Scribblebay
Draw anything and it plays as a song · Free music app
- Private: stays on your device
- No account or sign-up
Scribblebay is a free music toy in your browser that turns a drawing into a song: left to right is time, higher is a higher note and how fast you draw sets the rhythm, with every note kept in key and on the beat over drums, chords and recorded instruments.
About Scribblebay
Draw on the paper and hear it play: left to right is time across a four-bar loop, higher on the paper is a higher note, and how fast you draw sets the rhythm. Every note is kept in key and on the beat over the paper's own drums, chords and bass, so a scribble already sounds like music, and as it plays each line lights up, sparks fly from its notes and the paper pulses with the kick. A tap is one note, a line straight up or down strums a chord, a circle plays as two parts moving apart and back, and a tight scribble is a drum fill where it sits. Each colour is an instrument (recorded piano, electric piano, nylon guitar, electric and upright bass, strings, harp, marimba, glockenspiel and flute, or synths made in code) and a thicker line plays louder, Apple Pencil pressure too. Ten papers set the style: Lo-fi, Pop, Ambient, Synthwave, Funk and Lullaby free, and Jazz, Hip-hop, Bossa and Cinematic with Pro. A prompt a day for something to draw, eleven demo drawings of ours to hear and draw over, a first-run guide and a How it works sheet. Share your song as a 15-second video of the drawing playing, tall or square, or as a link: anyone who opens it hears the same song and can add their own lines after yours, with first names if you like. Open its beat in Beatbay to keep working on it, or put it on your own site. Pro adds the four extra papers, eight-bar songs, any instrument on any colour, showing and hiding each person's lines, videos without the small tag and at 60 fps, and the song as a WAV or M4A file. No account, nothing uploaded: the music is made on your device.
- Draw a line and it plays: height is the note, speed is the rhythm
- Every note in key and on the beat over real drums, chords and bass
- Lines light up, sparks fly and the paper pulses as it plays
- Recorded instruments: piano, guitar, bass, strings, harp, marimba, flute
- Ten styles from Lo-fi and Pop to Synthwave, Funk and a Lullaby
- Share a 15-second video of your drawing playing, or a link to remix
- A drawing prompt a day, and eleven demo drawings to hear and remix
- Eight-bar songs, any instrument on any colour and layers with Pro
Screenshots
Price
Free to use. Optional one-time upgrade: Scribblebay Pro, $2.99 (no subscription), or every upgrade in every Yuzool app with Yuzool Plus, $19.99 once. Works on iPhone, Android, Mac and PC in your browser; add it to your Home Screen to open it like an app.
Quick answers
- Can I make music by drawing?
- Yes. In Scribblebay you draw on a four-bar loop that plays as you go: a line is a melody, a tap is one note, a line straight up or down strums a chord and a tight scribble is a drum fill. The notes are always in key and on the beat, so no musical skill is needed.
- How does a drawing become music in Scribblebay?
- Height sets the pitch, snapped to the key and to the chord under that bar; how fast you drew each part sets the rhythm, from quick sixteenths to long held notes; the colour picks the instrument and the line’s thickness its loudness. The paper you draw on sets the style: its drums, tempo and chords.
- What instruments and styles does it have?
- Recorded piano, electric piano, nylon guitar, electric and upright bass, strings, harp, marimba, glockenspiel and flute, plus synths made in code. Six styles are free (Lo-fi, Pop, Ambient, Synthwave, Funk and Lullaby); Scribblebay Pro adds Jazz, Hip-hop, Bossa and Cinematic, eight-bar songs, any instrument on any colour, videos without the tag and the song as a WAV or M4A file, for $2.99 once.
- Can I share a song I drew?
- Yes, two ways: a 15-second video of your drawing playing with its sound (tall for stories, or square), or a link that keeps the drawing, so anyone who opens it hears the same song. Nothing is uploaded and there is no account.
- Can friends add to my song?
- Yes. Someone who opens your link and draws on it adds their lines as a layer after yours (up to four people), with first names if you typed them, and can send it on. Scribblebay Pro shows whose lines are whose and lets you hide a layer.
- Is it good for children?
- It is a gentle way in: there are no wrong notes, a first-run guide shows the four ideas, and eleven demo drawings show what different shapes sound like. It works with a finger, a mouse or an Apple Pencil, whose pressure makes the line louder.
- Is Scribblebay free?
- Yes, it's free to use; Scribblebay Pro is an optional $2.99 one-time upgrade, never a subscription.
- Do I need to sign up or download Scribblebay?
- No: it opens in the browser on any phone, tablet or computer, with no account.
- Does Scribblebay upload my data?
- No, it all stays on your device.
