Van Cliburn Webcast

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:17:12 +0100

Attending the Van Cliburn Competition has been one of those dreams that I've never had the opportunity to realize, until now! www.cliburn.tv/# (http://www.cliburn.tv/#)

Developing the Skype Studio

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:33:00 +0100

My adventure in distance teaching continues. I'm learning about what works and what doesn't, and I'm also learning that there is a definite market for teaching by distance. In order to teach by distance successfully, however, there are certain minimum equpment requirements. I have found that I've been able to set up my distance studio with relatively inexpensive equipment. Microphones One of the microphones I use is a very inexpensive microphone that I bought several years ago. I use it for vocal miking. Just about any type of microphone (even a cheap computer microphone from Walmart) is fine for speaking (unless you're teaching voice lessons). Skype transmits voice signals very well, and I've always been impressed with the proximity of voice over Skype. The second microphone - for the piano - is a Blue Ball Dynamic Microphone. (http://www.zzounds.com/a--884899/item--BALBALL) I bought it because of the great reviews, and because it is very affordable. To mic the piano, I lift the lid to the fullest height, place the ball on a boom mic stand (http://www.zzounds.com/a--884899/item--MUP7701B) , and center the mic about equally spaced from treble to bass strings, and from the end of the piano to the pin-block. Behringer XENYX 802 Mixer (http://www.zzounds.com/a--884899/item--BEHXENTX802) , which has all the inputs and outputs I need for this purpose, and for less than $60, you can't beat the price. It allows me to control both the piano and voice mic signals, monitoring them directly through my headphones from the computer. The sound is very clean, and I couldn't be happier. I also have flexibility as to where to place the mixer without being limited by a short cable. WebCamDV from Orangeware (http://www.orangeware.com/endusers/webcamdv.html) . It works flawlessly, and the license fee is only $20. You can try it for free on a limited basis before purchasing. Sound Card Although the built-in sound cards on most modern computers have excellent sound, I decided to use a high-end audio card that I purchased for my laptop a while back. It is the Echo Indigo IO Stereo 24/96 Laptop Cardbus (http://www.zzounds.com/a--884899/item--ECHINDIGOIO) audio interface. The E-MU 1616 is also a great interface, but has no inputs other than on the microDock, so the Indigo has come in handy. It has excellent sound quality, and an external volume control that comes in really handy (in addition to the controls on the mixer). So that is the extent of the equipment I'm currently using for my distance studio. The total investment I've made for microphones, mic stands, and mixer amounts to about $170, if you don't include the optional Echo sound card. In the next article I'll talk about some of the online features I've been using to augment the distance lessons, including the Moodle LMS and Joomla CMS.

Piano Pedagogy Plus

Van Cliburn Webcast

Developing the Skype Studio