My son is a member of the Ragazzi Boys Chorus. It was heartbreaking to watch Covid-19 take away something my son loved so dearly, not just for a few weeks but potentially for a very long time.
Then it dawned on me: sound travels very slowly, but computer networks move at the speed of light. Musicians performing together can generally tolerate a delay in sound of 25 milliseconds, equivalent to physically standing 25 feet apart. If we can use technology to simulate being fewer than 25 feet apart, when the true distance is much greater, we can get our boys singing together again.
As I dug deeper, I began to realize that not only is this achievable, but I am not alone. Many others seem to be thinking along similar lines. There are established technology research and projects that we can reuse. The 25ms (“25 milliseconds”) Project was born to help organize, experiment, share and do whatever we can to help musicians perform together live again.