Improving Audio Quality in Zoom Online Music Lessons | Pro Tips and Tricks

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. If anyone is looking for lessons in music technology, music theory or guitar - please get in touch. I have 20 years gigging/teaching experience and a proven track record with many students going on to study at the top Conservertoires and Universities (a couple of them are famous pop stars too!). I have an enhanced DBS clearance and have undergone safeguarding training. For more info please visit: www.davespeakman.co.uk

[@TheBenno57]

Really helpful video. I'm not a techie by any stretch of the imagination, just wanted to improve the music audio quality on Zoom and this was very good in assisting me. Thank you.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Glad you found the video useful, Steve.:-)

[@JorgePreza-Bass-Piano]

Dave, I just wanted to thank you so much for the crystal clear explanation you gave here and also the simple manner in which you convey your thoughts and counsel. I understood all you exposed and it really was a bonus to have interviewed your colleagues to get some more feedback on what they use to broadcast. Super fine this video so, congrats. Please make another video on how to perform live with a digital piano thru zoom for I was requested recently to play a gig via Zoom from home with my digital piano and would certainly welcome any useful info on that. Cheers :)

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Thanks for your king words, Jorge. Sounds like a good idea, I've been thinking about doing a couple more zoom videos. 😀😀

[@SaludCuba]

Wonderful video. Thanks a lot.

[@ipaddy]

Hi Dave I arrived on your page by mistake as I was just surfing KZbin looking to get ideas to help me teach I.T for older folk and people with a disability so absolutely nothing to do with music of any type but due to your lovely teaching style I hung on in to the end 😴 only joking it was interesting even for me most of the solutions for Mike's and mixing etc were way over my head and needs but some were dead right for me to share with my clients my family have a history of music in the Manchester area going back to the 60s my older brother was a DJ at the original twisted wheel then a lead singer in his band wolf Montgomery and the big sound and his daughter mandy Montgomery still gigs all around Manchester and stockport and i haven't got a musical 🦴 in my body. Thanks again for your efforts and experience I hope you do well in this world of screen to screen learning.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Thanks, Patrick. Glad you got some info out of it. Is there anything you think I could do content on that would be useful to you?

[@ipaddy]

@@davespeakmanmusic thanks for that Dave Ill have a think about that and get back to you.

[@heidialina]

Excellent information! I love this format of visiting with some other folks who are using different setups. Thanks for the great video and for sharing your knowledge!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Glad you found it useful, Heidi. Thanks for watching and for your kind words. :-)

[@tomvarner7943]

thank you, from seattle, getting ready to teach via zoom and panopto, in 2 weeks. Very clear and helpful.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Glad you found it useful. Hope your teaching goes well. :-)

[@simonash8912]

Such a great video. So informative and helpful, been struggling with the audio so this video is pure gold. Thanks Dave!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Thanks, Simon. Glad that it helped.

[@clutch747]

That would be amazing if you could explore more windows... and any other things you can do with Zoom. Thank you

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. I made this video with a few other tips and tricks! kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmO6mIdorqqfoKc

[@paulmileswhiteheadmusic]

Hi Dave, thanks for the help. Please do continue with these kind of videos, super helpful!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Glad you found it useful, Paul. I have some more content along these lines coming soon!

[@gongbusinessschool2336]

Hi Dave, that was super useful thanks. Are you familiar with The Gong and how to get the best out of it on zoom?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. I’m not familiar with “The Gong” sorry.

[@sanpitt]

I was eagerly waiting for you all to play something together virtually. And wanted to see how it sounds, when you all play together. If you can make any such video that would be great help. I am trying to live stream a virtual concert in the first week of June.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. The latency on current internet connections it too high for everyone to play together in time. The latency of 5G looks promising for this...

[@sanpitt]

davespeakmanmusic Thank you for the quick reply Dave. What would be the minimum speed in MBs, you think would work?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hi Santosh. It isn't just down to the speed of your internet, but more to do with the latency. There is an article in sound on sound which you may find useful www.soundonsound.com/techniques/remote-collaboration There is another article on Production Expert www.pro-tools-expert.com/production-expert-1/2020/3/31/case-study-how-to-remote-record-during-the-covid-19-lockdown

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Whilst it is entirely possible to run a recording session remotely, a gig with musicians in different locations playing simultaneously is not possible. All the "live gigs" that people are livestreaming from multiple locations are pre recorded and made to look like they are doing it live. If you are all in the same location, it will work. You can also use a service like "Streamyard", which will allow you to switch between acts in multiple locations. There is no way in 2020 for multiple musicians to gig together from seperate locations over the internet, unfortunately.

[@sanpitt]

davespeakmanmusic Thank you, Dave 🙏

[@JoashRobinKale]

How to setup audio for Zoom, for a MIDI keyboard connected via Scarlett 2i2.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Your MIDI keyboard doesn’t produce any sound so you will have to open a software instrument to hear sound. The sound should be passed through zoom with no problems

[@JoashRobinKale]

@@davespeakmanmusic Thankyou for the quick response. I tried that. But Zoom is not recognising the input from my DAW. It is showing Analog 2 inputs only.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Have a look through the audio settings, there should be an option to pass system audio. Are you on Mac or pc?

[@JoashRobinKale]

@@davespeakmanmusic I am on PC using FL Studio.

[@avelinosantosmanuelmaria9311]

Oh thanks for sharing. I’ve got a usb mic and I wasn’t using for my lessons. I’m going to try

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Great! Is there anything you'd like me to do content on?

[@RobMichael]

Excellent tips here. Kudos!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Thanks, Rob. Is there anything you'd like me to do content on? Cheers

[@RobMichael]

@@davespeakmanmusic Not necessarily--it's nice to have this video to send ppl to vs explaining these and similar things to others over and over. :-)

[@anthonycarrillo8390]

Hi Dave, great video! One way to make audio better in Zoom is to activate Original sound (that gets rid of all the speech enhancer effects it has by default). There is a tab you need to active in the advanced settings. It's a great feature.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Great tip Anthony. I quite like leaving the echo cancellation on, but this is definitely good advice. Thanks!

[@anthonycarrillo8390]

@@davespeakmanmusic no problem!

[@DougMotel]

Very helpful. Thanks! I wonder if you have a suggestion for us. We are a bunch of singers who meet each week to sing karaoke (and drink of course) any suggestions for hardware that would mix the tracks together with the mic better so we can hear each other better?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hi Doug. In all honesty I'm not sure you'll get it to sound significantly better. The improvements would need making in each participant's system, but I doubt there would be a huge improvement as the main bottleneck is the internet. If you're all managing to sing along together, you're doing pretty well already! :-)

[@DougMotel]

@@davespeakmanmusic THANKS for the reply. Just to be clear, we are not singing together we are singing for each other. And I was hoping to improve the fidelity in some way and was wondering about some hardware or way that I could mix my tracks with my vocal before I push it out to Zoom.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Ah ok. Perhaps a little mixer would be good, then you could add a little EQ and reverb, perhaps even some compression too depending on the mixer you buy. The little Allen and Heath mixers are nice... :-)

[@ushnotzkr4006]

Awesome video, very helpful and concise. Thanks a lot!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Thanks, glad you found it useful!

