Long distance collaboration

Joyful Uke

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A friend asked me if I wanted to try to work out a duet.
We're in different parts of the country, so this will be a long distance collaboration, if we can figure out how to do this.

We've picked a song, (it will be an instrumental), so next step, obviously, is working out an arrangement, and then learning our parts. So, we've got a long ways to go before it becomes a duet.

But, just thought I'd ask if anyone has any suggestions on how to approach this? Neither my friend nor I have ever tried anything like this. (In fact, I've only played on my own, with my dogs as the audience.)

It could be a very fun project, if we can figure out how to do this.
Neither of us are great with technology, which could become a sticking point, I suspect.

Has anyone done a long distance project like this? Any input from anyone?
 
Following. I’d like to do this also!
 
UU members that participate in the Seasons of The Ukulele challenges do this kind of thing every week, but with video, which seems like a whole other can of worms, but for general audio collab, here is a general overview of what I know:

  1. Use a click track or a drum beat to keep things synchronized, set it for whatever tempo, say 100 beats per minute. You can record this with one of the parts. How ever the first person records it, save/export it as a WAV file for high fidelity.
  2. Email the file to the person who will do the second part.
  3. If you have a program like Garageband on Mac (or any other DAW {Digital Audio Workstation}), this is easy to do.
  4. Just set the proper tempo in Garageband to match the recording of the first part, and then import the WAV file of the first part into Garageband (or other DAW) via drag-and-drop.
  5. Then listen to make sure it sounds ok.
  6. Next, record the second part onto a second audio track and make sure to turn on "live monitoring" so you can hear both yourself playing while it records, and also the first track/part.

I'm sure you will have lots of questions, but I'm afraid more technical details would be beyond me since I am no recording expert and do not feel I am capable of a more technical explanation.

I learned all the above by watching dozens of YouTube videos, and then spending lots of time fussing with it.

However, the process is essentially the same as any other multi-track audio recording, with the exception of importing an audio file (WAV). This is where locking to a specific and known tempo is important, and having an audible sound reference of either a metronome or simple drum machine sound embedded with the recording of the first musical part.

Also, YouTube is filled with tons of tutorials on multi-track audio recording and how to do it. On a Mac, Garageband is pretty easy to use and is free now.

If you do not know how to do multi-track audio recording, this could be a good place to start, otherwise, depending upon your experience with computer audio recording programs, you might get overwhelmed really easily.

You can look for collabs in the Seasons here:

https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/forumdisplay.php?47-Seasons-of-the-Ukulele
 
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Thanks, Joe.

Neither my friend nor I have experience recording at all, so that will be one thing we need to learn about while we also work out the music.
But, you've already helped a lot, and have given me some direction, which is appreciated.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a Windows based program to use? I attempted to try Audacity in the past, and never figured it out at all. That's not a good sign, is it? LOL.

But this could be a fun project, so maybe I'll devote more time to figuring out the technology aspect of it this go around.
 
Reaper is another "free to try" DAW though it is not necessarily the most user friendly either. If you're on iOS, a couple of easy ones are Multitrack DAW and Cubasis.

The collaborators definitely need to be conversant with the technologies involved. They don't necessarily have to use the same software on each side as long as you can exchange .wav files and know how to get them in and out of either side.

And I'll reiterate what Joe King said about the click track/fixed bpm. That's not entirely a must have either, but it really does make things a lot easier, especially if you're going to add software instruments like drum loops or something.

P..s here's one Mezcalero and I did a couple years ago and there's a link to some production details on my blog
https://forum.ukuleleunderground.co...vin-and-Jim-Collab-Where-Do-the-Children-Play
 
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Thanks, Jim. I'll read the thread from UU, and your blog as well. Lots to learn!
 
Great collaboration with Mezcalero and Jim. It proves that the idea can work! At least with skilled people like you. :)
 
The entire idea of Soundtrap, an online DAW, was originally long distance collaboration. Soundtrap has become more than that over the years (I believe it is currently owned by Spotify) but if you”re not looking for real time audio/video collaboration, this might be the way to go.
 
The entire idea of Soundtrap, an online DAW, was originally long distance collaboration. Soundtrap has become more than that over the years (I believe it is currently owned by Spotify) but if you”re not looking for real time audio/video collaboration, this might be the way to go.

Thanks. I'll look into it. There is sooo much I don't know.
 
