Question 1

What is Rehearsal Live Share? How does it work?

Accepted Answer

Rehearsal Live Share (RLS) is a remote music rehearsal and performance technology developed by Realtime Music Solutions.  It allows a "director" to hear a live, synchronized music performance by one or more participants over the internet. See our guided tour video for more details.

Question 2

What is heard in an RLS session?  Is it like rehearsing in the same room?

Accepted Answer

While nothing beats making music with others in person, we believe RLS offers an incredible solution to the challenges of music performance over the net.  An RLS session involves a “director” and “participants”.  During performance, the RLS participants will not hear each other as they play along with a backing track.  On the other hand, the RLS director does hear all participants in perfect sync.  Recording capabilities in RLS further enhance the experience by allowing participants to record takes and distribute them from within the program.  Once shared, each participant can then hear and perform alongside those recordings of the other participants.

Question 3

How does RLS handle latency?

Accepted Answer

Since latency is an inevitable limitation of the current state of internet networking technology, RLS's unique design circumvents the problem by making the exact simultaneous performance of ensemble musicians unnecessary.  By design, each participant is disabled from hearing each other's live microphone feed, thus allowing headroom for a milliseconds apart, out-of-sync performance.  The non-synchronous performances are then re-assembled for the director, who will hear all the musicians playing together in perfect sync.  Recording capabilities in RLS further enhance the experience by allowing participants to record takes and distribute them from within the program.  Once shared, each participant can then hear and perform alongside those recordings of the other participants.

Question 4

How much does RLS cost?

Accepted Answer

While installing and setting up our software is free, using RLS to direct a live share session only requires a subscription.  Please see our pricing and ordering page for the cost of our subscription plans.

Question 5

Can I use RLS with any music I choose?

Accepted Answer

Yes, anyone can create a program of pieces or songs with their own audio files.  Doing this does not require a subscription, and can be done right after installation.  However, to get the full RLS experience, directors should sign up for a 2-week free trial subscription, which allows the sharing of your content, as well as the ability to conduct a live RLS session with your fellow musicians.

Question 6

How many people can rehearse together with RLS?

Accepted Answer

We have placed an arbitrary maximum at 30 total users for sessions involving a single director.  However, a session with many more participants (up to 871 to be precise) is acheivable using RLS's serialization feature.    The speed of the computer used to direct a session is the determining factor for how the program handles a high capaictiy RLS session.  If you have access to an exceptionally powerful system, and you wish to attempt a higher RLS capicity than 30 with a single director, reach out to us.  We can then help setup your system for higher participant caps.

Question 7

Can I utilize RLS for instruments other than voice?

Accepted Answer

Yes.  Any instrument will work with RLS, provided you have a working microphone to capture its sound.  Here's a demonstration of a string ensemble using RLS:

Question 8

Do participants need to pay for a subscription to use RLS?

Accepted Answer

No, those who use RLS as a particpant do not require a subscription. The subscription is only required for RLS directors (including sub-directors on a large, serialized rehearsal). This means anyone can participate, and those with subscriptions may share their show and initiate a live share session.

Question 9

How do I order RLS?

Accepted Answer

RMS Creator subscriptions are purchased though the RMS accounts page. Just sign in or create an account and then hit Upgrade now! in the upper right-hand corner.  A video tutorial on our Pricing and Ordering page shows you how.

Question 10

What do I need to use RLS?  Do you have any recommendations?

Accepted Answer

RLS requires a computer for directors, while participants may run RLS on a computer or iOS devices.  All must use compatible headphones and microphones. Visit our equipment recommendations page for more details.

Question 11

Does RLS use, share, or sell my personal information?"

Accepted Answer

You may encounter a notification such as this when using the RLS app on iOS.  This is a standard privacy notification on iOS that informs users that the app is connecting with outside servers, and could potentially share data from your device.   Be aware that we only keep information related to the functionality of the program (e.g. using email as a means to identify someone for log-in or payment processing). No information is sold or used for purposes outside of the Rehearsal Live Share experience.

Question 12

What are some of the longer term plans for RLS?

Accepted Answer

We are fully dedicated to adding new and exciting features, as well as refining the existing ones.  While we have no major new features on the horizon, we welcome customer feedback for ideas and changes that will improve the RLS experience.

Question 13

What changed in the various software releases?

Accepted Answer

Here's a page containing a detailed Changelog.   Here's our product announcements: NATS 6/29/20 Webinar - RLS Exploration Original Product Announcement Beta Launch Version 1.0 Version 1.01 Version 1.02 Version 1.03 Version 1.04 Version 1.05

Question 14

Do you have any tips on how to get the best RLS experience possible?

