Grammy-Winning Composer Eric Whitacre Performs Live With Hybrid Choir In JackTrip Labs Virtual Studio At NAMM

Among the tech luminaries putting their musical innovations on full display at the 2022 NAMM Show this June are the minds behind JackTrip Labs, whose Virtual Studio lets musicians collaborate in real time from miles apart. At NAMM's Grand Rally for Music Education, the Virtual Studio takes center stage-literally-in a performance under the direction of the father of the virtual choir himself, Grammy winner and choral legend Eric Whitacre. The performance will take place at 10am PDT on June 4, 2022 (Ballroom C). JackTrip Labs will also be exhibiting at Hall A, Booth 8707.

Through the cutting edge technology of the Virtual Studio, Eric connects members of Breathe Bravely, an organization that links individuals with cystic fibrosis to professional voice training, and singers from CSU Long Beach in a rendition of "Sing Gently," a piece Eric originally debuted in 2020 by stitching together pre-recorded videos. Now, thanks to JackTrip, virtually present singers and physically present accompanists on piano and string quartet will perform in true synchrony, creating an unprecedented hybrid experience for the live NAMM audience and for those listening virtually via JackTrip Radio.

"The implications and applications of the technology were apparent to me immediately," says Eric, who started working with JackTrip in its early days. "The Virtual Studio is incredible in terms of how it can bring people together in the digital space and beyond. I'm thrilled to share that at NAMM."

Breathe Bravely founder Ashley Ballou-Bonnema, whom Eric will interview at the NAMM performance, agrees. "So many people take for granted being able to leave their homes and come together in person to do things like making music, but many more are excluded," she notes. "Everyone deserves opportunities to sing, and JackTrip makes that happen."

The key to JackTrip's Virtual Studio is its use of cloud computing instead of peer-to-peer connections, drastically reducing the latency that is inescapable for most virtual platforms. This is scalable technology that lets up to 480 musicians and collaborators perform together from separate physical spaces while sounding like they're in the same room. With a straightforward interface and a free app that lets even more people sing and play together, the Virtual Studio lowers the barriers of collaboration and changes people's lives in the process, no matter what their situation.

"One of the beautiful things about the Virtual Studio is that it reduces barriers to participation," explains JackTrip co-founder and Stanford University Director of Bands Russ Gavin. "For the Breathe Bravely singers, it's been a way to move from can't to can. For others, it might be a way to move from doing something with some difficulty to doing it with ease."

"You're part of a community if you've participated in Virtual Choir," continues Eric. "JackTrip takes that to a totally different level. People get to truly react. It's a more human thing."

Many of the performers joining Eric Whitacre at NAMM have performed in his works for hybrid in-person/virtual ensembles before, including at his 2013 TED Talk in which singers performed via Skype. Now, almost a decade later, their reunion marks a revolutionary new chapter in virtual musical collaboration. Through the JackTrip Virtual Studio, the real time virtual collaboration that once seemed impossible is now not only possible, but accessible for everyone.

This performance is made possible by the NAMM Foundation and the sponsors Yamaha, Conn-Selmer, and Hal Leonard.

JackTrip Labs, a Silicon Valley based company, began as a collaboration between Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) and Silicon Valley software entrepreneurs. Jack Trip Virtual Studio is a cloud-based platform that enables individuals and groups to gather virtually to rehearse and perform music together in real time over the Internet. JackTrip delivers high fidelity lossless audio with minimal delay, so that musicians can rehearse and play music together online and make it sound like you are playing music in the same room as each even though you may be miles apart. JackTrip Labs won "Best in Show" at 2021 NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) and has collaborated with music industry giants including Grammy-winning composer Eric Whitacre and Hal Leonard, the world's largest print music publisher and leader in digital music technology. For more information about JackTrip Labs the public may visit JackTrip.com.

To post a comment, you must register and login.