Tech setup for teachers

I'm still experimenting and learning what setup will be best so please don't trust me completely on these!

Also don't feel overwhelmed because it could be that you already have items that will work and even if you're buying things, simpler/cheaper options might work just fine for you. We'll do a video meet together before you start teaching so we can check your setup.

However, these are what I would buy if I was setting myself up again from scratch.

The products linked to here are just examples of what you might get. There will be others that are similar and would be fine.

Items to consider are:

  • laptop
  • webcam
  • articulation arm for the webcam so you can move it around
  • microphone (I'm suggesting a lapel so that it picks up your voice clearly even if your instrument is loud)
  • earbuds/headphones (the student will hear your sound much better if you use these than if you use speakers)

More info and examples below:

Laptop

any fairly modern laptop should work fine.

 

Webcam

  • At least 1080p
  • 1/4" tripod thread (so it can mount to an articulating arm)
  • Autofocus preferred (so it can focus on close-up things (like music or a finger position in addition to normal range)
  • Ideally a wide angle of ~90deg

Example:

Anker PowerConf C200 2K Webcam

Ability to adjust the camera position

For piano teachers I think having the camera on an articulating arm will be good so you can move it around to the right spot to get your face and the piano keyboard in the shot. For other instruments, having the camera sit on top of the screen or maybe a little tripod sitting on a table might be fine. 

Example:

Smallrig 22" Magic Arm with clamp

Microphone

If I were buying my setup over again I would try a lapel microphone because instruments are quite loud and voices are fairly soft. Lapel microphones have the advantage of being close to your mouth so they tend to pick up your voice better than other mics. However, a separate microphone could work just fine too. For piano teachers, one thing to avoid is don't have the microphone sitting on (or attached to) the piano because the vibrations of the piano don't sound good through a microphone.

Example:

BOYA Mini 2 Wireless Lavalier Lapel Mini Microphone

There are variants of this. I suggest the "mini 2-05" variant because it comes with only one microphone (you don't need two) and it includes the charging case. Note that the receiver needs to plug into a USB-C port so if your laptop doesn't have one of those you'll need an adapter)

Ear buds / headphones

You might well already have some ear buds or headphones. I really like this design that hangs around your ears, I find it comfortable and I like that there's nothing "in" my ears so I can hear the outside world (and my instrument) clearly as well. I have noticed with one of my sets like this, that they sometimes momentarily lose connection and I miss a few words, but it's not often and mine are quite old. I like them other than that and I hope that new ones wouldn't do that.

Example:

Edifier open-ear Bluetooth Earphones