How to Make Instrumental Music Online with JummBox

JummBox is a browser-based tool for sketching and sharing instrumental music, and you can start without installing anything: open the site, click the gray rows to place notes, and the editor plays them back immediately. It suits quick melody and chiptune-style sketches built from repeating patterns. Your entire song lives in the page URL, so saving and sharing means copying that link. The steps below follow the tool's own instructions.

Start a sketch: place your first notes

The editor is pattern-based, so you work on one pattern at a time rather than a single long timeline.

1. Click on the gray rows at the top of the editor to add notes. Clicking an existing note removes it.
2. JummBox plays the notes out loud as you go, so you hear each change immediately.
3. Notes are grouped into patterns. The numbered boxes at the bottom of the editor are the patterns you can edit.
4. Click a numbered box to jump to a different part of the song, or click the arrows on the currently selected box to swap which pattern plays during that part.

If you want to hear how a pattern fits the whole track, use the playback shortcuts below rather than clicking around the grid.

Build song structure with patterns and rows

Patterns are the building blocks; rows decide what plays at the same time.

• JummBox can play several rows of patterns simultaneously, and each row has its own set of patterns.
• Most rows can play melodies or harmonies. The bottom row is reserved for drums.
• Reusing a pattern across multiple numbered boxes is how you repeat a section without retyping it — the arrows on a selected box let you choose which pattern is played at that position.

A practical approach: sketch one melodic idea as a pattern, then place it in several boxes to form a verse, and create a second pattern for a contrasting section.

Keyboard shortcuts that speed up editing

When JummBox has focus (click on its interface first), these shortcuts work:

The edit menu lists more shortcuts than these.

Add expression: duration, chords, pitch bend, and volume

The note pattern editor handles more than pitch.

• Duration: click and drag horizontally on a note to adjust how long it lasts.
• Chords: click above or below an existing note to add notes that play simultaneously.
• Move multiple notes: long-press in the pattern editor to select a time range, then drag to move the notes in it at once.
• Pitch bend (advanced): drag vertically from an existing note to bend its pitch.
• Volume (advanced): drag vertically from above or below a note to adjust its volume. Hold Control while doing this for fine volume adjustment.
• Mass copy/paste (advanced): click and drag on the pattern grid to make a selection, then press C/V to copy and paste parts of your song.

If a feature is hard to find, click the label next to each option on the right side for a description of what it does. Some options are buried — for example, modulator channel controls appear when you hold Ctrl or Shift while the song is playing.

Save and share your song

All song data is contained in the URL at the top of your browser. Every change updates that URL to reflect your edits.

When you are satisfied with your song, copy and paste the URL to save and share it. There is no separate export step described in the tool's instructions — the link is the file.

Common snags

• Nothing plays when you press Spacebar: the editor needs focus. Click on its interface first.
• You can't find a feature: check the right-side menus and click option labels for descriptions, or open the edit menu for the full shortcut list.
• A section sounds wrong after you swap patterns: the arrows on a selected numbered box change which pattern plays there — confirm the box you edited is the one you're hearing.
• You lost your work: the URL is the save file. If you didn't copy it before navigating away, the changes are gone.