Use of new technologies in the practice of playing together
The experience of the pandemic has brought to everyone's attention the need to use new technologies for study, work and everyday life. If the use of specific software for remote meetings and/or conversations was already quite well known, the use of the same technologies for musical activities which, by definition, are carried out live, was practically unknown.
Nowadays, there are several softwares that make it possible to carry out music lessons from distance. It just needs a good and stable internet connection, the use of external microphones and other small precautions. At the same time, it remains impossible playing together, being physically distant. Even the fastest network connection gives a latency that, although minimal, makes it impossible to play together from remote. If a web conversation is fluid with a latency of up to 40 ms, to play together the latency should tend towards 0.
According the need to delve deeper into the topic and practice of playing together, after the multiplier event concerts in Italy on 5 and 6 May 2022, it was unanimously decided to explore the possibility of continuing this practice from distance, exploiting the new era offered by new technologies IT. Since then, work has begun to explore the possible techniques and softwares to be used for the realization of this project.
In collaboration with the Belgian partners of A.L.C.H.E.M.I.A. - “Academie door Muziek, Woord en Dans” of Bornem - and in particular of prof. Pieter Stas, it was possible to have a beautiful and fascinating experience of chamber music remotely, through the use of the Jamulus software (https://jamulus.io/). This program is specially created to eliminate network latency and allows you to play together despite being in different geographical locations.
Although it is not an intuitive program to use, the technical requirements for its use are rather basic:
- a fast, but above all stable internet connection (via ethernet cable / not via WIFI)
- headphones and external microphones (from USB microphones to microphones used with a sound card)
- download the program from the following link https://jamulus.io/wiki/Getting-Started
The musical program consisted of the second movement from the Quintet Op. 57 n.6 for piano, 2 violins, viola and cello, "Variations on the nocturnal military retreat on the streets of Madrid", music of clear popular origin, and also on the Quartet for 2 violins, viola and cello op.40 nr.4, both pieces by Luigi Boccherini.
Students from Italy, Belgium and Spain were involved (1 violin, 1 viola and 1 cello from Italy, 1 violin from Belgium, 1 piano from Spain) and their respective professors and technicians.
A test was carried out on Tuesday 25 October 2022 from 10am to 1pm to test the connection and the system, ensuring correct functioning and adjusting the audio levels. Everything worked rather smoothly, concluding the test with satisfaction and quite soon.
The concrete experience took place on Friday 28 October from 2pm to 6pm, with everyone present and connected, students, professors and technicians.
The lesson was held by professors Riccardo Cecchetti and Petru Horvath of the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, with the collaboration of prof. Pieter Stas of the Academie Muziek Woord Dans Bornem (Belgium). The students alternated in the different pieces, playing the different scores several times, following the musical corrections given. The result was surprisingly effective and beautiful. The feeling of making music and interacting with an ensemble playing together despite being at a great distance was beautiful. The ability to interact by teaching, correcting and suggesting other artistic and/or technical solutions was almost natural and certainly fluid.
The software instructions said that the maximum distance tolerated was 800 km. Our experience, which involved musicians from Fiesole (Florence) - Italy, Bornem (Antwerp) - Belgium and Osuna (Seville) - Spain, definitely went beyond this limit. Actually, we have to admit that when playing with musicians from three different countries, the sound from Spain had a very slight delay, while it was perfectly synchronous between Italy and Belgium, but also between Belgium and Spain, as well as between Italy and Spain. But, as can be seen and listened from the short attached example, this delay was practically unnoticeable when listening to the sound recording.
We can certainly say that the experience was very positive, a concrete look towards the future and possible concrete current and undoubtedly future solutions. Considering the rapid improvements in the IT world, it can be stated without fear of contradiction that this method will be accessible and usable in the near future, especially when the need to contain network latency will allow the use of the video signal as well as audio.
