Any of you using Zoom?

[danktat]

Being as though we can't get into the rehearsal studio, we tried today to get together on Zoom and go over some ideas. There was a minimal lag, but enough to throw us off just a bit. It was not quite as difficult as I thought it would be, but not quite as easy as I'd have liked. What digital media are you guys using to stay in touch with your band mates since you can't gather as a group in the studio and put your lips on mics used by others?

 

[bodia]

Me and four or five buddies have been getting together at one of their houses for the NFL Draft for the last 20 years. Since we couldn’t this year, we did it over Zoom. Was kinda cool, especially since one of our little group moved to Sacramento 3 years ago. Was cool to have him back in the group.

 

[matonanjin]

For rehearsal or jamming there is also Jamkazam. I am not recommending it as I haven't tried it. I have a weekly Wednesday jam night with two buddies which is, of course, on hold. We keeping saying we are going to try this but haven't. I see very mixed reviews on this which may or may not be related to the reviewer's connection speed.

But maybe someone else on here can report on it.

 

[Outlier22]

I tried Zoom and Skype for Business, and Webex with a co-worker to see if we could do a jam session. It didn't work. I didn't notice any lag really but we really didn't get that far. I found that whenever I played, the service would cut out his guitar. This is either a build in feature of the service to cut out background noise or feedback, or this could have been an issue with his setup as well. He connected his PC to a small Bluetooth speaker to hear me and my guitar and was using his build in mic on the PC to transmit his voice and guitar amp in the room. On my end I was using my Scarlet interface and had an e906 mic on my amp and sm58 on a boom to talk through and headphones plugged into the interface to hear him through. I think my side was set up well but the issue might have been his computer mic picking up my audio that was playing through his cheap Bluetooth speaker and cutting it out to reduce background noise and feedback???

I tried another Zoom with a bandmate where we were just chatting and listening to music. (You don't really notice that lag in that scenario since we weren't actually playing instruments.) I did notice again at one point I was hearing his music cut out when I talked. But he made some adjustments on his side and this issue mostly went away. I think he fixed it by turning down his audio in room and piping it directly into the interface so it wasn't picked up by his mic.

in summary, I think Zoom, SFB, Webex or MS Teams could work for band meetings, sharing ideas, chatting and listing to music, etc... if all the parties have their equipment setup correctly. Using your computer mic and speakers might work for one to one or small groups but as soon as you get more than 3 people you start to get noise, feedback, audio cut out.... And, trying to do a live jam or band rehearsal is really problematic.

 

[Outlier22]

For rehearsal or jamming there is also Jamkazam. I am not recommending it as I haven't tried it. I have a weekly Wednesday jam night with two buddies which is, of course, on hold. We keeping saying we are going to try this but haven't. I see very mixed reviews on this which may or may not be related to the reviewer's connection speed.

But maybe someone else on here can report on it.

I'll see if I can check this out. ...I do have access to all these other services for free because of my work. But I supposed I could pay if Jamkazam works better

 

[matonanjin]

I'll see if I can check this out. ...I do have access to all these other services for free because of my work. But I supposed I could pay if Jamkazam works better

I think it's free. It does say create your free Jamkazam account. Maybe it's one of those that it's free unless "Oh You REALLY want to use it? What's your CC #? "

Let's us know if you try it.

 

[Tosca]

I’ve been using JamKazam for my Tuesday night blues jam project for a little over a month. When it works it works well...but obviously they are experiencing heavier use than they were ready for, so sometimes the service is completely unusable. It takes a lot of patience to set up...the documentation is not complete...and tech support non-existent. I have to say it has been worth it, as we have been successful >80% of the time. There are some nuances/tricks I’ve picked up along the way...so if you try it and run into problems...I may be able to help.

 

[Serious Poo]

Zoom is ok for casual use, but I don’t recommend using it for anything confidential. The company has a fantastically consistent reputation for ignore security controls in its products.

 

[Tosca]

Zoom is ok for casual use, but I don’t recommend using it for anything confidential. The company has a fantastically consistent reputation for ignore security controls in its products.

I should add...I don’t think JamKazam is particularly secure...not surprising given it was free. I suggest signing up with a burner e-mail...I started receiving weird and amusing fishing e-mails to the address I used, almost immediately after signing up...the password you use won’t be secure either. Not a major concern for me...if someone wants recordings of my tired repertoire of dated pentatonic licks they are welcome to them.

 

[11top]

I talked to one of my band mates yesterday, and we discussed returning to rehearsal. He and I are the most cautious regarding social distancing. He lives out in the country and suggested setting up outside at his place. We are pretty loud, but I don’t think we’d bother anybody way out there. Sounds like a good plan for June if all hell doesn’t break loose again.

 

[Ovibos]

I did a little messing around with NinJAM via Reaper. Set up my own server for it, PM me if you want to try it.

Basically everyone plays to a click and it sends the audio like a measure later.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I talked to one of my band mates yesterday, and we discussed returning to rehearsal. He and I are the most cautious regarding social distancing. He lives out in the country and suggested setting up outside at his place. We are pretty loud, but I don’t think we’d bother anybody way out there. Sounds like a good plan for June if all hell doesn’t break out again.

I keep suggesting setting up outside on the driveway at the house we play at.

I mean, how upset could people get?

 

[RickP]

I talked to one of my band mates yesterday, and we discussed returning to rehearsal. He and I are the most cautious regarding social distancing. He lives out in the country and suggested setting up outside at his place. We are pretty loud, but I don’t think we’d bother anybody way out there. Sounds like a good plan for June if all hell doesn’t break loose again.

Although I have a different opinion than many on the value of social distancing, I do respect others and their opinions on it. So the band hasn't played a note together since this started. The other guitarist and I got together over the weekend and jammed for a couple of hours, and it was glorious. It makes you realize how much you enjoy it. And with both guitarists there, everything important in the band was present.

We haven't tried Zoom or anything else for practice, but I am going to have to look into it today. Thanks for the suggestion!

EDIT: I signed up for a Jamkazam free account. I haven't done much in it, but I did download a Steely Dan JamTrack, and it is very well done! If the rest of the system is like this, I'll be happy to have tried it.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I’m reliably informed by a band mate, that the 35ms latency enough to throw people in a rehearsal situation.

I guess it is also affected by the quality of internet service for each person as well.

 

[danktat]

He and I are the most cautious regarding social distancing. He lives out in the country and suggested setting up outside at his place.

We were actually thinking the same thing about my singer's parents' house. We could be 10 feet apart back there and still have plenty of room.