Skypejamming

Ejamming in action

You have just sussed out the digital disk recorder, found the web cam in your laptop and synced your Blackberry to your calendar in an attempt to eradicate post-it notes when another trend hits you in the cyberspace. Skypejamming is here, and it’s changing the way of the muso amid much debate. Plug in, trend up and read on…

Skypejamming is a phenomenon sweeping the globe allowing musicians of all shapes and sizes to collaborate in real time online.
For a band it is ideal – no need to hire a recording studio when you can synchronise watches and hangovers to do it all from your very own pit at home; for the long distance muso online jamming keeps rehearsals going when miles are prohibitive, and for the adhoc sessionists who love to create new sounds with people all over the globe it is ideal. What else can this technology offer, and who are the people using it to enhance their musical experiences?

Using the internet to make phone calls using Voice over IP (VOIP) software is now commonplace, with a multitude of home workers using the technology to make conference calls, hold long distance meetings and interviews for free over a broadband internet connection.
Combining VOIP with a web cam makes it now possible to have real time interactions with audio and visual capabilities worldwide over the web. The Skypejamming trend simply takes this technology a step further. The main software title in this genre, eJamming  was initially developed as a response to the disappearance of music education from schools in the US during the 1990s as a result of arts budget cuts, the idea being to teach the music online in replacement of peripatetic teachers visiting school.
The company devised performance software to expand on the lessons and the founders decided to connect young musicians online so they could practice newly acquired skills. This in turn led to the creation of online music collaboration, performance and recording software, which allows musicians to work together over streaming audio and MIDI in real time, and also in sync.

Latency, the amount of delay and time lag with Internet traffic, is a key problem that developers have sought to eradicate, as obviously for musicians keeping time at the same time together is essential. The success of eJamming, therefore, has been their ability to minimise the audio data making it small enough to work on broadband lines yet still sound good enough to work with.
Time lags can still be a minor occasional problem in the online jamming process and many musicians may be put off by this, yet difficulties aside the ability to collaborate globally still opens a world of possibilities for the budding Lennon or McCartney.

So how does this process work?  Simple. Download the software (it’s dual platform for Mac and PC), and make sure you have a microphone, an audio interface or soundcard and a broadband connection. You then create a personal profile and connect with other musicians be it those you already know, or new cyber-buddies to make sweet music with. Simple eh?  It’s worth knowing too that although technically you can jam worldwide, it does depend in the speed of connection - the faster your broadband connection's upload speed, the further away your jamming partners can be and the more of them you can connect with in a session.

Not only is jamming a possibility with this software, but as the initial purpose of the software, the concept of e-lessons is made easier; learn guitar from your guru in the States, or teach your instrument worldwide, it’s all up for grabs. Hi-fidelity recording is made viable too, taking the home studio concept to a new level – you can now combine a number of homes and studios to produce home spun sounds.

There is a small cost attached to use eJamming, a cost, which the developers like to remind us, is still cheaper by far than the studio hire and driving costs their audience is used to. The software is still at Beta testing stage, after which it will still be free to download with a nominal monthly subscription. As an added bonus, musicians who participate in the Beta Test and help eJamming find and fix bugs are eligible for a special discounted subscription price, so it’s worth remembering although there still may be problems they are being worked on, as with everything else, collaboratively.

How do the purists feel about this?  As you would imagine, a mixed response; however, since most musicians are all about exploring creativity in their medium, eJamming is getting a thumbs up all round.
You may not have the physical connection and chemistry of working together when playing remotely, but other benefits are myriad and collaborations are rife.

What else can we expect from this trend? Watch out on your My Space and Facebook pages for “jamcasts”, live performances combining jamming, web casts and real-time revelry, a great solution if a live tour isn’t possible.

This may change the way we consume live music for good – but at least if the technology is keeping us all indoors our bands can come to us, and it saves on beer stained shoes, taxi fares and ear drum damage.

Jo Gifford

www.ejamming.com

• add to del.icio.us
• digg this article!