Accepted Answer

Yes, please visit our best practices page here.

Question 15

What are the minimum tech specs, or technical requirements?"

Accepted Answer

MacOS 10.13 or later (M1 Macs will run the program in emulation mode) | Windows 8.1 (64 bit) or later iOS 13.x Chromebook* | Android
* While RLS may be installed on these Chromebooks, there is wide variability in performance, and not every model will be appropriate for RLS use.  We suggest newer models for optimal results. Quad core CPU for director | Dual core CPU for participants 4GB of RAM Broadband Internet speeds of at least 100 mbps download for director, 30 mbps download for participants.  Upload speed requirement is 10Mbps.  The network being utilized by all users must allow connections to the following servers:  https://rms.biz/ https://accounts.rms.biz/ rls.rms.biz port 8888

Question 16

How do you handle security? What about Zoom Bombing?

Accepted Answer

When you as director initiate an RLS session, you invite specific people to join.  It is not possible to enter a session without the director's explicit authorization, and so the RLS equivalent of "Zoom bombing" is not possible.

Question 17

Where are Rehearsal Live Share (RLS) recordings saved?

Accepted Answer

When recordings are made, a recording assignemnt icon appears below each channel strip in the RLS window.      Clicking on that icon will reveal the recording assignment dialog box.  This dialog box contains a button labeled "reveal" which takes the user to the directory where recordings are saved.

Question 18

I'm having an issue attempting to use RLS.  Is there a troubleshooting page?

Accepted Answer

See here for some common issues and fixes.

Question 19

Why is my RLS Performance is sounding distorted, clipped, or choppy?"

Accepted Answer

You may also need to adjust your mic's input gain. Participants should open their sound preferences window, look at their input level, sing or perform their loudest musical event (for sopranos we also recommend singing your highest note), and see if the meter exceeds the limitations of the scale. Continue to adjust the gain down until the meter is not approaching the red line.  This is often the case since default settings are based around speaking, not playing. Most singers will agree that they sing louder than they speak. Setting an appropriate input gain is critical to sending high quality sound to the director. For those with external audio interfaces, make sure that the signal is not clipping on the input meter. Usually there is a red light that flashes or other way of indicating this warning. Microphone placement is also critical. The location and distance will depend on the type of microphone and the type of instrument or voice.   Now you're setup to have a clean vocal performance.   Windows Users: It has been brought to our attention that most Windows laptops have settings in place for their internal microphone that make it impossible to get a smooth musical performance.  Here is a video going over the following steps. Close out any currently running RMS software In the right-bottom toolbar, right-click on the volume icon Click Open Sound Settings Under Input, click Device Properties Click Additional device properties Click the Enhancements tab Click the box for Disable all sound effects Click Apply (if Apply isn't available, simply click OK) Exit the settings menu Launch the RMS program you're using

Question 20

I'm having issues connecting to RLS when I'm at school?

Accepted Answer

It is possible when behind a heavy firewall like those found in schools, that you may have issues connecting to RLS.  If this is the case for you, talk to your IT department about our domains and the ports associated with Realtime Music Solutions.   https://rms.biz/ https://accounts.rms.biz/ rls.rms.biz, port 8888

Question 21

Is there a quick way to toggle recording assignments?

Accepted Answer

Yes.  You can quickly unassign recordings in one or all channel strips using the following shortcuts: On Mac, holding command while clicking on the recording assignment icon will unassign that channel strip. Holding command + shift together while clicking on the recording assignment icon will unassign all channel strips. On Windows: holding ctrl while clicking on the recording assignment icon will unassign that channel strip. Holding ctrl + shift together while clicking on the recording assignment icon will unassign all channel strips. When the director performs this action, the recording assignments change accordingly, but only locally, on the director's computer.  In order for all participants to have unassigned recording assignemnts, the director must click "share" to push the recording assignemnt configuration to all users.

Question 22

The first time I try to use RLS (Rehearsal Live Share) on Windows, I get a firewall prompt?"

Accepted Answer

This is to be expected when trying to create a peer to peer connection between you and your cast mate/instructor's computers.  It is recommended to hit "accept" at this point.

Question 23

Can I share my RLS session with an audience over Zoom?

Accepted Answer

Yes, here are the steps, as well as a video guide to acheiving this: The director of the RLS session initiates a Zoom call with audience members (non-participants). Director shares screen in Zoom with audience members. When sharing screen, select Share Computer Sound and Optimize Screen Share for Video Clip at bottom left. Select Desktop as view and hit Share on bottom right. Launch Rehearsal Live Share. Go to the RLS Preferences select the Audio tab. Set output to ZoomAudioDevice. Go to menu Tools → Rehearsal Live Share and begin your RLS call. The performance of your participants in RLS will be then be witnessed by those in your Zoom call.

