Online platforms are websites or software that allow musicians to meet up in a virtual music room to play together using their internet connection. Jamkazam uses specialist techniques to minimise 'latency' which is the delay heard on online video conference platforms (Zoom, Microsoft Teams etc).
Sign up to the platform
Visit the platform's website: www.jamkazam.com where you will need to create an account giving you access to use the web browser version of the platform as well as the option to download the software version for Apple or Windows computers.
Choose your JamKazam Plan
At the time of publishing (March 2021), there's a free version of JamKazam and also paid-for subscription service versions with more feature
Free Plan:
- 1 hour max continuous rehearsal time
- 4 players in each session
- Maximum of 4 hours use a month
Silver Plan: ($4.99 a month per player)
- Unlimited continuous rehearsal time
- 6 players in each session
- Maximum of 10 hours use a month
- Better audio quality
- Additional tools to lower latency
- Added low quality video connection
Gold Plan: ($9.99 a month per player)
- Unlimited continuous rehearsal time
- Unlimited players in each session
- Unlimited use a month
- Better audio quality
- Additional tools to lower latency
- Higher-quality video connection
- Recording features
- Access to email help
We recommend trying the free service with a very small group to see if this platform suits your group's needs before committing to a subscription plan.
Prepare your device
For best results, before launching the software:
- Connect your computer to your internet router using an ethernet cable
- Plug your computer directly into the power supply (rather than running off battery power)
- Plug in your headphones - these platforms will create feedback if used without a pair of headphones
- If you have an audio interface for your microphone, set this up and plug into your computer
Launch the platform
You will see the home screen as shown below - here are the keys parts you will use:
Connect with friends:
- Click 'Musicians' on the home screen
- Search and follow all other members of your group on JamKazam. By befriending each other you can now both appear in the same private rehearsal session
- Setup a rehearsal room:
- Select 'Create a Session' on the home screen
- You'll be shown the following options:
- Select 'Schedule Future'
- Complete the form with details of the rehearsal (time, date etc)
- Invite 'Friends' to the rehearsal
- Agree to one of the suggested legal policies for your rehearsal - these are mostly in regards to broadcasting a rehearsal to additional listeners, which some JamKazam plans will allow you to do. Make sure you select 'Fans may not listen to the session' to ensure this is a private rehearsal rather than a performance
- Review and publish the scheduled rehearsal - all invited parties will receive a notification of the upcoming event
Join a rehearsal
- Once invited to a rehearsal session click 'Join' to enter
- Belows shows what a typical session looks like - the screen can loosely be split into four parts:
Audio Inputs
This shows details regarding the audio coming from you into the session
- Open 'Audio Settings' to make any required changes
- Watch the bars here light up to confirm your audio is reaching the system
- Click the speaker icon to open a mixing desk slider to change your level
- This is a connection quality indicator light that shows your current connection / latency stats - green is high quality, orange is ok and red is low quality
Personal Mix
This section shows a panel for each person in the rehearsal including yourself - the image below shows four members in a session:
- Each person's panel is identical to the one seen in the audio inputs section, with a visual indicator showing that the person is making a sound, a level control slider (opened by clicking on the speaker logo) and connection quality indicator
- Throughout the rehearsal use the level sliders to raise or lower each member's volume in the mix to a balance that suits you. These will not impact what others in the rehearsal hear, you're just adapting the rehearsal mix that you personally hear.
Recorded audio
In this section you can:
- Open a backing track from your computer which can be heard by all attending the rehearsal
- Turn on a metronome which can be heard by all attending the rehearsal
Session diagnostics
If you click on the Connection Quality Indicator light on your Audio Input panel a pop-up will show a detailed breakdown of your connection quality.
A traffic light colour system is used to indicate the connection quality for all the necessary processes, click on each specific section for hints and tips to lower the latency.
Troubleshooting
Now you should be up and running hearing each other in the rehearsal space. However it could be the case that some or perhaps all of the members are having latency issues. Here are some suggestions to try and lower the latency delay when using JamKazam:
- Ensure that all in attendance are plugged directly into their internet routers rather than relying on WiFi
- Make use of the Session Diagnostics window to see which elements of your setup is causing the issue
- JamKazam has several links in the platform to online videos to help you set up and get the most out of the system
- JamKazam also offers an online Help Desk, Knowledge Base and Forum with advice and tips
- Time of the day - it could be that you're attempting to rehearse when the network is receiving a lot of traffic
- Location - in theory those living furthest geographically away from the rest of the group will have a longer latency time. This could make it impossible to get a fast connection with those in another country
- Listen - if an individual has a latency issue that cannot be resolved it may be that they are best to listen in on this occasion, with their microphone muted and then investigate the issue before the next rehearsal
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