How To Setup Zoom For Online Singing Lessons

Since March, I have taught singing lessons online and learned how to create the best sound quality for my students.  The closer you sound to an in-person voice lesson, the easier my job is because I hear a more accurate vocal picture!

First, please use your computer for your voice lessons.  Phones tend to have poorer microphones and speakers.  In addition, if you can hook an external mic and/or headset, sound quality is much stronger.  You don't need get a $100 external mic (though it does help!).  I have had great success with students using their gaming headsets and even cheap external earbuds that they use for their iPhones!

I highly recommend you use Zoom.  While Facetime, Microsoft Teams, Facebook Messenger and other telecommuting solutions work for voice lessons, they lack certain features to enable the best sound quality for music analysis.

Once you start your first voice lesson, click the '^' symbol on the 'mute' button.  This will allow you to click "Audio Settings," which allows us to tinker with Zoom and how it adjusts the sound.

In the next screen, you will go to where it says 'Microphone' and UNCLICK the box that says "Automatically Adjust Microphone Volume."  Two more spaces down, you will see an option for "Suppress Background Noise."  Change that setting to "Low."  Then in the bottom-right corner of the screen, click the "Advanced" button.

This is where the real magic happens!  Click the box that says "Show in-meeting option..."  This is the critical selection.  Every telecommuting software, in an effort to make speech as intelligible as possible, reduces background noise.  Unfortunately, music is interpreted as "background noise" because it is sustained!  By clicking this option, it prevents a lot of the automatic muting by the software when you sustain a pitch.

Finally, click the two options that state "Disable Echo Cancellation" and "High Fidelity Music Mode."

Return to the main screen where you see your voice teacher in the large screen.  In the top left corner, you should see a box that says "Turn Original Sound On."  Click it and it becomes blue and says "Turn Original Sound Off."  Viola!  You are setup for voice lessons!

DWS