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Double Bass Damn virus and teaching online

R

RJALEX

Jul 13, 2018
16
24
#1
Dear friends,
I'm writing on behalf of my son. He's a professional bass player but currently because of the epidemic here in Italy the only source of income are the lessons he gives to his students. Unfortunately the situation (and the law) prohibits people to leave your own house (and has suppressed all entertainment gatherings) and therefore he's organising himself to give lessons online.
He just bought a webcam but he would like to wire the sound of his bass to Skype on top of the audio/video from the web cam (he has a Babyface interface on the computer).
Is this feasible? Any other ideas on setting up to do good lessons not in person?
How would you handle payments? Paypal? Some other simpler way?
Thanks and may you all be safe.
PS Would there be a better forum section for him to seek help on this? He's going to register and take this himself
 
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#3
Does your son have a pickup on the bass? If so, the output from that could be directly interfaced, although tone would be better from a mic, probably even just a webcam mic.

Online lessons are a common thing now, I would expect some of our folks here do this and could discuss equipment. The caveat is that online students need to have income too, and this could be a time when they also cannot work.

Depending on your son's equipment, he may be better served with this being located in the "Amps, Mics & Pickups [DB]" forum section. A request to the TB/DB admin could get that done for you.

Good luck to all during these suddenly financially stressed times.
 
#9
RJALEX said:
Dear friends,
I'm writing on behalf of my son. He's a professional bass player but currently because of the epidemic here in Italy the only source of income are the lessons he gives to his students. Unfortunately the situation (and the law) prohibits people to leave your own house (and has suppressed all entertainment gatherings) and therefore he's organising himself to give lessons online.
He just bought a webcam but he would like to wire the sound of his bass to Skype on top of the audio/video from the web cam (he has a Babyface interface on the computer).
Is this feasible? Any other ideas on setting up to do good lessons not in person?
How would you handle payments? Paypal? Some other simpler way?
Thanks and may you all be safe.
PS Would there be a better forum section for him to seek help on this? He's going to register and take this himself
Click to expand...
I haven't felt the fallout yet, but I'm guessing that most of my regular gigs are going to end up being cancelled indefinitely. This, because they involve dense gathering places for people (museum, church, restaurant).

Unfortunately, the economic mitigation that Trump talked about last night (waiving payroll taxes, loans for small businesses) will have no effect on those of us who make our living in the gig economy.
Buckle up!
 
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#11
Hi Carl,
I wont comment on the US situation not living there (even though I do have strong opinions about the current PotUS) but unfortunately its the same over here. Some financial aid will cover fired employees and businesses but as you say gig and freelances are going to loose some weight :(
 
#13
Many if not most laptops and pads are ready to roll with Skype because they already integrate cams and mics. It's available for Windows, Mac, Android, iP*, for desktops, laptops, pads and even phones. Software is downloadable off the web. There may be a software price depending on the version.

I know times are tight, but rather than trying to synchronize multiple dongles on a desktop machine, it might be worth a relatively small investment for one such portable device dedicated to using Skype for teaching lessons. Portability is great, plus that leaves the other systems in the house available and unaffected by Skype requirements. Plus, this allows a Skype teacher to test the process at home to see how well everything works. Just like double basses, it's best to try before you buy, and specify that it needs to be ready to go with Skype.
 
#14
On my computer (a Mac) there is an audio control panel in the operating system that allows you to set the audio input and output to the interface. The interface itself came with a piece of software that controls the routing and the mix of its various inputs and outputs. Does that help?
 
#17
RJALEX said:
Hi Damon,
do you have any best practices to share?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
The main thing isn't tech related: I find I need to have a tighter lesson plan to keep the energy going in an online lesson. If your information is good, a good set of headphones with a mic is all you need.
It is actually better for looking at overall physical issues, you can see if the left hand is getting weird or if the bow hand isn't moving enough, it gives you a good visual overview.
 

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