Improve Your Online Lesson Experience

Are you noticing the sound cutting in and out while you play your instrument during your online lesson experience or performance? Does the instrument sound garbled on the other end when you try to play? Are you having trouble hearing dynamic contrast? All of these sound issues are fixable with a little bit of set up in Zoom! Zoom was originally intended for speaking, so the default audio settings are optimized for normal speech and designed to filter out background noise and loud sounds. This guide will show you how to change these settings to instead be optimized for instrumental music and singing.

Desktop or Laptop PC:

1. Before your lesson, open the Zoom app on your computer and login to your account. If you have already used Zoom, you can find the program by searching in your start menu. If you have not already used Zoom, you can download it at https://zoom.us/download.
2. In the top right corner of the screen, click the gear icon.
3. Click on the audio tab, then click Advanced in the bottom right corner.
4. In the advanced audio screen, check the box that says “Show in-meeting option to ‘Enable Original Sound’ from microphone”. Also change the setting “Suppress Intermittent Background Noise” to “Disable”.
5. Click “Back” and close Zoom.
6. At the beginning of each lesson, click the button on the top left of the screen that says “Turn on Original Sound”. It will turn blue when it is turned on.

Once you follow these steps, all you will need to do moving forward is click the “Turn on Original Sound” button at the start of the lesson.

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Desktop or Laptop Mac:

1. Before your lesson, open the Zoom app on your computer and login to your account. If you have already used Zoom, you can find the program by searching in Finder under Applications. If you have not already used Zoom, you can download it at https://zoom.us/download.
2. In the top right corner of the screen, click the gear icon
3. Click on the audio tab, then click “Advanced” in the bottom right corner
4. In the advanced audio screen, check the box that says “Show in meeting” option to ‘Enable Original Sound’ from microphone”. Also change the setting “Suppress Intermittent Background Noise” to “Disable”.
5. Click “Back” and close Zoom
6. At the beginning of each lesson, click the button on the top left of the screen that says “Turn on Original Sound.” When it is turned on, it will say “Turn off Original Sound.”

Once you follow these steps, all you will need to do moving forward is click the “Turn on Original Sound” button at the start of the lesson.

Click Image to Enlarge

Smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device:

1. Open the Zoom app on your device, then click the gear icon in the top left corner of the screen.
2. Click on the “Meetings” button.
3. Scroll down and check the “Use Original Sound” setting so that it turns green.
4. Click the back arrow and exit the app.
5. At the start of the lesson, tap the bottom of the screen to bring up the control bar, then click the three dots that say “More”.
6. Click the option that says “Enable Original Sound”.

Click Image to Enlarge

Want to improve your online lessons/performances even more?

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• Essential Home Recording Studio Accessories: A Guide