[@KitLaughlin]

Dave, sincere thanks. Liked and subscribed. I am interested (as another teacher who has had to go mostly on line) in any tutorials on the best ways to use Zoom. I do podcasts on my work, where I will be interviewed-my biggest complaint about Zoom is the distortion to the interviewer's voice as Zoom switches the input sources. By this, I mean that I think Zoom is a single duplex system (like a mobile phone) so when the other person speaks or reacts, your sound is momentarily cut off. What most impressed me the most about your video is that there was none of that distortion as you and your interviewees went back and forth. In contrast, using Call Recorder Pro with Skype, both soundtracks can be recorded separately and in any audio post program you can both balance both audio streams and make sure that they don't interfere with each other when the conversation sources switch backwards and forwards. I would like to know if there's a similar possibility of recording both sources when using Zoom. Cheers, KL

[@davespeakmanmusic]

I think the codec also adapts to the quality of your internet connection. If I zoom people who also have fiber, we have no problems. People on lower bandwidth connections have problems. If you've found a solution that works well already, I'd stick to that. Another option would be to use something like Source Connect - that would give you the highest quality recordings. There is an article on the production expert website about that. Hope it goes well...

[@davespeakmanmusic]

www.pro-tools-expert.com/production-expert-1/2020/3/31/case-study-how-to-remote-record-during-the-covid-19-lockdown

[@camodude51]

ty

[@karajohnstad2596]

I would love to see a video on other ZOOM options, sharing screens, marking up etc.. Thanks so much!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello! I've done another video on this, here it is :-) kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmO6mIdorqqfoKc

[@danielacinelofee]

Looking for advice on the best external speakers to connect to the laptop I am using for Zoom lessons and how the speakers would interface with the audio settings on Zoom.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. The best thing would be to get a dedicated audio interface (something like a focusrite 2i2 would do) and the get a pair of powered speakers. What is your budget for speakers?

[@natblooms1085]

Brilliant Dave! Fab vid x

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Thanks, Nat. Hope you're well xx

[@rebeccaheaps8418]

Hi Dave Thank you for this. I want to run another online festival through Zoom but I'm finding the sound quality to be completely limiting. All the above tips are brilliant, thank you.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Glad it helped, Rebecca. If there is anything I can help with - please let me know...

[@rebeccaheaps8418]

@@davespeakmanmusic Yes it really does. If I purchase this equipment would I be able to use it to record a podcast as well?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Yes, the focusrite interfaces are perfect for podcasting. You would probably want to get a good microphone for that too. A lot of podcasters use the sure sm7b, I really like the telefunken 82 for that application. :-)

[@rebeccaheaps8418]

@@davespeakmanmusic Hi Dave. Thanks for this. I have a limited budget. Could you suggest a cheaper altenative to the mics that would run through the interface? Would a Blue Yeti microphone work?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

The Blue Yeti is a USB microphone, it doesn't need an audio interface. It would be reasonable option as would the other two usb microphones mentioned in the video (Behringer C1u or Shure MV51). The standard Behringer C1 is a good cheap microphone. You could also get reasonable results with something as simple as a Shure SM58 or Thomann's copy of one "T.Bone MB85" which is an amazing mix for the money...

[@jasondavis9616]

Thanks for this! Very helpful.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Glad you found it useful!

[@leonphillips2834]

Nice work, Dave!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Thanks, Leon!

[@lgovantes1]

Great video, you covered a lot of bases and used your support group well. One thing I must have missed or need your opinion on is how to minimize or eliminate feedback while conducting online music session. I have tried various options including in-ear monitors tied to my mixer that has my mic and instrument connected, but it seems I still get feedback. Any thoughts? Also, how can you synchronize music with others online? A productive teaching technique is to have students play along with you providing a sort of real-time "backing track". any thoughts?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. You shouldn't get any feedback with headphones or IEMs, I don't have any feedback problems during lessons using speakers either. Perhaps you have your speakers a little loud? There is no way to play in real time together with a student - internet connections are no where near fast enough for that yet. A few work arounds may be to pre-record your accompaniment and send it to them or have the student play to a backing track/drum machine/metronome at their end. I would recommend the app drum genius for a drum machine - it is incredible!

[@sharman814]

Thank you! Very helpful

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Thanks, glad you found it useful.

[@andreslegacy6562]

This video is so rocking amazing... It is extremely useful! Thank you so much for the great work!.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Thanks! Glad you found it useful!!!

[@ryanbinkley8224]

@@davespeakmanmusic Yes, excellent video. So helpful.

[@vc9325]

Which setup do you ask your students to have? I went away from using a complicated setup, teaching piano, and now just use an iphone mounted on a camera stand, so I can tilt the camera to my face or right over the keysand a headset, so they don’t hear themselves. With most students this is excellent, but I find with some students, their device cuts out my sound when they play. So we can’t play duets, and I can’t make comments while they play. This happens on FaceTime, zoom, skype etc. Even when we enable original sound in zoom. It’s worse with newer ipads or laptops. Its as if some students’ devices will only allow one source of sound. Does anyone know how to solve this?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Yes - it’s in Settings, Meeting - enable original sound. Some of my students have elaborate setups, some just use their phone. Either can work if they’re putting the practice in. Duets aren’t possible as the lag from the internet means you’ll never be in time with each other; if you play along to them, it will sound out of time at their end. Maybe in another 10 years - that will work. 😀

[@satyabanukil779]

Sir, I am Satyaban from India. I solicit your guidance. Through Zoom platform, we friends meet occasionally for musical programs. I have a ready musical track on which I play guitar and want to get the mixed sound go to the webcam mic. I have a mixer. Since to entire sound comes from my speaker and catched by the built-in mic of the webcam, I get a horrible and distorted audio when I play back. I couldn't get any webcam which has an audio input so that I can balance my guitar with the track and send to the webcam audio input from my mixer. So I don't know what to do. Shall be grateful if suitably advised. Regards.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello Sayaban. I would just play the backing track on your computer, the audio from the track should play through zoom automatically. I'd then plug the headphone out from the computer in to your speaker. The other option is to buy either an audio interface or a USB mixer and a microphone. Let me know how you get on... :-)

[@satyabanukil779]

@@davespeakmanmusic Thnx for your prompt reply Sir. I have an external sound card M Audio Fast Track Pro and a 5 channel mixer. I plug my guitar with the mixer and the output of the mixer goes to my sound card. But how can I get a clear balanced sound together with the track (played from my computer)and my guitar and finally it comes out from my speaker (M Audio). I have a webcam with a built in mic through which I access Zoom Meeting. Probably the built in mic catches the mixed sound from the speaker. Normally it sounds OK when I listen the sound from the speaker. But when the mic of the webcam catches the sound and sends to zoom, the resultant sound creates lot of unwanted noise. How to overcome such problem. Your kind advice is solicited. I also want to know whether there is any device which has an audio input to send the mixed sound to finally go to the audio server of Zoom. This is for your kind information that the controlling server is at USA and I access from India. Regards.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hi Satyaban. Perhaps the best solution would be to get another microphone for you to speak in to. Something with a tight polar pattern like a Sennheiser 945 would work well. I would plug the microphone into your mixer. Alternatively you could try a lavelier microphone like the Rode SmartLav+. This is what I use for my Zoom meetings. I did a review of this microphone sometime ago: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4WsdqapoZJnnbs

[@BCMoe]

This has helped. Thank you so much

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Great, if there is anything you would like me to do a video on - please let me know.

