Introducing Solocontutti , Online Jamming/Ensemble

By solocontutti, 28 July, 2021

Forum
macOS and Mac Apps

Solocontutti allows musicians to play together across the internet with minimal latency - low enough to play together in real time without delay. The app has been around for a while and has several thousand users. Recently it has been updated to allow it to be used with screen readers and has been thoroughly tested with Voiceover on Mac and Narrator on Windows. The current beta version with screen reader support is available on the site https://www.solocontutti.com/download_page.php (scroll down to accessible public beta) or direct download from https://www.solocontutti.com/download_page.php?file=1070 . The site contains detailed help and setup information. You can also contact us at support@solocontutti.com. A version supporting accessibility on iOS is expected after the summer.

There's also a Facebook community group starting up at https://www.facebook.com/groups/896843184243917

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Comments

By Mlth on Tuesday, July 27, 2021 - 22:28

Very cool! I can't wait to give this a spin. Thanks for making this app accessible!

Best
Malthe

By Matthew Whitaker on Tuesday, July 27, 2021 - 22:28

Hi. It was an honor helping out wit accessibility on the Mac OS platform. :-)

By JC on Tuesday, July 27, 2021 - 22:28

Hi,

I just tried the app, and it's amazing!! question: when the user on the other end enters the code, will they be connected through their browser? and will the app be available on the App Store once beta test has concluded?

By Mara on Tuesday, July 27, 2021 - 22:28

hello! I can't wait to try this out!
What's the difference between the direct download link and the other link provided? just curious..

By solocontutti on Tuesday, July 27, 2021 - 22:28

In reply to by JC

All players in a session need to have the solocontutti app installed and all connections go through the app. The beta version is compatible with the current (non accessible) release in the appstore, so you can mix and match without a problem. The beta version will go to the App Store as the latest release, but it depends a bit on when the provider of one of my libraries, which I need for the app, takes the accessibility version out of beta and makes it the latest release. Currently I expect end August/begin september

By JC on Tuesday, July 27, 2021 - 22:28

In reply to by solocontutti

ah. thanks for that. Their's also an iOS app, but haven't tested it's accessibility with VOiceOver yet. also, can this be used for podcast recording as well, for example, recording a singer/musician?

By techluver on Tuesday, July 27, 2021 - 22:28

Just a uestion: is this M1 ready? I'd love to try this with a friend. We've been wanting to try making some music for a while.

By solocontutti on Tuesday, July 27, 2021 - 22:28

Solocontutti will run natively on M1, both the app on the appstore and the accessibility beta on the site.

By solocontutti on Tuesday, July 27, 2021 - 22:28

In reply to by JC

The iOS version isn't accessible yet. The accessible version is going to be available in a few weeks and I'm looking for beta testers, so if anyone is interested let me know. The app can be used as a simple recorder - just hit the record button and off you go. The record function has two options - record the whole session in compressed quality, or record the local input(s) in high quality

By techluver on Tuesday, July 27, 2021 - 22:28

Hey there,
I'm trying to figure out how to use this. It says "copy this code"... but I can't figure out where the code is. Is there a button that can copy it to the clipboard, or am I missing something? thanks!

By Victor Tsaran on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

In reply to by techluver

It looks like the code will be available once you hit the "start" button. You will then be able to copy it to the clipboard and send to others that you want to jam with.

I noticed that the direct "download" link takes you to the more accessible version of the software. If you choose to download from the Mac store, you will find that the wizard is not accessible with VoiceOver.
I assume this is temporary though.

By solocontutti on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

In reply to by techluver

The code appears when you hit the start button to start a session. The server then gives you a unique session code which you can pass on. The code is automatically copied to the clipboard , so you can just paste it sonewehere. It is also displayed at the top of the solocontutti window where it can be copied with ctr-c or cmd-c

By SmoothJazzyTrumpet on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

Can you elaborate on the accessibility with regards to Windows pc platform and what screenreaders it supports? I primarily utilize JAWS, and I have NVDA and of course Narrator, and I'm espessially looking forward to the IOS version as well.

By solocontutti on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

Hi,

Solocontutti uses the Windows accessibility framework and as such should work with any screen reader on Windows. Having said that, it's only been tested using narrator and it is not yet clear how effective it would be with other screen readers. The solocontutti interface has lots of buttons and sliders and very little text, so a screen reader needs to be able to handle these well. The iOS beta should be available early september.

By solocontutti on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

In reply to by Matthew Whitaker

... and many thanks for your help.

Quick update - don't use the link provided if you go direct to the website - this leads to the Appstore version which is not yet responsive. You should go to "other versions" and scroll down to the accessible beta version

Hi JC,

that's great. I did receive your email and in general anyone wanting to beta test the iOS version should send a personal message (as you have) or a mail to support@solocontutti.com so that I have your email address to add to the list of testers. The iOS app can be used for recording a session. There are two recording modes: Record all where the whole session is recorded live, including any network glitches, and record local. Quoting the manual: "This tells Solocontutti app to record only your local channel(s) in the highest possible quality when recording. This allows you to record a session online and then share and mix the high quality recordings at a later stage. "

By solocontutti on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

Solocontutti has an associated plugin for DAWs or any other plugin host, that allows you to direct the output of a DAW or virtual instrument to the Solocontutti app as an extra channel. Does anybody need this? If so I can prioritise accessibility on the plugin as well.

