I wanted to take a moment to thank all of the volunteers who have helped make the WorldJam events run so smoothly over the past weeks and months:
Laura!! Cedric, Cathy, Kath, Jono, Jez, John W, Emily, Sarah, Viktor, Sam, Jeroen, Astrid, Karen, Rich, Angelique, Roger, plus Simon White and Tony Mountfield (on website contributions), Brian Pratt and Mark Kozu (on the US world jam evangelising/server setups) + Alex Smith (Logo’s)
The time and the effort put in by everyone has helped us create something that never existed before, and it is something we can all be really proud of.Even with lockdowns ending in many parts of the world, I don’t see any need for WorldJam itself to end. The goal is to continue the weekly Jam Nights for the foreseeable future. The planning and organising of all the details, however, is more than I can do all on my own. With that in mind I have made an administrative team of people willing to help with the details of organizing the show and coordination with third parties (i.e. The Floor and Groovy Gecko). The current administrative team is
Simon (me), Laura, Astrid, Sam, Jono
I would like to specifically thank the members of this team for making sure the event went ahead while I took a short holiday.Responsibilities for the admin group are still being worked out, but the obvious ones are:
Involved in minutia details/discussions with TF/GG (or any other future sponsor or collaborator)
Make decisions on the organisation and running of World Jam shows and events
Make decisions on technology choices and implementations for both the running of events and coordination of them (in collaboration with the wider technical volunteers)
Agreeing on roles within the admin team and sourcing and ensuring volunteer operational roles are trained
Accountable for ensuring a show organiser is set for each show
Register an account on worldjam.vip and set up your Instrument profile
To nominate a song: Go to “Events & Songs”, click “Add song” (detailed instructions coming soon).
To participate in a song as a performer, click on the button “Me” in the Assign column for the song you want. In the “Assign Song” page, click the “Assign me” button for the part you want to take. The buttons displayed depend on how you have set up your Instrument profile and how the song owner has set up the song.
To arrange a rehearsal: Click the envelope button in the Msg column and send a message to all the people assigned to the song. A red dot means there are unread messages.
We also recommend that you join the FB group “Jamulus WorldJam”. In the group you can drum up interest for songs you’ve nominated, and chat with other performers regarding songs in the comments for other song posts. Oftentimes, rehearsals for songs are coordinated via FB Messenger.
So you want to Jam online with all the cool kids? Here is some information about whether you have the right gear and how to go about it.
Right Gear?
PC/LaptopAt the minimum you need a laptop or PC (either Windows 10, MacBook/iMac or Linux). MicrophoneThe laptop needs must have an onboard microphone or a socket on the side/back to plug an external microphone in. Normally this will be a mini-jack (sometimes called a 3.5mm jack). It looks like the hole you might have on your phone (not iphone) to plug headphones in. HeadphonesWe advise everyone to use headphones, if you don’t echo will be on your feed into jamulus and can cause feedback which can be excrutiating for everyone else who is on the room and is on headphones. The better quality they are the better they are for you to hear everyone and some of the low bass frequencies of the bass guitars.Additional GearWe advise everyone to have an audio interface. This is a seperate box that you can plug microphones in and this box connects to your PC usually via USB. There are some pretty good cheap ones that you can order on amazon that have one socket and do a great job. There are some pretty expensive ones too and they normally have more than one socket so you can plug a microphone, a keyboard and a couple of guitars in at the same time. This one is good choice for a simple and cheap interface: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-U-PHORIA-UM2-Computer-Interface/dp/B00EK1OTZCIf you have a good dynamic or condensor microphone to plug into your audio interface this will make your voice or whatever you are recording withit sound much better.
Other Questions
How do I plug my external mic into my laptop which has a tiny mini jack? Most good microphones have a type of connector called XLR. It looks like this. It has 3 pins and typically they come with a microphone lead that has 3 holes in it, like the one below.
