Virtual Jam Buddy

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.

Itā€™s 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 didnā€™t get enough people using it compared to using their own audio interface. Also, they had some funding challenges at the time.

Thereā€™s 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 donā€™t 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.

Iā€™m not saying the Elk stuff is bad (Iā€™ve never used it and would be interested in seeing it).

Iā€™m just that itā€™s not really new or revolutionary and it doesnā€™t solve the latency issues. Really itā€™s 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.

Cheers,

Keith

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Of course you canā€™t defy the laws of physics, but they are attempting to optimize the heck out of it with hardware. So yeah, it wouldnā€™t 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:

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As I say, itā€™s 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 thereā€™s 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 ā€œbufferbloatā€. This can only be done on the router itself.

Cheers,

Keith

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What I like about the Elk solution is the hardware form factor.

Itā€™s a more modern version of the Jamkazam Jamblaster device I kickstarted in 2016.

I like it because it doesnā€™t need a computer: itā€™s optimised to be plug and play into a network connection, so you donā€™t 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.

Cheers,

Keith

Thatā€™s great Serhat! Iā€™ll get something set up like Keithā€™s South East Asia one soon (if no one else beats me to it :sweat_smile:) . Iā€™m 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 OMā€™s but otherwise Iā€™d be up for something fairly regular if others are keen? I have a busy week ahead but after that, Iā€™ll 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! :smiley::+1:

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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.

image

I have to say the MP-3 works great for this. the settings I used are:

I didnā€™t actually get around to doing this as no-one seemed interested. Maybe when things are a little less frantic here, Iā€™ll 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.

Cheers,

Keith

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Wow! Thatā€™s cool, Keith! Great to hear that it works well! :smiley: :+1: 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! :metal: :sunglasses: :sweat_smile:
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!

I didnā€™t see anything from NZ when I was playing. This morning, the list of Jamulus servers from my location looks like this:

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.

Or, I guess, sing.

Cheers,

Keith

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