Demonstration of a Networked Music Performance Experience with MEVO

TL;DR

MeVO tackles the feasibility of a networked music performance system that provides low-latency, transparent interaction across geographically separated musicians. The paper describes a Raspberry Pi–based hardware/software stack and a UDP-based, peer-to-peer audio workflow designed to minimize added latency while allowing real-time collaboration. A June 2023 distributed concert between Turin and Wrocław demonstrates overall mouth-to-ear latency in the range $[32,61]$ ms and low packet loss, yielding a perceived stable experience for performers and audience. The study identifies PLC integration and more robust buffer-management as key future enhancements for broader reliability and accessibility in remote music education.

Abstract

In this paper we present a Networked Music Performance system currently under development at Politecnico di Torino. We demonstrate its use in a distributed concert held in June 2023, which featured three musicians in Turin (Italy) and three musicians in Wrocław (Poland). Although in its early stages, the system proved to be already stable enough to appear transparent to the remote audience.

Figures (3)

• Figure 1: Photography of musicians performing in Turin
• Figure 2: Distribution of Round trip times. Figure reports value between 0 and $54ms$ for ease of read.
• Figure 3: Cumulative losses at both sides in terms of absolute count of lost audio frames.