Experimental Free Internet Jam this Sunday

[Jody Kruskal]

I want to try playing improvisational music on Zoom this Sunday at 3-4:30 pm US EST that's 7 pm UK time.

 

Hopefully, four musicians plus myself for this jam, any instrument welcome. If you play tunes and also improvise and have a broad internet connection and a broad curiosity of what it would be like to play together in this novel setting, then join me for an experiment. Don't expect it to be like a regular tune session. We will all be playing out of time with each other and listening to the effect and reacting to make a new kind of music that crafts something strange and new out of traditional tune playing. This is expedient art for exceptional times. If you want to join me, PM me your email address.

 

 

[Kelteglow]

I Have joined Zoom but I am not the cleverest when it comes to computers .I would welcome any further tips on how to use it .Thanks bob

[Isel]

Hello!.

I have tried Zoom today with a friend... and we weren't able to work.

As @alex_holden suggested me, I think the problem was related to echo protection , that is included in Zoom (I only see in the setup of the program two options to configure this feature, but I can not disable that...).

The problem is: my friend can ear me and play with me, but when I ear her and try to play... suddently her sound drops, as  she were nearly "muted"...so I can not follow her.

 

In this link there are suggested some tips focuset to -as far as I understand -  fix this problem, but I had not luck with them.?

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/202050538-Audio-Echo-In-A-Meeting

 

Perhaps someone have more luck than me!! 

Edited March 21, 2020 by Isel

[Jody Kruskal]

Ok folks, here is what I found out. Zoom does not work for music, but there are two sites that might do. Try SoundJack or better yet, JamKazam.

 

I spent the past three hours on JamKazam tonight playing live music with a random bunch of folks and had fun. It was sort of like a festival where new musicians would join unexpectedly and new influences would occur. Very cool!

 

To do this, I downloaded the JamKazam software and struggled to make it work with finally some success. First off is the hardware, you need a fast internet connection, a mic on a stand plugged into an audio interface and then on to your computer. The mic, stand and interface are off the shelf items that are generally available.

 

Then also, the best way  to make this work is to be plugged directly with a cable from your modem into your computer. I was not, and relied on wifi to make the connection. Wifi worked ok, but was glitchy. My new JamKazam friends assured me that a cable connection was superior, was the way to go and would solve my problems. So I'll get that hooked up for my next session.

 

Until I do, my take on internet playing was that it holds some promise for enjoyment.

 

My friend Cindy and I set up our JamKazam session to test this thing out. We encountered and overcame many difficulties as we figured out how to get good sound quality with both of our various set ups. Our session progressed. Along the way, various random folks joined us to jam because I had set it up as an open jam. Perhaps I should have kept it private, but who knew? In the end, Cindy and I got a good sound and met a number of folks from all over the globe who were eager to join us to play. The social networking bit was  very interesting, folks joined and left the session continuously and this was a big part of the JamKazam pleasure of this, our first JamKazam experience.

 

For example: Oh yeah, here comes Jake on bass... "Hi Jake, where are you from?" ... like that.

 

Along the way, I actually played the blues in A with a few folks for a bit... and it sounded almost plausible. Not quite, but almost. Perhaps using that cable instead of wifi will help me with the inevitable time delay inherent in this system. In the meantime, I'm enthused and want to try JamKazam again!

Edited March 22, 2020 by Jody Kruskal

[Isel]

I am glad to ear that Jody!!!.

Thank you very much for the JamKazam recommendation,!??

[Isel]

Here in Spain...the isolation will probably be extended for 3 weeks more ...so I am seriously considering to invert in some audio interface.... to follow Jody's recommendations.

I did some googling...and, as reference, I show my main results:

- One of the best suggerences resulted to be Focusrite scarlett 2i2 (https://techzelo.com/best-audio-interface-for-streaming/#go-to-1-focusrite-scarlett-2i2)  . That costs 155 euros in Thomann.

- The "analogue" Behringer model in thomann (Behringer U-Phoria UMC202HD) ( https://www.thomann.de/es/behringer_u_phoria_umc202hd.htm#bewertung) does cost 66 euros (a little more expensive in amazon...).

 

As always.. in electronics the quality does have its price.... but some advice on audio interfaces with good quality/price relation would be appreciated.

 

Best wishes   

Edited March 23, 2020 by Isel