Here are some things you should know to get the
best results from Zoom
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Zoom has allowed us to
share music from a socially safe distance, but it has the
ability to totally trash your performance if you aren't set up
correctly. The reason for this is that Zoom was created and
optimized for speech and not music. However, many features
have been added, especially since the onset of the COVID
pandemic, that can allow you to present a very respectable
musical performance over the Zoom platform. The audio and
video capabilities of laptops and tablets have also been
enhanced in recent years, but in many cases you can also make
a substantial improvement with a fairly modest investment in
external audio and video gear. On this page we will try to go
through the steps you should take, in descending order of
importance.
Zoom Version
The Zoom platform has
undergone multiple revisions since the onset of the pandemic,
and the user interface is quite different today versus before
the pandemic. So before proceeding with any of the other steps
in this discussion, you should make sure you have downloaded
the very latest version. On A Mac or Windows PC, turn on
Automatic Updates in the General Settings panel
Original Sound
As mentioned, Zoom is
deigned to modify your sound to optimize it for a speech
presentation (and destroy your music). There are three primary
ways that it accomplishes this:
-
Automatic volume
adjustment is intended to override unwanted volume
changes, but it can also cancel intentional dynamics in
your presentation. Inexplicably, it is also responsible
for causing performances to fade out to the point of being
nearly inaudible. This has been observed multiple times
during our Zoom circles.
-
Frequency equalization
suppresses frequencies not usually present in speech,
especially lower frequencies. This can make the finest
instrument sound tinny and the finest voice sound nasal,
even with the best microphone.
-
Background noise
suppression does what the name suggests. It is supposed to
recognize music and not suppress it, but its success in
that effort is questionable.
Fortunately, current
versions of Zoom provide the option to use Original Sound,
which overrides the above "features" and allows your online
audience to hear what you really sound like. It cannot be
emphasized enough that Original Sound is a must
for musical performances.
The really sneaky thing that
some users do not realize about original sound is that turning
it on is a two-step process. First you have to "Enable" it.
Then, while in the meeting, you have to turn it on. The steps
look quite different in mobile devices (phones and tablets) as
compared to Win and Mac laptops, and it's much less obvious in
mobile devices. Chromebooks are somewhere in between; they
look like a laptop, but act pretty much like a tablet for
Zooming purposes.
Turning on Original Sound
on a MOBILE DEVICE
-
Start the Zoom app
WITHOUT entering a meeting
-
Tap on Settings (Gear
icon)
-
Tap "Meetings"
to get to the meeting settings
-
Find this entry and make
sure it is on (slider to the right and green).
Note that this setting alone does NOT turn on Original
Sound. It just enables you to turn it on during a meeting.
-
Return to the Zoom Home
screen and join the meeting/
-
Once in the meeting,
return to the settings by tapping "More" (3 dots)
to see your in-meeting options. Note that the option to
Enable or Disable Original Sound will not appear if you
have not set "Use Original Audio" in the step
above.
-
If you see this, tap it
to turn on Original Sound.
-
If you see this,
Original Sound is already on, and you're good to go. If
you tap it, you will turn Original Sound OFF.
Confusing? Yes, but trust
us, it used to be worse.
Turning on Original Sound
on a WINDOWS or MAC PC
-
Start the Zoom app
WITHOUT entering a meeting
-
Click on Settings (Gear
icon)
-
Click on "Audio"
to get to the Audio settings
-
Find this entry under
Music and Professional Audio, and make sure the box is
checked.
Note that this setting alone does NOT turn on Original
Sound. It just enables you to turn it on during a meeting.
-
Return to the Zoom Home
screen and join the meeting.
-
Once in the meeting, you
should see your Original Sound status in the upper left of
the screen. Note that your Original Sound status will not
appear if you have not set "Show in-meeting option..."
in the step above.
-
If you see this,
Original Sound is "Off", so click it to turn on
Original Sound.
-
If you see this,
Original Sound is already on, and you're good to go. If
you click it, you will turn Original Sound OFF.
-
Pay close attention to
the two messages directly above. If the colon (:) is not
present, you have an obsolete version of Zoom, and the
behavior of the buttons will be the opposite of what is
described above. Confusing? Yes, but as previously
mentioned, it used to be worse. Update your Zoom app.
