Updates

Fresh look, open doors, studio player

• No more site password. The password gate is gone — anyone can walk straight into the lobby, archive, gallery, and stats.
• Studio player on the landing page. The looping "I'm Sick of You" track is retired. In its place is a player that streams tracks recorded here — play, skip, shuffle, seek, and tap any track in the list.
• Modern facelift. New hero layout, gradient headline, glassy cards and nav, softer corners and shadows, and cleaner buttons across the whole site.

Site password gate

The studio was password protected — visitors needed the site password before entering the lobby, archive, or any other page. Removed Oct 19, 2026.

Jamendo beats on rotation

Third-party instrumentals from Jamendo now refresh automatically every few minutes — new trap, lofi, boom bap, and drill styles cycle into the lobby without tapping load more.

Updates ticker

A scrolling what's new banner under the nav highlights the latest features. Full changelog stays here on /updates.

Public feedback board

Everyone can read and post at /feedback — feature ideas, bugs, and shout-outs live on the community board.

On-demand Jamendo beats

Search and load more beats from Jamendo's royalty-free catalog (via Internet Archive). New instrumentals appear in the lobby library and can be imported into the booth like any other track.

Royalty-free instrumental library

Licensed hip-hop instrumentals from Jamendo (via Internet Archive) live at the top of the lobby. Preview any track, then hit Use in booth → to import the real audio and record over it — not just an embed preview.

• Instrumental of the day — moderators can pick the featured track from the library
• Upload your own — bring an MP3 or WAV into the booth (max 12MB) if you downloaded a beat elsewhere

AI cover art on every track

When you share a recording, the app transcribes your vocals and paints abstract cover art from the lyrics. Tap the cover to play the track. Owners get one regenerate cover if the first painting misses.

Beat booth fixes & polish

• Use this beat from the crate now auto-previews the loop
• Fixed beats getting stuck on “loading” after the kitchen finishes cooking
• Fixed false “couldn't play” errors while audio was actually playing

Lobby social layer

• Comments on recordings and beats — live across the room
• Play counts on tracks and community beats
• Listen together — sync a beat or playlist for everyone in the lobby
• Lobby chat and a live people strip
• Rap persona — name, catchphrase, emoji or Giphy avatar before you enter
• Moderator mode — archive, rename, or delete any track; set instrumental of the day
• Stats page at /stats

Smoother beat loops

New beats are now 60 seconds long (up from 30). Looping uses crossfades instead of a hard cut, so the beat stays steady while you record, preview, and export your mix.

Community beat crate

Every beat anyone cooks goes into a shared library. In the booth, browse the crate and hit use this beat to record over someone else's loop — no need to cook again.

Archive your own tracks

You can hide tracks you shared. Archive buttons only show on your own recordings, matched by your account ID or display name.

Video chat in the lobby

WebRTC video chat auto-joins when you enter the lobby. Toggle cam and mic from the video panel. Everyone sees each other while waiting for a booth.

One global lobby

Room codes are gone. Everyone lands in the same lobby — no codes to copy, no empty rooms. Step into a booth and start cooking.

Real recording info

The feed shows actual track titles, artist names, booth, beat prompt, and timestamps — not generic placeholder text.

Underground look

Full hip-hop restyle: boom-bap typography, scanlines, marquee, and the original pat.png and graffiti.png photos on the home page.

All-time tape archive

Every recording ever shared is kept in a permanent archive. The home page and lobby both show the full history — nothing gets lost when a session ends.

Launch

Play It Back Pat goes live. Cook AI beats, record vocals over them, mix with punch/reverb/echo/lo-fi, and share takes with the group.

• 4 booths — cook & record in parallel
• AI beat kitchen — describe a vibe, fal.ai cooks the instrumental
• Live lobby — see who's in the studio
• Mix & share — balance vocals and beat, then upload to the feed