How can my ukulele group set up a virtual play-along?

Cornfield · Mar 26, 2020

Not worried about the lag. Last night I used an old lap top that has terrible speakers. My pc does not have a camera or mic. If I use my pc, that is hard wired to the internet, my iPad, phone and laptop all run on WiFi. Does the internet source make a difference?

Jerryc41 · Mar 26, 2020

Cornfield said:
I subscribed to the pay version of Zoom for a weekly sing around. I definitely need a better camera and microphone for hooking to my Pc. Any suggestions?

Yes, the quality of the equipment does make a difference. In our Zoom sessions, some people looked and sounded better than others. Last night, I watched on an iPad 2, but I didn't have the camera or mic turned on. At times, I've run a laptop and a desktop, and the laptop had faster sound. It appeared before the sound on the desktop - both 2012 Macs.

Jerryc41 · Mar 26, 2020

Cornfield said:
Not worried about the lag. Last night I used an old lap top that has terrible speakers. My pc does not have a camera or mic

My desktop PC has neither camera nor mic. I have a camera I could attach, and I ordered a microphone. The Macs have built-in camera and mic, so they're more convenient to use.

Tootler · Mar 26, 2020

The chances of having an online simultaneous jam are practically zero unless everyone is within a few streets of each other and even then it depends on the hardware & software you are using. The limitations are defined by the physics. The absolute limiting factor is the speed of light but there are practical limiting factors. Even cable broadband is limited - by the relays and converters that transfer the signals, the packet routing system etc. mean that the transmission speed is only a fraction of the speed of light.

The one to many has clearly been made to work and the equipment for is clearly affordable. The other option is the "open mic" format as we do with the Seasons. Put up a video & invite each other to comment. There have are recently established facebook groups and maybe the UU ot Seasons FB group could serve that function.

KohanMike · Mar 26, 2020

Agreed, the quality of the equipment is a factor. When I bought my powerful Mac Mini some months ago, which does not come with a monitor, I had to buy a webcam, a Logitech C615 HD described as 1080p, but when you read the fine print, it says chat or Facetime is 720p. When I'm on a Zoom session, my image strobes, light colored lines that scroll up the screen, very annoying, but looking online for a higher quality, as I mentioned, are not available until late April or longer.

SailingUke · Mar 26, 2020

I have been using Zoom on my iPad. I use the iPad camera, but I have a Blue Snowball Mic plugged into the iPad.
So far everyone says the sound is great.
We take turns with the Zoom leader muting all but the song leader. Everyone can hear the leader and play along.
Being able to share a screen was the thing that sold me on Zoom.
I can share the music so everyone is playing from the same copy.

Davoravo · Mar 26, 2020

That is clever and gets around the lag problem (everyone is accompanying their own lag)

rrieth · Mar 29, 2020

A workaround

Here's a low tech solution. Sometimes simplest is best.

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://...sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNF9l9TAiobkO3UKJoYzOYt3S-py4g

Lillymo · Mar 29, 2020

rrieth said:
Here's a low tech solution. Sometimes simplest is best.

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://...sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNF9l9TAiobkO3UKJoYzOYt3S-py4g

Perfection! Thank you rrieth!!

localmana · Apr 3, 2020

Has anyone tried to use Zoom for the visual part and simultaneously use a group conference feature via a cell phone? So you're seeing via Zoom and hearing via phone conference call.

Lillymo · Apr 3, 2020

localmana said:
Has anyone tried to use Zoom for the visual part and simultaneously use a group conference feature via a cell phone? So you're seeing via Zoom and hearing via phone conference call.

I haven't tried combining Zoom with a conference call but I've called a friend's land line using my cell phone and tried to sing a duet. There's a bit of a lag. Not as bad as Zoom, but still pretty distracting.

KohanMike · Apr 3, 2020

localmana said:
Has anyone tried to use Zoom for the visual part and simultaneously use a group conference feature via a cell phone? So you're seeing via Zoom and hearing via phone conference call.

No matter what you do, there's still going to be a lag because it's not so much the app or device, it's how fast the internet service each person has. Unless you spend big bucks, none are fast enough. Right now the best service in Los Angeles is Spectrum/Charter which for a reasonable cost provides a 200Mbps service and a 400Mbps, an expensive service from them is 960Mbps (called 1Gb service) and it's always faster. AT&T has 100Mbps at most, and I've seen it go as low as 5Mbps. One member of our group has AT&T and she looks like a very bad silent movie.

Dohle · Apr 3, 2020

Since Zoom seems to be extremely popular, particularly during these times, it's good for everyone to know that it's a serious security risk:
https://www.tomsguide.com/news/zoom-security-privacy-woes

KohanMike · Apr 3, 2020

Not very serious if you use a Mac since Apple constantly fixes security flaws, and Zoom has also. In reality, you need to join a very specific meeting to be vulnerable, if you only join your own private meetings, there is no danger.

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Jerryc41 · Apr 3, 2020

localmana said:
Has anyone tried to use Zoom for the visual part and simultaneously use a group conference feature via a cell phone? So you're seeing via Zoom and hearing via phone conference call.

Today there was a notice on the top of the Zoom screen about phone service not being a good way to go. I forget the details, but probably because so many people are using Zoom now.

Cornfield · Apr 4, 2020

Hint for reducing vulnerability. Don’t post your zoom meeting number online. Send the info via email.

Jerryc41 · Apr 4, 2020

Cornfield said:
Hint for reducing vulnerability. Don’t post your zoom meeting number online. Send the info via email.

Spend some time with Zoom ahead of time - like on your own account - and play with the various settings and options. I did that this morning. The different backgrounds are nice.

SailingUke · Apr 4, 2020

Jerryc41 said:
Spend some time with Zoom ahead of time - like on your own account - and play with the various settings and options. I did that this morning. The different backgrounds are nice.

the virtual backgrounds are nice, but they see to slow up the video.

KohanMike · Apr 4, 2020

Jerryc41 said:
Spend some time with Zoom ahead of time - like on your own account - and play with the various settings and options. I did that this morning. The different backgrounds are nice.

SailingUke said:
the virtual backgrounds are nice, but they see to slow up the video.

Yes, my group of about 45 have done a few meetings and we ask to not use virtual backgrounds just for that reason. Zoom uses algorithms to constantly calculate the edges of your body, you can see that happening. Some of our members have old computers and very slow internet service.

Arcy · Apr 4, 2020

Virtual backgrounds won't slow other people's computers.

Zoom calculates virtual backgrounds on the camera-side. My rig needs to be fast for me to set a virtual background. Your rig doesn't know or care if the background I send is real or virtual.

What will make a difference on bandwidth and on others clients is how much movement is in the frame. Modern streaming protocols send differences between frames rather than the entire frame. My virtual background could improve your performance: if I replace a moving real background with a still virtual background then it will be lower bandwidth and less processing to show on your side. Unless it's an extreme difference the effect is likely negligible. Modern protocols will adjust the stream and drop quality to something the client and connection can handle.

All of this is talking hardware & software of course. Virtual backgrounds may cause problems for folks with old and slow wetware. At a recent strum out leader set her background to a video of her kittens chasing a laser pointer. Everybody got completely distracted! More evidence that organizing a uke group is similar to herding cats!

How can my ukulele group set up a virtual play-along?

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