I made a browser-based DAW called Sona Studio. A DAW is basically a music making app, but this one runs in the browser instead of being a normal downloaded app like Logic or GarageBand.

The main reason I wanted it was MIDI mapping. I wanted to use my Akai MPK Mini with it, play notes, map pads and knobs, record stuff, and not have it feel like a tiny toy website. It ended up becoming a full local music workspace with a start menu, saved projects, an arranger, and a looper.

What I built

Sona has a Studio view for arranging tracks and a Looper view with eight loop slots. In Studio I can add tracks, pick sounds, draw MIDI notes, edit drums, record audio, use effects, automate things, and export the song. In Looper I can record microphone audio or built-in instruments into slots, overdub layers, mute slots, change levels, and export loops.

It also has project saving in the browser. Projects can be reopened later, duplicated, renamed, deleted, imported, or downloaded as backup files. The recordings and imported sounds stay with the project, which is important because otherwise browser music apps can lose everything way too easily.

MIDI stuff

The MIDI part was a big deal. I use an Akai MPK Mini. I had one sitting in my Amazon cart for a while, but then I found one at a pawn shop for $20 less, so I got that one. Sona can find it in Chrome, record notes with velocity and sustain, map drum pads, and use MIDI Learn for controls like transport, track volume, panning, mute, and other knobs. It even shows actual MIDI note numbers so weird octave labels do not matter.

Sounds and recording

I added built-in instruments, drum kits, on-screen keys, computer keyboard playing, microphone recording, audio importing, WAV exporting, MIDI exporting, and stems. There are effects too, like EQ, compressor, reverb, delay, chorus, distortion, saturation, filters, gain, and limiter.

Loops I made

These are two loops I made while using Sona with the MPK Mini.

Lowk Kinda Lofi

Still D.R.E.

Testing it

A lot of the work was making sure it did not randomly break. There are automated checks for MIDI recording, loop recording, microphone permission problems, saving, exporting, browser reloads, layout size, and production builds. The latest checks passed 14 core tests and 53 browser tests.

Where it lives

Sona is now part of my website at cjb.ourok.com/projects/sona. It is still a first version, not Ableton or Logic, but it is a real working browser DAW/looper that saves projects locally and can actually make audio.