Meeting Online The Covid-19 pandemic has meant that most creative groups have had to press pause on meeting up in person. Until the time comes when community centres, theatre venues and church halls are once again ringing with the sound of people, here are some of the ways you can keep meeting up and being creative online. Zoom What is it? An online meeting service that has become very popular during lockdown. What does it do? Zoom allows people to set up meetings and invite people in. Here they can talk over video as well as share screens, form breakout rooms and type into a chat-window. How could I use it? In the current climate where meeting up in person is difficult or even forbidden, many groups are making use of online meeting spaces. Services like Zoom allow people to discuss things in real time or a teacher/group leader to broadcast a lesson/session. One person should act as the host - they need to register with Zoom and set up a meeting. When doing this, they'll be able to create some meeting settings, such as whether it's recorded, whether people need a password to enter etc. Once they have set up the meeting, they'll be provided with a unique link for that session which they can send to everyone who is attending. When people join a Zoom meeting for the first time, they'll be asked if they want to install Zoom onto their computer/laptop etc. You can join a meeting without doing that, but it only takes a few seconds to install and you'll have a better connection and access to more functions. If the host has set up the meeting to send people joining to a waiting room, you will be taken there to wait until the host is ready to let you into the meeting. During the meeting, there are a few key things to note: Appearance - The default is the 'grid view' which means as many video feeds as will fit are shown on the screen. Each person will see this grid in a different order, so don’t assume you'll all seeing the same thing (i.e. the person in your 'top left' might be 'bottom right' for somebody else!). An icon in the top right of the screen allows you to change to 'speaker view' - which means the face of whoever is speaking will take up the full screen. This is the best view if you're recording the session. You can also use the 'spotlight' facility, where you can lock the screen to a certain individual who will fill the screen regardless of who is speaking (a good idea for times when you want to focus on one person, but somebody else might accidentally interrupt!). Audio - It's usually a good idea to 'mute' everyone who isn't speaking, and they can then 'unmute' themselves when it's their turn to speak. This is particularly important when you're recording a session, as you don't want people speaking over each other. Screen sharing - This allows everyone in the Zoom room to see what's on somebody's computer, which is great if you all want to look at the same thing at the same time (such as a video). Zoom is set up so that only the meeting host can share a screen, unless you change this. When sharing your screen, remember to 'share audio' as well (if you want everyone to hear what's being shown) and you can also 'optimise' the screen sharing for best results. Breakout Rooms - These are great for smaller, more intimate breakout sessions. The host has access to this feature and can choose how many people go into each room and for how long. Any examples of groups/artists using it? Many, many groups have been meeting up over Zoom during 2020 - Love Music Community Choir (the UK's largest community choir with over 300 members) has been meeting each Monday evening on Zoom (pictured). Unfortunately, due to time delays, musical and singing groups can't all play/sing together at the same time on Zoom. Instead, everyone does their own thing with their sound 'muted' - so you can see, but not hear, each other - just the person leading the session. If you want to build up a performance, you can either ask everyone to record their own parts separately and submit them to a central person to mix together - or use one of the packages below (Jamulus, Ninjam). How much does it cost? There's a free version of Zoom which is limited to 40 minute meetings. You can always restart the meetings if you get kicked out, or there are annual plans to allow you to have longer sessions. Where can I find it? Download it from https://zoom.us Jamulus What is it? An online service that allows a group of musicians to create a piece of music together over the internet. What does it do? Whether you're composing sounds on your computer or playing a real instrument, as long as your computer can hear it, you can add it to the mix. All participants can hear each other as they jam along. How could I use it? Unlike Ninjam, Jamulus has made some servers available to the public that they can use instead of hosting their own. Be sure to choose a server with a low ‘ping’ time (this is the amount of time it takes for messages to go to and from each server). You're looking for a ping time of below 15 milliseconds - any longer than that and you'll start to notice the delay and it will be harder to play in time with each other. Everyone will need to install the Jamulus software on their computers, choosing the version appropriate to their operating system. Once everyone has done that, you can all join a session and configure your profiles. More information on this can be found in their software manual - but think of it like an audio mixing desk, where you can adjust levels as well as check people’s audio delay and connection speeds. It may take some experimenting to get your settings right. If the available servers on Jamulus are too slow, you might want to host your own (although this does take a bit of technical knowledge to set up). One person will then need to run the ‘server’ on their computer, and everyone else's computer will communicate with it, so it's important that whoever is running the server has a good internet connection. After the session has finished, the audio files will be made available to all participants. Any examples of groups/artists using it? Voluntary Arts' CEO, Robin Simpson is a keen amateur French Horn player and has been using