There are quite a few ways to experience or experiment with music in virtual reality (VR), ranging from virtual attendance at a big concert or festival, to slicing up notes in Beat Saber. Track Lab is somewhat different in that it offers users the chance to create their own music in a way that doesn’t require an education in music theory or knowledge of complex tools.
Track Lab is a hybrid of rhythm game and puzzle game, which aims to make it both fun and easy for players to create original music tracks in a variety of genres and styles, without needing to learn how to play an instrument or learn musical notation.
The developers behind Track Lab, independent studio Little Chicken, had the idea to take music videogames beyond plastic guitars and pressing the right buttons and instead take inspiration from professional music creation tools and give them the videogame treatment to make them fun and easy to use.
Players will be able to choose from a wide range of beats and samples, and use the motion controllers to pick up a selected sample and place it into a timed grid. The rhythm of the track is a ‘pulse’ that runs through the grid, and when the samples are hit by the pulse, they make their assigned sound, allowing players to assemble the disparate samples into a complete track.
Peter previously go hands-on with a preview build of Track Lab at E3 earlier this year, where he said: “[The developers of] Track Lab, developing an experience that takes a well defined genre and turns it on its head. For the musically gifted Track Lab might seem simple, yet for the rest of us the mix of gameplay and music creation will likely win over many fans. This is another PlayStation VR exclusive that gamers should be keen to see arrive.”
The new trailer for Track Lab is available to view below, and Track Lab is due to be available for purchase on 22nd August, 2018 for the PlayStation VR.
Further coverage of Track Lab and other new or upcoming VR titles will be here on VRFocus.