[@gastonteuly]

Hi Dave, thank you for this very helpful vídeo!! I would like to know your opinión on how to teach Logic vía Zoom. What setup and apps do i need? I found many tutorials on KZbin, but none of them seems to be of much help, Everybody have a different approach about this, so i wanted to ask you how would you do it. Thanks!!!!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hey Gaston. You shouldn't really need anything extra for it to work. You would probably want to enable stereo audio in Zoom - this is done from your profile account settings on their website (oddly enough!). What audio interface are you using?

[@emreon3160]

Very good video!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@christophereasdown8511]

Hi WE are 3 old rockers trying recreate our past by using zoom What medium should we use and what equipment for a virtual jam session we have the drummer in Australia, the guitarist in S England and the vocalist and keyboard player in N England

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hey Christopher. Unfortunately, internet speeds are not fast enough in 2020 to play in real time with other musicians over zoom. Perhaps a round Robin recording would be best, one of you recording something and then passing it on to the next person etc...

[@eduardoortegagil2317]

Hi. Thank you for your video. I have an euphoria umd404hd of Behringuer and I have connected the piano to Chanel 3 and 4 and the micro to Chanel 1 and 2. When I start zoom I can only hear the micro bit no the piano. Could you help me with the set up? Thank you for Android help.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hi Eduardo. Some audio interfaces only send inputs 1 and 2 to zoom. The simplest solution would be to use a little mixer. Put your microphones and keyboards into the mixer and then go into 1/2 on your audio interface. 😀

[@abdnmusic12]

Thanks so much, Dave. This was much needed. I would like to ask however, how would you go about improving sound quality on an iPad. I use my iPad to teach piano and I find it more versatile than the laptop, but I would like to get an external mic as sound quality is quite poor. Any tips? 🙏

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. Glad you found the video useful. Perhaps you could look at getting a "class compliant" audio interface such as the Focusrite iTrack and a pair of microphones to capture your piano. The Shure microphone mentioned in the video (MV51) would work with an ipad too and may be a simpler solution... :-)

[@randycole2708]

Great vid, mate

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Thanks, glad you found it useful. 😀😀

[@olivermaas1]

Great Video ! Trank you man - which Stands do you have for the Adams A77X ?- i like them 👍

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Thanks! The stands are part of the desk. I bought the desk from DV247 about 10 - 15 years ago! I'm sure you can still get something similar...

[@jimsweeney6947]

Thanks for a great video Dave. Can you tell me what your favorite headset microphone is for live performance? I have an Audio Tech pro8he which seems adequate going into a Sennheiser ew100 G2 transmitter/ receiver set up. I want to upgrade the mic, We play a lot of Peter Gabriel, Tears for Fears esguqe music Thank you.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hey Jim. I've never really used a headset microphone. For live work, my favourite vocal mic is the Telefunken M80. I'm a big fan of cables too, not into wireless sorry!

[@jimsweeney6947]

@@davespeakmanmusic Thank you Dave for your reply, I have tried to find out what kind of headset mic peter gabriel used without success. If you had a tip on where I could look I would be grateful , Cheers!!!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

I'll do a little digging?!!

[@bubblewrap74]

Thanks for this helpful video! You said you wouldn't mind answering questions. My son is taking piano zoom lessons and using an electronic keyboard. I want to try to set something up that has two audio inputs because our teacher has a hard time hearing us as well as the piano but I am not sure if my sound card is capable. How do I find out? I have two USB mics. The only sound input on the laptop is via the mic or via a headset, but the issue with a headset is that we are both participating in the lesson. What's the best setup for us? The mics I have aren't great quality, should I just get something midrange that would be better at transmitting the sound?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. It may be worth considering getting an audio interface with 4 or more inputs and a couple of cheap microphones. Thomann make a copy of a Beta SM58 which is great (Tbone MB Beta85). You could then connect the electric keyboard directly to the computer and you would have a microphone each. Don't forget to get all the cables and perhaps a couple of microphone stands.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

An alternative would be to get a Behringer C1 as a room microphone for you both to speak into. Cheap microphone, but should suffice for your needs. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask...

[@gregeden4232]

excellent video

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Thanks, Greg!

[@TacticalTupperware]

Thanks for the video!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Glad yoy enjoyed it!

[@AvishekKun]

thanks for the information. its really awesome. can you i want make bass guitar lessons and i need one audio interface, so as i m starting i don't want invest heavily into interface. after doing a little research i came to know about zoom U-24 audio interface seems okay to me but when i am trying to find reviews i didn't get any. can you give your suggestion regarding the audio interface.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. Yes the Zoom U-24 would work well for you. Other suggestions would be a focusrite 2i2, motu m2, Universal Audio Arrow or Universal Audio Twin. They are all similar interfaces with the Universal Audio ones also benefiting from onboard DSP for tracking through plugins...

[@Cungawng]

What kind of webcam that you use?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

I use a logitec C920

[@oneguitarhero]

Nice video. Question: I started using a Scarlett 2i4 and I have everything set up for zoom calls, but when I talk I hear my "echo" voice with a bit of delay. Is there any way to turn that off or at least fix the delay, I find it very distracting every time I talk. Thanks for your time.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. I leave the echo suppression on in the software. A more directional microphone would help too. :-)

[@briansylvester6739]

Excellent video, thank you! I am new to Zoom teaching. Can you suggest a good setup for my Macbook Pro? I have a Rode Wireless go with one of their lav mics. I would like to be able to add an acoustic instrument to the setting. Do I go with an USB audio interface with and extra microphone? Any suggestions would be helpful. Cheers!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. I would suggest getting a focusrite usb interface, just get one that has enough inputs for everything. :-)

[@davespeakmanmusic]

The Oktavia mk012 is one of my favourite microphones for an acoustic guitar.

[@trevwilliamsmusic]

Hey Dave, great video really useful!! yes more zoom tricks, also be interested in getting best audio for FBlive and youtube live.. if using an external program is good / needed. perhaps anything on latency.. thanks a lot :). Trev x

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Thanks, Trev. Give OBS a go (it is free software for live streaming). Loads of people are spending their food money for the next year on live streaming gear at the moment. Part of me feels the poor quality adds to it!!! I think the main thing that affects live streaming quality is your internet connection. The intimacy of a simple one camera setup is all that's needed for live music, in my opinion... x

[@arturodavid]

how can you overcome the noise canceling option, sometimes, when you sing, zoom, quites the low frequencies or the high and its a mess

[@davespeakmanmusic]

I'm assuming you've turned all the noise cancellation off first? beyond that it is probably advisable to keep your levels lower, maybe as low as -10 or -12dbfs (similar to the level livestreaming on facebook should be done at). My friend Paul Maunder did a fantastic video about lossy codecs which explains why your levels should be lower than you might expect. Compressing your vocal microphone may also help, if you have an outboard compressor. Here is Paul' video: facebook.com/paul.maunder/videos/10153438801870775/?sfnsn=scwspmo&extid=OGS1xAqEXJMR6YE3&d=n&vh=i If you have any further questions, please get back in touch :-)

[@thesoulscompass]

Very useful indeed! Thank you ☺️

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Glad you found it useful:-)

[@isaiahsolares6130]

Hello, this was a greatly informative video, thank you very much! I am also using a Scalrett 6i6, however my second input (which I also use for electric guitar) is not being picked up by zoom. It only picks up the audio coming from my SM57 which is connected to the first input. My guitar is plugged directly into the second input, via quarter inch cable. If you have an idea of how to fix this, that would be wonderful!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello Isaiah. Have you switched input 2 to "instrument" in the Focusrite Control software? :-)

[@artdiamond2347]

Very nicely done, Dave. One question that came up in zoom lessons was pitch variations. Currently I’m only teaching drums, but others at my studio who teach piano are noticing that their students sound a semitone higher! Any ideas on how to correct this? Thanks Art D.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hey Art. Perhaps this could be a sample rate issue? If the students sample rate is 44.1k and the teacher is at 48k maybe that results in a pitch change? Seems odd, I'll do some more research. I haven't had this problem with any of my guitar students (although there have been a couple who needed to tune their guitar!).

