Google recently introduced an “interactive experiment” which uses virtual reality to take music lovers inside songs. This is achieved through a new technology, in conjunction with the podcast Song Explorer. This project, dubbed Inside Music, also uses audio from several artistes. All that is required of the user is a good pair of headphones.
Inside Music enables anyone interested to explore the layers of music all around them. This is possible through the use of spatial audio to understand how a piece of music was composed. There are six different songs available in the experiment. Users choose a song, then the system loads it, with all the layers isolated in their own bubbles. Now, even though these layers play at the same time, you can hear some layers louder than others, depending on the layer you are facing.
Inside Music can be accessed using any virtual reality headset, smartphone, tablet or laptop. It was built using technology known as WebVR, which lets you open it in your web browser without installing any apps. Furthermore, Google made the code open-source, thus music creators can create new interactive experiments.
To try it out right now with any web browser, click here. Rotate the screen to move in front of different bubbles, and the audio will change to focus on whatever category you are facing. To deactivate any part of the music, click on a bubble. To focus on one particular layer of the song and remove others, click on all the bubbles except one. Now, you can see exactly how music is built, layer by layer, by clicking on each bubble after the first one. This is an experience you won’t get on the full track.
Note that Inside Music can be accessed from any device. However, it is most interesting when viewed with a virtual reality headset. But then, the most important part of the experiment is a set of good headphones, so you can hear the changes in the music.