Unfortunately the end of this microphone lead will not plug directly into your laptop. You will need an adapter, like this:
You obviously need Jamulus. You can download the latest version of jamulus here:Jamulus for WindowsJamulus for MacJamulus for LinuxDownload the version for your type of PC/Laptop and run the install (or unzip it). This will install jamulus onto your computer and you can run it by finding the shortcut it installed and launching it.
Driver?
In order for Jamulus to obtain information from your soundcard, you will need either an audio interface (as mentioned above) which will already have installed the right drive when you plug it in. If you intend to use your laptop’s mic or plug into the mic port, you will need to install a driver if you are on Windows. This driver can be found here: http://www.asio4all.org/downloads_11/ASIO4ALL_2_14_English.exeAgain, download this software and run it.
Starting and Setting Up Jamulus
When you first launch Jamulus, it will look like this:
Click the ‘Settings’ button first of all. This will launch a window like the following:
The first thing you need to do is configure your soundcard. Now, depending on whether you have installed the Asio4All driver above or are using an audio interface you may have something already listed in the top ‘Device’ box. If this is blank, this means you don’t have any valid devices and you will need to install something. (ideally Asio4All at the minimum). Select the right device and choose the correct input and output mappings. This basically tells jamulus where to find audio (input: mic/instrument) and where to send the sound so it can be heard (output).You shouldn’t need to change anything else on this dialog, I usually leave Jitter Buffer on auto and if you have the option to change the Buffer Delay, try on the lowest setting first (5.33ms) if this starts to crack up your audio you may need to move it to 10.67 or 21.33. Essentially the higher the number the more delay you will hear from when you play something to when you hear it in your speakers/headphones. Usually we like a short delay to play along to!
Connect to a room
Hit the ‘Connect’ button and this will show you a list of servers/rooms you can connect to, the ones at the top of the list are the lowest ping time, which means the shortest delay you will experience. As I said above, the shorter the delay, the better. When you double click a room or highlight a room and click the ‘connect’ button, you will see the name of the room in the white rectangle and will see a mixer fader, mute and solo button for each person that is in the room. You can use these faders to adjust how much of that person you can hear of them. If you don’t want to hear them at all just press the ‘Mute’ button on them. If you want to just hear yourself and maybe one other person, press the ‘solo’ button on yourself and that other person, then noone else will disturb you, but everyone else will still hear you even if you can’t hear them!
That’s it! You’re ready to go, just make sure you have headphones on and you have turned your speakers off!!!
Every week, we host a WorldJam night which allows performers a chance to participate in a live online jam with others from across the world which is streamed live to over 2000 people (currently and counting) plus more when it is shared on people’s Facebook pages. We run this night in a set of private servers so as not to be interrupted during performances by people joining rooms with feedback loops, echo and buzzing noises. We also host a Zoom video for performers to connect to as this gives our viewers on Facebook live, YouTube and Twitch something interesting to watch.
Jamulus Settings
NOTE: You must be using the latest version of Jamulus to participate in the WorldJam and to follow these instructions. Download and install from https://jamulus.io/
Open Jamulus
Click the ‘Settings’ button
On the settings dialog box under the ‘Misc’ section, type the following into the ‘Central Server Address’ text box: worldjam.vip
Close down the settings dialog box
Now click the ‘Connect’ button and from the dropdown at the type labelled ‘list’ change it to ‘Custom’ and you will be presented with a number of rooms. Double click a room to connect to it.
Soundcheck & Check-in
Before performing the first thing you will do is a soundcheck. From 3.30pm UK time* you can go straight to the soundcheck room you have been allocated when the WorldJam song list was published, as found on the soundcheck page (make sure you’re looking at the correct setlist when you visit that page). Priority is given to newcomers in the first half hour.
Soundcheck will go through your settings, test your levels, and check your Zoom setup (see below). Soundcheck takes a few minutes at most – it’s just a chance to make sure everyone’s signal is coming through clearly and at a good enough level, and that they have a good setup. It can also be a moment to iron out small technical issues.
