First internet rehearsal last night...

[MagnusNordén]

Last night, my jazz quartet rehearsed over the internet for the first time. The covid restrictions here in Sweden make it unviable to meet up in person right now for playing, so this was our only option. We used a software called Jamulus.

It was really quite fun, and worked surprisingly well. Also, my VF SD5 Echo sticks got their first use in a very long while. These are surprisingly light and quiet, and much preferable to rods to me. I also got to use my 1940s something 20" Old K, weighing in at about 1,550 grams, a very thin but absolutely gorgeous ride that I get to use too seldom.

Anyway, I so wish the pandemic to be over soon. But untli it is, I really can recommend this kind of internet playing solution. Everything worked smoothly. I live in a flat in an apartment building, so cannot do these things more than once a week, at the most. I've got great neighbours, and am intent on keeping it that way.

Here is a poor pic of my setup last night.

/Magnus

 

[DanRH]

So there were no latency issues?

 

[swarfrat]

So there were no latency issues?

You mean "we swung like never before?"

 

[MagnusNordén]

So there were no latency issues?

Nope. The sax broke up a couple of times, but that was the only thing. Overall, a very smooth experience. But I think we all have pretty fast broadband connections, which certainly helps.

/Magnus

 

[langmick]

Did you record? I'd be curious to see if the latency, and there is a small amount, perhaps not noticeable, had an effect.

 

[CC Cirillo]

That picture is exactly how I envision a Swedish jazz studio. A wider view would show Ben Webster sitting on the sofa.

 

[MagnusNordén]

Did you record? I'd be curious to see if the latency, and there is a small amount, perhaps not noticeable, had an effect.

Sorry, no we didn't record. But since we all set up in our respective homes, perhaps the audio quality in our headphones wasn't quite as good as what you would get in a professional recording studio. And a recording wouldn't have sounded great. This was the first time we tried this, too. None of us experienced latency issues, however.

Have you tried this yourself?

/Magnus

 

[MagnusNordén]

That picture is exactly how I envision a Swedish jazz studio. A wider view would show Ben Webster sitting on the sofa.

Yeah, well that is actually the room in our apartment where I work (I am a translator by profession) and where my wife and I watch movies and series from the couch. Ben Webster would be more than welcome, though.

/Magnus

 

[Ox Han]

Last night, my jazz quartet rehearsed over the internet for the first time. The covid restrictions here in Sweden make it unviable to meet up in person right now for playing, so this was our only option. We used a software called Jamulus.

It was really quite fun, and worked surprisingly well. Also, my VF SD5 Echo sticks got their first use in a very long while. These are surprisingly light and quiet, and much preferable to rods to me. I also got to use my 1940s something 20" Old K, weighing in at about 1,550 grams, a very thin but absolutely gorgeous ride that I get to use too seldom.

Anyway, I so wish the pandemic to be over soon. But untli it is, I really can recommend this kind of internet playing solution. Everything worked smoothly. I live in a flat in an apartment building, so cannot do these things more than once a week, at the most. I've got great neighbours, and am intent on keeping it that way.

Here is a poor pic of my setup last night.

View attachment 472572

/Magnus

What software/platform did you all use to do this? Looks like a nice simple set up and location.

 

[Matched Gripper]

Last night, my jazz quartet rehearsed over the internet for the first time. The covid restrictions here in Sweden make it unviable to meet up in person right now for playing, so this was our only option. We used a software called Jamulus.

It was really quite fun, and worked surprisingly well. Also, my VF SD5 Echo sticks got their first use in a very long while. These are surprisingly light and quiet, and much preferable to rods to me. I also got to use my 1940s something 20" Old K, weighing in at about 1,550 grams, a very thin but absolutely gorgeous ride that I get to use too seldom.

Anyway, I so wish the pandemic to be over soon. But untli it is, I really can recommend this kind of internet playing solution. Everything worked smoothly. I live in a flat in an apartment building, so cannot do these things more than once a week, at the most. I've got great neighbours, and am intent on keeping it that way.

Here is a poor pic of my setup last night.

View attachment 472572

/Magnus

Do you live in an area with no sunlight during the winter, and no darkness during the summer?

 

[tempobob]

Does it work on ipad?

 

[langmick]

Sorry, no we didn't record. But since we all recorded from our respective homes, perhaps the audio quality in our headphones wasn't quite as good as what you would get in a professional recording studio. None of us experienced latency issues, however.

Have you tried this yourself?

/Magnus

Haven't tried it, but have seen a few results of internet collaboration, and I could sense a bit of slop.

It does take time for the packets to make it from one place to another, in mS.

 

[JDA]

Last night, my jazz quartet rehearsed over the internet for the first time. The covid restrictions here in Sweden make it unviable to meet up in person right now for playing, so this was our only option. We used a software called Jamulus.

It was really quite fun, and worked surprisingly well.

/Magnus

what speakers did you use to 'hear' the others..

Oh You used 'Headphones" ok, got it..
would standing speakers been preferable? or too loud for neighbors or other reasons etc)

 

[MagnusNordén]

Does it work on ipad?

Nope. And you have to use a physical ethernet connection between router and computer. Wifi won't do.

/Magnus

 

[MagnusNordén]

Haven't tried it, but have seen a few results of internet collaboration, and I could sense a bit of slop.

It does take time for the packets to make it from one place to another, in mS.

Yes, there is a delay. You can see a figure for it in the app. I think my connection was something like 30-40 ms in total. The guitarist had even less lag. It really wasn't a problem.

/Magnus

 

[MagnusNordén]

what speakers did you use to 'hear' the others..

Oh You used 'Headphones" ok, got it..
would standing speakers been preferable? or too loud for neighbors or other reasons etc)

Yes, headphones is a must. You will get feedback loops otherwise. You can't use speakers for this.

/Magnus

 

[MagnusNordén]

What software/platform did you all use to do this? Looks like a nice simple set up and location.

We used Jamulus.

/Magnus

 

[MagnusNordén]

Do you live in an area with no sunlight during the winter, and no darkness during the summer?

I live in Stockholm. It's well below the polar circle, so not quite dark all day this time of year. And no real midnight sun. But yes, it is very dark this time of year, perhaps daylight from 9 am to 3 pm, and not very bright at that. And in June-July, even the nights aren't quite dark, and you can actually see the position of the sun along the night horizon, not the actual sun disc, but it's much brighter on the horizon below where it is.

I think I took that picture around 4.30 pm yesterday.

/Magnus

 

[Tornado]

Headphones also help to reduce latency. There's about 1ms of latency per foot of distance between your ear and speakers. So even if you are in the same room with other musicians, you've got latency.

 

[Matched Gripper]

I live in Stockholm. It's well below the polar circle, so not quite dark all day this time of year. And no real midnight sun. But yes, it is very dark this time of year, perhaps daylight from 9 am to 3 pm, and not very bright at that. And in June-July, even the nights aren't quite dark, and you can actually see the position of the sun along the night horizon, not the actual sun disc, but it's much brighter on the horizon below where it is.

I think I took that picture around 4.30 pm yesterday.

/Magnus

Man, I don’t know how you do that.