[@crystalgaynor9708]

Hi Dave, I participate in open mic's on Zoom (acoustic guitar and vocals) and I can't figure out the how to get the best sound. I want to invest in some equipment, but I'm not sure what to purchase. I use a Samson XPD2 Lav taped to my guitar and not far from my face to pick up the vocals. Any advise would be appreciated. Great channel by the way! Thank you in advance!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello Crystal. I think there's two options to get a good sound. The first way is to mic up both your guitar and voice separately, I would probably use a small diaphragm condenser mic for your guitar and a dynamic mic for your voice (the dynamic mic won't pick up much guitar so should give a nice focused sound. The second option I've used quite a lot is to use a single large diaphragm condenser mic a few feet in front of the performer, this works particularly well if the acoustics of the room you are in are nice and has the benefit of looking more natural on camera... :-) if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

[@tottenhamteacher]

I want to use a L8 as a mixer for my home (one Mic on Zoom) and for possible project with friends either podcasting or even live-streaming then I mainly want to be able to commentate in a game. I’m a mixer person yeah?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hey Mario, is that the Zoom L8 that you're looking at? They look great, I've not tried one yet but they look amazing...

[@tottenhamteacher]

@@davespeakmanmusic yes. I’m a teacher but I was thinking of recording podcasts, commentating fútbol and more so versatility is what I needed but I wanted something to also use on Zoom meetings.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

I don’t have any experience with the L8 but it looks like a great product - extremely versatile

[@tottenhamteacher]

@@davespeakmanmusic I realized that but I thank you for replying. Cheers.

[@kirkrichardson8302]

Hi Dave, great footage with some interesting points on various option on teaching on line. I'm currently using a good quality web cam for online Drum Kit lessons but the on board microphones never seem to handle an acoustic Drum kit. After I have played the Drum kit the microphones take a few seconds to settle to allow you to speak to the student. The web cam is a USB connection to the PC so to cure this problem, I could as you suggest, add a USB microphone to another USB port, allowing the video platform to recognise the external USB microphone. My question to you is could I use a mixing desk with a dynamic microphone, tablet & phone for PDF's & backing tracks via the PC. What product can you recommend that the desk goes through to allow a USB connection to the PC, and would this method allow the video programme to now recognise the external microphone through the desk?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Any USB audio interface would allow you to connect a mixers output to your PC (focusrite 4i4 is particularly good). Alternatively, if you don't already have a mixer - you could look at a USB mixer such as the Allen & Heath Zed 10FX (great little desk, I have one). The simplest setup is the one Hugh is using in this video with the Shure MV51 - it has compression built in so would even out the volume difference between you talking and drumming... :-)

[@kirkrichardson8302]

@@davespeakmanmusic Thanks Dave for the helpful information. I have looked at your recommendations along with the Yamaha AG 03 Hybrid Mixer & Audio interface which might suit my needs with the playback from the PC facility. The big question for me before I purchase any interface are you aware if Zoom or Microsoft Teams recognise a USB interface as the source for a microphone, as the microphone is not plugged directly into the USB port?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hi Kirk, yes - you just select your USB audio interface as the audio input. :-)

[@kirkrichardson8302]

@@davespeakmanmusic Hi Dave thank you for your time, patience & sharing your knowledge.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

You're welcome. If you need anything when you're setting up, please get in touch. :-)

[@elio_sun_]

Hi! Thanks For the video, it helped me a lot! can you help me? I teach ballet lessons on zoom, and i need a wireless lavalier, I have a focusrite Scaret 6i6 and I want to use it, but all lavaliers I have seen on Amazon are not wireless, what do do you recommend and how do I make the conection using mi scarlet? Hope you can Answer me! Thanks

[@davespeakmanmusic]

The rode wireless go should do what you need it to... :-)

[@TheZenguitarguy]

Thank you for the information! Do you ever play over a backing track and if so how do you balance and monitor the relative sound and volumes? Thank you!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello, my students often play to backing tracks yes. It's just a case of asking them to turn it up or down really. :-)

[@darrenglover1427]

Dave ! This is a great video. Well done. Full of fantastic information. BTW Si looks about 18 years old on video !!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Thanks, Darren. Would be good to collaborate on another video soon!

[@darrenglover1427]

Well I am all Zoomed up. Vocal condenser mic, Bass/guitars mic and DI. Works really well just on DI for room quietness. Also sorted Skype mics too for those who don’t use Zoom. Thanks again Dave!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

It's surprising just how well it all works. I just need some more annoying sounds to load into my sampler now - should see the students faces when a massive round of applause starts! Would be good to have some little video clips to jazz it up further!

[@christopherderks]

Hello Dave I'm using a focusrite scarletett 18i20 as my audio interface... my question is how to over ride my settings in zoom... when I go into my zoom settings I choose my speaker as my focusrite interface... but when I go to choose my mic as the same interface ( focusrite) I get the message "there seems to be an issue with your mic choose another mic" it won't let me use the same source. what am I doing wrong?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. Are you on a Windows PC? Sounds like a driver issue, I would try reinstalling the drivers for the focusrite audio interface and see if that solves the problem. Please let me know how you get on... :-)

[@GianCarloFeoli]

Hello, how do you manage to get your DAW audio into zoom on Stereo, i keep geting it on mono into Zoom, I am using Cubase and Voicemeter, on OBS it enters on stereo but on zoom is always mono

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Oddly enough - to enable stereo audio in Zoom, you have to log in to zoom on your Web browser and go to the settings there. Here is an article about how to do this: support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115004830406-Enabling-stereo-audio?mobile_site=true

[@FurorBlrAlex]

Hey, Dave, would appreciate some advice on my future setup. As a dance instructor, my needs on Zoom are slightly different. I would need a mic that allows freedom of movement, and I would need to hear the music while teaching movements. As such, I was looking at the "Rode Wireless Go", standalone or paired with the Rode Lav. Next, instead of a mixer and a separate audio interface, I was looking at the Behringer Q802USB, which I believe combines both functions. I would plug the mic into Line 1, sending it out to Main, and I would plug my iPad (for music) into line 3/4, sending it out to Main and FX. I would plug a small speaker into the FX Send to hear the music in the room, hoping the mic won't pick it up. Does that sound reasonable? Any other suggestions? Am I missing something obvious? Thanks for the informative video. I hope you and your loved ones are well.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hi Alex. I would have thought using a Lav mic and moving around a lot would create loads of noise. Lav mics don't work well with loads of movement and I think you'd find the cable restrictive. I think a shotgun mic such as the Rode NTG would be better (I think Joe Wickes uses a rode videomic pro+). Most Rode microphones are designed to plug straight into a camera so you will need some adapters to plug them into an audio interface or mixer. I don't have any experience of the behringer mixer you mentioned, but I have an Allen and Heath mixer which is a similar idea. I'm not sure what benefit a mixer has over a dedicated audio interface for your setup? Could you not just play your music back from the computer that you are using for Zoom?

