Managing Latency

This article will cover two types of Latency which can affect musical activities – musical latency (audio and MIDI) and that latency that is inherent within the Internet.

In a musical context latency is defined as any delay between a musician pressing a key on a keyboard and/or musical keyboard and the time it takes for a sound to be heard in connected headphones or speakers. Latency is caused by the time it takes for a computer or device to digitally process any musical command you ask it to do e.g. play a note, record my voice, etc.

Internet latency is quite common in video calling and is often due to limited ‘bandwidth’ on your network and can affect musical timing between musicians in a similar way to musical latency.

Latency can be very off putting. Imagine an acoustic ensemble like a guitar trio trying to stay in time with each other when there are delays between plucking the strings and a sound being heard.

What can you do to combat latency when working with computers, electronic musical instruments and online?

1. Read the user manual of your audio interface or DAW software. Look for features such as ‘low latency’ mode or ways to make ‘buffer’ sizes smaller.
2. Close any unused applications that are running in the background on your computer such as Internet

browsers or other programmes.

3. Switch to Direct Monitoring if your audio interface has this feature.
4. Check you have up to date software drivers from manufacturer’s websites.
5. Check all cables are in good working order.

Things to try if you experience Internet latency

1. Try to establish the best connection to your router. Wired (with a Cat 5 cable) is always better than relying on the WiFi.
2. Close any unused applications that are running in the background on your computer/device.
3. Try to get more bandwidth by working when others are not sharing your connection.
4. Check your bandwidth and contact your provider if you need more.
5. Follow guidelines set out by your streaming platform to get best results. Here’s an example from the Jamkazam software platform: