• Audiotool, Ohm studio,
• Emphasis on community
• Vertically-integrated music production process, all the way to community
• Creators and consumers are the same people
• Audiotool user geographies: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1Vpp-owbxA-od-sNsu5uVT9f6FSL9ZG1I&ll=45.920063190336315%2C-44.39951330762878&z=3
• Sizing: Soundcloud popular tracks have 5-20mil plays, on Audiotool 30k

Audiotool

Summary

TLDR: Vertically-integrated music production & consumption platform https://www.audiotool.com/track/e899i8h5nf/

• Community is on the margin, maybe 1% of Soundcloud
• Sample stuff form others in the community, compare tracks
• Built off modular tools, big skeuomorph off analog tools
• This is actually pretty tough to understand
• Eg. TR808 drum machine — it's a real thing
• Tries to be as beginner-friendly as possible
• Premade sample loops, way more advanced that what FL Studio has. Maybe Ableton?
• Machiniste (drum loop) doesn't even go past 4 beats — have to toggle windows for that
• Training wheels for analog.
• Is this actually effective? People say you only need a DAW and headphones + midi keyboard — why all this other stuff?
• Understanding how synths, drums —> mixers —> whatever
• Resources are hard to find. These guys aren't large enough to google basic functionality.
• My track: https://www.audiotool.com/app/#/bbos029v
• A direct link
• Playlist, piano roll, note volumes, are the same. Velocity controls, etc. it's all there
• Doesn't appear to have changed much in 3 years. Outdated tutorials appear relevant still

Notes

• Testimonials
• https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/comments/2ntyer/heres_a_neat_simple_little_online_daw_controls/
• The best tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvIu_R8bmdA&t=155s
• The high notes, as seen on homepage:
• "Audiotool is a collaborative online music production studio right in your browser."
• Live collab — invite friends & make music in real time
• Simple, beautiful visual representation
• Upload samples (your own)
• Connect w/ fans & other artists to get feedback on ur music
• Extensive sample library
• Just a suite of 10-12 tools: https://www.audiotool.com/product
• It's done AS A PHYSICAL PRODUCTION STUDIO
• Far as I can tell, these are tools that exist in
• Why are they listed as hardware objects?
• A "stepping stone" to more advanced software: https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/comments/1v7xju/are_there_any_producers_here_that_use_almost/
• Forums, board, etc.
• Looks like decent traction. Is it all real users?

• Crappy onboarding — first page has a 25min tutorial?

• 4:00 video on first entry into studio

• This actually feels even tougher than FL studio... different strokes, maybe.

Soundtrap

Summary

• Collab & co-editing, but no social. Kinda reminds me of Dropbox web UI
• How does it relate to Spotify though?
• Used for school assignments — what?
• Appears to be a big segment, "Personal use" vs. "Educational use". See comments section of Youtube tutorials
• Audiotool has a segment of folks that do this, but prolly not many
• https://www.soundtrap.com/edu/
• Subreddit is 2x that of Audiotool
• Bought by Spotify in Nov 2017. They're Swedish. Looks like an acquihire
• https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/17/spotify-acquires-online-music-studio-soundtrap/
• 2017: "Soundtrap's portable music studio had a turnover of about $120k last year, according to Di Digital, with schools as the primary customer group."
• How did they sell for $30mil with $120k topline?
• Paid pricing model. Not freemium (free trial w/ cc)
• UI the BEST I've seen
• Selection is limited, but generally solid. Grand piano sounds pretty great.
• Super easy to record with an actual computer keyboard
• Lots of option, but clean UI, not overwhelming, all seems pretty good
• It's a little overdesigned, though
• There's some crazy stuff "AI Generator" can generate a fill for you
• No tutorial necessary! This is probably why they use it for class...
• Two types of creation: Music vs. podcast