Ever wanted to jam with your friends on the internet?  Wouldn't that be a blast?  Jack into your computer and play along with your friends on west coast?

Other software has attempted this feat... some through a monthly fee.  None have really pulled it off properly.  But, a new open source (i.e. FREE) program called NINJAM promises to change all that.  It might wind up being the best new tool in your studio.  But, you better have some big, fat bandwidth to use it to it's full potential.

NINJAM Client - Mac Version

NINJAM lets you connect to a server with up to 8 people and jam together.  It is audio only, with MIDI support coming soon... and latency is certainly an issue.

NINJAM claims to fix that problem by INCREASING the latency!  It uses a system of intervals, so when you play through and interval, it syncs up with the previous interval on everybody else's machine.  I know it sounds weird, but it mi micks real-time by delaying everybody and syncing it up later.

I haven't tried this out myself... but, I'm going to check it out this weekend and come back with some more info.

The system requirements are kind of steep.  2 GHZ Pentium 4 and one helluva broadband connection if you want to set up a server for more than 2 people.  There are free servers available at the NINJAM website, but don't count on getting connected to them whenever you please... there is also a registration requirement and a 60 minute-per-day time limit per account.

I really hope this software gets the recognition it deserves... and improves upon what it has started.  It was written by the same cat who brought us WinAMP... so, you know you're dealing with quality.

Click here to download the latest version of NINJAM... Windows and MAC clients available.