You must set up a wired Ethernet connection between your router and computer. Jamulus recommend the ping time to the Jamulus server (see below) should be no more than 40ms, and the lower the (very much!) better.Īll of these applications make the same recommendation with regard to Wi-Fi, and that is simply not to use it. Jamulus specify a minimum of 1Mbps both up and downstream, but faster is better and a low ping time is essential. Networking: You need a fast Internet connection. Decent microphones to plug into the interface give the best sound, obviously, and are well worth having. For Windows, Jamulus recommend an audio interface with a native ASIO driver. In our own usage, UAD's Apollo hardware worked well, while a Blue Icicle XLR-USB adaptor wasn't so effective, adding pops and clicks. Tablets and phones, unfortunately, are right out!Ī separate audio interface is a necessity in order to provide a low-latency connection to the computer. For Jamulus, Windows, Mac and Linux are all good. Any decent computer from the last few years should do fine.

Hardware: A powerful computer is always nice to have, but these apps don't put too much demand on the host machine. You have to watch out for the following factors: The first thing to note about these applications is that they all demand a lot of your environment in order to ensure the only source of latency they have to deal with is the Internet itself. Among these are JamKazam, Soundjack and the subject of this article, Jamulus.

So you may be as surprised as I was to learn there are a small number of applications where the developers refuse to admit defeat on this and are determined to allow musicians to play together live across the net. As anyone who has tried it with the various video conferencing applications like Zoom and Teams will know it results in everyone being out of time with everyone else, with consequent cacophony!

As I explain in my article ' How To Make Zoom Work For Music' (SOS June 2020), latency is like death and taxes you can minimise it but you can't avoid it completely and normally it defeats attempts to play live together. Anyone concerned with trying to create live music over the internet will have become very familiar with that word. The free and open-source Jamulus app lets you play along with other musicians over the Internet in real time. Screen 1: What you'll see when you first open the Jamulus client.

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