The World Is Your Workstation

Oct 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Marty Cutler

Online collaboration services let you work with anyone, anywhere.

The eSession Song Page (see Fig. 2) offers collaborators facilities to upload and download audio files, listen to MP3 files, and discuss aspects of the project through both blog and chat facilities. At the time of this writing, there is no real-time oversight of the recording process, but the company plans to soon release its Virtual Glass plug-in, which will support AU, RTAS, and VST streaming of audio and MIDI Time Code. (At press time it was in the alpha stage of development.) Virtual Glass will allow you to synchronize digital audio sequencers and MTC-driven devices but not transmit MIDI data.

At Indaba Music, members initiate sessions and post audio files (WAV, AIFF, or MP3) to the browser-based Indaba Session Console (see Fig. 3), which allows mixing and editing but not recording. Collaborators download the tracks to their DAW software, record their parts, and then upload the new tracks to the Session Console, where the session initiator can access them. Indaba Music's founders opted for this offline approach rather than implementing real-time streaming and recording over the Web, a process they feel is currently too problematic.

Although eJamming leans more toward jam sessions and social networking than recording, it does let collaborators exchange MIDI and 16-bit, 48 kHz audio files (see Web Clip 1). The service offers eJamming AUDiiO, a standalone audio-and-MIDI recorder that can synchronize with other musicians. You can join in on or offer sessions by invitation, which can be in the form of an audition to see if you are up to the task. Up to four players can be in on a session, and each can record a single audio track at a time, or a multichannel MIDI stack. The work flow is not very different from digitalmusician.net's software: although you receive audio from other musicians, the MIDI and uncompressed audio data from each participant is stored on their local drive and is not shared in real time.

Personally, I much prefer non-real-time, offline exchange and compilation of files. Intermediary recording software connecting collaborators over the Internet can add multiple layers of unnecessary complexity to an already complex recording process. There is an inherent amount of latency in streaming audio — compressed or otherwise — which is an issue when playing or recording using streaming online software such as DML or Source-Connect. As a consequence, you must wear headphones, ignore the acoustic sound of your instrument, and compensate by adjusting your playing to try to stay in the pocket. Not an easy way to groove.

What's more, if you don't want to use compressed, low-bandwidth audio in your final mix, you ultimately must resort to file sharing the high-bandwidth audio recorded locally on your hard drive (from your DAW), anyway. Considering all that, I found streaming online recording to be too troublesome to pursue. However, you may feel otherwise. Either way, you still have the option of offline file sharing if streaming proves too difficult.

What's in Store

Another advantage of using an online collaboration service is that any session data you record or transfer through its servers will be backed up, at least for the duration of your project. You can assume that the service takes care of and guards its storage better and more often than you do. Gina Fant-Saez of eSession says, “We operate and maintain our own servers and have 128-bit SSL encryption for file transfers. We've implemented a comprehensive, layered security infrastructure that utilizes industry-standard security authentication and authorization. Data is protected at multiple layers — from the server infrastructure all the way up through the application layer.”

SessionPlayers encrypts your session files before transmitting them, and backs them up to disk. At i-Studio.net, your session data is stored online and backed up to DVD. Some of these services will erase your files from their servers after the project is completed. At eSession, you also have the option to pay for long-term file storage.

What's My Line

If you have ever dreamed of recording with top-tier session players, you can do it through online collaboration. Besides the cachet of working with high-profile, experienced studio pros, you can count on these players to be adept at delivering excellent tracks quickly and professionally.

SessionPlayers and eSession host a dazzling roster of top-shelf musicians, but each takes a different approach to the process. SessionPlayers hews more closely to the model of a production service than a two-way musicians' network: you pay a membership fee, hire your choice of musicians from an array of first-call players (see Fig. 4), fill out a form listing contact information and session details, and upload MP3 reference tracks and charts. SessionPlayers will then contact you and discuss your recording options and offer production suggestions. If your needs (or your finances) are more modest, it can arrange demo sessions from a cadre of musician-programmers who will develop your arrangement with a sequencer using synthesizers and samplers. As with any of these services, musicians may choose to decline your project; Robben Ford, Leland Sklar, and Peter Erskine may think twice before playing on your hip-hop version of “Beer Barrel Polka.” Then again, anything is possible.

A laissez-faire approach guides the work flow at eSession. You become a member (at present, membership is free for a basic account with 250 MB of data-storage space), locate your talent, and submit a work request, an MP3 demo of your song, and a flat $25 fee, and the offer goes to the talent. If they choose to play, the talent can set the rates on a project-by-project basis, and you are free to negotiate until you can come to an accord (or not). Negotiations have their own page with a record of the transactions — a great idea should any disputes occur later. If the talent can't accommodate your project, your $25 fee is refunded; if they agree to play, you must arrange a 50 percent payment before the recording can begin.

I particularly appreciated eSession's elegant, clean organization of the entire online collaboration process. From account information to the Stem Banks to plentiful video tutorials to drag-and-drop capabilities for uploading and downloading of tracks, eSession's browser-based application really becomes part of your workstation. Other than the company touting its features on its home page, there are no flashing, animated banners or ads to distract (which you find with some of the others). The company offers a WebEx-based orientation that explains how its service works. You can sign up for this scheduled live tutorial — where you're free to ask questions whenever you want — as many times as you like.

Continue reading about Electronic Musician's evaluation of online collaboration services for musicians.