Online music jam sites?
February 26, 2022 7:25 PM Subscribe
A friend and I live about 400 miles apart, but we would like to play guitar (electric or acoustic) together, live and online. I know that there are web sites available for online jam sessions, but which one to use? While it need not be 'free', we would like to stay budget conscious. Neither of us are virtuoso players; This is casual music. I wanted to ask for recommendations.
As always, thank you for your wisdom!
Best answer: JamKazam would have been my pick back when (waves hands) online things are happening (for reasons). There are previously requests on this topic. Latency is the key for 'jamming' as I understand it. Wired everything and even the 400 miles might be a thing depending on where you live. It all depends on how many router hops you have between the participants and buffers and delay. I'd give JamKazam a try.
I've done this a decade ago across three sites spanning the entire US but it was a technology demonstration where we could set up direct paths and such. Piano here, strings there, dancers somewhere else all in HD audio/video. Easy, but research-y easy. I wish good luck on commodity internet that you have. You'll want something that is an app that can go Point-to-Point once set up vs. some sort of central web thing. And if you're close (few hops), and the network is decent nowadays, it might just work. The latencies might just be good enough for a good 'jam session'. Good Luck!
posted by zengargoyle at 12:19 AM on February 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've done this a decade ago across three sites spanning the entire US but it was a technology demonstration where we could set up direct paths and such. Piano here, strings there, dancers somewhere else all in HD audio/video. Easy, but research-y easy. I wish good luck on commodity internet that you have. You'll want something that is an app that can go Point-to-Point once set up vs. some sort of central web thing. And if you're close (few hops), and the network is decent nowadays, it might just work. The latencies might just be good enough for a good 'jam session'. Good Luck!
posted by zengargoyle at 12:19 AM on February 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: One way to solve latency is to stabilize and extend it: ninjam lets you play with your friend in the past, while they play with you in the past. Hard to explain but it's fun and make sense when you do it.
There's also Source Connect Now, which is entirely browser based, a nice plus.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:23 AM on February 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
There's also Source Connect Now, which is entirely browser based, a nice plus.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:23 AM on February 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: My band used Jamulus all through the pandemic (and we still are using it now, with one member uncomfortable practicing indoors). Sometimes it works great; sometimes there is a bit of latency. In almost two years, though, there was only one time it was bad enough to keep us from practicing altogether. It's easy to set up and use, also, which may be important if some of you are not all that tech savvy.
posted by something something at 6:52 AM on February 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by something something at 6:52 AM on February 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Another recommendation for Jamulus here. With Jamulus, you listen to what's coming back from the server, so everybody hears the same thing and can play in time.
Minimal latency is not the most important factor - minimal jitter (variation in latency) is, since it's fairly easy to get used to playing with constant latency. I'm in Scotland, and I play a couple of times a week with traditional music groups on a Jamulus server in Germany at about 50ms overall latency - which may sound like a lot, but that's only the equivalent of sitting 17m apart in a room, so it's not really any different from playing in a church or orchestra.
posted by offog at 8:08 AM on February 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
Minimal latency is not the most important factor - minimal jitter (variation in latency) is, since it's fairly easy to get used to playing with constant latency. I'm in Scotland, and I play a couple of times a week with traditional music groups on a Jamulus server in Germany at about 50ms overall latency - which may sound like a lot, but that's only the equivalent of sitting 17m apart in a room, so it's not really any different from playing in a church or orchestra.
posted by offog at 8:08 AM on February 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Hey Everyone!
Thank you for taking the time to answer, and for the wealth of solid information!
Have a fabulous day!
-dfm500
posted by dfm500 at 10:47 AM on March 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Thank you for taking the time to answer, and for the wealth of solid information!
Have a fabulous day!
-dfm500
posted by dfm500 at 10:47 AM on March 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
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I went in extremely sceptical, but I was astonished at how much the audio experience mimicked playing together in real life. A violinist friend and I (piano) used it during height of the pandemic and the audio quality was so good with virtually no perceptible delay. We made sure to follow the guidelines from the site - use a wired internet connection, wired headphones, and a decent mic.
The app is a bit clunky, but the experience was good enough for me to look past that.
posted by bkpiano at 7:42 PM on February 26, 2022 [3 favorites]