Google Doodle Honours Les Paul

One of the inventors of the electric guitar, Les Paul, is honoured by Google’s doodle today. And it’s a doozy: an interactive guitar you can play with your mouse or keyboard, and the ability (only in the US!? pity!) to record your tune and send it to a lucky friend. Click the small keyboard and then you can play a scale with any of the rows of letters starting from the left.

Click on image to enlarge.

Here’s the official explanation:

For the next 24 hours on the Google homepage, you’ll find an interactive, playable logo inspired by the guitar developed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee that made the sound of rock and roll possible.

As well as his guitar work, Les Paul experimented in his garage with innovative recording techniques like multitracking and tape delay. In keeping with this spirit of tinkering, those of you in the U.S. can click the black “compose” button to record your own 30-second track. Just strum the strings or trigger notes with the letters or numbers on your keyboards. Clicking the button again will display a link to share the songs you’ve made. (For example, here’s a little tune I put together.)