NOTE: 4/6/2020 – Hi all, Dr. Pisano here. I have noticed an influx of people now finding this article written 12+ years ago. I have been asked to update this page frequently in the last week. I am hoping to get to this by the end of the week. As you have no doubt learned, latency is the biggest issue that prevents universal “jamming” as well as instrumental or vocal ensembles from being plausible, still yet, even in this decade. Until we find the ability to have a signal travel faster than light, we may never completely solve this problem.
I have a related post that I’ve recently written that may be of interest to Jazz Educators as well: Online Jazz Education Resources for Teachers.
My best and keep checking back.
Original Post:
There are a number of websites and programs that allow musicians to “collaborate live” with each other available online now. Although the software/sites listed in this post are cutting edge and in some cases, a little rough or BETA versions, this genre of collaborative music/musician sites is steadily increasing and becoming easier to use and implement.
In most cases, I have not had a great deal of experiences with the sites listed here, but can see the benefit that they all offer. If you are an active user of any of these sites or other related sites/software please share with us your experiences with them and/or how you are using them them in the comment section below!
photo credit: johnnyalive
- Ninjam: “NINJAM is a program to allow people to make real music together via the Internet. Every participant can hear every other participant. Each user can also tweak their personal mix to his or her liking. NINJAM is cross-platform, with clients available for Mac OS X and Windows. “
- ejamming: Currently free during its public beta! Connect, jam, and record online.
- jam2jam:Improvise with others online and creative grooves and music without having to have “music chops”.
- Jam Central Station: Have a virtual band “back you”.
- Kompoz: “Kompoz is a social workspace for musicians and songwriters. Got an idea for a song? Record a track. Upload it. Then invite others to add drums, bass, vocals or anything else!”
- Kalabo: Compose, play, add to, and modify compositions online.
- JamGlue: Upload a composition, mix it, share it…
Splice: Meet, Make, Mix, and Mash music online.- JamNow: “Broadcast, podcast or jam live whenever you want, & invite fans or musicians to join in. Or choose to keep your broadcasts private, open only to those you invite. Your sessions are recorded and can be edited, stored in your JamNow tape vault, and downloaded as MP3s. Post your performances as streams on your profile page – build your audience by playing live for people all over the world! Do it yourself!”
- ZipJam: Not an online jam/shareable site, but rather one that allows you to find musicians to jam with and work with in your area.
[…] Pisano presents Top Ten Websites/Programs That Allow Musicians To Jam Or Collaborate Online posted at Music, Technology and Education: […]
[…] that relates to music education, in some way can be chosen. I choose to submit my article about online jamming (Not for any particular reason…). Next month, I will host the carnival, and I’ll try […]
RiffWorks T4 free recording and online collaboration software. Record guitar riffs and songs with drums and effects, collaborate online with musicians worldwide with no latency or distance issues, and post songs to RiffWorld.com online community – all for free.
[…] that relates to music education, in some way can be chosen. I choose to submit my article about online jamming (Not for any particular reason…). Next month, I will host the carnival, and I’ll try […]
Old post but a great one still! A few of those have shut down, like JamGlue for example.
Our collaboration platform Musistic is still going strong at http://musistic.com/ with our DAW agnostic collaborative recording plugin and a soon to launch freelance talent marketplace. Music collaboration online is still rocking!