When it comes to learning an instrument or creating music, few will dispute that the best way to do so is in person with someone or a studio that has all of the gear that you could possibly need. Increasingly so, however, the digital world is becoming the go-to place to learn. Here, we have the Theory page to discuss new ways of thinking about music and the entertainment medium as a whole. It’s a trend that’s continuing to rise to prominence across the entertaining arts, from professionals utilizing live streams to do their jobs to virtual lessons. In music, there are several virtual applications now, such as the Sharingear platform for lending gear, as well as the latest big step: virtual music studios.
Virtual Music Studios Are on the Rise
One of the main advantages of going digital, or even virtual, is that the service becomes far more accessible to anyone in the world who’s interested. The Gear Gods tutorials reach a broad audience because they’re on a website as opposed to solely being offered in a music store. Still, due to the equipment demand and nature of sound rooms, you’d think it nearly impossible for recording studios to function virtually. Well, the Slate Digital software would disagree. Offering a hybrid of leading hardware and software, the virtual recording studio brings everything that you could need from a fully-fledged studio into a single package. Of course, there’s also the low-budget way to go, as detailed in this Home Brew Audio guide.
With some recording software like Reaper and a USB microphone like the Blue Yeti, you can set up a low-cost recording studio from home: the quality of which only increases with higher-quality equipment. The next step for the virtual recording studio – especially if Meta gets its way and we all live in their metaverse dystopia – is virtual reality. Modulia Studio’s range of modules lets you control your digital audio workstation from within a virtual reality app in the Oculus Rift headset. Through this combination, you can create your music in real-time but without the need for stacks and stacks of gear.
In more of a gamified effort, the SoundStage toolset allows for VR users to enter into a virtual reality music sandbox, featuring lasers, decks, drums, and more. Not only can people learn music online, but they can also use virtual spaces to gain access to high-end gear and create their own music. Across the entertainment industry, several other professionals are going digital as well.
Accessing Entertainment Professionals Digitally Is Increasingly the Way to Go
With eSports becoming a viable professional sporting pursuit and there being a much greater leaning on online multiplayer games, many gamers are now also seeking help for their efforts in the virtual world via virtual gaming coaches. As The Guardian explores, a new industry is forming that connects avid amateur gamers with professional gamers and coaches to get advice, counsel, and tips to improve. Working similarly to virtual music lessons, virtual game coaches, like those on the Gamer Sensei platform, first evaluate you and then perform live one-on-one training sessions to help you to improve your overall gaming skill, from gameplay to communications and coordinating teams.
Access to professionals in the entertainment sector is also prominently seen in the online casino space, with Betway roulette now featuring a selection of live, real-time roulette tables that stream the physical table and its professional human croupier to anyone who plays. It delivers the authentic casino experience via the virtual world, enabling the pro croupiers to entertain more people than ever before. Another site that’s taken off of late is the stacked MasterClass site. From Samuel L. Jackson teaching acting to the likes of Alicia Keys, Timbaland, deadmau5, and Christina Aguilera teaching the ins and outs of making music, famous digital instructors are just a few clicks away.
Virtual music studios are the next big step in the music industry, making the whole practice of creating high-class products as accessible as possible to the masses.
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