Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
best video/audio app for live distance jamming?
3 albums canceled/postponed till Fall, so my partner in Amsterdam (I am in Chicago) suggested we try the live thing via video. We play open free improv, and usually work trading files, but were looking fwd to doing this is the same room...never done that before, and while trading files is cool, and we have stuff out, the very nature of this music depends on listening in the moment and responding.
I tried using what was available years ago, but with not-so-happy results. So, can the massive give us a clue to a state of the tech app to do this?
thanks!
Comments
I think you will find the latency related to video/audio to be challenging. Take a look at the Endlesss beta (which is closing fast due to the imminent launch) as it's the closest thing I've seen to real-time collaboration jamming.
I hear good things about Jacktrip from a friend with lots of experience doing this kind of thing. For a detailed guide—including about network concerts more generally— see: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YLX8NatB_Ktdr24LyVg7h_P3zwG1lh1D0A0e733mCYo/edit?usp=sharing
(Also google keyword: 'telematic' music performance.)
@lukesleepwalker I love Endlesss too! Depending on what the OP has in mind with free improv, it might be too restrictive, though.
tanks da boat o' yews..(chicago-ease for thanks guys). Looking into these, and Jacktrip looks like it would do it, though I might need an interpreter, though that's not a bad thing. ohwell..my idea is simply a real time session between here and London, no video, just "being in the same room" session of free improve, being able to play with/against/ etc each other. I also looked at the obvious, Zoom, etc, but that wouldn't do it. I really liked the jackrabbit explanation of how to do it.
I will start looking for others here that need a similar thing, it would be great to have a small space here to do this, and let other people use it as well. The jacktrip community seems the right place to start looking.
Saw you in there today! Hope to jam with you sometime.
🤓
https://JackTrip.org is the portal and there are some GitHub repos: https://github.com/jacktrip/jacktrip
What is the iOS equivalent?
There is some talk about an iOS version of Jamulus, but it still needs work, and perhaps some help:
https://github.com/jamulussoftware/jamulus/issues/764
Maybe one of these can be of help?
https://www.solocontutti.com/index.php?language=GB
https://softsidetech.com/?page_id=560
There’s JamKazam, which works for some if you get it set up right, but their free tier recently got nerfed, so you only get an hour per week. One thing that helps with any of these systems is to have an ethernet connection to your router, as wifi introduces all sorts of problems.
There’s also an iOS based system in beta from (Edit) Sonosaurus, but I haven’t tried it.
This could also be a candidate.
https://apps.apple.com/app/webjam/id1536373788
Are you referring to Sonobus? That's a very cool and promising app, though latency is a bit of a problem. (Sonobus is by @sonosaurus , not Kymatica)
You’re not wrong. My bad. Edited.
Thanks @BCKeys @TheOriginalPaulB @Silvertip @wim
Solocontutti makes an AUv3!
JamLink is made by SoftSide Tech, so those links are related.
Not iOS but a good overview on what are currently available and working:
https://elektronauts.com/t/jamming-online-in-different-place-all-over-the-world-ninjam-jamtaba-koord-alternative/147820
A few papers (not iOS-specific)
IEEE Transactions: An Overview on Networked Music Performance Technologies
Wiki: Comparison of Remote Music Performance Software
jamulus.io
jacktrip.org
More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Networked_music_performance
Latency is the seemingly insurmountable issue. Solutions like NInjam work around this by shifting things around in time (I start my bar/loop when you finish yours sort of approach I think) but as far as i can tell this only really works for looped Jams rather than song-type structures.
However Aloha this was announced last year and purports to somehow resolve the latency issue with dedicated hardware. I don't really understand how it can but they've posted numerous videos of performers in different parts off the world doing this for real.
See https://alohabyelk.com/
It's due for release early in "the first part of 2021" according to the FAQ. I signed up for the Beta last year but never heard anything more from them but if it delivers it will be a game changer. Get the old band back together etc...
I don't think that is the case, people are already doing hours-long live jam sessions using NINJAM, provided it is set up properly of course. Then again, I have not tried it for myself, so...
Here is an example between Rotterdam and LA.
Watched some of this but it does seem to be an extended Jam based on variations on a theme to me. Doesn't seem to change key/structure from the bits I listened to?
It does what it does really well but say you want to perform a song with a drummer, bass player, guitarist, keyboard/Linnstrument/iPad player and vocalist (our basic set-up) with the following structure.
Almost as standard/cliched as you can get admittedly
I was looking at these threads last year to try and figure out if this was possible.
https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=90620
https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=211883
The take home message to me appeared to be that it wasn't really what NinJam was designed to do. Would be delighted to be proved wrong though
Yes, depending on the type music that you are playing, YMMV.
Reference hub:
https://25ms.org/technology/
Great link - looks pretty definitive. Thanks for posting. Hadn't realized that the 'dedicated hardware' that ELK Aloha uses is just a Raspberry Pi 4 with a DAC. That suggests it may be relatively affordable!
I saw a news story about JackTrip zero-latency long-distance jam sessions that was really interesting:
https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/12/03/mike-dickey-jack-trip-technology-audio-lag-quality-loss/
Apparently they have a host site that allows one to create virtual studios. The studios are free until the end of the year, but you would have to purchase the i/o boxes that would digitize your input:
https://www.jacktrip.org/
It’s also not yet available for iOS — just Mac/Windows.