I thought you had an option to join a Zoom meeting in the browser without necessarily downloading the app? Needless to say, I am as likely as not incorrect.
Irrespective, it would require extra effort to coordinate use of the Community Zoom License. Pretty sure only one meeting at a time would be the case, though if done in different Time Zones, different days, quite sure that would not be a big issue.
IF this became a new thing then I agree with the ideas that one manages via regional specific Topics and that it would be up to those interested initially to run with the idea, much like what happened with the OM. Then it would either flourish or wither.
And somebody would have to figure out the details, post instructions etc.
Interesting discussion and a potentially good use of the JGC Zoom licence. Sounds like a little more exploration would be required and if the groups become regular events, some form of scheduled would be required. And for example our diarised OM dates would need to be ring fenced, especially as I would expect the weekend to be a popular time to do these.
So I better bookmark this and keep an eye on developments.
Thank you Rene. As we progress as guitar players, I believe a key element is having someone that is on or near the same level as you to bounce ideas off of each other. We can only do so much sitting in front of the computer, reading books, and solo practice sessions. Thanks again for the kind words.
Best,
Bill
Hi Keith,
Thank you for the suggestions.
Ideally, thatās what Iām looking to do here. Find someone who I can practice with remotely. Not necessarily play songs together, but chat about techniques, progress, etcā¦then have each other demonstrate one at a timeā¦therefore, latency will be less of an issue.
Thanks again,
Bill
Thatās exactly what Iām looking to do.
Could be a matter of finding someone who is close to my skill levelā¦then getting near my time zone: New York EST.
Thank you for the comment.
Best of luck,
Bill
Sounds interesting.
IMO, the more people that get involved, the more challenging it gets. People are at different skill levels, time zones, and specific content to practice. Thatās why Iām seeking that one person to get started. The last thing I need is more complexity
100% agree! Enough complexity going on with this guitar thing as is lol!
Yeah thatās probably the trick eh. For me I l often ike playing in the morning, which probably works quite well with UK/Europeās evening, so I could be lucky there, but working around time zones is always a challenge.
@nzmetal This is a great idea. I feel talking through my challenges to someone else could help me clear my head around them and listening to someone elseās could be eye opening.
I think a bit of coincidence needs to happen. Skill level and geographic location being two really important factors to match up with someone would be key to this being successful.
Itās actually not that new. Systems like Jamendo and Jamkazam have been doing this for several years.
I actually kick-started a Jamkazam unit about 5 years ago which did the same as this and which worked very well, but they eventually discontinued it because they didnāt get enough people using it compared to using their own audio interface. Also, they had some funding challenges at the time.
Thereās pretty much nothing a system like this can do to reduce Internet latency, other than making smart choices about routing, which is mostly about providing regional servers.
For one to one you donāt need a server and can do direct routing which will give the lowest latency but, normally, these systems are designed for multiple people which then needs a central server.
It also relies on having other people in your region who are using the service. That was one of the problems I found with Jamkazam when I first started using it: all of the people using it were in the US and the latency connect to them was, for me in the UK, quite poor.
I suggest you try something like Jamulus for free before you spend out on something like this.
Iām not saying the Elk stuff is bad (Iāve never used it and would be interested in seeing it).
Iām just that itās not really new or revolutionary and it doesnāt solve the latency issues. Really itās a different packaging of stuff that already exists.
But packaging can have its own value, if it makes it easier for non-technical people to get into, or if it offers some great features.
Of course you canāt defy the laws of physics, but they are attempting to optimize the heck out of it with hardware. So yeah, it wouldnāt work for people across the ocean from each other, but apparently they support low latency point-to-point connections for up to 5 people within a roughly a 500 mile distance from each other. The latency is low enough that some bands are starting to use the technology for rehearsing. A bit more info, for those who may be curious:
As I say, itās been done before. Bands have been using tools like Jamulus for rehearsing for at least a couple of years. Perhaps with more faff and less polish but, fundamentally the same sort of capability.
Jamulus and others can do hundreds of miles in the right situation (it mostly depends on local Internet infrastructure and routing).
Using Jamulus I can, for instance, get a usable session from Singapore to Bangkok which is over 1,400 km (860 miles) away.
About the only optimisation they can do is to keep the interface latency low, and many interfaces on the market are already capable of low latencies, although you have a high dependency on PC hardware, drivers and settings.
If you want peer to peer thereās tools like Soundjack and Sonobus.
Peer to peer will, obviously, optimise latency, but it also increases the load on individual broadband connections, and this can cause issues, especially with a lot of consumer routers.
One of the best things you can do to reduce latency is, largely, out of the control of any software or device that connects to your router, and that is to take steps to mitigate ābufferbloatā. This can only be done on the router itself.
I like it because it doesnāt need a computer: itās optimised to be plug and play into a network connection, so you donāt have to faff with drivers and buffer settings.
That said, personally I would prefer something which worked with existing jamming solutions rather than being tied to their subscription service.
Thatās great Serhat! Iāll get something set up like Keithās South East Asia one soon (if no one else beats me to it ) . Iām thinking I might be keen to be involved in two, one for Australasia at maybe 7-9pm Sydney time in Saturdays and one for UK/Europe similar time UTC (which would be Sunday morning for me). Would make sure to avoid clashes with the community OMās but otherwise Iād be up for something fairly regular if others are keen? I have a busy week ahead but after that, Iāll be happy to make arrangements. I can also provide a pro zoom account if tricky to commit the community one.
Excited about meeting with others and sharing the journey!
I eventually got around to setting Jamulus up to try out my Nux MP-3 and just spent the last half hour or more noodling around with a couple of random keyboard players online, one of whom was (apparently) from the Philippines.
I have to say the MP-3 works great for this. the settings I used are:
I didnāt actually get around to doing this as no-one seemed interested. Maybe when things are a little less frantic here, Iāll revisit it.
EDIT: I just stumbled across a Thai channel. I have no clue about what is going on, but they post the chord chart before each song, and it seems pretty busy, and the standard is high.
Wow! Thatās cool, Keith! Great to hear that it works well! Looks like there was someone from Germany in that Thai chat group? (based on the little flags) I assume they were just listening? Also, love that the reverb level on the left looks to be maxed! Excellent!
This is all still on my radar to dive into more deeply when time allows, as well as an Australasian Zoom chat group. So good to have these details to refer back to, much appreciated!
By the way, one of the great things about the Nux MP-3 is that you can plug in a headset with a mic, which means you can easily talk with the other people on the server if you want.
