Noob down... SOS!

[Sivad]

I have been working with a few students online to start teaching beginning guitar, get use to the tech and work out the kinks. I thought it was going great until everyone no-showed. Apparently two things are happening. When I play loud enough for them to hear through Zoom the notes are "muddied" and my neighbors complain. Haha! Great... grumble.

I jumped into the recording courses in the Academy and that led me down the audio interface rabbit hole. While it would be nice to get into something very basic so I can learn, this course seems like complete overkill for me at this time.

My only priority is to figure out how to as cheaply as possible connect my electric directly to my iPad Pro so that I can play through Zoom. For clarity, this is not about recording high quality music, I just need for my guitar to be heard clearly preferably with as minimal a learning curve as possible. My eyes surely glazed over about 24 hours ago and still am not confident that what I am asking is even possible. On a side note maybe I have finally learned my lesson with Youtube. Maybe.

See ya on the clef side.

[DeafBlind Renee]

Well, I may not be any help at all, or maybe I can send you in a direction that will help you find your answer. I no longer have an iPad, so I can't help you there. Although I did use to attach my old iPad with something from iRig. Don't know if that is still a thing or not now as they change ports and stuff out. 

Maybe there is something similar for iPad/garage band or something like that. I did find that you can change the setting in the Zoom account from the browser to use original sound which stops the noise suppression/cancellation which is great for speech/background noise but not music. That means it just takes the sound directly from whatever microphone you are using. So, I guess you can just play your guitar and mic your guitar or amp directly and use that setting to make the sound suitable for music.

Video is from 3/2020 when this became a serious need for musicians and Zoom did an update. Hopefully, I am helping some.

 

[Sivad]

Thank you for the reply.

Aside from the poor audio, even with the original sound setting tweek, when I play loud enough to be heard my neighbors complain. So I need to go with a direct input and monitor everything through headphones.

I do not think the iRig a thing so much now. Since posting I found that even the Focusrite Scarlet and many other usb interfaces can be used on an iPad. At least that is what Youtube and the rest of the interwebs told me. I am considering one of the low end Behringer U-Phoria models. It has an xlr mic and 1/4 inch for a guitar.

Many seem to be using an iPad now exclusively for guitar amp and effects modeling and leaving the pedal boards and amps behind. There are even several DAW's available including Cubase. My head is still spinning from all the new info.

Thanks again for making an effort.

Peace,

Patrick

[DeafBlind Renee]

On 9/23/2022 at 11:49 PM, Sivad said:

Thank you for the reply.

Aside from the poor audio, even with the original sound setting tweek, when I play loud enough to be heard my neighbors complain. So I need to go with a direct input and monitor everything through headphones.

I do not think the iRig a thing so much now. Since posting I found that even the Focusrite Scarlet and many other usb interfaces can be used on an iPad. At least that is what Youtube and the rest of the interwebs told me. I am considering one of the low end Behringer U-Phoria models. It has an xlr mic and 1/4 inch for a guitar.

Many seem to be using an iPad now exclusively for guitar amp and effects modeling and leaving the pedal boards and amps behind. There are even several DAW's available including Cubase. My head is still spinning from all the new info.

Thanks again for making an effort.

Peace,

Patrick

Yeah, I know many are going more digital. I have a good DAW in Logic Pro X, and I do use the effects in there. I think though with me, it is harder for me to use the software part of things being DeafBlind. I like the actual knobs on things. lol I seem to know better where I am exactly. I do know a few who prefer pedal boards still, though. It may be that it is some of the older crowd more, but I don't know for certain. 

 

Now, using Scarlett 2i2 and other boards like Behringer with the iPad, yes, I know you can. I have to use direct input and monitor with headphones, too, except my headphones are actually a special type of hearing aid. The hook-up up to the hearing aid, though, is the same as the headphone route. With Zoom, on Mac, I use a free plug-in that lets me use the input for my guitar from the Scarlett and bypass Zoom's audio. My voice, I still just let it go through my Webcam's mic. So, I would still try that use the original sound in Zoom on the account management side in the browser, or see if there is a plug-in/app for doing that kind of thing. On the Mac, I use BlackHole 2ch. Then I created an aggregate device in my sound preferences for the Mac which was a Multi-Output Device of BlackHole/Scarlett. When I do Zoom with my guitar, I go into my sound preferences for the Mac and choose my output device as the BH/Scarlett Multi-Output Device. That works extremely well, and I am, of course, monitoring it all with my headphones/hearing aid to hear it. 

