Google's latest experiment will let you "see" how music is made

Music is an audio medium first, but a newly launched software experiment from Google now allows people to “see” how music is made. It’s called Inside Music, and it’s design to peel away the main layers of sound that are created when an artist makes a new song.

For the new Inside Music experiment, Google has collaborated with the popular podcast Song Exploder, along with artists such as Phoenix, Perfume Genius, Natalia Lafourcade, Ibeyi, Alarm Will Sound, and Clipping. How does it work? Just navigate to the Inside Music website (attached below), then select a song from one of these artists. The site then switches to WebVR format, and you can listen to the song, while also seeing a full 360-degree view of several virtual balls, each one with a music layer from the song you are listening to. You can turn off each layer by clicking on the ball that represents that element so you can listen to the individual part of that track.

If you are a musician, or simply someone who is a big music fan, the Inside Music experiment may be something to check out. Because it is a WebVR app, you can watch and interact with Inside Music from inside a VR headset, but you can also see and click on the app from your normal smartphone or desktop web browser. You can also check out the source code from Inside Music, via GitHub, so you can create visualization layers for your own tracks.