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Old 05-05-2007, 11:00 PM   #1
Thrak
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Default Session mode?

Just noticed this on the jam farm page, anybody know what session mode is?


test.ninjam.com:2600
Empty server
BPM: 120, BPI: 16
Topic: 'Experiment with Session Mode here'

test.ninjam.com:2601
Empty server
BPM: 120, BPI: 16
Topic: 'Experiment with Session Mode here'
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Old 05-06-2007, 04:26 PM   #2
synthany
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Default copied from Jed in the Reaper Forum

copied from Jed in the Reaper Forum:

Hi all,

Recently I have been using the new reaNINJAM plugin in Session mode from within Reaper with a few other Reaper-ites. It's fantastic what Justin is doing with this, so I though I'd share.

- Whats it for?

Imagine a facility made of virtual studios where artists could meet online and collaborate on their Reaper projects, without technology getting in the way.

So two words - online collaboration.

The concept behind it is that a group of Reaper users can congregate in a virtual room (within a NINJAM host server), and record tracks together using Reaper, ultimately building up a complete song. Or you could just have a wild jam where everybody can hear each others tracks in sync with their own project.

- Sounds like regular NINJAM - whats the difference?

The best way to describe it is to detail a typical session between 2 people, 'A' and 'B'

'A' pops the included ReaNINJAM plugin into the master track within Reaper, opens it, and connects to say the 'test.ninjam.com:2600' server. When connected he then sets his local channel to 'Session' mode, as opposed to 'Normal NINJAM' mode.

'B' does the same. Now they are both in the virtual room and can chat to each other via text or voice right inside the plugin.

Next they both set their projects to the same value (say 100bpm)

Now 'A' sets up a track of drum loops of say 3 minutes. He arranges this on a track inside his current Reaper project.

When complete he hits play for the duration of the project length. (This records the track into the Ninjam server software so that others can hear it)

Now when 'B' hits play he can hear the drum track that 'A' put down! (via the reaNINJAM plugin). He can adjust the balance to taste in the reaNINJAM plug too.

Next 'B' records a bassline into his project (with the Reaper Track record monitoring on) when he is ready

Now 'A' can hear the bassline alongside his drum track when he plays back the project.

And so on....get the idea?....We have had a few trial sessions of doing this and the potential is huge.

If I had a song done that just needed say a keyboard part , I could meet a keyboard player in there, get him to play his part in, record it to disk and the job is done. Maybe make a few pointers along the way via text or voice.

Fantastic stuff

Feel free to add to this and when complete we'll pop it into the wiki

Cheers
Jed
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Old 05-06-2007, 07:35 PM   #3
Thrak
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Ahhh, I get it. Now that is very cool. I have dabbled around on sites like collaboration central where folks post their tracks, and this is kind of a merging of that and ninjam.

Thanks Synthany.
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Old 05-22-2007, 01:01 PM   #4
mvollrath
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Default Instructions

Had a quick session last night. Here's a step-by-step for using session mode. I assume you know a little about REAPER. If you have any questions, ask away.

1. Open REAPER and start a new project.

2. Insert a new track called "NINJAM" and add ReaNINJAM to the FX chain of this track. Arm this track for recording, set record monitoring to "ON", and set the recording mode to "Output (stereo, latency compensated)." Disarm the track.

3. Insert a new track for yourself. Call it whatever you want. In the I/O routing for this track, uncheck the "Master/Parent Send" box. Add a new Send from this track to the NINJAM track. Set up the FX chain and recording mode however you like; the output of this track will be sent to the server. You can set up multiple tracks too, as long as they all send to the NINJAM track exclusively.

4. Open the NINJAM console and join a server that supports session mode.

5. Agree on a project BPM, vote for it on the server, and set your REAPER BPM to the same value.

6. When you're ready to send audio to the server, select "Session Mode" on the appropriate NINJAM local channel. Make sure the XMIT box is checked.

7. Mute the NINJAM metronome and turn on the REAPER metronome.

8. Press record in REAPER and play some music. When you're finished, press stop.

9. The output of your channel was saved on the server and propagated to everyone else. Now when they press play, they will hear your track coming out of their NINJAM plugin. If they set up their tracks the same way you did, they can record it locally and save it.

10. Likewise, whenever you are in play or record mode in REAPER, you will hear tracks from everyone else. You can arm the NINJAM track for recording and record their tracks locally.

Notes:

- If you'd rather record something locally, edit it, and then send it to the server, just uncheck the XMIT box for your channel and record locally on your track. When you're ready, check the XMIT box and play back the recording. Make sure the audio you're playing is going through the ReaNINJAM plugin.

- There's no easy way to clear out your track on the server. It seems your options are to either XMIT silence for the length of your previously recorded material or leave the server and come back.

- If there are multiple people on the server, I assume you can record them locally one at a time by making multiple passes and soloing their channels, then moving the recorded audio to another track for playback. This would allow you to send track "stems." For example, when transmitting a drum track, you could have one channel for kick, one channel for snare, one channel for everything else. This makes it a little easier to mix. If you coordinate, you can send an unlimited number of tracks in the time it takes to record them all back to back.

- To use multiple channels in ReaNINJAM, you need to do some routing. Open the I/O Routing menu for the NINJAM track and set the number of track channels to 8. Now you can set each Received track to a different input(s) (where it says Audio 1/2 => 1/2, set the second one to 3/4, 5/6, etc.). Finally, in the NINJAM console, set each local channel to receive from the appropriate input (1/2, 3/4, 5/6, etc.).

Summary:

Anything going into a "Session Mode" channel in the ReaNINJAM plugin is recorded on the server while REAPER is playing. Anything recorded on the server by other clients comes out of the ReaNINJAM plugin while REAPER is playing. If you strum your guitar at 0:10, everyone else will hear it at 0:10.
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Old 05-22-2007, 08:06 PM   #5
Thrak
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Excellent, thanks Mvollrath. I was trying to get this working this weekend, but between not having willing participants on the server and not being able to figure it out, I never got too far.

Now I want to give this a try.
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Old 05-28-2007, 02:26 AM   #6
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Session mode is cool, heres it the final mix mvollrath and I recorded in session mode:

https://stash.reaper.fm/oldsb/21996/bassy.mp3

not the greatest stuff :P, but showing the session mode has potential for good recordings
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