This experience, subsequently widely shared with the other A.L.C.H.E.M.I.A. partners (Finland and Latvia), was a significant moment in the path of our project and an important signal of how new technologies can and will become an integral part of the educational-training-artistic path also in the musical field.
Nowadays, there are several softwares that make it possible to carry out music lessons from distance. It just needs a good and stable internet connection, the use of external microphones and other small precautions. At the same time, it remains impossible playing together, being physically distant. Even the fastest network connection gives a latency that, although minimal, makes it impossible to play together from remote. If a web conversation is fluid with a latency of up to 40 ms, to play together the latency should tend towards 0.
According the need to delve deeper into the topic and practice of playing together, after the multiplier event concerts in Italy on 5 and 6 May 2022, it was unanimously decided to explore the possibility of continuing this practice from distance, exploiting the new era offered by new technologies IT. Since then, work has begun to explore the possible techniques and softwares to be used for the realization of this project.
In collaboration with the Belgian partners of A.L.C.H.E.M.I.A. - “Academie door Muziek, Woord en Dans” of Bornem - and in particular of prof. Pieter Stas, it was possible to have a beautiful and fascinating experience of chamber music remotely, through the use of the Jamulus software (https://jamulus.io/). This program is specially created to eliminate network latency and allows you to play together despite being in different geographical locations.
Although it is not an intuitive program to use, the technical requirements for its use are rather basic:
- a fast, but above all stable internet connection (via ethernet cable / not via WIFI)
- headphones and external microphones (from USB microphones to microphones used with a sound card)
- download the program from the following link https://jamulus.io/wiki/Getting-Started
The musical program consisted of the second movement from the Quintet Op. 57 n.6 for piano, 2 violins, viola and cello, "Variations on the nocturnal military retreat on the streets of Madrid", music of clear popular origin, and also on the Quartet for 2 violins, viola and cello op.40 nr.4, both pieces by Luigi Boccherini.
Students from Italy, Belgium and Spain were involved (1 violin, 1 viola and 1 cello from Italy, 1 violin from Belgium, 1 piano from Spain) and their respective professors and technicians.
A test was carried out on Tuesday 25 October 2022 from 10am to 1pm to test the connection and the system, ensuring correct functioning and adjusting the audio levels. Everything worked rather smoothly, concluding the test with satisfaction and quite soon.
The concrete experience took place on Friday 28 October from 2pm to 6pm, with everyone present and connected, students, professors and technicians.
The lesson was held by professors Riccardo Cecchetti and Petru Horvath of the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, with the collaboration of prof. Pieter Stas of the Academie Muziek Woord Dans Bornem (Belgium). The students alternated in the different pieces, playing the different scores several times, following the musical corrections given. The result was surprisingly effective and beautiful. The feeling of making music and interacting with an ensemble playing together despite being at a great distance was beautiful. The ability to interact by teaching, correcting and suggesting other artistic and/or technical solutions was almost natural and certainly fluid.
The software instructions said that the maximum distance tolerated was 800 km. Our experience, which involved musicians from Fiesole (Florence) - Italy, Bornem (Antwerp) - Belgium and Osuna (Seville) - Spain, definitely went beyond this limit. Actually, we have to admit that when playing with musicians from three different countries, the sound from Spain had a very slight delay, while it was perfectly synchronous between Italy and Belgium, but also between Belgium and Spain, as well as between Italy and Spain. But, as can be seen and listened from the short attached example, this delay was practically unnoticeable when listening to the sound recording.
We can certainly say that the experience was very positive, a concrete look towards the future and possible concrete current and undoubtedly future solutions. Considering the rapid improvements in the IT world, it can be stated without fear of contradiction that this method will be accessible and usable in the near future, especially when the need to contain network latency will allow the use of the video signal as well as audio.
This experience, subsequently widely shared with the other A.L.C.H.E.M.I.A. partners (Finland and Latvia), was a significant moment in the path of our project and an important signal of how new technologies can and will become an integral part of the educational-training-artistic path also in the musical field.