Jamulus very successfully with Northampton Symphony Orchestra (pictured). You can read all about his experience here How much does it cost? Jamulus is free, open-source software and you can also use its servers for free. Where can I find it? https://jamulus.io Ninjam What is it? A piece of software that allows a group of musicians to create music together over the internet. What does it do? Whether you're composing sounds on your computer or playing a real instrument, as long as your computer can hear it, you can add it to the mix. All participants can hear each other as they jam along. How could I use it? If you're a musician and want to collaborate with other musicians remotely, this software allows that to happen - although it does take a bit of technical knowledge to set it up. One person needs to run the ‘server’ on their computer, which everyone else’s computer communicates with. So it's important that whoever is running the server has a good internet connection. Everyone else will run a ‘client’ version of the software, which allows people to hear everyone else's music to jam along to. After the jam has finished, the person running the server will have a copy of everyone’s individual contributions that they can then edit together into a finished piece. How much does it cost? Nothing. Ninjam is free, open-source software. Where can I find it? Download it from https://cockos.com/ninjam/ Twitch What is it? A streaming service where anyone can essentially have their own TV show. What does it do? Twitch is primarily used by gamers who attract audiences of thousands to watch them play a variety of games. Anything you can do on your computer or in front of your webcam can be streamed though, so there are many people who share their creative activities with the world. How could I use it? Twitch is a great way for people to deliver classes to a remote audience, who can watch you and ask questions in the chat box. You could also get creative by having multiple cameras showing your work from different angles as you demonstrate your skill. It’s also a great place for communities to meet. For instance, a group could meet at the same time each week to watch an expert guide them through their craft, while catching up in the chat window at the same time. Any examples of groups/artists using it? There are some good examples in the 'Craft' channel on Twitch, where you'll find people demonstrating felting, sewing, knitting and much more (and having a good chat at the same time). How much does it cost? Streaming on Twitch is free but it's not for the technology adverse. You need to set up your computer for streaming, using software such as Open Broadcaster Software (https://obsproject.com/). This is also free but can take a bit of getting used to. Where can I find it? Download it from http://www.twitch.tv YouTube Live What is it? A live-streaming service offered by the number one place for online videos. What does it do? YouTube Live allows your participants to follow along with you as you demonstrate something, and they can also ask you questions as you go. Anything you can do on your computer or in front of your webcam can be streamed. How could I use it? Before you can use YouTube live, you'll need a YouTube channel - this is easy to set up and costs you nothing. Once you have your channel, you'll need to tell everyone who wants to watch your stream when it will happen. A common thing to do is announce this well in advance on your social media accounts or do it at a regular time each week. Once you are ready to stream, you tell YouTube what you want to show and then hit the button. Your audience will be able to chat with you and each other in a live chat window. At the end of the livestream, you can download a recording of it - which you can then edit and upload onto your channel for people to watch later, if they couldn’t make the live broadcast. Your video can include the chat window, so people can see the discussions that went on at the time. As with other streaming services, you can get quite creative with the content you stream. Software such as Open Broadcaster Software (https://obsproject.com/) will allow you to combine different cameras and windows into one display which is then sent to your streaming service for your audience to watch. People get very creative with these displays, adding their own personal styles to make it stand out. How much does it cost? YouTube live is free to use. Where can I find it? http://youtube.com Facebook Live What does it do? Facebook has also joined the list of platforms offering online streaming. While it doesn't have the same video capabilities as YouTube, there are more people registered on Facebook so the audience is potentially larger. As with YouTube Live, on Facebook Live your community can follow along with you as you demonstrate something and ask you questions as you go. Anything you can do on your computer or in front of your webcam can be streamed. How could I use it? If you have a Facebook profile, you may already have seen the link to start a Facebook Live event. It’s right up there where you post your status. You can do the same thing from a page or group that you manage. Facebook will tell all your followers that you are live and your video may appear in their feed. Again, a common thing for people to do is announce the time well in advance on your social media accounts or do it at a regular time every week. As with other streaming services, you can get quite creative with the content you stream. Software such as Open Broadcaster Software (https://obsproject.com/) will allow you to combine different cameras and windows into one display which is then sent to your streaming service for your audience to watch. People get very creative with these displays, adding their own personal styles to make it stand out. Any examples of groups using Facebook Live? Facebook Live is very popular with groups and organisations running classes. For example, Scottish Ballet (pictured) uses Facebook Live to run its 'Dance For Parkinsons' classes each week (pictured). How much does it cost? Facebook live is free to use. Where can I find it? www.facebook.com Manage Cookie Preferences