The Internet is so fast that the Bay Area can connect with New York City quicker than you can finish this sentence.

That’s a blistering speed — but not quite fast enough for musicians, who dream of a day when notes travel at light speed. Then the entire globe could play in a single ensemble.

“The delays are devastating,” said acoustical engineer Elizabeth Cohen. “Thirty milliseconds? That’s an echo. An eternity.”

“The essence of music is shared communication. And that depends on instantaneous feedback,” said Cohen, who archives music for international exchanges over networks.

So hopes are pinned on an attempt to break the speed limit, launched in October by a team led by computer research scientist Brighten Godfrey of the University of Illinois and Duke University colleagues.

RTWT