FarPlay

FarPlay is an ultra-low-latency, networked music performance solution that enables live rehearsing, jamming, performing, and teaching with musicians over the internet as though in the same room. FarPlay is written by Anton Runov, Dan Tepfer, and contributors in C++, and uses the UDP protocol to send uncompressed PCM audio and compressed video.
FarPlay is available free and with paid subscriptions. 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.

Latency

Latency is the amount of time between the moment one musician makes a sound and the moment another hears it. It's been established that musicians begin to notice latency when it exceeds 20 ms one-way, equivalent to playing about 20 ft apart in a room. Latencies provided by popular video conferencing software such as Zoom or Webex can be much higher and unusable for networked music performance.

Buffering

As with other networked music performance software, FarPlay uses 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 or audio that's clearer.
File recording and broadcast output are separately buffered for higher quality.

Usage

As of 2024, FarPlay is used regularly by thousands of musicians worldwide.
As early as December 2021, Grammy-winning soprano Renée Fleming used FarPlay to rehearse with pianist Simone Dinnerstein ahead of concerts at Carnegie Hall.
For International Make Music Day 2022, Dan Tepfer used FarPlay in Paris to play live with musicians in Australia, the US, Japan, and Europe.
ABC Academy of Music of Toronto switched to using FarPlay, instead of Zoom, as their primary online lesson platform in the spring of 2023.
FarPlay is also used extensively by individual private music teachers.