By Winifred Phillips | Contact | Follow
Welcome! I’m videogame composer Winifred Phillips, and my projects lately have included music composition for a lot of great virtual reality games. It’s been fascinating work! Last year, when my VR work started to really pick up, I wrote an article with lots of resources to help video game music composers become more comfortable in the world of VR audio development. Since this discipline progresses rapidly, I thought it would be best to post an update article now that adds additional resources to address new developments in the field.
VR development is continuously innovative and cutting-edge, and I’ve been fortunately to experience this first-hand. As an example: one of my more recent virtual reality game projects was music for Audioshield Fitness, developed by the creator of the famous Audiosurf music-rhythm game. I was asked to compose the new official Audioshield Theme for release with the Audioshield Fitness game, which takes the core game mechanics of Audioshield and pumps up the challenge with obstacles that make players dodge and duck to the music. The result is an intense workout that was named as one of the top 5 VR Fitness Games of 2018 by PerfectBodyMate.com. To maximize the power of the Audioshield procedural system, my composition had to attune itself to the system’s powerful music analysis algorithm and deliver moments of both challenge and spectacle. I composed and mixed the music with specifically-targeted EQ frequency ranges where I placed rhythmic elements and punchy crescendoes. The Audioshield music analysis system then reacted to this audio content and changed the pacing and content of gameplay to match these variables. It was a fun challenge! Here’s a video showing how that worked:
Composing for virtual reality is its own unique discipline, requiring a specialized set of skills and tools. In this article, let’s collect some resources that explore the techniques, tools, and technologies associated with VR audio development. Let’s also take a look at the professional community of VR developers that are there to help each other through the rough spots. Ready? Let’s go!