Groovy Gecko are now offering two exciting new tech innovations called GG Sync Up and GG Play Together – services that allow musicians and entertainers to perform together remotely, in real time.
GG Sync Up is a high-end, high quality audio and video solution that would suit professional musicians, record labels and digital agencies. GG Play Together is the perfect solution for an affordable lower audio quality broadcast while still allowing bands to play together in real time from different locations. These solutions both aim to overcome the variable latency that has traditionally prevented musicians from rehearsing and gigging together.
gg sync up.
This is a fully managed service; Bespoke software and service for professional musicians, including:
- Real-time processing and production to the GG Hub, crucially controlling the variable latency per individual connection anywhere in the world, avoiding audio delays.
- High quality visuals controlled remotely via high-end laptops and 4k webcams.
- A main stage / single stream with Video Gallery View, Picture in Picture and other interactive features.
- Supply of compatible audio interfaces for all musician equipment or integration with the musician’s own instruments and microphones.
- Streamed live to the outlet of choice, such as Facebook, YouTube, the musician’s website or music community-centric platforms such as TheFloor.com.
gg play together.
This service utilises optimised hosted versions of various readily available software for rehearsals and non-professional concerts. This is to enable musicians to capture the ‘serious fun’ or gigging together. The service includes:
- Hosting rehearsal room software on a low-latency connection in the cloud.
- Enabling musicians to download and integrate software into their existing audio interfaces.
- Moderating sessions, moving talent between the ‘green room’, ‘rehearsal room’ and the ‘main stage’, for example.
- Eliminating sync issues between audio and video for the stream.
- Streamed live to the outlet of choice, such as Facebook, YouTube, the musician’s website or music community-centric platforms such as TheFloor.com.
Craig Moehl, Founder and Managing Director at Groovy Gecko said of the developments: “I have had a lifelong passion for music and pursued that throughout my life including a career at MTV before founding Groovy Gecko 20 years ago. Whilst checking on a friend’s wellbeing during lockdown, they revealed that they were unable to rehearse and gig with their friends and it was having a detrimental effort on the many peoples’ mental health. Playing together not only builds relationships and bonds though a common love for live music, but also fosters a community of support and encouragement during this joyless pandemic. The solutions available were either hardware specific, free but useless, or proprietary, complicated, and expensive but ultimately, they just didn’t provide the consistent low latency experience needed for musicians to play together, even over short geographic distances. Groovy Gecko LABS, our RnD team, therefore enhanced components of our existing technology stack to devise two music-specific services; one for musicians having fun and another (high-end) solution for the industry, professional musicians, and digital agencies clients to utilise. Staff at Groovy Gecko who are also musicians were instrumental in contributing to and testing the services.”
He continues, “The joy expressed by those grateful to be able to play together in lockdown has been very gratifying. In addition, musicians have been afforded the opportunity to play with a calibre of musicians they would never usually have been exposed to. During this lockdown process, musicians have suffered financially. In the process of bringing GG Play Together to market, I also wanted to find a way for musicians to a) establish a community for both their creative abilities and for support during Covid-19 and b) be rewarded financially for their efforts. I am therefore very pleased to pioneer the integration of GG Play Together with TheFloor.com for a series of 4 events called The Groovy Gecko Sessions.”
Groovy Gecko are sponsoring a series of six live fortnightly events called The Groovy Gecko Sessions, which use the same technology as GG Play Together. The sessions will be produced by WorldJam, a community of talented musicians, artists and technologists, as well as a venue for a weekly showcase of talent from across the world.
The Groovy Gecko Sessions will be free to enjoy and streamed live exclusively on TheFloor.com, a new online platform for creators and communities. Over 100 artists from WorldJam and The Floor are expected to participate, performing live remotely from Saturday 15th August 2020.
Groovy Gecko’s Business Development Director Jake Ward comments, “These tools enable us to eliminate the need for artists to be in the same room to play together live. By enabling a band to play together no matter where they are using simply their own internet connection means we can deliver more engaging live streams for online audiences while offering unique interactive collaborations between new and established artists.”