If you have completed the
above steps to use Original Sound, you are well on the way to
a performance with respectable audio quality. However, there
are a few other things to consider
Echo Suppression
Echoes occur all too
frequently on Zoom, and most times, the person causing it does
not hear it. This happens when a microphone on a Zoom call can
hear the sound from a speaker on the same call. If you are
using the built-in speakers and microphone of a single device,
Zoom should prevent them from being active simultaneously. But
if not, here are some tips to avoid it:
-
If you use a Windows or
Mac laptop, go to the "Music and Professional Audio"
section of the Audio Settings and select "Echo
cancellation". This is especially important if you
have Bluetooth speakers, which introduce a delay into the
audio.
-
Use Headphones instead
of speakers. As a bonus, you'll hear better sound.
-
If you have two devices
active on the same Zoom call within hearing range of each
other, you need to disable the sound on one of them. On a
Mobile device, go to the in-meeting settings by tapping
"More" (3 dots) to see your in-meeting options. Then
tap "Disconnect Audio". On a Mac or Windows
PC, click the up arrow (^) next to the Mute/UnMute icon
and select "Leave Computer Audio".
Music and Professional
Audio
If you are using a Mac or
Windows PC, there are a couple of other settings beside Echo
Suppression available in this section of the Audio Settings.
-
"High fidelity music
mode" is the result of a university study which does
for music performances what the default Zoom features do
for speech. It will further sharpen your musical audio,
but comes at the cost of processor and bandwidth
consumption. A wired Ethernet connection is recommended,
and you might want to test it out with a friend to see if
it's worth it.
-
"Stereo audio" is
of no value unless you have multiple inputs which are
mixed and panned to various locations in the stereo image
and connected through a stereo capable interface. It also
comes at the cost of processor and bandwidth consumption.
Additional Audio/Video
Gear
The built-in camera,
microphone and speaker in a laptop, tablet or phone are not
always of the highest fidelity, and leave considerable room
for improvement.
A separate microphone would
be a good place to start enhancing your A/V setup. The easiest
way to go is a mike with a USB interface that can plug
directly into your device. A large diaphragm condenser mike is
the preferred choice. This improves your sound in two ways.
First, it's a better microphone to start with, and second, it
allows you to keep the mike close to you while allowing the
camera to be farther way for a better view of you and your
instrument. In your Zoom Audio Setup panel, you will need to
tell your device which microphone to use.
If you already have a good
mike with a conventional XLR plug, you can take the next step
with a USB digital interface. These are available with
multiple inputs so you can also plug in your instrument and
mix the sound. They generally have phantom power available in
case your mike needs it. Many also have the ability to plug in
a headphone as a monitor. As with the USB mike, you will have
to tell your device which mike to use.
Webcams are quite affordable
these days and will give you a better picture than many
built-in cams. They can clip on the top of your screen or
mount on a tripod. Most also come with a built-in stereo
microphone, but without a separate mike, as described above,
you have to compromise on the distance between yourself and
the cam/mike. Having the mike close to you and the cam farther
away is desirable because the audience can see more of you,
including your instrument, without sacrificing sound quality.
And speaking of video, please have a good warm light in front
of you, and don't have a light or a daylit window behind you.
You can improve what you
hear by using headphones, earbuds, or studio reference
speakers.
No matter what A/V gear you
use, of even if you use the built-in features of your device,
you need to find out how you look and sound. Nearly every
device today has a camera function that can record video, so
set it up and record yourself to verify your sound levels and
video composition. If you have a Mac or Windows PC, you can
start your own private Zoom session and turn on the "Record"
function to verify your Zoom settings. Zoom records both video
and audio. Or you can enlist a friend to join a session and
compare notes to see how you both look and sound. Also, if you
are a current member and have played in our Zoom circles, you
can do yourself a favor by heading over to the session audio
recordings on the Members
Website and see how you sound. I can guarantee there are
a few folks who had sound issues they don't even know about.
And finally, if you have any
questions, please feel free to write to us at info@bucksfolk.org.
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