# FarPlay

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**FarPlay** is an ultra-low-latency, [networked music performance](/source/Networked_music_performance) solution that enables live rehearsing, jamming, performing, and teaching with musicians over the internet as though in the same room.[3][4][5] FarPlay is written by Anton Runov, [Dan Tepfer](/source/Dan_Tepfer), and contributors in C++, and uses the [UDP protocol](/source/User_Datagram_Protocol) to send uncompressed [PCM](/source/Pulse-code_modulation) audio and compressed video.

FarPlay is available free and with paid subscriptions.[6] Free mode can be used without even registering for an account. A subscription is required to create sessions of unlimited length without limits on the numbers of participants.[3]

## Latency

[Latency](/source/Latency_(engineering)) is the amount of time between the moment one musician makes a sound and the moment another hears it. It's [been established](/source/Precedence_effect) that musicians begin to notice latency when it exceeds 20 ms one-way, [equivalent to](/source/Speed_of_sound) playing about 20 ft (6 m) apart in a room. Latencies provided by popular [video conferencing software](/source/Videotelephony) such as [Zoom](/source/Zoom_(software)) or [Webex](/source/Cisco_Webex) can be much higher and unusable for networked music performance.[7][8]

### Sources of latency when using FarPlay

The latency achieved when using FarPlay is limited by the following factors, which apply to all real-time networked music performance solutions.

- networking conditions: [Wi-Fi](/source/Wi-Fi) adds variable latency that can be high,[9] so networked music performances typically require using [Ethernet](/source/Ethernet) instead. Fiber-optic internet service adds less [network delay](/source/Network_delay) than cable internet service.
- physical distance: information can't travel faster than the [speed of light](/source/Network_performance#Latency), so each 200 km of distance between two players adds about 1 ms of one-way latency between them (due to the refractive index of glass, light travels in fiber-optic cables at only 2/3 the speed it does in a vacuum).
- audio hardware and drivers: - sound cards add latency when [converting the analog](/source/Analog-to-digital_converter) signal from the microphone to digital audio and when [converting digital](/source/Digital-to-analog_converter) audio to the analog signal for the headphones - the [operating system](/source/Operating_system) and [drivers](/source/Driver_(software)), which transfer data between the sound card and networked music performance software, add latency.[10]

### Sources of latency FarPlay avoids

Some networked music performance applications have additional sources of latency:

- compression: converting between uncompressed and compressed audio formats [adds processing delays](/source/Opus_(audio_format)#Quality_comparison_and_low-latency_performance). FarPlay uses [uncompressed audio](/source/Pulse-code_modulation) to avoid these delays, but this also means that FarPlay requires more bandwidth than networked music performance software that can use compressed audio, like [Jamulus](/source/Jamulus) and SonoBus.[11]
- [client-server](/source/Client%E2%80%93server_model) model: with some networked music performance software ([Jamulus](/source/Jamulus) and JackTrip,[12] for example), participants send audio to each other indirectly, through a mixing server. FarPlay participants, instead, send audio/video directly to each other using a [peer-to-peer](/source/Peer-to-peer) model, which is usually fastest.[13][14] This comes with a trade-off: the peer-to-peer model increases the bandwidth and computer processor requirements of each participant as the number of participants in the session grows, so for sessions of more than around 8, a client-server model may provide better performance.[14][15]

## Buffering

As with other networked music performance software, FarPlay uses [jitter buffers](/source/Jitter#Jitter_buffers) to help prevent audio dropouts that can result from fluctuations in network delay.

In FarPlay, a latency slider is used to adjust the amount of jitter buffering to obtain audio with less latency (but with more noise) or audio that's clearer (but with higher latency).[10]

File recording and broadcast output are separately buffered for higher quality.[5]

## Usage

As of 2024, FarPlay is used regularly by thousands of musicians worldwide.

As early as December 2021, Grammy-winning soprano [Renée Fleming](/source/Ren%C3%A9e_Fleming) used FarPlay to rehearse with pianist [Simone Dinnerstein](/source/Simone_Dinnerstein) ahead of concerts at [Carnegie Hall](/source/Carnegie_Hall).[16]

For International Make Music Day 2022, [Dan Tepfer](/source/Dan_Tepfer) used FarPlay in Paris to play live with musicians in Australia, the US, Japan, and Europe.[17]

ABC Academy of Music of Toronto switched to using FarPlay, instead of Zoom, as their primary online lesson platform in the spring of 2023.[18]

FarPlay is also used extensively by individual private music teachers.[19][20][21]

## See also

- [JamKazam](/source/JamKazam)
- [Jamulus](/source/Jamulus)
- [LoLa](/source/LoLa_(software))
- [Ninjam](/source/Ninjam) / Ninbot
- [Comparison of remote music performance software](/source/Comparison_of_remote_music_performance_software)

## References

1. ["FarPlay: Low-Latency Audio over the Internet"](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29336759). *news.ycombinator.com*. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2023.

