Hi all!
I’ve been using the COVID lockdown to try and get better on electric bass and I’m wondering if anyone is interested in an online jam session or two. There is this software called jamulus and it minimizes audio lag as long as the players (1) have a good internet connection and (2) are fairly close together. You also need a good way to get your sound into the computer, and it really helps if you have a mic so we can talk about what we’re going to play.
I find that jam sessions are much better with a singer – the singer keeps the rest of us on the same page. I have a drum box, but I don’t have any singers to call on.
Anyway, I can set up a jamulus server if anyone else is interested in trying it out. You can find the software at jamulus.io.
I’m possibly interested in jamming with you (I’m a decent composer, adequate piano player, sub-solo-quality but adequate singer); but to be honest I’m far more interested in understanding this Jamulus application. I’ve downloaded it and read the tutorial and my brain is still mostly full of HUH??
My primary interest would be deploying this for a cluster of choral singers. Our choir has been sidelined for a year because of COVID. We do Zoom calls but Zoom’s lag makes it impractical to try to sing together.
The Jamulus info page seems somehow to have been written for folks who came in already understanding something I’m not getting. Or it doesn’t explain stuff well. Why is a server needed / what is the functional purpose of Jamulus Server / why would I want to select an existing server in a given genre instead of being my own Jamulus Server / click-for-click and keystroke-for-keystroke how do Person A, Person B, and Person C link up so they hear their combined voices (and/or instruments) as if they were rehearsing in a room together? / Does it record or does one run separate audio recording software?
Everyone connects to the same server. There are lots of unused servers out there if you want to use someone else’s. When you install the client software, there’s a connect button that shows all the servers in order of lowest latency.
Everyone sends their audio to the server and it bounces it back in real time. I have an external box to get the sound into the computer, and I can choose to listen to what I’m putting in or what’s coming back, or some mix. If I turn the dial all the way to hear what’s coming back, I don’t hear anything unless I’m connected to a server. Depending on how far the server is and how my own internet connection is, I’ll hear the return signal with more or less delay. If I’m connected to a fairly close server (say, Virginia or closer), the delay is definitely manageable. NY-area servers might have a delay time (round trip) of 10-15 milliseconds, and my computer adds another 10-15 msec, so maybe 30-40 total delay, which is fine.
The lag is much, much shorter than Zoom.
You don’t want to go in through a webcam mic, because those have longer lag times. You’d really want a digital audio interface (something like this: PreSonus Studio 24c USB-C Audio Interface | Sweetwater). They are designed to minimize the input delay, and get the sound quality as good as possible.
Setting up your own server is as easy as running the server software that comes with Jamulus. Windows or Mac OS may ask if you want to open up a port in your firewall? I don’t remember. Whoever is running the server will have essentially zero network delay.
I think I’ve answered your questions? If not, ask some more!
I may, but I should first try to muddle through the instructions and see if I can end up singing a duet with my housemate from opposite ends of the house. The instructions as written have a lot in common with the underwear gnomes’ plans — install software, now jam together! — but it may become self-evident once I connect to a server and drag some dials around.
Buying hardware is a dealbreaker. I can do it for myself but the 100 elderly choir members won’t. I have USB microphones (“Snowflakes”). I’ll try those.
The software is actually really easy to use – basically, install it, connect to a server, and start jamming. The trickier side is getting the sound into the computer with minimal lag – there’s an audio driver called ASIO4All that can help.
The USB mic that I have (from some Wii game) seems to have some lag, but I haven’t fiddled with settings much. If you’re having issues with lag, I can try plugging my USB mic in and seeing if I can cut down lag on my system and let you know what I find out.