Location – Please be in the same location for all of your lessons if at all possible. New locations sometimes eat into session time as we may have to figure out the setup again. Please don’t take your lesson in a taxi, car, etc due to unreliable connection and lack of space for proper posture. 😀
Devices – Laptop is best but tablets can work for the main device. You’ll be working on a song, too, so be sure to have the backing tracks downloaded to a separate device (phone, tablet, computer) not being used for the video session. It’s best if the backing track file is saved on your device and not streamed from the internet because that can reduce the bandwidth you have available for the video and audio feed and cause delays. If you share the internet with others, please ensure no one is streaming or downloading/uploading during your online lesson.
Position – Basically, you wanna be in a standing position for your session and the camera should be high enough to be at least even to your chest height. Then the camera should be adjustable up or down at an angle so that when you step back like 5 feet, it can capture you from your hairline down to about your hip line. Also, you probably want headphones and they should either be wireless or have a cord that is long enough for you to step back the 5 or so feet.
Lighting – Should not be behind you or the exposure gets all weird. It’s best to have the lighting come from behind the camera so it shines on you. Wear clothes that contrast the background so the teacher can see you more clearly.
Audio setting – during your session, go to mic setting on the live screen, it should be next to the mic logo at the top or bottom depending on your device. Click “Audio Settings” -> “Suppress background noise”. Make sure “Low” is selected, this will help preserve your original sound. Selecting “Medium” or “High” will distort your sound.
-Music and Professional Audio, select “Show in-meeting option to enable “Original Sound”, then make sure only “High fidelity music mode” is selected.
Backing Track – A lot of backing tracks/karaoke tracks can be found on Youtube by searching the name of your song followed by “karaoke” or “backing track”. i.e., “Hey Jude karaoke”. Once you’ve found the right version, copy and paste the Youtube link into this site https://ytmp3.cc/en9/ to make a mp3 version of the song so it can be saved to your phone for offline use. If you have a Karaoke app such as Smule or Starmaker with your song on it, you are good to go.
Amazing Slow Downer – This is a mobile app that allows you to change the key of songs. It’s super helpful if the original backing track is too low or too high for you. If you don’t want to use this app, you can plug the mp3 file into one of these free pitch-shifting site: https://transposr.com/songs/
Recording – If you’d like to record the session for personal use, please let the instructor know during the lesson so they can give you permission to record on your end.