LoLa

A low latency, high quality audio/video transmission system for network musical performances and interaction developed by Conservatorio di Musica "Giuseppe Tartini" from Trieste (Italy) in collaboration with GARR, the Italian Research and Academic Network.

LoLa project aims to enable real time musical performances where musicians are physically located in remote sites, connected by advanced network services, like the ones provided by the NRENs and GEANT and other International backbones.
The project motivation comes directly from musicians who are currently engaged into many geographically distributed activities (Concerts, MasterClasses, Teaching, Recording Sessions, etc.) which require them a lot of travel and result in a big time waste.

LoLa provides a tool which permits musicians to perform many more rehearsals before a concert, for example, giving them much more time to refine the performance before they join together for the event; they can engage in MasterClasses teaching students around the world even when they are located in distant sites, including the ability to perform together with the student during the lesson, and enabling many more students to participate without the need of travel; they can take part in recording sessions without the need to travel to the recording studio, etc. But LoLa provides also the ability to perform real concerts for the public, with distributed performers, and distributed audience, too. It thus opens a new fully unexplored performance scenario, with new challenges and new opportunities.

LoLa is a project developed by Conservatorio di Musica Giuseppe Tartini from Trieste (Italy) in collaboration with GARR, the Italian Research and Academic Network, and was conceived in 2005 after a demonstration of the first intercontinental viola MasterClass between the GARR National User’s Conference in Pisa (Italy) and the New World Symphony music academy in Miami (USA).

LoLa was first demonstrated in public in 2010, with a piano duo concert between Conservatorio Tartini in Trieste and IRCAM in Paris, and is now deployed in a large number of institutions around the world (LoLa installations), all connected to their national research and education network.

The project research and development team is composed by Massimo Parovel (project supervisor), Paolo Pachini (project coordinator), Stefano Bonetti (system designer and lead software engineer since 2012), Carlo Drioli (former system designer and software engineer), Nicola Buso (audio engineering, musical advice and testing) from Conservatorio Tartini, and Claudio Allocchio (network engineering and testing) from GARR.

Text by: https://lola.conts.it/

LoLa installations

open interactive map in new window

How to get LoLa

LoLa is a licensed software and it is available for free for all academic and education non profit uses. In all other cases, it has a shareware license to support the project. Please contact us (Conservatorio Tartini as the IPR owner and GARR as its Agent and Representative) via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to receive the appropriate license and for any further detail or information you may need.
When we will receive via email the scan of your filled in and signed license (just the last page is enough) we will generate your license code and your login credentials, so you can access the restricted area of this site and download the installation kit and other items. You will also be added to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. mailing list, which is the discussion area for all registered LoLa users.

You should also be aware that in order to use LoLa you need a very specific hardware (we will also give you all the needed info) and a good and stable network connection: at least 1Gigabit clean path between locations, and this is something that currently no commercial provider can deliver: only academic and reseach networks can deliver this network service, and this network service is a fundamental componet of LoLa itself. Using m-jpeg compression, LoLa is also usable at lower speeds (but we suggest at least 100Megabit) and also in this case you need a commercial ISP which can deliver a clean and symmetric connection to make LoLa work properly.

Text by: https://lola.conts.it/

Interview with C. Allocchio (GARR) at Smart Cities, Radio 24 - da GARR.tv

LoLa playlist - on GARR.tv

Further information

Facebook

Twitter