usicians have been jamming with each other ever since the first two people used bones to hit hollow logs. Except for the sophistication of the instruments, the basics haven't changed much -- until now. For the first time, music makers are able to routinely straddle oceans and continents to perform with each other in virtual jams on the Web. Consider Raphael Elig, a Parisian member of Res Rocket Surfer, a 10-year-old online band made up of members from dozens of nations -- England, the United States, Turkey, Portugal, Romania, Japan, and Malaysia, among others. Several times a week, Raphael jumps between the keyboards of his computer and his synthesizer while mixing it up with the rest of the group. "It's incredible to be able to share that sensitivity with people around the world," he says. "Everyone has something in common, and you discover that an artist's expression in Norway is like your own." Res Rocket Surfer was created especially for the Internet, and members communicate in real time through chat and videoconferencing software. They can see and "talk" to each other during their jams as they create music, and the results are uploaded sequentially to other musicians for their contributions before eventual mixing. Genuinely live performances aren't far off, however, and an album is scheduled for release in June.
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