Can You Play Trombone in VR? Trombonest on Meta Quest
Yes. Trombonest is a slide trombone for Meta Quest 2, 3, 3S and Pro. You hold the horn in one hand and push the slide out with the other, through the same seven positions as a real trombone. The trigger is your breath. It’s $5.99 on the Meta Horizon Store.
Maybe you played in school and the horn is long gone. Maybe you’ve never held one. Either way, a real trombone is loud, and somebody nearby is trying to sleep. Here’s how the one in the headset works, and what it doesn’t do.
How do you play trombone in VR?
Trombonest uses both Quest controllers, one for each hand.
- Hold the trombone in one hand. That’s your bell hand.
- Grab the slide with the other hand, using the trigger or the grip.
- Pull the bell hand’s trigger to blow. How far you pull sets how loud the note is. A sharp pull punches the start of the note, like tonguing it.
- Push the slide out. There are seven positions, and the note drops as the slide goes out.
- Flick the bell hand’s thumbstick up or down to change partial. A trombonist does this with their lips. It gives the same seven positions a higher or lower set of notes.
Left-handed? Options → Slide hand puts the slide in your left hand.
Three levels
Pick one on the start menu.
- Easy. AutoPitch snaps each note to the major scale, and a note guide shows what you’re playing. Every note lands.
- Normal. No AutoPitch. You find the positions yourself, with the note guide and every chromatic note.
- Hard. No AutoPitch and no note guide. Just your ear.
The seven slide positions
On a tenor trombone, first position is the slide all the way in. Each position further out is a semitone lower. In the low B♭ partial, the seven positions play:
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Note | B♭ | A | A♭ | G | G♭ | F | E |
Change partial and the same seven positions play a different run of notes. Trombonest has all seven. Normal and Hard give you every one of them, while Easy keeps you to the notes of the major scale.
On a real trombone, the positions get a little further apart as the slide goes out. You can feel that on the Trombonest page, where you can drag a trombone slide in your browser and it plays with a real trombone’s spacing. In the headset, the positions are evenly spaced.
Play it at midnight
A real trombone wakes the whole street. Trombonest plays through the headset, so put headphones on and play whenever you like. Turn on passthrough and the trombone is in your own room: the hallway, the kitchen, the couch.
What Trombonest isn’t
Better you hear it here than after you buy it.
- It’s free play. There are no songs, lessons or scores, and nothing is timed. You pick the notes.
- It won’t train your lips. Partials come from a stick flick, the positions are evenly spaced and the notes are equal-tempered. It’s a good way to learn where the positions are and hear how the notes move. It won’t build an embouchure.
- It’s single-player. There’s no multiplayer.
Trombonest or Trombone Champ?
If you searched for a trombone game in VR, you’ve probably found Trombone Champ: Unflattened, the VR version of Holy Wow’s comedy rhythm game, made by Flat2VR Studios. It and Trombonest do different jobs.
| Trombonest | Trombone Champ: Unflattened | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An instrument | A rhythm game |
| Songs | None. You play what you like | A song list to play along with |
| Score | None | Each song is scored |
| Headsets | Meta Quest 2, 3, 3S and Pro | Meta Quest, SteamVR and PlayStation VR2 |
Want to toot along to songs and laugh? Get Trombone Champ. Want a trombone to noodle on, work out a tune by ear, or learn where the slide goes? That’s Trombonest.
Questions
- Can you play trombone in VR?
- Yes. Trombonest is a slide trombone for Meta Quest 2, 3, 3S and Pro. You hold it in one hand, push the slide out with the other, and blow with the trigger.
- Which headsets does Trombonest run on?
- Meta Quest 2, Quest 3, Quest 3S and Quest Pro.
- Do I need to know how to play trombone?
- No. Start on Easy, where AutoPitch keeps every note in the major scale. Move to Normal when you want to find the positions yourself.
- Does Trombonest have songs or lessons?
- No. It’s free play: no songs, lessons or scores. You pick the notes.
- Can I play it left-handed?
- Yes. Options, then Slide hand, puts the slide in your left hand.
- Does it work in mixed reality?
- Yes. Turn on passthrough to play in your own room.
- Is Trombonest multiplayer?
- No. It’s single-player.
- How much does Trombonest cost?
- $5.99 on the Meta Horizon Store.