Anyone know a Windows application I can use to play music with others in real time?

Does anyone out there know of any Windows applications that would enable me to play music with others in real time?

Specifically, I want to jam with other musicians for our personal enjoyment, regardless of the physical location of each musician, while also being able to keep the sound contained to my personal space (e.g. my basement office while the rest of the family is not disturbed in other rooms).

The experience must include, the ability for all participants to: - see and speak with each other - control the mix individually as well jointly - plug an electric instrument directly into the mix - plug a performance-quality microphone directly into the mix - listen via headphones only or speakers - use electric or acoustic instruments.

No recording necessary. No audience necessary.

Anyone already doing this?

UPDATE: 2015-01-20 This sounds like the kind of thing that WebRTC technology might be able to achieve.

qxotk

Posted 2010-03-11T04:08:15.617

Reputation: 865

2Wow, that sounds like it would be a lag nightmare. – Fake Name – 2010-03-11T07:44:34.810

2I am a faithful believer in the community and moderators. One question: I want to play music with others using my computer (hardware), which is connected to other computers via network (hardware) and an application (software - be it desktop- or web-based).

Perhaps if I edit my question to that effect, it could be re-opened?

The unique thing about this question, is that I am looking for a real-time connection, not one that is based on swapping static files asynchronously, such as one might do with pc/mac-based recording studio software. – qxotk – 2010-03-12T01:17:22.877

Perhaps if I change "...websites..." to "...applications..." ? – qxotk – 2010-03-12T01:22:23.190

2+1 for taking the effort to edit your question so it could be reopened. What is it exactly you're trying to do? Play instruments with remote people or ...? – Ivo Flipse – 2010-03-12T07:38:10.507

1the phrase "in real time" makes me assume you're looking more for "live remote jam session" software (like VoIP conferencing?) than for "collaborative multitrack assembling" software. which makes me wince -- it's (theoretically) doable at VoIP quality, like a plain old conference call over Skype, but it'll sound horrible. – quack quixote – 2010-03-12T09:35:41.747

Thanks for the great comments, very helpful - editing my question further now. Thanks all. – qxotk – 2010-03-12T17:45:37.190

1Could you explain something more about the features of this software? – Ivo Flipse – 2010-03-12T07:38:30.820

From the ninjam.com site: 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. – qxotk – 2010-03-12T18:13:46.327

More from the ninjam.com site: You can sing, play a real piano, play a real saxophone, play a real guitar with whatever effects and guitar amplifier you want, anything. If your computer can record it, then you can jam with it – qxotk – 2010-03-12T18:15:00.567

I find this approach very interesting, even though it is not exactly what I am looking for, especially if what I am looking for may not exist? :). – qxotk – 2010-03-12T18:17:57.283

Anyone know a Windows application I can use to play music with others in real time?

Answers