Arcadópolis
Musical Trains
Musical Trains: make music with trains, free online
Musical Trains is a free music game in your browser, with nothing to download: three toy trains circle a Christmas tree, each on its own track, and play the notes you put on it as they go by.
Pick a note and tap the track to place it. Each train has its own instrument, octave and speed, so the three tracks become layers of one song, and since the notes always land in the scale you choose, everything fits.
It’s in the Arcadópolis Studio folder.
Free, no ads, nothing to install.
Install Musical Trains on its own on your home screen
What it has
- Three trains (red, green and blue) and 8 instruments: music box, bells, marimba, steam calliope, harp, bass, choir and the game’s sound.
- Three speeds per train: each spot on the track lasts a quarter, an eighth or a sixteenth note.
- 12 tonics and 29 modes in six families: major, harmonic minor, melodic minor, pentatonic, blues and whole tone.
- 7 time signatures (2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/8, 7/8 and 12/8) and tempo from 40 to 200.
- Metronome, sleigh bells or drums as backing, and a night or snowy scene.
- 5 example songs, a Surprise me button, a link to share and MIDI or audio downloads.
How to use it
- Open the Studio folder and tap Musical Trains.
- Pick a note and tap the tracks to place it; tap it again to remove it, or drag to place several in a row.
- Tap “Start”: each train plays the notes on its track as it passes. The space bar starts and stops them too.
- Change each train’s instrument, octave and speed, plus the key and time signature, until you like it.
What is a musical mode?
A scale is the set of notes a song uses, and a mode is that same scale starting on a different note: it changes the whole mood. Musical Trains describes each one in a line. Ionian is the everyday major scale, bright and stable; Dorian is minor but warm; Phrygian has a flamenco flavor; Lydian floats like a dream; and the major pentatonic, five notes with no half steps, never sounds wrong. Try the same song in several modes: the notes stay put on the track, but they sound different.
Three speeds: layers that cross
At normal speed each spot on the track lasts an eighth note; at half speed, a quarter note; and at double speed, a sixteenth. Since each train goes around at its own pace, a fast one repeats its phrase twice while the normal one makes a single lap, and a slow one backs them up with long notes. That’s how you get layers that cross. Time signatures like 5/4 or 7/8 make the laps deliberately uneven, and Surprise me writes a melody on the first train, an arpeggio on the second and the bass on the third.
Common questions
Do I need to know music?
No: the notes always stay in the scale you choose, so everything fits. If you don’t know where to start, open an example song or tap Surprise me, then change whatever you like.
Can I download what I made?
Yes, as MIDI or audio (WAV, FLAC, MP3, OGG or AAC). The MIDI is also kept in My MIDI, and “Share my trains” sends a link to anyone you like so they can listen.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. You tap the tracks with your finger, and on narrow screens the scene turns vertical so it fits whole.
Also in Arcadópolis
Sound Stamps
Eight Notes
StudioArcadópolis has 66 more apps on the same desktop: games, music, a 3D museum and a 3D library.