Musicality VR

Musicality VR stems from years of collaborative sound production with individuals who don’t necessarily read music. It addresses some frustrations associated with conventional Western music education and asserts that VR technology can democratize musical exploration and understanding. By offering ways to observe, inspect, and interact with musical concepts while playing or composing, it emphasizes the freedom of play—much like a toddler exploring and tasting the physical world with endless excitement.

Musicality VR expands the concept of musical composition to include instrument and theory building. It provides interactive objects imbued with foundational proto-theoretical constraints, allowing users to construct tuning systems and keyboard layouts in mid-air. Regardless of your experience level with music and sound, if you have ears, eyes, and hands, there’s something valuable to be gleaned from Musicality VR. While it is already mature and functional, it is just getting started.

Many music technology projects iterate on a proscriptive model of music, often tethered to the staff and piano keyboard. Of course the obvious benefit here is familiarity. But what if the staff is not the best place for developing musical ideas? If one takes an interest in extended just intonation, must this expanded gamut of tones be understood in relation to 7 pitch classes? Musicality VR anticipates that music of future generations may not be compatible with the common practice period.

– Remote music lessons where student and teacher are embedded in a space of living, tangible ideas.
– NINJAM style virtual-real-time online jamming where the backing track and instruments are constructed collaboratively in VR space.
– Playing a keyboard with a layout that morphs as part of the composition.
– Composing in a space where the entire “making-of” is self documenting.
– Build your own Harry Partch instrument!