[@FurorBlrAlex]

@@davespeakmanmusic Wow, mate, that was a quick response! OK, so no lav, stick to a shotgun mic. Got it. I have found that "Sharing Computer Sound" in Zoom more often than not, creates an A/V sync issue, which is annoying for my use-case. I'm currently keeping a bluetooth speaker next to my laptop for music. The audio quality is crappy, but no A/V sync problems. For this reason, I was considering a mixer. Your thoughts?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Perhaps an audio interface with 4 inputs would be the best option?

[@FurorBlrAlex]

@@davespeakmanmusic Audio interface, not mixer. Got it. Thanks for the help.

[@mylifein75sqft87]

Nice video. Thanks for the tips. Good job.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Glad you found it useful, thanks for the feedback! :-)

[@inhouseparties6907]

Hi Dave, thanks a million for your video tutorial it was of immense help with regards to the settings in Zoom. I currently offer my services as a virtual DJ using my pioneer dj gear XDJ-RX2 mixer(controller) and Rockit Monitor that sends the sound to my MacBookPro laptop or iPhone without a soundcard. The people on the other end hear a very bad quality of sound. How can I fix this? I use zoom so the client can invite friends while I dj for them. I just bought a usb 3D soundcard would that do or would you suggest an extra mixer and a microphone as well? And how shall I install it on my MacBookPro 2017? Thanks in advance for your help. Is there a donation button available? Best Liz

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hi Liz. You should be able to send the audio that you hear in zoom straight over. This either will just work as is, or can be done from the advanced tab of the share screen window. Perhaps the level you're sending is too hot (loud), most live streamers seem to set their levels too high, as it is compressed through the codec for being sent over the internet - levels that are too high will be heavily compressed (so much that it sounds like clipping). I'd aim for a level around 75% of what you would use in a typical DAW scenario. Inputting your sound into a usb audio interface would probably improve the quality a little bit, but if you can get it to work without spending any money - that would be better. Please let me know how you get on. :-)

[@jamesbryant1192]

Thanks Dave. Can I make a music video recording through Zoom and then share it?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hi James. You can record meetings in zoom, yes. Playing in time with other musicians over a zoom call isn't possible yet as Internet speeds aren't quite fast enough. What are you making a music video about?

[@jamesbryant1192]

@@davespeakmanmusic Thanks. I'm hoping to make a video which I can then send to my organ teacher. Ideally I need two cameras to enable him to see both my hands and feet separately.

[@thatguymarioo]

If you use a digital interface this way for zoom audio, will the interface feed zoom the signal pre or post DAW? In case I wanted to EQ my voice on pro tools a bit before it gets sent to zoom.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Straight from the inputs. If you want to process your voice you would have to either use a mixer or UAD console (if you have a UAD system).

[@JimGriffOne]

My MOTU 24io is so old that Windows 10 can't even use it for direct audio input (only with ASIO applications). I tend to use the interface for input, then send a mixed output to the line in on the motherboard's on-board sound card. This causes issues due to +4dBu level being way too high. One day I'll get round to making a stereo T-bridge attenuator for it! Although, with the setup I've got, I can essentially run all sound via Cubase with insert fx and routing for high quality low-latency processing. Some benefits to doing it this way. 🙂

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hey Jim. I used to have a MOTU 2408mkiii. I updated to the focusrite Clarett 8 preX a couple of years ago and couldn't believe how much clearer the sound was. Initially I only did that to be able to use my laptop and desktop on the same system. I thought the MOTU was good, but the developments in conversion technology has really come on. Can't recommend it high enough really...

[@JimGriffOne]

@@davespeakmanmusic Thanks Dave, I'll take a look. Been thinking about upgrading it for a while. It's done me well so far, but yeah, tech has progressed so much since I bought it. Also thinking about a new pair of monitors - Event TR-8s are fairly outdated now haha. Although, I do have a frequency compensation curve locked in to flatten off their muddy/boxy sound as well as the room. Helps a ton.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

I'm a bad influence!

[@EnnaejLorac]

My voice students are using You Tube karaoke backing tracks while they sing on Zoom lessons. There is sound coming from their USB microphone and also from the internal You Tube site. Often the backing tracks are cutting in and out even though we've both 1. unchecked the 'Automatically adjust volume' and 2. disabled 'Supress background Noise' and 3. Disabled 'Supress intermittent Background Noise.' Are there other settings we need to change to stop supression or compression? Thanks for a great video!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Unfortunately, it's probably down to the internet connection. :-(

[@EnnaejLorac]

@@davespeakmanmusic Thanks for your reply. You may be right. I have good internet but my student may not. :-(

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Sometimes the problem is with their wifi router. If you can encourage them to connect to the router directly with a cable, you may get more stable results... :-)

[@EnnaejLorac]

@@davespeakmanmusic I'll see if that's possible. Thanks for the practical suggestion!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

You're very welcome! Hope that you manage to get it working well. :-)

[@LucaBertagliaDrum]

Hi Dave, thank you for your video. I have a problem I can't really get my head around with it. I'm a drummer and I have an acoustic drums in an acoustically treated room. Along with it I have two overheads, a snare mic and a bass drum mic. All of them are connected to a MOTU 4 Pre Hybrid. In it I have the +48V for the two overheads and -20db pad for all of the mics and I'm using Logic Pro X as DAW. Finally I have the Loopback software running in order to import all of the drum tracks from the interface/Logic to Zoom. I've done the gain levels in logic and nothing is clipping or too low. However, the issue I'm facing is that when I'm in Zoom I can't get an enough loud sound to my "audience". I tried basically everything and nothing works. If you have any suggestion on how to fix this it would be very much appreciated. Thank you in advance. Best, Luca Bertaglia

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hi Luca. Have you tried just selecting the MOTU 4 Pre Hybrid as your "microphone input" in zoom?

[@LucaBertagliaDrum]

@@davespeakmanmusic Hi Dave, thank you for your response. Yes, that was the first step, I'm sorry I should have mentioned that. As fas as now I was able to manage everything installing an extra software called BlackHole and changing a couple of set up in the Mac Audio MIDI Setup. This allows me to avoid using Loopback, so less RAM work, which is good, and drums now sound great, my voice is a little quiet but I should be able to fix it adding an extra mic just for when I speak. Thank you again for your availability!!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Glad you got it working, Lucy. All the best :-)

[@anneelizabeth683]

Hi Dave. Thanks for that. Very helpful. I have been teaching online through Zoom since lockdown (piano and keyboard). I also run a children's music class (nursery rhymes etc) using a Yamaha keyboard and Shure headset mic. I run these through a Yamaha StagePas system and am trying to improve the sound quality. At the moment I just let the PC pick up the mixed sound (keyboard and voice) from the speaker located beside the PC. It's not very good though. Unfortunately I don't believe I can connect my mixer to the PC. Can you recommend anything? Would an audio interface do the job? Anne

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hi Anne. A simple two input audio interface should suffice. You can just plug the output from your mixer straight into the audio interface... :-)

[@anneelizabeth683]

@@davespeakmanmusic Thanks so much for your speedy response! Much appreciated

[@davespeakmanmusic]

No problem, if there is anything you would like me to do a video on - please let me know...

