You can do this.
The problem.
COVID-19 has compelled many of us to stop singing together in person. For those of us for whom singing is lifeblood and medicine, it’s heartbreaking. And, although platforms like Zoom and Skype have been godsends during this time, they don’t yet allow us to sing together online: As you’ve likely seen, voices can’t be combined and heard by all. And, there’s the issue of latency, also known as lag. What you hear from others is delayed — a disastrous problem for an activity that depends on real-time synchrony for the beauty and connection of singing together.
The solution.
For groups of up to 50 people, and perhaps more, Jamulus — free, ad-free software — can solve the problem. A central Jamulus server collects the audio from each singer, mixes it, and sends the mix back to each singer so quickly, if their setup is speedy enough, there’s no delay. Want people to see and hear your group’s concert? Send Zoom’s video and Jamulus’ audio to OBS, which can live-stream to YouTube. Watch this live performance by London City Voices, and this one by the C4 chorus, to see what’s possible using these tools. (And, consider joining our Song Circle!)
You got this.
Intimidated? Don’t be. You can rent a Jamulus server from a service in a few easy steps, or, if you like, set one up from scratch in 15 minutes. Singers need to install Jamulus, and use wired Internet rather than WiFi. In most cases, that means buying an Ethernet cable, plugging one end into their router, and the other end into their computer. Yes, someone has to orchestrate all this, but thanks to the heavy lifting done by the wonderful people at C4 & others, the instructions are waiting for you. And all of this, except for the server (usually a few dollars per hour), is free.