There's also BandHub, which a few other UU members have used:

https://www.bandhub.com/

and a google search for "online music collab" brought up these others below, but I dont know anything about them:

https://collabvideoapp.com/

https://www.jamly.co/

The main thing with sites like these is that you need to create an account and register with the service, and then you use the tools they provide in your web browser to make the recordings, which it seems that are hosted on their site, and they may allow for downloading or pushing the final edited recording to YouTube or Vimeo.

By them hosting the content, it allows multiple people to work on the same project without you having to worry about downloading or sending different versions to each other via email or DropBox/Google Drive, etc.

I think this might be pretty streamlined compared to the "old fashioned" way.

Typical caveats about privacy, and your data living on someone elses server, and thus outside your total control, so take that for what it is :)
 
I totally agree that a click track is useful, but in my experience of studio recording some people find that conforming to a click track is off putting - especially the first time. Give it a go, you will probably be fine, but if you find it difficult then you can try playing along with the first person's full track. You'd be following their timing - but not impossible, and some find it less daunting.
Don't forget to get the first person to include an audible count in - especially if you're coming in on the first beat with them.
 
Have you thought about the idea of each learning your part and then using Skype to practice them together? Would give it more of a real duet feeling though you would still have to record it later. I know from trying to learn a duet with my teacher that practicing with a metronome or a recording of his part didn't work for me. I needed him playing live in order for it to work. Of course, I admit I'm not very good at playing with others where we have set parts so it might just be me.

John
 
I attempted to try Audacity in the past, and never figured it out at all.
My experience with any specialty app is you can't just "figure it out," I always pull out the help files, find tutorials and guides to get started, even an app like Garage Band. Audacity could work, but you have to learn the intricacies of it.


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Have you thought about the idea of each learning your part and then using Skype to practice them together? Would give it more of a real duet feeling though you would still have to record it later. I know from trying to learn a duet with my teacher that practicing with a metronome or a recording of his part didn't work for me. I needed him playing live in order for it to work. Of course, I admit I'm not very good at playing with others where we have set parts so it might just be me.

John

Good suggestion. I'm very low tech & have never used Skype. My friend is very low tech, too. But, maybe this will encourage us to give it a try.
IA that it could be a different experience to play live with one another vs. a recording. I've never played live with anyone, but have played along to some recordings, though not in a situation like this.
 
My experience with any specialty app is you can't just "figure it out," I always pull out the help files, find tutorials and guides to get started, even an app like Garage Band. Audacity could work, but you have to learn the intricacies of it.

I did try reading about it, watched some YT videos, and read on a forum about it, but could have tried harder, I admit.
At that time, I decided that I didn't need it enough to fight with it any more than I did, and gave up. Maybe I'll give it a try again, though. With the free time that I have, I'd rather play ukulele than fight with technology, but maybe I can find time for both.
 
Sure you don’t want to try video? Even using FaceTime on your phone, if you have an iPhone, might work. You can practice along with anyone’s videos on YouTube and see if it’s something you like to do. I participate in the Seasons of the Ukulele here on UU regularly. We lost one of our members due to his health and sometimes I will make a recording of me playing along with one of his old videos. So even though he’s gone he’s still here (;


Timing is extremely important! One of my first collaboration experiences was a disaster because of the timing.
 
Sure you don’t want to try video? Even using FaceTime on your phone, if you have an iPhone, might work.

I don't have a smart phone.

I'm already thinking of giving up on this idea. Sounds like being high tech is necessary, and I don't have the necessary items, or experience using the technology.
I thought it would be doable with my laptop, but I guess not. Too bad. I was excited about the possibility.
 
Don’t give up. You can find a way! I used to use my reg video camera to film, upload to PC then to YT. I’m extremely illiterate with computer tech!!
 
Joyful Uke, You don't have to learn the stuff if you have a third party put it together. If you can keep time to a click track.

For example 1: Here is a metronome on YouTube that happens to be 4/4 at 60beats per minute. You can mute the sound and watch the arm go back and forth. Use this to play your rhythm on your uke and record it. Send the same YouTube link to your friend and have them play the melody and record it. Both of you send your best work to someone willing to put it together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgc7pA43DgI

Example 2: Use the YouTube link and record your part (make sure the click is muted and only your uke is heard). Send the link to your friend and send your recorded uke playing file to them. They will play both the click track on their monitor (without sound) and play your uke recording (and through trial and error synchronize the two) through a headphone. They can now record their uke playing while listening to yours. Both of you send your best work to someone willing to put it together.

If you try this, record at least 3 tries in a row. That way whoever puts it together can have a best choice in performance.
 
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