By JC on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

In reply to by solocontutti

Hi,

that's great that the app could be used for recording in both situations. As a music freak, I'm absolutely looking forward into testing the accessible version when it goes live on test flight. question: when the both are connected, are you able to hear the audio in real time as it goes to the other persons end? And can this be used to record a duet? I love to sing.

By Mara on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

I would like to be able to connect Logic Pro to the app.
Thanks for mentioning the plugin. am I right in assuming it is not accessible right now?

By solocontutti on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

In reply to by JC

You can monitor your audio output in real time by clicking the "Monitor" button. Note that what you hear will be delayed by the input and output latency of the sound device that you are using. This is not a problem if you are using a low latency device, but some apple devices may I have a high latency. Try it and see if it works on your setup. You can use the record function to record up to 6 players simultaneously. There are two recording modes: record all, which will record everything that you hear. This has the disadvantage that if you have network glitches then you will often here those in the recording, and it will record the compressed sound. But for just keeping a record of a session that's not a problem. There is also a Record Solo mode, which each user can record locally. The idea is that you play together online in realtime, but the recording is made locally with high quality and without glitches. This allows you to remix a live recording at a higher quality.

oh awesome!! I cannot wait to test it out. so basically you could record in either duet or solo modes, which ever comes first. I cannot wait to test it whenever it's made available.

By tyler chambliss on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

We need public jam rooms so you can just join and play with random people.

By solocontutti on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

This is actually something that is on the "to do" list, expected in one of the upcoming releases.

By solocontutti on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

The accessible version of Solocontutti for Mac and Windows is now the official release version (1.5.1). You can get it on the app store or via the site www.solocontutti.com

By JC on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

Hi,

I just downloaded the accessible version from the Mac appstore, and it's awesome!! I absolutely love it!! Will iOS be next?

By solocontutti on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

Hi,
glad you like it. A beta test version for iOS should be out in a couple of weeks

By JC on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

Hi,

I forgot to mention, in other apps such as GarageBand, there's some basic keyboard commands. for example, R starts/stops recording, and I enables/disables input monitoring. so, for the next update of Solocontutti, could you add-in keyboard commands? for example, R starts/stops recording, M enables/disables monitoring, and finally, B enables/disables boost. very simple, rather than moving to the record, monitor, or boost buttons.

By solocontutti on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

There are keyboard shortcuts for most of those functions. They are listed in the help menu, they are
option s start/stop session
option j join session
option m mute or unmute
option r start or stop recording
option v start stop video

I can add monitor and boost to the next release

By JC on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

In reply to by solocontutti

yes!! that would be great. option B enables/disables boost, and option I enables/disables input monitoring.

By solocontutti on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

OK I'll do that. One question - there are actually separate monitor and boost on primary and secondary input controllers, what would be the best way to distinguish them?

By JC on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

In reply to by solocontutti

Hi,

problem. the keyboard shortcuts will conflict with the VoiceOver keyboard commanders. keyboard commanders are hotkeys to launch apps, or performing various actions. for example, pressing Option M conflicts with your shortcut of mute/unmute. could you possibly change them to possibly control instead to avoid confusion?

By solocontutti on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

I'll change them to single keys, similar to the way other apps do it.

By JC on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

In reply to by solocontutti

OK. much simpler and less conflicting. could you tell me what will the single keys be?

By solocontutti on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

... probably the same but without the "option". Still need two work out something for the two mon and boost button

By JC on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

Hi,

I was trying to choose a different folder to save soloacontutti recordings, but the button is broken. pressing the button does nothing. it's supposed to pop up a dialog to choose a folder.

By solocontutti on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

Thanks for reporting this. It seems to have been broken in the last release - I'll fix it in the next update. In the meantime, you can always enter a full pathname in the field left of the button. It follows normal Mac convention, so you can us "~" for the home directory

By JC on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

In reply to by solocontutti

OK, thanks for informing me on this.
I already entered the folder name for now until the update has resolved the bug.

By solocontutti on Friday, August 27, 2021 - 22:28

Just a quick update - the iOS version is in the works but is proving to be a little more challenging than expected. But we will get there.

There's a couple of high priority problems that need fixing first, then we'll be releasing the new MacOS and Windows version. Expect about the end of this week

By solocontutti on Monday, September 27, 2021 - 22:28

Version 1.5.2 is now available on the Appstore. Mainly bug fixes, but the shortcut keys have been updated. There are now:

s - Start/Stop Session
j - Join Session
m - Mute/Unmute
space - Start/Stop recording
v - Video on/off
1 - monitor main input on/off
2 - monitor secondary input on/off
3 - boost main input on/off
4 - boost secondary input on/off

By JC on Monday, September 27, 2021 - 22:28

Hi,

I just got the update! but however, the preference is still confusion, as option P could conflict with VoiceOver commanders, so could you please change it to command Comma instead?

By solocontutti on Monday, September 27, 2021 - 22:28

Slightly disappointing news for those of you who wanted to beta test the iOS version - there are some serious problems getting it working and it's not certain when a beta will be available. Current best guess is somewhere in October. Will keep you posted on this