Music Masterclasses with New York

One of the most credible technological solutions I have seen for raising standards in music for schools have been, masterclasses for music over video conference (VC), with the Manhattan School of Music(MSM) in New York City.

Having worked with the MSM for many years, I have seen and heard first hand, the positive impact masterclasses over VC have had for music GCSE and A-level grades. 

The Logitech Blue Yeti was recommended by the MSM  as an affordable, high quality microphone option for schools wanting to participate in their distance learning programmes over Zoom. When playing music over any cloud-based VC platform high quality audio can be difficult to attain. The Blue Yeti mic, used on the Zoom cloud platform with the settings activated ( as stated by Paul Whelan of Woodford County High School ,WCHS, below); we now have a feasible solution ready to receive music masterclasses for any school network.

Paul Whelan, Infrastructure and Systems Administrator, WCHS found after much testing, quotes:  “ Having joined a Zoom Meeting, the user (at the ‘performance’ end) needs to access the Zoom Audio Settings (via the Microphone icon), and change the Audio Profile to “Original sound for musicians”. This profile disables Zoom noise suppression, removes High Pass filtering and automatic Gain Control, creating an audio environment much more suited to the transmission of Music (rather than that of spoken voice).  When used in combination with the Logitech Blue Yeti Microphone, the transmitted audio should be of the highest quality available within a VC, allowing the listener (presuming that they also have equivalent High Quality Audio speaker technology) to enjoy the full nuances of the remote Musical performance.

It should also be noted that once in the Zoom Meeting, the user can dynamically toggle this Musician focussed Audio Mode on or off during the meeting – e.g. turning off this mode, and reverting to standard “Zoom background noise removal” between musical performances would be optimal, at the times when standard 2-way VC spoken voice discussion needs to take place.

In summary the combination of Logitech’s Blue Yeti Microphone and the enabling of High Fidelity Audio in a Zoom Meeting is a particularly cost-effective approach to providing the best audio experience, and thus the best teaching and learning experience for both students and educators, in a Music focussed, Distance Learning scenario”

Ivor Bonnici, Head of Music, Woodford County High School, quoted:
"The sessions from MSM generally either reinforced teaching points we gave to students or gave another angle for them to consider which is always interesting to listen to".

Kate Hannent Music Teacher, WCHS commented about the overall impact the lessons with MSM had on her music students.
"Very positive impact. Students felt that their work was valued beyond just the classroom, and appreciated having university college feedback. Extra bonus of the excitement/kudos of American college lecturers"