 

That bit of suggestion is the last I know about it at this point. I may have a new iPad when they come out as it will help me with Zoom teaching for whiteboards and such. I might see what happens if I connect my Scarlett 2i2 with it and see what happens. If you find something that works let me know, please. Sometimes, I would like to play/share somewhere else besides just my little room on the Mac. If I do get an iPad to help my teaching, I might also use it for my guitar, too, if I know how to hook it all up. 

 

[Sivad]

@DeafBlind Renee Thanks for sharing. I am blindish myself. I have some peripheral vision left. May I ask about what assistive tech you use? I rely on screen readers for the most part but I can use magnification for a few without major eye strain and headaches. I have been using Voiceover on my ipad with Garageband with decent results. With a bit more time and sadly some money I do not yet have, I will be checking out apps for amp modeling and guitar fx. Positive Grid mobile apps look pretty cool but I am just at the beginning so I have more research to do even if I could afford it now.

I bought the Behringer U-Phoria UM2 and it is exactly what all of the interwebz said it would be. Cheap plastic and inferior sound, but I only paid $40 and it is working out quite well for my limited needs.

The main issue has been trying to figure out a way to assign devices on the iPad so I can output it through Zoom and there does not seem to be an easy way to do it. I have, however, found some other apps that seem rather promising.

RealTime Audio Webcam is a platform specifically for musicians that is much like Zoom and cost much less.

Most of the others so far are more for DAW collaboration in real time. I think Landr was one that has video collaboration as well. Overkill for me at this point.

All in all, I am enjoying learning and experimenting even with a cheap audio interface. It is opening up a lot of possibilities for using a DAW for my practice sessions as well as the possibility to use my iPad for everything from teaching to learning.

[DeafBlind Renee]

@Sivad I have pretty much zero peripheral vision left. I have less than 1° central vision which I use for some things. I read braille a lot and use a braille display. VoiceOver is great, though braille can be trickier on some websites and applications; I do pretty well. I also have a huge monitor that allows me to magnify things really well when needed. Being Deaf as well, Zoom on that large screen makes the speaker practically bigger than life size, so in some cases, I can read lips pretty well. I haven't used garage band too much independently, but I initially did record some with it on iPad, but I needed help. I need less help with Logic Pro X on Mac. Having a tiny bit of central vision seems a little better than only having peripheral. My nephew has Stargardt's, so I know some of his limitations. Of course, you deal with whatever you have, right? 

 

I use Logic Pro X and Zoom because I am also the Principal of a school, and we use those products already in various places of the school for various things. I got lucky there, I guess. My first instrument was actually one of the school's old Squier Fender strats made in Indonesia in 1998. I finally got a Scarlett Focusrite for Christmas after seeing that I could better monitor and record on the Mac and stopped using the iPad. I tend to go pretty cheap when I can, too. 

 

As far as using my DAW for effects, I probably could do better with that part if I only needed VoiceOver for speech. Braille, even with Logic Pro being Apple is spottier. I guess they don't figure many DeafBlind people will be doing music, so why bother? Well, I like challenges. I am always trying to do what others say is impossible. Pedals and knobs on the Focusrite, for me, work better because I memorize settings tactually. It is all about touch for me. I use touch to know everything that is going on around me or what I am doing, so yeah, I think physical pedals work best for me. 

 

What is this Teach & Earn thing you got going on? I see it is a Breakthrough Guitar program just as Academy and Accelerator are because it is part of your profile badge. Just curious to know. 

I will look into the RealTime platform out of curiosity and in case, I ever lose my Zoom account after retirement.

[Fred Soukup]

Teach and Earn is a course that helps you become a teacher for guitar so you can earn money by teaching.

Fred 🎸