How to Jam With Musicians Online: Gear, Latency and Tips for Playing Together Remotely
Playing music with other people is the best way to get better and the most fun you can have with an instrument. But your bandmates don't always live down the street. The good news: jamming online really works if you set it up right. Here's the 2BOOM guide to playing music together remotely.
The big challenge: latency
Latency is the delay between when you play a note and when your bandmate hears it. On a video call, a delay of a few hundred milliseconds is fine for talking but makes playing in time almost impossible.
For real-time jamming, you want the total delay under roughly 30 milliseconds. That's about the delay you'd hear standing 10 meters (30 feet) apart in a room, which musicians handle naturally.
Things that add latency:
- Wi-Fi (use an Ethernet cable instead)
- Bluetooth headphones and speakers (use wired headphones)
- Distance between players (closer is better)
- Audio interface buffer size (smaller is faster but needs a decent computer)
- Video (cameras and video encoding add delay)
Gear you need to jam online
- A computer (laptop or desktop) with a wired internet connection.
- An audio interface, such as a Focusrite Scarlett, Universal Audio Volt, PreSonus or MOTU box, to connect mics and instruments with low latency.
- Wired headphones. Closed-back headphones prevent your mic from picking up the other players.
- A microphone for vocals or acoustic instruments, or direct cables for guitars, bass and keyboards.
- A low-latency jam app built for music rather than a video-call app.
Ways to jam online
Real-time jamming
Dedicated apps send audio with minimal processing to keep latency low, so you can play together live. It works best with players in the same region on good, wired connections.
"Round-robin" or loop-based jamming
If you're far apart, take turns. One person plays a loop or a section, the next adds a layer on top, and so on. Latency doesn't matter because nobody needs to play at the exact same moment.
Async collaboration (pass the track)
Record your part, share the stems (separate tracks for drums, bass, vocals and so on) and let the next person add theirs. This is how many producers and songwriters collaborate across countries. It's the backbone of what we're building at 2BOOM: jam, mix, share.
Tips for a great online jam
- Agree on tempo and key before you start. Use a shared click or drum loop.
- Keep it simple at first. Grooves and repeated progressions are easier than tricky arrangements.
- Have one person lead. Someone counts in, calls changes and ends songs.
- Record everything. The best ideas often happen by accident.
- Turn off video if latency is an issue. Audio matters more.
- Use wired everything. Ethernet, wired headphones, wired instruments.
- Check levels. Nobody should be drowning everyone else out.
How to find musicians to jam with
- Local music schools, open mics and jam nights
- Online communities for your genre or instrument
- Friends of friends (ask around, many people play)
- 2BOOM, the music community we're building for exactly this: finding people to jam, collaborate and share music with
Frequently asked questions
Can you really jam with musicians online in real time?
Yes, with a wired connection, wired headphones, an audio interface and a low-latency jam app, especially when players are relatively close geographically.
Why can't I jam over Zoom or FaceTime?
Video-call apps are built for speech. They add delay and process audio in ways that cut out music, so playing in time is very hard.
What is a good latency for online jamming?
Under roughly 30 milliseconds total feels close to playing in the same room. Above about 50 milliseconds, staying in time gets difficult.
What is 2BOOM?
2BOOM is an online music community at 2boom.com for making music together: jam sessions with musicians anywhere, collaborating on and remixing tracks, and sharing your music.