VR MIDI Drums
Why
There are many apps in VR app stores that let you make beats. Some of them are very well designed. As VR adoption is slowly growing, many musicians are using VR as an expressive medium to make music. Professional musicians use applications known as Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) like Ableton, FLStudio, Logic Pro, etc. Many music VR apps don't connect to the DAW software and because of this musicians cannot use the music they make in the VR applications.
I like to produce music with Ableton, and I wanted to play the drums in VR so that I can get the physical feeling of drumming with sticks (minus the haptical feedback for now). The main motivation behind this app was to bring the music I make in VR into my music production workflow.
What
I created a simple drumming application in Unity using the Steam VR plugin and MIDI package for unity. When the user plays / hits the drums in VR, the MIDI signal is sent to the DAW. The user can then use any sound packs or kinds of drums that can be played in VR and use that audio in the tracks he/she produces. The system also detects the velocity of hitting the drums depending on how fast the user is moving the controller when it hits the drums and the user also gets a haptic feedback on the controller.
The user can also position the drumpads wherever he/she likes to play in the most comfortable position possible. The user can hover on a drumpad with the controller and press the trigger button to move the drumpad in the 3D space.
Who
Music is an art form that let the artist express him/herself. VR as a music making medium can amplify the expression and create immersive soundscape that will help with the creativity. This app is for musicians who want to produce music in VR but also incorporate the VR music making in their music production workflow.