Jam on your cam with three other people using TJoon

Growing up, my musician brother started out experimenting with music using a four-track tape recorder that he used to blend together guitars, keyboards, and vocals--something that normally requires an entire band, or some advanced audio-mixing equipment. Tjoon is an interesting new Web service, aimed mostly at musicians, that attempts to do the same thing using Webcams. It splits up a video workspace into four quadrants, and lets you, or others, come together to record four 30 second clips, all within the same shot. Instead of trying to do this simultaneously, like eJamming (coverage), Tjoon is completely asynchronous, meaning you can pass along your work to others to let them add their own matching clip.

The service was created by the same folks who did Floorplanner.com (review), and was designed specifically for the musicians you tend to see on YouTube or other video services, showing off their Freebird solo skills. Tjoon steps it up a notch, letting users can open up their creations to anyone who wants to record their own tracks alongside the original. As admin, you can also delete any additions you don't like. Other Tjoon users can also comment on a video and rate it up or down, with the most popular and top rated videos making the front page.

There are some obvious limitations to this service in its current form, but I still think it's a really fun way to experiment with video, and multitrack recording. The biggest downer is the 30 second cap on video clips, which just isn't going to cut it if you're actually trying to record a full length song (~3 minutes). You also can't push out your video to other video hosting services without using third-party screen capturing apps, although there is an embed option. Regardless, the idea of asynchronous jamming makes a lot more sense for the casual user than eJamming's model. While the service doesn't seem to want to go in the direction of professional recording, I think kids with instruments and Webcams are going to love this for its simplicity.

Below is an example of a one-man harmony made using the service: