Fortnite Festival now lets you hit the skins for real with new MIDI drum kit compatibility

I'm known to spend much of my time in any battle royale game hiding in a bush, thinking I'm-oh-so-clever right up until another player puts one right between my polygons. As such, there's a wealth of content my cowardly self hasn't yet gotten to in Epic's all-encompassing headline act, but Fortnite Festival Season 14 promises nothing but hits.

Icelandic-Chinese singer Laufey gets top billing, with two themed outfits, plus themed instruments and auras to unlock via the Emberlight Music Pass for Fortnite crew members. Laufey's jazz pop beats also feature as unlockable in-game Jam Tracks but neither that, nor the fact Laufey is taking over the spotlight from Chappell Roan last season, is what I want to talk about though.

What I want to talk about is how Fortnite Festival intends to give all those old Rock Band 4 drum kits a fresh lease of life, as Pro Drums now allows you to plug in the aforementioned peripheral, or a compatible MIDI drum kit. Given that Epic bought Rock Band and Guitar Hero developer Harmonix back in 2021, adding this functionality has perhaps been a long time coming.

It's a really playful addition to something that already made this karaoke queen's heart sing. Speaking of belting one out, Mic Vocals similarly allows you to relive your SingStar glory days by plugging in any Fortnite-compatible microphone on both PC and console.

If you do decide to step into the Jam Ring, you can now also move around freely as you play, and the new Quick Mix UI offers greater flexibility in how you arrange your mash-up tracks on the fly.

I really enjoyed Harmonix's Fuser back when it dropped in 2020, and was sad to see it delisted two years later. Given that Fortnite Festival semi-resurrects that game's music mash-up gameplay, perhaps it's high time I venture out beyond the foliage and see what else I'm missing in Fortnite.