6 TOOLS AND SOFTWARE TO AID COLLABORATION
While working remotely can’t replace the feeling of getting together in a room with another artist or producer, we’re fortunate that there are a plethora of online tools to help aid in collaboration from afar, especially in the post-pandemic world that we all live in. Here are a handful of tools that can make working with other artists easier, even if you happen to live across the world from each other
1 AUDIOMOVERS
Audiomovers launched in 2017 as a way to stream high quality audio from a studio to any other location in the world. The company, which is backed by the famed Abbey Road Studios, picked up traction when the pandemic hit and now has more users than ever. The software works with a bespoke plugin called ListenTo, and sends 32-bit audio to stream directly from your DAW to up to 150 devices.
2 NINJAM
The idea of collaborating with someone remotely and hearing their contribution in real time without noticeable latency seems impossible, and given the physics of information transfer, it is. However, the concept behind open-sourced software tool Ninjam solves this problem with a unique idea, notably by making the amount of latency longer. Ninjam records and synchronises audio from several sources and plays back each audio source with a latency amount of two measures. In this way, you know exactly how far behind you are, timing-wise, from your collaborators. It was famously used by Amsterdambased Speedy J for a host of collaborative jams during the pandemic, the results of which came out on a compilation entitled the Stay Home Soundsystem. Videos from these sessions can also be seen on the STOOR Youtube page, the studio where Speedy J operates.
3 SOUNDBETTER
Soundbetter is a way to find mixing, mastering and recording engineers (as well as singers and instrumentalists) to work with, all remotely. The company, which was bought by Spotify a few years ago but has since become independent again, prides itself on the quality of its members, as there’s a vetting process prior to approval.
4 SPLICE
Splice started all the way back in 2013 and has grown exponentially in the decade that’s passed since. Offering a cloud-based approach to samples, it offers users the ability to subscribe to their site and not need to store massive sample libraries on hard drives in their studio. Working from a cloud-based sample pool means collaborators can all pull the same samples into their DAWs and work on ideas simultaneously without the need for tedious file transfers.
5 DROPBOX
Speaking of file transfers, they are inevitably a necessary evil when working remotely, and one of the best services for such a thing is Dropbox, the long-running cloud-based storage solution with several tiers of membership. One huge advantage of Dropbox is the ability to sync folders to several places at once, so if you’re collaborating with someone across the globe, any change they make to a shared folder will automatically be shown in your folder as well.
6 ABLETON LINK
Launched in 2016, Ableton’s Link feature allows users who are connected to the same WiFi network to automatically work to the same clock. Link works with Ableton sessions, iOS apps and a handful of other hardware as well and eliminates the need for connecting MIDI cables to get on the same clock. Incredibly handy for just getting down to the art of making music.