Written by Olivia Browdy

The impact of COVID-19 on music making

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many who had the option began to work from home or work remotely as a safety precaution. Apollo Technical conducted a survey which suggests that in May 2020, over 26% of employed individuals worked from home. Over the course of the pandemic, that number increased to about 70%. Technology is capable of incredible things, making this remote work possible without the presence of an office or communal workplace. For musicians however, this is a different story. 

When the pandemic hit, the performing arts were the first industry to feel the repercussions, and most organizations in the industry are still in the process of rebuilding their pre-pandemic position both financially and programmatically. Between January 2020 and May 2020, the unemployment rate for performing artists jumped from 1.7% to 27.4%

A large factor in the delay of returning to normalcy is that many musicians must be close to each other in confined spaces and unmasked in order to rehearse and perform. Thus, it was extremely unsafe for musicians to make music together in person. While most of the world turned to programs like Zoom and Skype, musicians were unable to use these technologies due to concerns over sound quality, lagging internet connection, and network latency.

What is latency?

Latency by definition is the time it takes data to go from one point on a network to another. According to JamKazam, “latency is the time from the instant that another musician plays a note on their instrument until you hear that note in your headphones. If latency is too high, it becomes difficult or even impossible to play music together - because you hear other musicians in your group playing behind you.” 

Latency can be affected by distance between an individual and the server, as well as by bandwidth. If you have ever tried to sing with a friend over Zoom but one of you found the other was always delayed, high latency was the problem. This is a clear hinderance for musicians attempting to play together simultaneously over the internet.  

The Solution

There are some things that can be done to help improve latency, such as purchasing higher bandwidth, connecting a device through an ethernet cable, and making sure all internet equipment is up to date.

There are also programs specifically designed for low latency video conferencing and music performance. These programs have been used by students, music teachers, and professionals to rehearse, perform, and record throughout the past two years. 

online music collaboration tools

Programs like Acapella and Avid Cloud Collaboration for ProTools provide live collaboration for producing music by allowing multiple people to contribute to a single project. 

Avid products are more often used by professionals and pre-professional students in the field. It is essentially like Google Docs, but for music producing and mixing. Avid Cloud Collaboration offers a way for musicians to work with others on a project without having to physically be together or share massive files.

Acapella was adopted by amateur musicians and younger students because the app is fairly intuitive, which allows anyone to easily record duets, trios, and quartets with themselves or any other user with nothing but a phone. Acapella is a video recording and mixing platform. Users can start by recording one video at a time, either live into the app or by uploading an existing video. The media can be played back with headphones, allowing users to play along with the initial recording of themselves, or someone else, in order to add additional parts to the video. The app provides full video trimming and audio mixing to create a produced duet, trio, or quartet. The final product can then simply be exported and shared through a sharing feature on the app, adding to the ease of collaboration.  While these are useful tools to help facilitate music collaboration, they do not solve the problem of “live” virtual performances and rehearsals.

Tools like JamKazam, Aloha, and Jamulus are all products created to help musicians “jam” simultaneously over a network connection with each other. These platforms work by allowing musicians to play live and process their audio together. Each performer has their own setup through a computer using a microphone (or audio interface for electric instruments) and headphones. 

Additionally, these tools allow musicians to live broadcast collaborative performances. JamKazam offers the opportunity to simulcast through YouTube, Facebook, or Twitch. Giving musicians the chance to host their own remote concerts has been especially important thorughout the past two years of the pandemic. 

Remote Audio Processing

As each musician performs into their computer, the audio is converted to digital audio, processed, and streamed to each of the other collaborators. In JamKazam, for example, the app on your computer takes the audio streams of the other musicians, plus your audio stream, mixes all three audio streams together, and plays back the total mix of all three musicians out through the audio interface into your headphones. These types of apps are designed with the latency issue in mind, so ideally this audio processing happens so quickly that you hear as if you are in the same room as the other musicians. 

Benefits of this technology post-pandemic

While many musicians, students, and ensembles are eager to get back to “normal” by having in-person concerts and rehearsals, there are still large benefits to continuing the use of these collaborative technologies in tandem with traditional practices. 

These technologies give students more autonomy to create and share their own music with classmates outside of the classroom. During a typical music class, whether that is band, orchestra, or general music, students often all follow the direction of the teacher together in an ensemble or group setting. With the introduction of technologies like Acapella and Flipgrid, which allows for video sharing within a class group, students can perform and record individually and share with each other. This kind of collaboration is only possible with the help of these resources due to classroom setup and the time constraints of large ensemble classes. Many music classes are well above the average class size of subjects like math or science. In order to have each student perform individually could take multiple class periods, which is a poor use of invaluable class time. If Flipgrid was employed, students would have the opportunity to share their individual work and have other students view and comment on it without using class time. This kind of collaboration creates more ownership in each student's musical endeavors, and it helps practice critical thinking through observing others. The benefit of this can be seen with the integration of in-person music classes.

Professionally, remote performing allows groups to make music together who may live in different places, whether they are friends in different states, or inter-cultural projects by musicians on different continents. Additionally, it eliminates the cost of venue rentals for small ensembles. Thus, for smaller ensembles who may just be starting out and looking for exposure, it can be daunting to rent a venue and sell tickets. By using something like JamKazam to perform and stream a concert, concert promotion and ticket sales can be handled virtually, allowing for the potential to reach a wider range of audiences.

Final Thoughts

The pandemic continually causes disruptions to the world of live performance. While the world went virtual, musicians had a unique limitation in the transition to the Work From Home model. Throughout this time, it became evident that latency on programs such as Zoom caused problems for music classes or rehearsals. However, with the entrance of apps such as FlipGrid, JamKazam, and other useful tools, the possibilities of virtual music collaboration expanded. It is easier than ever for musicians to play together, exchange ideas, and perform without the hassle of venue rentals. Now, even as ensembles begin to transition back to the pre-pandemic model of in-person rehearsals and performances, there is newfound opportunity for learning, collaboration, and experimentation in a virtual landscape.