Online music collaboration

Just wondered how many audacity users out there have been involved in online music collaboration.

Although file sizes are large with Audacity projects (at least, usually too large to email), there are file sharing websites available, or, in the case of very large projects, USB stick via snail mail. The advantages are that musos and artists are not limited in playing with others by their geographical location.

I am a musician, primarily a guitarist and would be interested in contributing to other projects.

I’d be interested to hear whether anyone has successfully collaborated online.

Cheers,

Tony

I haven’t personally done this, not being much of a musician, but I have done online collaboration. I’ve done a double-ender radio show. One party calls the other on the phone or Skype or however you wish. They present the show or music and each side records a very high quality version of their own local performance. The phone call never becomes a part of the show.

Then one side causes the WAV file of their performance to appear at the location of the person who is going to mix to the final show. You can do this with multiple people, not just two. Because you’re mixing the show in post production, all the delays and internet sharing problems can be designed out.

You do need to pay attention to duplex problems on some Skype calls where you can’t hear the far side when you’re singing. You have to prevent Skype from hearing you sing.

I’ve heard a quartette sing like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU8hXDim-1s


Another way to do it is straight overdubbing. One person, using a stable timer such as the metronome effect creates one instrument and sends it to the second person who adds a track using the overdubbing technique.

http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tutorial_recording_multi_track_overdubs.html

That’s not strictly on-line collaboration the way you think of it, but that works, too, and you don’t have to cope with time zone shifts. “What time is it in Cincinnati?”

Koz

That’s certainly a good idea.
Something like a “online-session-musician-pool”.
I only Play acoustic guitar and there are some Audacity Project scratches kicking about that could Profit by an additional electric guitar - or any real Instrument for that matter.
Example:

I could use some help with tunes I’m currently recording with a singer friend . . . please let me know if you folks can add to our efforts.
As I pointed out in another post, we’re enthusiasts, not professional musicians, and this is a hobby, not a commercial project.
Thanks.

Hi All, I’m new to that forum, but a regular AC user. I made 2 such projects on a saxophone player’s forum: 5 saxophones + rhythm section. I created the rhythm tracks using Band-In-A-Box, and sent the written parts to 4 players, members of the forum, playing the 5th part myself. I should mention I did the mixdown with a famous german piece of software… :sunglasses:

Why was that?
Was it so that you could have “real time” effects?