The VR music creation sandbox Virtuoso was recently announced for release on Meta Quest and SteamVR headset consoles. This game will be available for purchase via the Steam and Quest Stores on March 10. Virtuoso makes it easy to perform on virtual instruments or a microphone to track vocals. Each of the six instruments is unique and specifically designed for VR, such as responsive drum pads called the Empads. The beats a player produces can be recorded and shared within a community library for others to enjoy or to remix.
Fast Travel Games kick-started its new publishing arm with Virtuoso, being the first third-party title published by them. Fast Travel has been known for making VR games such as Wraith: The Oblivion and Apex Construct. Fast Travel released a blog post on Meta Quest describing how creative director Jonatan Crafoord and his team at Really Interactive Games brought the idea from the living room to the Quest Store.
Crafoord and his team had worked on Virtuoso while it was a music app demo for two years before it would be ready for release. In the early stages of the game, an open-source synthesizer was added so it could be used without the need for studio equipment, which allowed for the Touch controllers to create expressive sounds that were meant for instruments made of wood, brass and horsehair. With this powerful tool, Virtuoso’s players could make music without having to spend thousands of dollars in a music store. It can even support MIDI and connect to any music program using a light-weight companion app.
As the program advanced, Crafoord thought it would be impossible for a complete beginner to play something exciting, just as it would be impossible for a musician to mimic the noises that they heard on a physical instrument. Crafoord said in the blog post,
Our friends who spectated that night later described having held on to the couch with force as the cascade of colors and sounds hit their senses.
That experience made it clear to him that “these VR tools aren’t just for musicians and artists- everyone should have access to them!” There are tons of features waiting to be explored with Virtuoso, and the game comes with an interactive tutorial for even the most casual of music lovers to get the hang of the game.