rockin' remote desktop style

February 11, 2009 1:02 PM

My friend and I want to be able to work on the same Garageband file on a server somehow.

Is there a way to set up one of our machines as a server that both of us can access? We are not on the same network (in fact we are a thousand miles away from each other). We are both using OS X Leopard.

posted by crapples to computers & internet (6 comments total)

I'd recommend DropBox.
posted by BugsPotter at 1:08 PM on February 11 [2 favorites]

Me and a friend do the same thing with Photoshop files (and sometimes ableton live stuff) using dropbox. Definitely the simplest solution.
posted by azarbayejani at 1:37 PM on February 11

Just to mention another option, there's the webdav protocol. On OS X (which you apparently have) you can mount a webdav share on your desktop the same as a hard drive (a really slow hard drive).

The trick is finding a webdav server. I think Apple's .mac or me.com or whatever they're calling it can be used this way.

I've got web hosting with Dreamhost, and they also let you set up a webdav folder. I've used this as a way-station for files I want to share with my wife at her office, and it did work.

Whatever route you take, you just need to be sure to "check out" and "check in" the file so you don't save over each others' work. If you've got a chat session going with your friend you can just mention it over chat.
posted by adamrice at 1:52 PM on February 11

Thirding Dropbox.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 7:35 PM on February 11

You need version control, son. Surely there's some kind of version management system for this type of project, yeah? Anyone have any ideas? VCSes geared toward software projects are probably the wrong way to go. I know Adobe does Version Cue to solve this problem for designers, but has anyone solved this for musicians?
posted by Mikey-San at 8:37 PM on February 11

Webdav has been sluggish and buggy when I've used it.
posted by mecran01 at 10:41 PM on February 11