[@noluckpureskill9951]

Great Video, thank you! I get one problem though! When i play my guitar in logic with effects ( like delay or an amp) it works welll, but when i play into zoom the effect is'nt there, so i hear the effects in my headphones from logic but when i record or just play back the guitar in zoom its just a clean guitar sounding. Do you have any ideaa what it can be ? Thank you ! :)

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. Zoom picks up the inputs from your audio interface, not the outputs. You would have to process the guitar before it is picked up by the input. Either use delay on an effects processor or pass the audio from logic out of some spare outputs and back in again (making sure that the outputs and inputs you use are not ones used elsewhere in your logic session). 😀

[@philptaylor8613]

Hi Dave! Thanks for the video! I'm studying classical singing via zoom. My teacher and I each have identical mics (SR 30), interfaces (MOTU4), and both use a Mac. The result is that he sounds great to me, but I sound terrible to him.I found this out when listening back to the zoom recordings. I sent the recording to him and he confirmed that the recording represents the sound he hears. We've been through all the settings and not found an differences. Have you run into anything like this? Thanks!! Philip

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hi Philip. Have you perhaps got your levels a little high? Zoom uses a lossy codec to send audio across the Internet, levels above -10Dbfs can result in clipping through inter sample peaking. I would try turning the gain on your microphone down a little and see if that changes anything. I'd be interested to know if this works, if it doesn't I'll try to think of something else to try...

[@philptaylor8613]

@@davespeakmanmusic Thanks for the reply. I think that is okay. My teacher says other students clip when the volume gets up there, but I do not, so I think its not that the gain is too high.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Does your teacher only have problems with your lesson, or does he have problems generally? How fast is your Internet connection?

[@jrobinmusic]

Hello, how did Noah set up the interface on zoom. I have a USB interface and when I connect it to my computer I do have the option to change the “speaker” drop down on the zoom audio settings, to my usb interface but what do I put for the mic option if it doesn’t give me a usb option? I connected my mic and acoustic/electric guitar to my interface but it seems to still be picking up the sound from my computer

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. You can change your input and output audio devices in Settings-Audio. Just select the interface that you want to use. If you're working on a pc you may need to install the drivers for your audio interface. Noah and I work on Macs. Let me know if you're still stuck and I'll do my best to help...

[@tortysoft]

Hi My Drama group does live improvised drama each Friday on to the Internet via Zoom. We have a wide range of skill levels to deal with and a similar range of bandwidth issues. We have two (sets of) problems. The first one (set) you have addressed in your videos, but the second one I have not seen even mentioned anywhere. It concerns the Zoom.us host's local recorded version of the performance. The folder we get holds multiple files. One is the zoom video gallery view with mixed sound. There is also a 'sound only' file. If we set it up right there are also three other files Zoom1,2 and 3 which decompress when clicked to create a set of folders - each one holding one performer's separate track - just them. Now the question - how come are the files all different lengths ? Or - putting it another why - how can we ensure these tracks can be synchronised and mixed after the event ? It looks like the 'silences' have been trimmed so as to produces smaller file sizes. We really need to avoid this ! Many thanks

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hi Simon. I've never tried recording a zoom meeting so have no experience to offer there, sorry. In most of the filming I do, we clap at the start of a take and use that to synchronise all video and audio - perhaps something like that would work. Another option would be to have everyone record the audio on their own computers using a DAW and then use that audio. There is an article in Sound on Sound about online collaboration which is well worth reading...

[@davespeakmanmusic]

www.soundonsound.com/techniques/remote-collaboration

[@tortysoft]

@@davespeakmanmusic Thanks. I'll take a few hours and read the articles :-)

[@anievestor]

Great video. What are your thoughts on online recording with your friends. Can that be done and how would it work? Thanks for a great video. You provided a lot more settings then other people on the internet

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. Bands all playong together in real time over the internet isn't possible. Collaboration on a project is doable, you just need to be really organised with files and plan it out properly. There is an article in this months Sound on Sound magazine about real time sessions over the internet - it is well worth reading. I also did a video about recording which addresses a couple of the requirements for collaborating on a recording... kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2LQZ3aEd7Zol6s

[@pennyholt4999]

I have zoom on my iPad and I can’t find the settings that you are tweaking to improve the sound 😞. My settings are not offering me what you have! Could you help at all, please?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Unfortunately, these settings don't exist in a iPad :-(

[@shawncooper4894]

Hi Dave, I have adjusted my Zoom settings as you recommended, but there is still a bit of echo, any further suggestions? Thanks.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hi Shawn. When you say there is an echo, do you mean that you are hearing your voice twice, delayed, or the students? Or is the problem that the audio and video are not in sync? What system are you on? (Mac/pc) A bit more info about your setup will help to give you a bit more specific advice... Hope we can get you sorted :-)

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Glad you got sorted, Shawn.

[@VisitingTerra]

Wondering about camera shots for guitar students. Wanting to be able to be in the full picture without cutting my head off but also getting a closeup of my hands on the guitar so students can see what I’m doing.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hey Jason. You can move your guitar closer for those bits! You can also set up a second camera in zoom, there is a keyboard shortcut to swap cameras. Another hack would be to set up a separate account on a phone or ipad and join the meeting with that (just join video not audio to avoid feedback). You now have a separate camera for your fingerboard. This will impose a 40 minute limit on your meeting unless you upgrade your account. It's in this video I did last week. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jp20qpKofLuAsKs In all my lessons, I've found it easier to just move my fingerboard hand close to the camera when needed. I have tones of sheets already, which helps a lot. Hope it goes well.

[@danielfurtado3741]

He y bro I’ve been trying all the connections I’ve spoken about but just not managing to get a gud output

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello mate. Can you explain a bit more please? Happy to help if I can

[@martin4rgc]

Thanks Dave! I'm looking for good audio in Zoom meetings (without any DAW) and bought the "Audient ID14" - and want to use the microphone in mono mode so that it drives both channels (left and right). ... but unfortunally in Windows 10 Lenovo let me only select the ID14 mic channels 1 / 2 together (not separately) so that my microphone only through one speaker stereo channel. Would that mono mode be possible with the "scarlett 2i2" or the "Native Instruments 2" without any DAW? And how much worse would the sound be? thx M

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. Unless you change the settings in Zoom to stereo, it defaults to being mono anyway so it shouldn't make much difference that you only have the option to select two channels at once. Which driver are you using for your Audient interface?

