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Skype sessions


Simon H

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In the "Beginnings" thread Rusty H mentioned a weekly Skype session.

 

I have Skype on my PC which I've used on occasion to contact far flung relatives. I've never used it for music/tuition but am fascinated at the idea.

 

I'm not sure how well this would work and how well Skype works and maybe it is only suited for one-on-one over fast broadband, but I like the idea of holding a workshop or a session based on a tune(s) that everyone could pick up a week before, get the ABC or mp3 of it being played well (provided by a tutor/organiser, and all get together to workshop it, either in pairs or if Skype allows, as a group.

 

It could easily be set up through the Teaching and learning sub-forum. Any thoughts? Or is this just not possible?

 

If nothing else I'd be interested in others' experience of Skype for such purposes, as I have a guitarist friend about 400 miles away I'd love to work on some tunes with.

 

 

Simon

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The problem with skype for that sort of thing is the slight delay - it's enough to make it impossible to play together (I've tried singing together with someone over skype - very funny but quite impractical). I think those people who do music tuition over skype don't ever accompany one another...

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The problem with skype for that sort of thing is the slight delay - it's enough to make it impossible to play together (I've tried singing together with someone over skype - very funny but quite impractical). I think those people who do music tuition over skype don't ever accompany one another...

I'd guessed as much - but the potential for one-on-ones, lessons etc must be pretty good.

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Oh, I like this idea.

Has anyone tried it actually?

 

Christian

 

The problem with skype for that sort of thing is the slight delay - it's enough to make it impossible to play together (I've tried singing together with someone over skype - very funny but quite impractical). I think those people who do music tuition over skype don't ever accompany one another...

I'd guessed as much - but the potential for one-on-ones, lessons etc must be pretty good.

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Oh, I like this idea.

Has anyone tried it actually?

 

Christian

 

The problem with skype for that sort of thing is the slight delay - it's enough to make it impossible to play together (I've tried singing together with someone over skype - very funny but quite impractical). I think those people who do music tuition over skype don't ever accompany one another...

I'd guessed as much - but the potential for one-on-ones, lessons etc must be pretty good.

We tried it in a slightly different way on this site.The C NET Big Band.We put up a few tunes so that members could either play along or add to the original masters.It was open for any instrument ,but of course additional concertinas.Two Years ago we were before our time Henk spent a lot of time setting it up for everyone here and we actually received two recordings,one of which was a base made from a fence post.

Many thought it a great idea ,but did not support it :(

Al

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I tried this some years ago when I was a schoolteacher. It was long before Skype, and generally available broadband. It was called videoconferencing then. The kit was expensive, but it worked though with the limitation pointed out by tzirtzi that there is a delay so playing together is impossible. We also found that it was desirable to have someone with the student to operate the camera, the teacher was able to move around to show different aspects of the instrument, hand positions, posture etc, but the student needed to concentrate on the instrument.

 

An unexpected bonus is that we were able to record the whole session (we used VHS) so the student could take the lesson away with them and review it as often as they wished.

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I know of a couple people here who are trying it as an experiment, but haven't heard how it is going yet. I don't remember the name of the fellow working with Rusty, but he did make the offer in general in the learning section, I believe.

 

Alan

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We tried it in a slightly different way on this site.The C NET Big Band.We put up a few tunes so that members could either play along or add to the original masters.It was open for any instrument ,but of course additional concertinas.Two Years ago we were before our time Henk spent a lot of time setting it up for everyone here and we actually received two recordings,one of which was a base made from a fence post.

Many thought it a great idea ,but did not support it :(

Al

I think that sounds like a cool idea. maybe you just needed to 'sign up' who was going to take part beforehand to make sure of participation. Like on some writing forums I'm on before we do a pass the pen/round robin story we get people to sign up to a chapter so we know here is going to be participation.

 

Back n topic:

I've not used skype before but doesn't msn messenger do the same thing?

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I know of a couple people here who are trying it as an experiment, but haven't heard how it is going yet. I don't remember the name of the fellow working with Rusty, but he did make the offer in general in the learning section, I believe.

 

Alan

That's Alan Egan (CNet username: skinsegan).

See: Online Concertina Lessons

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I know of a couple people here who are trying it as an experiment, but haven't heard how it is going yet. I don't remember the name of the fellow working with Rusty, but he did make the offer in general in the learning section, I believe.

 

Alan

That's Alan Egan (CNet username: skinsegan).

See: Online Concertina Lessons

Yes I was aware of Alan's lessons, I was more thinking people just signing up for "sessions" (for want of a better word) working on a tune, not necessarily in a teacher/pupil mode, more working a tune, or "do you know this one" "so what were those chords again, play the second part again slowly" etc etc etc . It would be great to put faces and characters to some of the folks around here.

 

Simon

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It is working, but with mixed results. To be clear, the teaching is excellent, it's just computer and broadband limitations/issues. It is totally my end of the system where the lower quality occurs. I was down in Victoria the last 3 weeks, and my son's system worked remarkably well (he has cable BB, a quadcore super gaming system, I'm still on a P4). "Remarkably well" means clear picture and good sound, without echoing, feedback, distortion, or pixelation.

 

Alan and I do not play together, it's each of us playing in turn. There are days when Skype works extremely well, and other days it is a dog. I believe the group aspect (conference calling) would be inoperable, due to the band width getting overpowered.... as things now stand (over the years I've been with Skype, the quality has been steadily improving, so there is hope).

 

I liked my son's speaker system, and bought a set as they were on sale. When I got home and installed them, the Logitech webcam control went on a diet (went from the larger control flyout to a small crippled version, no software install for the speakers, so....how does that happen?....grumble, grumble...). I had to do a re-install of the web cam software and everything seems to be back to normal, so this Thursday's lesson will be the new test with the new speakers (hopefully they will remove any feedback, if it doesn't, at least it has a headphone jack on the wired remote control, eliminating the need to rummage around the back of the box, where it looks like I've cornered the world's copper market)

 

I am on older equipment (desktop and a laptop) and living on an island in the middle of the Georgia Straight. The high speed service here is more to blame than anything else. There are just so many variables, I'm more impressed that we actually get an acceptable quality and it works. However, there have been times when I have had to run to the laptop when things have gone awry.

 

I like the "Let's get together" aspect proposed. Someone willing to link up with someone else to teach a tune, talk, share info. It would be interesting to see how it develops. Just remember "time zones" as it can get complicated. At the end of each session Alan and I discuss and agree on specific times for the next connection. If there is an unexpected change, we would e-mail and try for an alternative date. Fortunately for those of us reaching retirement, there will be a huge number of people available 24/7, and hopefully Skype and their ilk will be pretty efficient by then and we'll have all this time to meet.

 

For those that don't know, Skype is a FREE service (and a free download) when used computer to computer. You each need a webcam (relatively cheap, but get one with a glass lens is my advice), and speakers and/or headphones (best, as speakers can feedback), so you can see and hear those with whom you communicate. At any one time there are between 8 and 15 million people online using Skype, so how they do it is beyond me. I have to say that when the quantity of users is very high there seems to be the most quality issues. Not sure, but I think sunspots might also degrade the quality when active. Others on here will have a much better grasp of the tecky issues than I.

 

It's a tool sitting there waiting to be utilized, how we develop it for our needs is up to us as a group. It does have limitations, but there is continual progress, and it sure can be fun. If anyone is interested PM me and I'll send you my Skype callsign.

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