Long distance rehearsal via video?

[mwbassace]

Hi y'all. Not sure where to post this so I flipped a coin, lol. Several years ago my guitar player of 15 years moved several states away. What started as a joke talking on facebook about him coming here or us going there to play gigs has actually turned into a possibility. This has me wondering if it's possible to do rehearsals thru video calling or some other real time video/audio means. Any one already do/done this? Any advice or help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[ArtechnikA]

Donno if the technology is ready. Latency is the big issue; even standard voice calls have annoying latency. Anything over 23-30 mSec is very challenging.

 

[mwbassace]

Donno if the technology is ready. Latency is the big issue; even standard voice calls have annoying latency. Anything over 23-30 mSec is very challenging.

That is what I figured would be the big issue.

 

[ArtechnikA]

That is what I figured would be the big issue.

The big internet providers have been promoting gigabit connections for applications like this and some other cutting-edge time-critical interactive applications, such as telemedicine. Or they were for a while - haven't seen it as much recently. I think maybe their promises of a 'great big beautiful tomorrow' could not be realized cost-effectively to average consumers. The current push seems to be into 5G cellular networks.

I have heard some studio musicians say that they find even 5-6 mSec latency disturbing while tracking - and one frame of standard video is ~33mSec. Interestingly, that's also approximately the period of a bass low B.

We seem to be able to compensate well enough in the real world to small latencies. Sound travels at ~1 foot per mSec and I can interact with musicians on the other side of a 20-foot stage. Brains are amazing things ;-)

 

[Pings Bass]

Tried it, didn't work! You need ultra low latency, and it's not there yet.

 

[StayLow]

I've done a lot of shows in the same situation.

Why not just learn the songs, then get together and gig them?

It always worked, and still does, whether people live on the same block or on different continents.

If some hand-holding is required, get together acoustically in the hotel before going to the gig, work it out backstage, or at someone's home in town... whatever applies.

 

[mwbassace]

I've done a lot of shows in the same situation.

Why not just learn the songs, the get together and gig them?

It always worked, and still does, whether people live on the same block or on different continents.

If some hand-holding is required, get together acoustically in the hotel before going to the gig, work it out backstage, or at someone's home in town... whatever applies.

Thats the plan. Was hoping there might be way I was unaware of.

 

[FunkHead]

I'm sure it won't work in US but internet connections in other countries are about 8 to 10 times faster,

 

[mwbassace]

I'm sure it won't work in US but internet connections in other countries are about 8 to 10 times faster,

We got fiber optic internet within the last year or so & that got me hoping.

 

[okcrum]

Latency isn't necessarily going to drop as internet speed rises. Every router, optical or not, adds some. Two different things.

 

[MuttThud]

Hi y'all. Not sure where to post this so I flipped a coin, lol. Several years ago my guitar player of 15 years moved several states away. What started as a joke talking on facebook about him coming here or us going there to play gigs has actually turned into a possibility. This has me wondering if it's possible to do rehearsals thru video calling or some other real time video/audio means. Any one already do/done this? Any advice or help would be appreciated. Thanks

This should be feasible over 5G (when it eventually reaches everyone) as 5G operates at extremely low latency (1-2 ms). Low enough in fact that the most likely application for 5G will be industrial AR where a technician can work on equipment remotely with zero perceptible delay between input and response. But other network protocols will have much higher latency, even fibre to the premises ultrafast connections (high bandwidth does not necessarily mean low latency). Anything above around 12-15 ms round-trip latency is obvious (it is like a short pre-delay on a reverb) and can be distracting whereas down in the <5 ms range is imperceptible.

 

[Marley's Ghost]

Latency is bound by distance. High speed networks can only mitigate so much.

 

[jj.833]

Friends of mine 'practise' using multitrack (Cubase maybe, not sure). Drummer starts with a click, then sends the record to the others, who send it back with their own instrument recorded. I don't know whether this could be used for practising, but definitely it could be a way to develop an arrangement.

 

[cnltb]

Long distance rehearsal via video?

I think that's a fun idea!

 

[bbh]

It is possible. I’ve read about it but have no recollection of what is used to do it. Maybe you could do a search in mix magazine... Maybe protools can do remote sessions, not sure.

 

[john_g]

There were some things available several years ago I researched for my old band. We were all spread out and I thought it would be great, but the guitarist at the time nixed the idea so we never tried it out. Here is something I found, no idea how great it is, just an idea:

JamKazam

 

[FunkHead]

We got fiber optic internet within the last year or so & that got me hoping.

I think if you were on the same Node as the other musicians it would work. It would need to be 2-way Fiber-optic.

 

[equill]

Professional network engineer here: the further apart you are, the greater the minimum latency. More bandwidth and better gear lets you get as close to that minimum as you can, but there's only so fast photons can travel down a fibre-optic cable.

Give it a try, by all means, but it'll be partly a question of whether the latency is high enough to throw one or both of you off. If you can tolerate it, it's a win.

 

[brocket]

Assuming it's just the two of you, you could do a one-way rehearsal. The guitarist would count off and start playing. You'd hear him and play along. The guitarist would have you muted. This would make the guitarist play the whole song alone (and if they can do it alone, they can likely do it in a group) while you'd get a chance to follow what they are playing. Do a quick chat afterwards to see how it went. This might not get the nitty gritty details, but would help with tempos/arrangements/dynamics and such.

 

[40Hz]

Professional network engineer here: the further apart you are, the greater the minimum latency. More bandwidth and better gear lets you get as close to that minimum as you can, but there's only so fast photons can travel down a fibre-optic cable.

Give it a try, by all means, but it'll be partly a question of whether the latency is high enough to throw one or both of you off. If you can tolerate it, it's a win.

Another IT professional here.

As things stand it’s generally not ready for prime time yet. Too many variables in the equation. And the link is only as good as its least capable element. Even commercial teleconference hosting services, with all their high end equipment and expertise, experience occasional lags, odd glitches, dropouts, and freezes. Annoying enough when people are simply talking. But disastrous when you're trying to fine tune something as time dependent and focussed as music.