Back in 2011, when music lessons by webcam were viewed as out of the mainstream, bucking the traditional a face-to-face, in-person learning environment, I was nevertheless, lulled into cyberspace by an Australian subscriber to my You Tube channel. One day, he messaged me with a promise to send a Logitech webcam that would widen my teaching experience beyond the confines of a dual piano, walled-in music room.
My first Online lesson with the Sydney, Australian was on shaky ground due to my unfamiliarity with all the intricate steps needed to smooth out a lesson transition with satisfying audio/video dimensions.
That’s where his long-distance driven assistance eased a screen to screen exchange in a stepwise journey to proper Settings and adjustments. In those days, I simply clipped the Logitech webcam to the top of my iMac 21 inch computer, unaware that the internal big Mac cam might have have sufficed. But while I could direct the Mac’s big screen (Face Time view) toward my Steinway keyboard, the addition of the Australian’s Logitech webcam provided a wider, more defined keyboard aspect, though to its discredit, the cam’s internal mic (for Audio) produced a hot zone driven sound distortion that to this day, I do not enlist. Instead, I always set my audio to a USB connected Yeti mic.
The above photo depicts an early 2011 Online piano lesson transmitted from Fresno CA to Sydney, Australia using the Skype platform with a split screen view. As years passed, I transitioned from Skype to Face Time and alternately, Zoom. While I’m still using an old version of Face Time Call Recorder that has since timed out on new computers, I’m able to record Online lessons with 3 view choices: LOCAL view (my own keyboard on full screen); REMOTE (the student’s keyboard) and SPLIT SCREEN which cuts the length of respective student and teacher keyboards. However, the old Mac, having had two hard drive replacements is no longer my lesson giving mainstay though it still assists in the recording cosmos.
My modern day set-up, having evolved over 12 years, adds enhancements that greatly improve cyber lesson transmission. While the venerable and original iMac 21 moved from the Central Valley to California’s East Bay in 2012, MAC, as mentioned, no longer hosts my webcam driven lessons. Instead, my newer 2019 Mac Air (connected to an HP monitor–27″ screen) is powered up on the FACE TIME platform or on Zoom. (HP monitor details:HP 27er 27-Inch Full HD 1080p IPS LED Monitor with Frameless Bezel and VGA & HDMI (T3M88AA) The Mac Air’s Dongle (with added USB ports) connects a Yeti Mic, and one tripod mounted webcam directed at my Steinway grand’s keyboard.
The aging MAC, sitting to left of the 2019 Mac Air, has an older form of iMovie, version 9.09, with its integrated Quicktime App, that easily records (with an attached Yeti mic) my tutorials, performances, uploaded to You Tube. More importantly, iMac 21’s Quicktime also affords in-progress recordings of ONLINE lessons (using its internal cam, or another tripod connected webcam mounted in the area of my piano sculpture.) Recordings of lessons enlisting the older Big Mac are uploaded UNLISTED to You Tube, and sent to students with practicing reminders.
In order to better picture the process, I will have TWO computers running at the same time during LIVE lessons. The Mac Air connected to the big screen 27″ HP monitor shows the student at his/her keyboard, while the Big Mac provides a FACE TIME internal cam generated profile view of myself at the piano–the latter view is only seen by pupils when I send them uploaded, recorded excerpts of their lessons. (It’s a Quicktime APP) This profile or side view afforded by the Big Mac nicely demonstrates supple wrist and relaxed arm motions. (I can also use a web cam mounted alternate view that is a more angled profile–again generated by the Big Mac)
Pupils with Zoom Accounts, however, can rely on themselves to record their complete lessons in full screen or in split screen.
Finally, to reduce all the complexities bundled into a studio bustling with cams, mics, tripods, big and small screens, I’ve attached my latest video-“Having Fun with a New Piano Studio HP Monitor!”
from Arioso7's Blog (Shirley Kirsten)
https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2023/02/23/technology-enhancements-for-online-piano-lessons/
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