Event 29 Nov 2020: 12:00PM MST live introduction and Q&A
Join us on Nov 29 12:00 MST on the Gypsy Jazz Discord server for a live introduction and Q&A on how to record tracks together across the word in “realtime” using Bandlab live. You will need a Discord account for voice chat and a Bandlab account for recording.
*Note: Bandlab live doesn't work on mobile. On desktop they only support Chrome, so it might not even work in other browsers.
Comments
I hope to catch this.
Is there going to be a recorded replay available?
@Buco Hope you can make it:) No replay at this point, as Discord doesn't have any native easy recording capability. And running something like OBS and doing a screen recording would be an added distraction. Maybe in future weeks.
Well that was a lot of fun!
@Azazzell it was generous of you to give the time to setting it up and talking us through it.
Just downloaded the final mix as an mp3 and it sounds pretty ok for a first shot.
It does take a little fiddling at first to get the hang of the process but definitely worth the effort.
I couldn't make it.
Question, how does it deal with latency? A band mate wanted to use Soundtrap and make some recordings but latency lag was off the charts. I tried to record just clapping along with the built in metronome and during playback they were at least half a second apart.
@Buco No problem. Maybe next time.
Bandlab is a very simple online DAW. The biggest issue we are finding is is that latency in Bandlab is inconsistent. But there is a workaround.
An usual DAW would figure out the latency from the soundcard driver and compensate for it automatically, so you wouldn't even know it's there. An usual DAW deals with latency of 5-50ms because it can access the soundcard directly and even exclusively. Here is my Reaper DAW shared mode input latency at 5.3/27ms for reference.
Bandlab is built to work in a browser and only supports Chrome currently, so it cannot access the soundcard directly. It has to go through the Chrome sound engine with all its limitations. There is a Bandlab latency test that listens for loud clicks to figure out the round trip latency. Comes out high at around 100-200ms currently, but it really wouldn't matter if Bandlab could compensate and align the recorded lead track to the rhythm track you heard while recording.
The problem is not that recording latency is Bandlab is high. The problem is that recording latency in Bandlab is variable and inconsistent. Depending on what Chrome is doing, on what your computer is doing, and apparently on air humidity and how the stars are aligned it seems to move around by 10-50ms on every take.
The way we found around this inconsistency is to import a short metronome track into Bandlab and record some clicks in time with it at the beginning of each track, by banging the pick on the guitar. Then just manually drag around and align the recorded tracks to the metronome track. Might need to clip the track to drag it left. Also zooming in seems to have problems sometimes. It's not perfect, but it's fast, easy to do, and the end result sounds decent. And it's free. So it's good enough :)
Join this Am Bandlab test project to see a demo. Am jam track invite: https://www.bandlab.com/join/tyhy2vy
Hope it helps
Hey thanks a lot for such detailed response. Align the tracks manually, of course. That's what I do when recording video and audio together. The old clapper movie trick.
Thank you.
Yeah this is working out okay. I think we had a bunch of fun putting a quick recording together, with participants from all over. There were a few minor tech things to sort out, but it works.
Event 06 Dec 2020: Bandlab live collaboration
Join us on Dec 06 12:30PM MST on the Gypsy Jazz Discord server for a live Bandlab collaboration and record tracks together across the word in “realtime”. You will need a Discord account for voice chat and a Bandlab account for recording.
*Note: Bandlab live sessions don’t work on mobile. On desktop they only support Chrome, so it might not even work in other browsers.
https://djangojazzcalgary.wordpress.com/
Pro Tip: worth signing in a bit early for today's session if it's your first time: that way you can create username etc. for the 2 apps and test your audio and video before it starts.
Event 13 Dec 2020: Bandlab live collaboration
Join us on Dec 13 12:00PM MST on the Gypsy Jazz Discord server for a live Bandlab collaboration and record tracks together across the word in “realtime”. You will need a Discord account for voice chat and a Bandlab account for recording.
Tunes:
*Note: Bandlab live sessions don’t work on mobile. On desktop they only support Chrome, so it might not even work in other browsers.
https://djangojazzcalgary.wordpress.com/