Consider Ninjam to be one item that's long been on my (long) tech wishlist fulfilled: think of it as Skype for musicians. It allows two or more people to jam through the web using real audio streams, not MIDI translations. It takes a rather unique approach to the ubiquitous latency problem involved in trying to keep multiple signals in sync: instead of trying to eradicate the latency, Ninjam actually enhances it, such that each musician is actually playing along with the previous intervals of everybody else. Creator Justin Frankel (developer of Winamp) says it takes some getting used to but becomes natural in time — I'm hoping to get a chance to try out some intercontinental jamming at the earliest opportunity, meself. The creative and collaborative potential here is pretty exciting, and this is only the beginning.
Ninjam: real-time online collaboration for musicians
Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. I don't believe you one bit - I vote for the music lessons! Better yet, just pick something up and make noise with it. Neighbors be damned! :)
I'll definitely report back when I have a chance to check this out. It looks sweet.
Thanks for the props!
Posted at 8:05PM on Dec 18th 2005 by barb dybwad
3. We tried it with skype before. I worked quite well. See the world-jam-wiki:
http://oddwiki.taoriver.net/wiki.pl/WorldJamWiki/HomePage
There is kind of a "smaller" application for NINJAM on wiki-Woodstock:
http://www.emacswiki.org/cw/WikiWoodstock
And having a global 24/7 jam-session streamed by internet radio would be cool.
Posted at 8:05PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Mattis Manzel
1. This is one of the coolest things I've seen coming down the pipe. I would run out and start taking music lessons if I didn't know that I'm a lost cause! I hope you post when you do try it out - I'd be interested in reading your impressions.
PS: This is the first time I stumbled on your blog, thanks to a link from Dave Evans - great job!
Posted at 8:05PM on Dec 18th 2005 by CupidsReviews Doug