[@martin4rgc]

@@davespeakmanmusic ... actually it's Microsoft Teams rather than Zoom (I just didn't want to make it too complicated , but in the Device Manager as well as in all applications, it only shows "ID14 - Input 1/2"). The driver is the latest from the audient website Driver: iD Windows Drivers - Windows 7 and later - v4.0.3 [9.5MB, .exe]

[@davespeakmanmusic]

I don't really use teams sorry. Perhaps a little mixer would be useful? You could probably use some sort of soundflower or asio4all driver to send one input to a new virtual stereo device... :-)

[@martin4rgc]

@@davespeakmanmusic thx dave. And with the 2i2 it works out of the box without a DAW?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

It does in zoom (zoom sums everything to mono by default). I can't answer for in Microsoft teams, sorry. The Audient interfaces are excellent, I suspect you'll be able to get it to work. Is there a "mixer" application for the Audient interface? You will be able to remap it with an asio4all type driver...

[@marl0c0ncepcion]

we do church service via zoom. right now, its just a mobile phone using its earset as my vocalist's mic. while my roland vr09 keyboard hooked up to a pc 2.1 speaker. audio quality is not consistent. most of the time the piano and vocals clash, static, grounded.. just bad. im a noob on this online setup and would love to get your recommendations. audio interface? would a computer be better?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hi Marlo. Yes a computer and audio interface would be much better. I personally like Apple computers but I'm sure you could get great results with a PC. A simple interface such as the focusrite 4i4 would be good. :-)

[@davespeakmanmusic]

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch...

[@Costasmusicman]

Hi my friend Very useful informations about Zoom. My name is Costas and I am a guitar, bass and Ukulele teacher and I use the Zoom on my online lessons, but the only problem I have is that we can't play or sing with the student at the same time because it does not sync the sound, there is a delay. Do you have any solution for this problem? By the way I have all the equipment that you said (sound card, mixer, studio mics) very good internet connection, and I used a MacBook Pro. Thanks very much and I wait for your reply.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hi Costas. The only time I have problems with out of sync video on my macbook pro is if I'm plugged into an external screen and the zoom app is on that screen. As soon as I move it back it is in sync. Other things to check would be your buffer settings on your audio interface. Hope you get it sorted. :-)

[@nzclaytonedge]

Hey there, great vid. We are considering how best to set something up for the students we have at home. In terms of monitoring the sound, is how do you manage both getting low latency from an instrument plugged in directly to the scarlett as well as being able to hear the person at the other end on zoom? Do you switch direct monitor on and off, or is it simpler than that? Thanks!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. If I'm at the studio I just monitor directly. The studio machine is very fast so I can set my buffer down to 32 samples, there is no discernable latency. At home, I have my guitar amp in the same room as me, so I can hear it in the room and I don't hear it through the computer. What instrument are you playing?

[@nzclaytonedge]

@@davespeakmanmusic it's actually for one of the kids, but it's electronic drums. It has a pseudo midi output...but it's usb direct...so will likely take the line out of that into an audio interface...maybe a scarlett.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

I think a scarlett would be perfect for you...

[@powellrandolph]

Question about your lav into the interface. Can you plug it straight into the interface or do you need some kind of di box? I purchased the purple panda lav and can not plug it straight into my Presonus interface and get it to work. Thanks

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. You usually need a way of getting phantom power to the microphone, depends on the microphone you’re using. Here is a video about the microphone I’m using and how it connects. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4WsdqapoZJnnbs

[@powellrandolph]

Thanks for your quick response!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

No problem, hope you get it sorted. If you get stuck - please get in touch.

[@sukanyadia9858]

how do you connect your lavelier mic to zoom meeting?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Via my audio interface. I have the XLR adapter for the SmartLav+. Here is the review I did about that microphone which explains how to connect it... kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4WsdqapoZJnnbs

[@sukanyadia9858]

davespeakmanmusic thank you for the prompt reply

[@davespeakmanmusic]

No problem, if you have any further questions - please don't hesitate to get in touch :-)

[@sukanyadia9858]

davespeakmanmusic how do you set up multi cam 📷 to use webcam for zoom?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

As fas as I'm aware, you can switch between two seperate cameras within zoom on one computer (I've not tried it). The high end solution would be to get the Blackmagic ATEM mini and do your camera switching from there. Another fairly simple solution is to have a seperate zoom account on an ipad or mobile phone and join the meeting from that, giving you an extra camera (turn the sound off on that device to avoid feedback). :-)

[@Bootlebarth]

I have been sharing a zoom meeting with up to five wind instruments. We are using the relative options but we find that at different times one player can dominate and effectively mute the others, ie the "yellow box" seems to be favoured over the others. Can this be overcome?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. Firstly, if you put your view in gallery mode - you'll be able to see everyone at the same time. Everyone in the group changing the settings as mentioned in this video will help. Unfortunately, the codec may cut people off to help with the bandwidth, faster broadband for every member is the only solution really (anyone not on fiber will be dragging the quality of the call down). There is an article in last months sound on sound magazine about collaborative recording which may have some relative information for your group. Hope you find a solution. If you find any other ways to improve it, please let me know. :-)

[@Bootlebarth]

@@davespeakmanmusic Thanks for the reply will follow up your reference. It doesn't help that decent mike's are like hen's teeth at present.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

I know, all the affordable USB mics sold out months ago, same with the good webcams!

[@hannahchaja1591]

Hi Dave, thanks a lot for your video! Do you have any suggestion for using Scarlett 4i4 Focusrite with zoom to habe a good sound quality? Thank you!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. It should work straight out of the box. I did another video about audio in zoom. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZLCdYymjcxpidE If you have any further questions, please get in touch...

[@apiitg]

I bought Boya M1 lavalier mic but do not know how can I use it with Zoom meeting. Can you please help?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. You just connect the microphone to your audio interface. Some lavalier microphones need phantom power, check the manual of the microphone to check if this is the case.

[@apiitg]

@@davespeakmanmusic after I plug in the microphone I do not even get an option in zoom to select that microphone. I am confused if that mic is even recognized by my computer.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Which audio interface do you have? It doesn't auto detect you plugging a microphone in, you simply select your audio interface as the input for zoom...

[@thiagotrinsi]

where do you connect your lava mic?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

My microphone is connected to input one of my Focusrite audio interface.

[@thiagotrinsi]

@@davespeakmanmusic I tried that but didnt work for me, I have an Apollo Quad, so I sent a message to guys UAD guys and they told me to use an adaptor to be able to use XLR end instead!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Yes, you need two adapters to connect it to XLR. Here is a review of the Smartlav+ that I did, there’s chapters so you can skip through to the bit about the adapters too. If you have any further questions - please get in touch. Rode smartLav+ Review/Comparisons to other Microphones kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4WsdqapoZJnnbs

[@MerrillTilwani]

What do you do with the audio settings on Zoom now since the zoom update?

[@MerrillTilwani]

Also, than you so much for this.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. I’ve done an updated video about the new settings here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipbdknVqlNmgiq8

[@boybitzprod]

I tried connecting my mic and acoustic on a Focusrite 2i2 thru Zoom but seemingly my acoustic is coming out with a bit of distortion...any tips?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. Often acoustic guitars sound distorted when the battery is running low. Maybe try a new battery. If that doesn't work, let me know and I'll see what else I can think of...

