Google Brings Back the Blobs for Beethoven’s 252nd Birthday Celebration

Google is celebrating Beethoven's 252nd birthday with a pair of new rhythm games highlighting the legendary composer's work, and one of them brings back the Blobs.

Either game can be played in a web browser, and each highlights Beethoven's music in its own way. Blob Beats acts as more of a traditional video game, and Beethoven Beats is more of an experimental music tool.

Blob Beats has you tapping keys to match the on-screen prompts to match arcade-style remixes of classic Beethoven arrangements—your basic rhythm game, really. Try out different compositions, play around with several difficulties, and see how well you can do.

Beyond high-score chasing, the game also shares several details about the composer between levels. And, of course, it features the singing Blobs from David Li's Blob Opera (in a less free-form capacity).

Beethoven Beats is a collaborative effort with Berlin's Deutsche Grammophon and pianist Daniel Barenboim, providing a machine-learning-driven musical tool for you to play with. Tap a rhythm on your keyboard or by clicking your mouse within a four-second recording window, then see what comes out. The program will try to match your beats with one of Beethoven's sonatas, pieced together with Barenboim's recordings.

You can play Beethoven Beats or Blob Beats for free in your web browser right now. Or if historic details and modern orchestrations are more your things, check out Google's Beethoven Everywhere page.