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2020-21 COVID-19 Guide to Hybrid & Online Teaching at JMU

Online options for performance and dance classes

Note: This guide was updated until June 30, 2021. Some of the content may be outdated starting in July 2021. Some pages in this guide will redirect you to more current/updated content on the JMU Libraries website. Visit our new Guide to Online Teaching. 

Teaching a performance, theatre, or dance class in an online or hybrid mode? We've gathered some resources for you.

On this page:

Tips for using Zoom for online music instruction

This part of the guide is based on similar documents developed by Jay Grymes, University of North Carolina – Charlotte (UNC Charlotte). The following procedures will help you best implement these options. 

Use JMU Zoom Account and Zoom Desktop Software  

  • Sign out from your personal Zoom account and log into jmu-edu.zoom.us, with your JMU e-ID and DUO.  

  • Make sure to have the current Zoom desktop client by downloading it from from https://zoom.us/download2. 

Optimize Zoom for Music 

After you start a Zoom meeting, 

  • Access the audio settings by clicking on the upward arrow next to the “Mute” button and selecting “Audio Settings” (as shown with the screenshot below).

  • Adjust the microphone input volume as needed by moving the slider. A good rule of thumb is to start with the slider at around 3/4 to the right (allowing about 75% of possible microphone input volume), and then adjust the volume as necessary. All the way to the left will not pick up any sound, and all the way to the right will create distortion in the loudest playing. Deselect “Automatically adjust volume” so the fullest possible range of dynamics will be conveyed. Change the setting on “Suppress Background Noise” to “Low” (as shown with the screenshot below).

  • Visit “Advanced” and make sure the setting on “Echo cancellation” is on “Auto”. Select “Show in-meeting option to ‘Enable Original Sound’ from microphone”, AND select “High fidelity music mode” (as shown with the screenshot below)

  • Exit out of Settings 

  • In the upper-left-hand corner of the main Zoom screen, select “Turn on Original Sound” (as shown with the screenshot below).

 

Use Cleanfeed for Low-Latency Audio 

To reduce latency, try using Zoom with the sound muted for video only, and using cleanfeed.net for sound. Cleanfeed is free, but you may want to upgrade to CleanfeedPro for higher bit rates. 

  • Use the Google Chrome browser and create a free-to-use account at cleanfeed.net 

  • Log into your cleanfeed account. 

  • Select “+ Connect” to invite your student to a Cleanfeed session, with their dukes.jmu.edu accounts (since students were required to authenticate their Dukes Zoom accounts on October 21). This will send the student a link to their dukes.jmu.edu accounts that they will click on to connect to your Zoom class meeting. 

  • If you are recording your lessons, remember that Zoom is only recording the video when you mute it. You will need to use video-editing software (iMovie, etc.) to add the audio recording from Cleanfeed to the Zoom video. 

More information about using Cleanfeed along with Zoom can be found at: https://cleanfeed.net/knowledge/zoom-alongside-cleanfeed 

Use Two Cameras 

In addition to focusing a webcam on your face, you may want to focus a second camera on your hands, your desk (like a document camera), etc. You can connect your smartphone to your computer via USB or a second (non-JMU) email account of yours and use it as a second camera. 

Consider mounting the phone on a tripod or with a gooseneck stand. 

  • Share your phone screen with the Zoom Desktop Client. To alternate between the two cameras on a windows keyboard, use Alt+N. On a mac keyboard, use Option+N. 

  • If you would like for your students to see a thumbnail of your webcam while viewing the feed from your second camera: 

  • Hover your mouse over the bottom of your screen and click on “Share Screen” (in the middle, in green). 

  • Select the “Advanced” tab at the top of the sharing screen. 

  • Select “Content from 2nd Camera”.  

  • Select “Share” (as shown with the screenshot below.)

  • Click on the “Switch Camera” button in the upper-left-hand corner to make your webcam the larger screen again (as shown with the screenshot below).

Enable System Audio 

By default, Zoom will only share the audio from your microphone. If you want to share music from your computer, you will need to do the following: 

  • Hover your mouse over the bottom of your screen and click on “Share Screen” (in the middle, in green). 

  • If you want to share your screen along with your system audio, check the “Share computer sound” box at the bottom, select the screen you want to share, and click “Share.” (as shown with the screenshot above.) 

  • If you only want to share your system audio (and not your screen), select the “Advanced” tab at the top of the 

  • sharing screen and then click on “Music or Computer Sound Only.” 

  • Please note that if you and your students are streaming files from the Naxos Music Library (https://guides.lib.jmu.edu/naxosmusic), you must be using Zoom through Canvas. Otherwise, the copyright protection will preclude the students from hearing the music. 

How to use Zoom's "high-fidelity music mode" for performance classes


Zoom's High-Fidelity Music Mode delivers professional audio, streaming to one or more listeners, for performing arts and music teachers, songwriters, and anyone else looking for rich, professional-grade sound over Zoom. 

To enable High-Fidelity Music Mode:

  • In a Zoom meeting, click the ^ (up arrow shape) to the right of the microphone icon button (which allows you to mute or unmute)
  • Click Audio Settings...
  • Click Advanced at the bottom of the Audio Settings box
  • Click the High-Fidelity Music Mode checkbox (see screenshot below)

More technical instructions are available from Zoom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resources for moving performance/dance classes online
 

Note: This guide was updated until June 30, 2021. Some of the content may be outdated starting in July 2021. Some pages in this guide will redirect you to more current/updated content on the JMU Libraries website. Visit our new Guide to Online Teaching. 

Find more topics in this guide on the A-Z Page List or in the menu.