[Mark Kozu]

Hi Jacki. I’m replying to you privately on this.

[Mark Kozu]

Hi Jung. The beauty of Jamulus is that it is free open sourced software. It was developed by a guy named Volker in Germany a number of years ago to enable his band to be able to practice without having to spend time traveling to a location. Little did he know. . .

WorldJam is an organization run by, and paid for, by volunteers. We mostly use inexpensive shared cloud based servers. We do have a small sponsorship (which ends with this week’s upcoming show) that has helped defray some of the server costs. Most people find that they can play with around 50ms latency. I have played without issues with latencies in the 70ms range. The session that I mentioned earlier on a New Jersey server my latency was in the low 100’s and I struggled a bit. I am pretty sure with a little practice I’ll be able to handle it.

[Mark Kozu]

[postquote quote=106151][/postquote]

Wonderful idea, Jacki.

The major issue with online jamming is how to deal with latency. If you’ve ever watched the news and seen the anchor person talking with someone who is not in the studio, you’ve probably noticed a delay while the signal travels from the studio to wherever the other person is. This is latency. If the latency is minimal then there is no problem with a simultaneous event (like singing) takes place. If the latency is high then the resulting singing sounds like a mish mash of voices. Zoom is really designed for video and not audio.

Online jamming software, like Jamulus (which is what I use) and Jamkazam are designed for audio so the latency can be reduced, but it is still there. I’m in Seattle and the guitarist I played with on the MLT cover is in San Jose. The other guitarist that I frequently play with is in Chicago. We normally use a Jamulus server in Seattle so I don’t have to deal with the latency, but the other guitarists do. We are trying to put together a song with 3 people from Europe. We chose a server in New Jersey so that we would all have comparable latency. Our latencies were in the 100-130ms range which means everyone is hearing everybody else about 1/10 second behind. It can be overcome, but it takes practice and concentration.

Jamulus is an audio only application. For WorldJam we take the audio from Jamulus, video from Zoom and sync them together through software called OBS Studio and then stream to Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch. For best results an audio interface is needed to get instruments/microphones connected to the internet. Audio interfaces start around $50. If any one wants more information about Jamulus I recommend joining the Jamulus (official) group or the Jamulus WorldJam group on Facebook. There are some US regional Jamulus groups as well. I am an administrator for the Jamulus WorldJam – Pacific NW group.

 

 

[Mark Kozu]

WorldJam is a weekly event and I play almost every week. Next Saturday’s show is not a sponsored show so it will be streamed live to  Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch. The Saturday after that will be the last show on thefloor.com. Next show I’m playing on Feeling Alright and All About That Bass. Heather will be singing on both songs. We’re doing the Postmodern Jukebox version of All About That Bass. This should be interesting because Heather is singing one verse, Laura (one of this week’s co-hosts), and Cathy (who was on one of the interviews this week) are also singing a verse. Laura is in Sweden and Cathy is in the UK and we’re going to try and do the song from the Seattle Studio. There is huge latency from Europe to Seattle so we may not be able to pull it off but we’re rehearsing this Monday so we’ll see.

[Mark Kozu]

Thanks for watching, Joseph. I saw your comments on thefloor.com. Glad you liked the show.

[Mark Kozu]

It starts at 9am Pacific, noon Eastern.

[Mark Kozu]

[postquote quote=105928][/postquote]

Can’t  You See was our 2nd performance on the WorldJam. We had planned to do it the previous week for our debut but our bass player/singer backed out at the last minute. We found Brian the next day and we’ve been playing with him ever since.

I do play electric on a number of songs, but I don’t play lead. This week I am playing electric on A Change is Gonna Come and acoustic on Me and Bobby McGee. This week is a little different in that it will only be streamed live on thefloor.com. It’s still free, but you have to register at thefloor.com and “buy” a free ticket. Normally shows at thefloor.com are available on YouTube in a day or two.

We absolutely love working with Heather. Next week we are going to do the Post Modern Jukebox version of All About the Bass. 2 of the 3 female leads will be from Europe. It should be interesting to hear the European singers deal with the latency from Europe to Seattle.

 

[Mark Kozu]

[postquote quote=105917][/postquote]
Thank you Joseph, I’m glad you enjoyed the performance. WorldJam is a 2 1/2 hour weekly event and I usually play on 2 songs every week. I’ve uploaded 14 of my performances to my YouTube channel. I’m going to try and get the rest of my performances uploaded soon. If you search on my name in YouTube you can find my channel. Also, if you search for “WorldJam” you can find most of the complete past performances.

What’s so amazing about this software is that it allows us to play live with other musicians from around the US and in some cases those of us in the US can play with musicians in Europe. The weekly events are streamed live to Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch on Saturday at 5pm BST in the UK, which is Noon Eastern and 9am Pacific in the US

[Mark Kozu]

Thanks Bill. I got a message from Lisa earlier today and they liked it too.

[Mark Kozu]

Thank you for your kind words, Lisa. My friends are impressed that you took the time to respond. I know you’ve gained a few more fans as a result of this. If you and Mona have the time we’d love to have you participate in the Jamulus WorldJam. You can find out more about it at worldjam.vip.

Mark

 

[Mark Kozu]

[postquote quote=105772][/postquote]

Thank you so much. Glad you liked it. I’ve been playing for the WorldJam for about 4 months and absolutely love it. I have had an opportunity to play with so many wonderful musicians all over the US. Jamulus has given musicians of all abilities an outlet to play when all other outlets have been shut down.

[Mark Kozu]

I also posted it in the Ask the MonaLisa Twins section.

[Mark Kozu]

I added the video to the original post.