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Self-Hosted setup for remote music lessons? (awful.systems)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

33 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Basically, the title. After years of inactivty, I'll be taking music (cello) lessons again, with my teacher of yesteryear, from whom I've moved half a country away.

She has suggested Zoom but is open to alternatives. I don't particularly like Zoom, plus I have a feeling better quality can be had through a custom solution - but I'm at a bit of a loss as to what exactly would be a good fit for this project.

Maybe Jitsi? Does someone here have experience with it and could tell me if it's possible to set something like a "target" audio quality?

For hardware, I basically have two options. Both are already in use, for different things, and have sufficient processing capabilities - albeit no GPU:

host everything at home. Plus: lowest possible latency from me to the server. Not sure how much that is worth though.
root server in the Hetzner cloud: much faster network speed. Again though, not sure how beneficial that is, the ultimate bottleneck will always be my upload speed (40Mbit)

OK, I realize that this post is a but of a random assortment of thoughts. I'd be really happy about suggestions and / or hearing about other's experiences with similar use-cases!

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I tried Jitsi, but was unable to match Zoom's audio quality.

The difference between Jitsi and Zoom was noticeable, but less important than the difference between the mic built in to the webcam and good mics. I use an SM58 for voice and an SM137 pointed at the cello just below the bridge, through a UMC204HD.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Oh wow, someone with the exact same usecase!! :D

Thank you for the hardware recommendations. Tbh that is not something I have put any thought into yet.

Can I ask you, is the UMC204HD necessary only because you have to mics, or would you recommend something like it regardless?

I have been thinking of just using a pair of headphones with built-in mic for talking/hearing my teacher, but yeah, it seems like at least something additional for the cello would be beneficial. Do you have any experiences with pick-up mics for the cello? I saw that there are some comparatively well-priced options around

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

You could use multiple USB microphones and do the mixing in software. I prefer using an audio interface (e.g. UMC204HD) because it is simpler to set up and adjust levels, and because it lets you use any widely available microphone, or plug in an instrument (e.g.: electric guitar, electric piano). You can plug your headphones into the audio interface and adjust the relative level of your own sound and what is coming from the computer (e.g.: your teacher). sweetwater.com has the UMC204HD and the UMC404HD on sale right now.

I do not have any experience with pick-up mics.