WebSID: the Commodore 64 SID-style synth you can play in your browser

WebSID: made for Chrome, and what Chrome was made for.
WebSID: made for Chrome, and what Chrome was made for.

Here's something to entertain you (and annoy your colleagues) on a Friday afternoon: a web-based, SID synthesis-emulating Commodore 64 synth that you can play in your web browser.

Billed as a Chrome experiment that's based on the WebAudio API, WebSID features dual keyboards and can be be played with your mouse, QWERTY keyboard or (if you have one) touchscreen. It's polyphonic, and chords played on the upper keyboard are automatically arpeggiated. You get a filter, an envelope and an echo effect to tweak.

WebSID can be played right now and works in Google Chrome and Safari 6+. It was developed by Igor Zinken.

(Via Create Digital Music)

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.