Need Help in Designing Music Program for University

I’m a senior mechanical engineer at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. Currently, I am studying with a team to develop a new musical interface where people can collaborate together while simultaneously create music. The “company” I’m helping is for a graduate student, so this inquiry isn’t for advertising or spam, but simply for feedback.
The purpose of the product is to allow musicians in different geographical locations to design a musical piece together in real time. The stage that this project is at right now is still underdeveloped with a very basic alpha that is subject to change. Now, my group wants to conduct market research to the online community to find what types of attributes that they are looking for in a music creation device.
The product is a lot like IndabaMusic.com, except the pieces will be recorded as they are manipulated, instead of being pre-set. So, say if you have a guitar on your couch, and there is a bassist out there, you can come together and record in real-time to make anything from a jam session recording to a polished product. All of the tracks will be kept on a cloud storage system and use Macromedia Flash, so as long as a person has internet access, they will be able to use the site, regardless of operating system / browser. Also, the majority of the functions and effects of the application are going to be free, so the evolution of music is really the purpose of this project.
Now, I’m asking you guys to help me out with your opinion. If you so desire, you can fill out a Google survey I created describing the experiences you’ve had with music. What things are you looking for in the next level of music generation? If you feel even more compelled, you can post questions or advice (please no flaming) about the product.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dE9hX3ZCQ0JWaWNxTzdUMUpmb2dNWFE6MQ

Thank you,

Lehigh University's Social Music Project

Filled it out, I'd like to hear more about this.

I would love to know other peoples answers to this.

Wish you the best of luck.

Excellent idea, I think this has a lot of potential. I do have a couple of questions though:


1. Realistically how easy would it be to find someone of a certain level/on a similar wavelength to make a jam session practical?

2. Would there be any issues with virus', or what protection would the site offer?

3. What sort of issues would there be with copyright? For example you link up with a bassist over the pond who sorts you out with an excellent riff, you finish off the tune and sell it. The bassist is out of pocket and not credited. (Perhaps you could impliment a feedback system for users to rate one another?)

4. How would the majority of the service be kept free without cluttering it up with advertising?

5. What sort of limitations would there be on storage per user?

6. Would the work be backed up periodically/automatically in case a user lost internet connection? And also If they were to start a tune with one person how would they link back up again if the connection was lost?

7. How many users could you realistically have connected to each other at a single time, before it became unstable?

8. Would the site offer user specific information on the equipment that was being used to record to ensure that both user were happy with the quality of the audio being swapped, or is this strictly for jamming?

9. How would the users interact? Would it be a messenger type service, or would it involve webcams/mics etc... and if so how would these affect the stability of the audio streaming?


Sorry if that seems like a lot to answer, or if I've missed anything in your initial post. I think once refined this idea has the potential to be HUGE. You could even offer a dedicated section of users who could offer lessons online/realtime.

And when using different audiointerfaces?

CoinUp! wrote:And when using different audiointerfaces?

I covered that in question 8

I would like to see a "join band" "collaborate" function that would implement secure signup and identity verification for those two functions. Then all the sessions would be linked to the "band" "collaboration" project with proper credits and royalty rights. Of course that would mean a independent label would have to back up the data and handle the sales process. As well as any moneys earned and distributed. So that all projects and rights are managed by a label and preventing theft and ensuring credits as well as future reference advantages for people looking to intern or work professionaly. Good luck.