NEW (from 20th March 2021): a checkin function has been added. On the soundcheck page there will be an orange button for checkin. Once you have finalised your soundcheck, visit the page and click this button so that your IP address can be logged to enable you access to the performance studios. From 3.00pm UK time* (2 hours before the show) on show days you will not be able to see some rooms (Backstage, Studio London, Waiting Rooms 1 & 2…) if you have not checked in. Once you check in, the rooms will appear within a minute.
IF YOU ARE LOST then go back to a soundcheck room to get help checking in.
After soundcheck the best room to join is the Waiting Rm1 or Waiting Rm2 (Europe) or Waiting Rm3 (USA) where most people congregate. You will be called from there by the backstage crew, so be there and pay attention to announcements from 15-20 minutes before your song is due.
Zoom
To connect to Zoom you can use your laptop / PC or your smartphone. We find that doing it from a mobile device gives a better picture for you and leaves your computer free to process Jamulus audio.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 861 0067 0333 Passcode: 138837
When you connect do NOT enable audio or video. You will never use audio, and video you can switch on as needed. You can test this during soundcheck (and also verify your camera angle) as you will need this skill when called by the hosts. Don’t forget to switch your video off in Zoom when you have finished soundcheck.
iPhone connection
PC connection
Mac connection
Android connection
Event Coordination
Coordination for Jam Nights will be held in the backstage rooms: Waiting Room 1, 2 and 3 and Backstage. So please do not hang out in Backstage as the Stage Manager and Deputy Stage Manager need to keep this room clear for oncoming acts. You may wait in the Waiting Rm1 (where there is a bit of chatter – Europe) and Waiting Rm2 (quiet listening – Europe) or Waiting Rm3 (USA) where you can hear the performances taking place in the live studio.
PLEASE DO NOT JOIN ANY LIVE STUDIOS until you are asked to by the Stage Manager as this could disrupt the performances. You will be called 5 minutes before you performance time into the Backstage room where the Stage Manager will prepare you for your act, double check things like jitter on your line and give you a countdown before you join the studio. Once in the studio remain silent until the host talks to you, at this point you may switch on your Zoom camera. Once your performance is complete turn off your Zoom camera and leave the studio on your Jamulus and go back to the Waiting Room.
Audio Quality
Please ensure you have really good audio quality or as high as you can make it with the limits of your computer and hardware.
Ensure you are using headphones not speakers
Ensure you have selected mono if you only have one input. Only choose the stereo option if you are feeding your audio from an external mix which is a stereo feed. If you have a mic plugged into input 1 and a guitar in into 2, don’t use the stereo option as this will hard pan your voice far left and guitar hard right which won’t sound particularly great on the final audio.
Recommended settings are Buffer Delay 5.33ms (128), Audio Quality Normal or High, Audio Channels Mono in / Stereo Out or Stereo (see point 3), New Client Level 65. Leave Jitter Buffer on Auto and then when stabilised uncheck it, then raise Local and Server by one or two notches. Do not enable Small Network Buffers, they only work for small numbers of people jamming.
Recommended starting settings (Jitter Buffer: uncheck Auto and raise by a notch each side after connection stabilises)
The most important instruction is…
HAVE FUN!
*UK Time is officially “Europe/London” timezone or GMT in winter and BST in summer.
This weekend coming (15th August 2020) will be the first of Groovy Gecko Sessions focussing on the journey musicians have faced over the lockdown and pandemic. This first session will reflect the situation for musicians prior to the lockdown, where gigging and music was free and open. This session will be called “CAREFREE”. All songs will be linked to this theme of carefree music: partying, close contact, celebration, etc
The GG Sessions will be streamed to a new platform called TheFloor.com. Make sure that you register at http://thefloor.com/worldjam prior to the stream starting as you will not be able to watch it live on Facebook or YouTube (although we will still post the stream there afterwards).