1. ["FarPlayIO/farplay-bin"](https://github.com/FarPlayIO/farplay-bin). *GitHub*. Retrieved 2024-09-25.

1. Enright, Ed (2022). ["FarPlay Delivers on Promise: Live Collaboration at a Distance"](https://downbeat.com/magazine/2022-12). *Downbeat Magazine*. **89** (12): 94–95.

1. Howell, Ian (2024-01-15). ["Canto: We Have the Technology"](https://www.earlymusicamerica.org/web-articles/canto-we-have-the-technology/). *Early Music America*

1. Stunt, Bill (2023). ["FarPlay: Low latency live audio on the World Wide Web"](https://blog.farplay.io/2024/06/11/recording-magazine-gives-farplay-a-rave-review/). *Recording Magazine*. **36** (8): 8–10.

1. ["PRICING YOUR WAY - FarPlay"](https://farplay.io/pricing/). 2023-03-08. Retrieved 2024-05-10.

1. Jacobson, Matthew (2020-11-16). ["Social Distancing For Musicians: A Quick Guide To Low-Latency Audio"](https://ksltv.com/449043/socially-distancing-for-musicians-a-quick-guide-to-low-latency-audio/). *KSLTV.com*. Retrieved 2024-05-15.

1. ["Latency Troubleshooting Best Practices"](https://help.webex.com/en-us/article/WBX28297/Latency-Troubleshooting-Best-Practices). *Webex Help Center*. 2022-06-20. Retrieved 2024-05-09.

1. Cordeiro, Carlos (2024-05-09). ["Wi-Fi Unleashed: Wi-Fi 7, 6 GHz, and Beyond"](https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/central-libraries/us/en/documents/2022-06/wi-fi-tutorial-long.pdf). *Intel | Data Center Solutions, IoT, and PC Innovation*. Retrieved 2024-05-09. Wi-Fi 6 can achieve single-digit millisecond latency, but the worst-case latency can be high in congested environments.

1. Howell, Ian (2022-03-17). ["Is Real-Time Online Music Making Easy Yet?: A first look at FarPlay and SoundJack Lite"](https://issuu.com/natsinc/docs/internos_spring2022). *Inter Nos*. **55** (1): 38–43. National Association of Teachers of Singing.

1. ["SonoBus User Guide: Send Format and Quality"](https://sonobus.net/sonobus_userguide.html#Send-Format-and-Quality). *sonobus.net*. Retrieved 2024-05-10.

1. ["Where Are JackTrip Virtual Studios Available?"](https://support.jacktrip.com/where-are-jacktrip-virtual-studios-available). *support.jacktrip.com*. Retrieved 2024-05-10.

1. [*Lunch & Learn: Low Latency Platforms: The Future of Music Collaboration*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo5sg6xEKh4) (Video). Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. 2021-03-10. pp. 6 minutes 55 seconds. Retrieved 2024-05-09. – via www.youtube.com.

1. Vollprecht, Anselm. ["Und jetzt zus@mmen! Dein Einstieg ins Echtzeit-Musizieren über das Internet"](https://www.hfmdd.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Bilder/Videobanner/Onmudih/Und_jetzt_zusammen.pdf) (in German). *Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden*. Retrieved 2024-05-09.

1. Levine, Mike (2023-01-13). ["FarPlay 1.05 Remote Musical Collaboration App – A Product of the Week Review"](https://www.mixonline.com/technology/farplay-1-05-remote-musical-collaboration-app-a-product-of-the-week-review). *Mixonline*. Retrieved 2024-05-10.

1. ["Simone Dinnerstein on Facebook"](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/vhFHCsFpUdogiJM2/). *[Facebook](/source/Facebook)*. 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2024-10-01.

1. Tepfer, Dan et al. (2022-06-21). [*FarPlay x MakeMusicDay : worldwide connections*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejUAuoRs1og). Retrieved 2024-05-10. – via www.youtube.com.

1. Kerekes, Barnaby (2023-04-01). ["Important Updates for ALL PROGRAMS: Rate Increases May 1, FarPlay, Upcoming Dates"](https://www.music-lessons.ca/important-apr-2023-news/). *TORONTO MUSIC LESSONS - Music Lessons for All Ages*. Retrieved 2024-05-09.

1. ["Brad Chapman"](https://www.bradchapmanvocalcoach.com/). *Brad Chapman*. Retrieved 2024-05-11.

1. ["Services"](https://nicholasperna.com/services-2). *Nicholas Perna, DMA*. Retrieved 2024-05-11.

1. ["Private Voice Lessons"](https://www.corinnebach.com/voicelessons). *www.corinnebach.com*. Retrieved 2024-05-11.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [FarPlay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FarPlay) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FarPlay?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.