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Software Manual

Jonathan edited this page May 2, 2020 · 79 revisions

Home > Using Jamulus

You will need

  1. A PC (either Windows 10, MacBook/iMac or Linux)

  2. Headphones to prevent echo or feedback (particularly if singing or playing acoustic instruments)

  3. An Internet connection speed of at least 200Kbps (0.2Mbps) up and down, with 800Kbps recommended (more details here). If you have a broadband connection of 10Mbits down and 1Mbps up, you're unlikely to run into any bandwidth-related issues using Jamulus.

  4. Optional: If you want talk to or sing with other musicians, either a microphone in the PC, or a socket on the side/back to plug a microphone in. But you can communicate over the text chat window if you don't have a mic.

Les francophones peuvent consulter une petite doc en français ici.

How Jamulus works (in general)

Here's how millions of people are using Jamulus to play, sing and teach music with other people in real time, all over he world:

Overview

Rule Number One!

DO. NOT. LISTEN. TO. YOUR. DIRECT. SIGNAL!

This is obviously hard for singers and some acoustic musicians, but even if your connection is good, if players aren't listening to their own signal coming back from the server, your synchronisation will suffer.

Highly recommended: an audio interface!

To avoid "latency" (delay between you playing your instrument and you hearing it) you are strongly advised to use an audio interface: a box that you can plug your instrument(s) into rather than using your computer's built-in sound card. The interface will connect to your PC usually via USB. See Hardware Setup.

Minimise interruptions!

While using Jamulus, try to make sure that nothing else on your machine or your network is competing against it. Don't watch YouTube/Netflix, or have anything else running on the machine that you are using Jamulus on.

Installing Jamulus

For Windows users: It is recommended to use a sound card with a native ASIO driver, or install this free ASIO driver before installing Jamulus. Then simply download and run the installer (or compile Jamulus yourself if you feel inclined).

All installed?

Have a look Hardware Setup

For detailed information on using Jamulus, please see the Help Manual.

Also this excellent guide by Simon Tomlinson (or directly on Facebook).

Having trouble?

Please see the Troubleshooting FAQ section (currently under construction)