Making songs with Chrome Music Lab just became a whole lot simpler.
For anyone who’s been out of the loop, Chrome Music Lab is a free software app developed by Google Creative Lab for music education. It teaches arpeggios, how the pitch of a note is related to the amplitude of a sound wave and more. One popular mode offered in the software is called “Song Maker,” where users can make their own custom songs with a click of a button.
That’s where Austin Baker, the elementary school teacher behind Mr. Baker the Music Maker, comes in.
Baker uses the software to show his viewers how to make melodies and backing tracks for various popular songs—from the theme song of Bluey to the songs of Taylor Swift and Metallica. And in each video, Baker builds the song up from scratch, guiding users on how to replicate his work.
Note: Mr. Baker the Music Maker was requested by a user of Plugged In. Have a YouTube channel you’d like us to review? Submit your request by sending it to [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram so we can check it out!
Baker builds each song from the ground up on Song Maker, slowly guiding viewers through the entire process. His method of teaching is very simple and easy to follow, making it easy for anyone to build the song with him.
Through practice with his videos, users may be encouraged to start making their own songs.
We didn’t hear any crude language on the channel. However, some of the songs Baker builds are from artists whose lyrics have clear content concerns, such as Eminem and Kendrick Lamar. For that matter, Metallica and Taylor Swift—mentioned above—have their fair share of issues, too.
That said, lyrics don’t come into play as Baker’s stacking the instrumental components of a given track. But the channel’s videos could easily influence some kids to seek out the artist behind the beat.
Similarly, Baker makes the theme from The Exorcist, too.
Mr. Baker the Music Maker likely won’t run afoul of most families for the content that we actually encounter in his videos. Each one guides viewers through recreating popular songs in Google’s Chrome Music Lab.
Still, some songs include tracks with problematic lyrics. So any parent or music educator using this channel will want to ensure that it doesn’t inadvertently promote songs and artists you would otherwise avoid because of those issues.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
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