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In Rock Band VR (Harmonix), instead of playing along to existing original part like in traditional rhythm games, the player improvises a new guitar part on the guitar controller, which is then scored in real-time. This gameplay shift was necessary due to the immersive nature of VR, giving more agency and ability for the player to take in the venue, crowd, and characters, as well as the invigorating feeling of truly playing guitar on stage.

Spearheaded by audio lead Steve Pardo, the audio team built a brand new adaptive guitar sampler system (awarded patent US 20160343362 A1). Within any given song, the player learns and plays among all the various chord shapes, strum speeds, single note melodies, and expressive add-ons in order to craft their sound, make a new part, and get a high score. This allows for a truly improvisatory and expressive experience unlike anything else in a game.

In order to achieve this, every song is marked up in MIDI, which drives the events and animation system within Harmonix’s proprietary engine, Forge, which is optimized for beat-synced gameplay. The audio team composed licks and parts for every song across the most necessary axis of expression and rhythmic strumming. Non-composed guitar parts are generated dynamically, modulated using chords and scale data which are marked up in MIDI. As the player goes in between rhythmic input and fret combination, parts are seamlessly woven together in a realistic and musical way that reduces the feel of latency.

Every song features a spatially-optimized VR mix. As the player teleports around the space, stems from the original song emit from the amps, drums, and speakers in the venue. Coupled with the HRTF provided in the Oculus Spatializer, the experience provides unprecedented realism and adds to the immersive nature of Rock Band VR.

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Footage from
ROCK BAND VR
(copyright 2017 Harmonix Music Systems)
harmonixmusic.com

Audio Lead
Steve Pardo (Harmonix/Skewsound)
stevepardo.com

Audio Team
Chris Wilson (Harmonix/SkewSound)
Pete Maguire (Harmonix)
Nick Kallman (Harmonix/SkewSound)
Jeff Allen (Harmonix)
Peter Moore

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PLEASE VISIT
stevepardo.com
skewsound.com

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