My wife has JUST started learning drums in the past week or so. She doesn't even have her own sticks or a kit yet, but we have access to a shared one from time to time. It's been interesting watching her learn to time the stick / pedal hits so they sound at the same time.
I'm a semi-professional keyboard player, and in the past I played with some setups that had a fair bit of latency - and you definitely learn to just play things ahead of when you expect to hear them, especially on a big stage (where there's significant audio lag just from the speed of sound). And some keyboard patches have a very long attack, so you might need to play an extra half beat early to hit the right beat along with the rest of the band.
If you watch an orchestra conductor, you may notice the arm movements don't match up with the sounds of the orchestra - the conductor literally leads the orchestra, directing parts before you hear them in the audience.
Absolutely, humans are incredibly good at dealing with consistent and predictable latency in a fairly broad range. Dynamic latency, on the other hand ... not so good.
I recall a guitarist friend who figured out their playing was going to hell trying to play to a track when their partner used the microwave. They were using an early (and probably cheap) wireless/cordless system and must have had interference.
My wife is a very good singer, and took singing lessons for years while singing in chorale and other group activities. She used to sing harmony in our church worship bad where I played keys weekly.
She's been learning Irish tin whistle for a few years, and is a big fan of the Dropkick Murphys and other celtic punk bands, along with 90s alternative bands lik Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Weezer. I've been learning guitar / bass / ukulele / mandolin, and it would be great fun if she can play drums and sing while I play something else....
I'm a semi-professional keyboard player, and in the past I played with some setups that had a fair bit of latency - and you definitely learn to just play things ahead of when you expect to hear them, especially on a big stage (where there's significant audio lag just from the speed of sound). And some keyboard patches have a very long attack, so you might need to play an extra half beat early to hit the right beat along with the rest of the band.
If you watch an orchestra conductor, you may notice the arm movements don't match up with the sounds of the orchestra - the conductor literally leads the orchestra, directing parts before you hear them in the audience.