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Aaron Lynch

I am a final year Creative Computing Student at IADT. I am an enthusiastic and open-minded individual with strong communication skills allowing me to work well with others. I particularly enjoy programming, working with languages such as C#, C++ and Java. For my Final Year project I decided to create a VR music development application developed in the Unity Engine.

The goal of the application was to allow Users to create original music from a new perspective within VR. The application was developed using the Unity game engine and Helm and open source synth plugin. Here is an example of music being created in Tempo VR.

Here you can see where the User spawns into the game world. They are presented with a mixer and 5 sequencer walls surrounding them. The sequencer walls are placed quite close together so that moving from one wall to another is easy.

A close look at the Mixing desk provided to the User. There are sliders to control the volume levels of each sequencer wall, a bmp dial to change the speed of the sequencers, record buttons and a reset button.

This sequencer wall gives the User a sixteen step sequence with a full octave range using a grid style input. The User can plug cubes into the blocks on the sequencer wall to input notes at that point in the sequence.

This sequencer handles all of the drum sequencing for the User. It feature a sixteen step sequencer with a button based interface where the User can activate a sound at a step in the sequence by pressing its button. This sequencer also features its own mixing desk to give Users the ability to mix the individual drum sounds into one cohesive drum beat.

The Mixing desk for the drum sequencer features a Volume slider for each drum sound on the sequencer as well as an individual dial for drum delay and filter. This allows the User to create much more unique drum sequences.

To allow Users the ability to adjust and interact with the sound of each synthesisers, each of the sequencer walls feature a number of dials which adjust different parameters on the synthesiser.

Here you can see an example of how the sequencers display at what section of the sequence they are playing, to indicate this a glowing blue bar or block is placed at the current location of the sequencer. All the sequencer walls are locked to the same clock so they cannot go out of sync with each other.

Each sequencer wall covers a different aspect of music creation. Here you can see the sequencer on the left uses a three octave long piano interface allowing Users to create long melodic sequences. The sequencer on the right acts as a bass wall, the sequencer only has four steps with each one being a full bar long. This allows the user to create chord progressions to accompany their melodies.

An aerial view of the sequencer room, the User is surrounded by the sequencers so that it is easy to move quickly from one to another to apply changes.

Tempo VR - Virtual Reality Synthesis

The aim of this project was to construct a VR based application which allowed Users to experience and create digital music in Virtual Reality, with a major focus on synthesis and digital sequencers.
The application gives Users the ability to interact with intricate digital synthesisers and sequencers to create melodies and rhythms that they can then mix and record into original songs. The application is approachable for Users of all musical skill levels and offers a chance to learn strong skills in creating digital music, giving them access to technologies that can be very expensive to acquire in the real world.

Download Thesis PDF

Digital Music Synthesis through Virtual Reality

My thesis contains chapters of the steps taken and research done to design and develop this project. The document is split up into five main sections Research and requirements, Design, Implementation, Testing and Project Management; each outlining a different part of the development process.

Download Thesis PDF

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