[@boybitzprod]

@@davespeakmanmusic will do that. Apprexuate the response

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Great, let me know how you get on... :-)

[@boybitzprod]

davespeakmanmusic it is the battery! Silly me! Thank you so much!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Glad you got it sorted 😀

[@BCISTUDIOS]

I have Pro Tools Ultimate and Scarlett 4i4. Is it better to use a separate external mixer if I want to dial in my mic and keyboard sounds? OR can I use my Pro Tools for that to work in congruency with my 4i4

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. You shouldn't need anything, the inputs should all be heard within zoom. An external mixer would give you a little more control but isn't necessary.

[@BCISTUDIOS]

@@davespeakmanmusic so with the gear I have, dialing in is not necessary? I am a Dance Accompanist and its working very well so far through Zoom.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

You can just adjust the gain on each input to balance volume between your microphone and keyboard. A little mixer like the ssl six would be great, but you can probably achieve good enough results with what you have (don't let that put you off buying a mixer if you want one though!!! Haha). :-)

[@BCISTUDIOS]

@@davespeakmanmusic thanks my man

[@BCISTUDIOS]

Can I use a powered mixer like a Peavey i8500. Or will that not be good for my Yamaha HS7

[@georgechandrum]

How to setup those on Focurite Control?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hey George. What do you want to set up?

[@georgechandrum]

@@davespeakmanmusic about hook up some synths & sequencer on Scarlett 8i6 to Zoom/Skype

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hey George. You literally have to plug hardware synths into your interface and they will be heard in zoom. Are you trying to hear software synths?

[@trevwilliamsmusic]

Encoder setup... what is an Encoder? and do I need one etc. :)

[@trevwilliamsmusic]

eg OBS.. driving me a bit mad atm :)

[@davespeakmanmusic]

An encoder converts analogue video to a digital file. You probably don't really need one, mate. Just use your mac and your audio interface. Maybe invest in a better webcam, you can get some for about £70 that are amazing really. The Blackmagic ATEM Mini looks good if you wanted to go fancier or the new ATEM Mini Pro which is just coming out (that has an encoder built in). Great if you're in a building with a fibre optic connection (by which I mean real fibre all the way, not the domestic fiber to the box - copper to your house). That's what the big tv companies have. Just keep it simple, I recon. OBS is dead simple, there's a few good tutorials. It's probably all you need. There's lots of talk of charging for livestreaming, not sure how that would work when all the celebrities are doing it for free...

[@trevwilliamsmusic]

@@davespeakmanmusic Ace will play more with OBS.. both live allow in Chrome but not Safari so the connection to the inbuilt face-time (or whatever) Safari doesn't like. But i imagine i can set it up will with OBS just when I have more headspace x

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Yes mate, give me a ring if you're stuck with anything x

[@ARCHDEACONMUSIC]

Hey Dave, I've figured out how to get really good audio for FB Live & KZbin using OBS using my Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 after a TON of research, but for giving video lessons through zoom it sounds absolutely horrible for some reason. I've resorted to just using my webcam microphone as it actually sounds better, which doesn't even make sense at all, but I'd really like to use my audio interface through zoom to have it sound really good. I've messed around with "audio settings" and when I'm testing the sound quality it sounds very choppy and I don't know why. Any suggestions are appreciated...thanks bro!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. Perhaps your levels are too high? When live streaming, the audio goes through a lossy codec. The codec may be clipping your audio either in inter sample peaks or when it sums to mono (which zoom does by default). If you keep your total input to zoom below - 4 lufs does the sound quality improve? Please let me know how you get on...

[@gchesterton]

Similar question Dave. If I use an external mic and or mixer to improve audio during an Zoom call, where do you get your audio to hear all other participants? All the tutorials seem to address recording applications where hearing audience questions is not necessary. Thank you!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

You can define seperate input and output devices if necessary. I just use the same device in and out...

[@ARCHDEACONMUSIC]

The signal isn't clipping at all as when I monitor the sound with my headphones it sounds great. When I'm doing FB Livestream I'm using OBD and that fixes the audio problem, but using zoom video conferencing and my audio interface it's VERY choppy. I'm using a line out from my BOSE S1 speaker into my audio interface and I've also tried just plugging in my condenser mic to the Focusrite and it sounds horrible. I'm thinking it's a problem with zoom...any suggestions?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

@@ARCHDEACONMUSIC Could it be your internet connection? Is there a way of testing it with a faster connection? Maybe your phone? I would keep your levels lower and try that too, lossy codecs clip at much lower levels during the conversion process (theres two amazing videos about inter sample peaks - one by Paul Maunder and another by FabFilter). Hope this helps. I find when I'm connected to people with a really fast connection, we have really stable audio and the video is really high quality. As soon as the connection is compromised at either end - the quality drops significantly. Best of luck with it, if you get to the bottom of it please let me know. :-)

[@neilslade]

If you are using a laptop or iPads internal mic, it will still sound like CRAP no matter how you change the settings. You and your student need a halfway decent external mic. Plan on spending at least $35 per mic. www.NeilSlade.com www.KZbin.com/neilslade

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Indeed. Although the sound from a 2020 iPad Pro is surprisingly good for video calls! Poor quality internet connections cause the worst degradation in the audio quality in my experience. A good microphone and audio interface will still sound awful if the connection can't handle the bandwidth. :-)

[@EtienneZhou]

haha, Niccolò

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Had to get him in one of these videos!!!

[@daddylongles]

Great video. Thanks. My biggest problem by far is lip sync in Zoom. Ok, I can fix it in post but live, it’s a nightmare. Any thoughts? It drives me nuts when I hear the sound of my instrument and then see my finger touch the string a split second later.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. Does using a lower sample buffer help? The higher this is, the more latency there will be. This could push the audio out of sync with the video. Please let me know if this works...

[@daddylongles]

Hi, That sounds like a good idea. Where do I alter that on my Mac Book Pro?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

I'll go have a look now...

[@davespeakmanmusic]

There doesn't seem to be a way to change this in zoom. You could perhaps change the buffer size in your DAW (Logic) those setting should then carry over...

[@daddylongles]

Thank you so much for your kind help with this. I'll give it a try and let you know how I get on. I use Reason so I will try and do it in that. All the best. Les (I will definitely subscribe to your channel btw)

[@fathead1616]

Great video thanks for the help! Looking into teaching online live drum lesson in this way, and wondering if there is a bargain mic you'd recommend that I could have students use to plug into their laptop or mobile device. The built in mics seem to have too narrow a range and clip far too easily, and I just can't hear my students well enough. Any thoughts or experience with this?

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hey Johnathan. Either of the USB microphones mentioned in the video would be good. The Shure MV51 has compression built in so would work better for balancing the sound of the kit and then you being able to hear their voice. The behringer C1U is amazing value for money... Hope your teaching goes well. :-)

[@fathead1616]

@@davespeakmanmusic thanks so much!

[@davespeakmanmusic]

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

[@tonepot2339]

I'm using a UMC404 on zoom and wyzant but the programs don't pick up and input level on inputs 3 and 4. I tried the stereo button and a/b button but I can't figure it out

[@davespeakmanmusic]

Hello. The UMC404 isn’t an interface I have any experience with sorry. If all else fails, you could use a little mixer in front of your audio interface.

[@tonepot2339]

@@davespeakmanmusic thanks, I'm thinking about doing that. I updated the driver and now I see that when the select the input on the computer (which they call microphone), I can select to use inputs 1 and 2 OR 3 and 4 but not both.

[@davespeakmanmusic]

I little mixer is always useful to have around.