Question 24

I've created a show for RLS. How do I share this content with my cast or ensemble?

Accepted Answer

You can learn how to share your show in step 5 of the getting started page.

Question 25

Are there any known issues with RLS?

Accepted Answer

We are constantly working to improve RLS. That said, here are some issues we are aware of and working to resolve.

Question 26

What do the colored dots mean in my contacts list?

Accepted Answer

The dot system is in place to quickly figure out who you can connect with.  All below info included in our new video.

Question 27

How many participants can my computer handle?  Why does RLS freeze up after (x) number of participants on my 4-core machine?

Accepted Answer

In an RLS session, the computer being used for the director role is the one that is most computationally burdened.  This burden increases with each participant added.  If you find that a machine you are using becomes slow or unresponsive once you cross the theshold of a particular number of participants, it indicates the speed of the computer cannot handle a live share session of that size.  In that case, here are some things you can try:   Some computers may improve performance after optimizing or changing settings.  Windows optimization may be found here.  Mac users may find advice here.  You can also have participants toggle-off their video feeds to improve efficiency if your computer is struggling.  We also have hardware recommendations for directors who seek to maximize their live share session size.  You can spread the computational burden by setting using our serialization feature.  Note: due to the many variables that contribute to the speed of a computer, it is not currently possible for us to identify the exact number of participants that your computer may handle.  For this reason, it is recommended that tests be performed during our free trial to determine that participant cap.

Question 28

Is it possible to change my previously built show by adding or deleting songs?

Accepted Answer

Yes, just select "Modify Original Show" from the file menu.  This will reveal plus and minus buttons in the songs section of the main window, which permit the adding and deleting of songs.

Question 29

Is there a way to add or replace a conductor track to an existing song in a show?

Accepted Answer

This feature is currently not available.  However, one could build a new show, adding the midi conductor track during that process.

Question 30

Why can't participants see each other?  After sharing recordings, participants could see each other's channel strips, but not their video feeds."

Accepted Answer

Participants will not be able to see each other's live video feed apart from the pop up in the director's video channel during conversation mode.  This is because peer-to-peer connections do not exist between participants. Technically speaking, live share sessions do not create “peer connections” between every single user in a session, but rather, only between the director and each participant.  It’s for this reason that conversation mode works a little differently than programs such as Zoom.  Instead of each user communicating and speaking to one another through a direct connection, each participant’s speech and video is channeled through the director’s channel, then re-broadcasted to all participants.  This design choice allowed for much higher efficiency and reliability in RLS’s main function of music making.

Question 31

Can I replace an audio file for an existing song?

Accepted Answer

It's not possible to replace an existing song's audio file, but you can delete the original song, and then re-add the song with the new audio file.

Question 32

How do I change the reverb settings applied to participants during playback and recording?

Accepted Answer

The reverb effect that is applied to participants during playback and recordings may be changed or disabled in the "mixer" window, under the "output" tab.  The reverb send appears as a radial knob beneath the output channel strip.  For more information on this window, see our user guide.

Question 33

Can directors peform/record along with participants?

Accepted Answer

Yes, directors are now able to perform and record along with participants using the "director can participate" option in preferences.  Note that when this option is checked, the participants will not be able to hear the director's live microphone feed during playback and recording.  Here is a demonstration of this feature.

Question 34

Is RLS supported on Linux/WINE?

Accepted Answer

While some users have been able to install RLS on those platforms, we cannot promise successful operation, and do not have plans to support them in the future. We currently support Windows, Mac, and iOS, and are working on adding support for Android/Chromebook.

Question 35

Windows detected a threat when I tried to download/install RLS; why is this?

Accepted Answer

As RLS is fairly new, Windows has yet to whitelist it.  Rest assured, we have reached out to them and we're in the queue for review.  For now, if you're getting threat notices via Microsoft Edge browser about RLS you'll need to click through the warnings to allow the download to finish - see the attached screenshot below.  If you're just getting threat notices via Windows Defender SmartScreen after download and during install, here's how to get past it.

Question 36

Can I delete a show I have already created?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in the show managment window, right-click the folder representing the show you want to delete.  If you on are on a mac, you can control-click the folder to bring up the delete option.

Question 37

When I have "director can participate" checked, the participants can no longer hear me.  Why is that happening?"

Accepted Answer

If the "director can participate" preference is checked, participants will not hear the director's live microphone feed during playback or recording.  This is due to how RLS works: all users are hearing and performing asynchroneously in their respective locations due to latency, so disabling live microphone feeds is required.