Fresh Starts: September Community Concert

Angela Fogg Oh, no, feel better! I just got the flu and Covid shots so I feel miserable.

Larry K thank you Larry. I always get my jabs when I’m supposed to, but somehow rather this bug has crept through. I hope you’re feeling better in 24 hours!

Angela Fogg Get better soon. You will be greatly missed!

Angela Fogg Thanks! I usually get the flu shot later to cover longer into the flu season but I am hoping to avoid infection  when we travel to the great nations of Europe, lol.

Angela Fogg hope you feel better soon! it seems to be going around at the moment.

Angela Fogg I hope you recover quickly! Take good care.

Angela Fogg oh, no! Get well soon! We’ll miss you.

Angela Fogg So sorry we'll miss you today Angela, get well soon, & we'll look  forward to the next opportunity to hear you.

Peter Golemme looking forward! :)

Larry K Dominic mentioned about turning the original sound on in the guide above, though it's worth reminding :)

PS: I was guilty of forgetting it a couple of times but not last night ... though I also changed my base settings so the couple of times I forgot didn't seem to matter much.

Priya Viseskul You sounded good! It was some of the other pianos that were not clear.

I listened to the event on a pair of headphones from my laptop, so I think my setup was pretty good.

It is unfortunate that the moderator cannot turn on the Original Sound setting for those people who are playing. That would be a great feature. 

Larry K I notoriously had some trouble with Zoom settings, to the point of where I once couldn't play on a community concert for which I had enrolled, because the "noise cancellation" was rendering it inaudible/unlistenable. But Dominic has two videos whose links are posted with the Community Concert announcements (as they are above), addressing Zoom settings for Laptops and for iPads/Phones etc.  I followed the instructions there and this helped me get my Zoom settings straight, so I recommend them to everybody struggling with sound quality.  (A couple of ToneBase colleagues also generously volunteered to do practice Zoom calls with me, which helped me confirm that I had finally got it right!).

But even if you've got your Zoom settings right, your camera/microphone/computer  might be fighting you. In trying to use my Windows laptop's built in camera & mic for example, I found that Windows set my input by default to "noise cancellation", and it took a deep dive into the menus to change that -- and then Windows seemed to reset them everytime I shut down. So aggravating! I also found that some webcams with built in microphones are hardwired for "noise cancellation" with no way to turn it off.  These will result in the underwater sound.

iPads and iPhones are decent recording devices IMO which don't "cancel" the music. Mine do not employ "noise cancellation" by default (others may have to check their Settings to make sure that it's not turned on somewhere).  By default, my (and I assume everyone else's) phone and iPad use COMPRESSION--- designed to keep the audio level constant, something generally desireable on phone calls -- which has the effect of leveling out the loud and soft passages, bringing them down/up to roughly something in the middle. In cases of sudden extreme changes in volume, this can result in a momentary audible pumping sound  as the compression alters the volume while the notes are sounding, but it's not as bad as the underwater sound.  (I personally don't know whether the compression can be turned off, but it's not fatal to transmitting an acceptable music audio signal on these concerts, IMO).

In order to take better control of my settings for these concerts I finally rigged up some real professional microphones (i.e. those sold by music stores to musicians) and ran them through an Audio Interface (many here use FocusRite interfaces) into the Computer's line inputs, and route them to the computer's line outputs, which will send them out on a Zoom call. So now I take the Zoom sessions on my laptop again, but the Interface controls the audio, and people on the receiving end tell me that my sound is good . Of course it also means more technology to have to fuss and fiddle with and learn, when all we really want to do is play the piano. But once I put this setup together, it remains in place as my default and doesn't interfere with the audio on my performances Zoom over any more.

In summary, here are my suggestions:

1. make sure "Original Sound for Musicians" is set for your Zoom calls -- this is essential, and Dominic's videos show you how (and it looks like  Larry K 's tips above should also get you there).

2. If using a laptop or computer, be prepared that its settings are most likely fighting you and defaulting to "noise cancellation", so change them if you can, or avoid using the laptop directly for your sound/video if you have an iPhone or iPad as an alternative. (but laptops can work well with an Interface -- see below).

3. iPads and iPhones are good baseline devices, producing acceptable  sound for our concerts, without necessity of wasting precious mental space on technical settings (but make sure "noise cancellation" is not optionally turned on on your device for your audio settings).  The compression will change your dynamics, but doesn't cut stuff out like noise cancellation does. On these calls, we are performing to be heard on computer speakers or often cheap 'ear-bud' style headphones, so the listener's audio is not generally going to be great quality anyway. Concert hall or studio-level recording quality of audio is not as important as simply being able to hear your playing.

4.  You will get better results using real, professional microphones (which need not be expensive) and an Audio Interface for your computer, but this means you'll have to invest some time in learning how to use them.

Today's technology is wonderfully miraculous, but demands attention and some learning, which to me is a necessary but potentially very aggraviting and frustrating evil to have to deal with, when, again, all I really ever want to do is just play the piano!

Peter Golemme Thanks for your in-depth post on sound settings. Well done.