Reroute the Audio in Your Studio for Top Level Skype Lessons

I LOVE my Fireface UFX+ interface. It’s my go-to device to mix and record audio. The UFX has gotten heavy use with all the TV show mixing I’ve been doing in past years. But I never incorporated the UFX interface into my teaching. Because it’s a bit silly to have high-end gear and not use it to its fullest, I had to do something about that.

This week: I finally made the time to figure out how to set it all up. Having all computer audio, my talking, and guitar playing sent fully mixed to video, is a major improvement. Naturally: my students love the much-improved audio quality they now get in their Skype lessons.

Here’s how I routed my new studio setup:

First of: I routed the computer’s output directly into the Fireface. Students now hear the music I play on my Mac directly from the UFX, instead of from the microphone in my webcam.
My Barber Echelon amplifier is hooked up to a Bob Burt cabinet. I mic that cabinet with a Royer R-121 and a Shure SM57 microphone. Both mics connect to the Fireface and I mix the levels of those two microphones in the TotalMix software mixer, which communicates with the Fireface.
My guitar goes into my Fractal AX8 effects processor. Left output 1 of the AX8 goes to the Barber Echelon guitar amplifier, and Left output 2 of the AX8 goes to the Fireface. My guitar signal hence goes from the AX8 to both the guitar amplifier and to the UFX interface.
To talk to students, I set up a Shure SMB7 microphone. Many YouTubers use this mic. On a quick side note: it’s the vocal mic that Michael Jackson used on Thriller. It sounds amazing.
All the audio is mixed in the TotalMix software mixer (that comes with the Fireface). As a result: students can hear me really well when I talk over the music, and it sounds like a mixed record when I play guitar along with music played on my computer.

While experimenting with the new setup and testing it all, I just came up with this fun rhythm guitar part.

Improved Video Quality

I recorded this video with my old Zoom Q2n 4K camera. For Skype lessons, however, I now use the amazing Canon M50. Students LOVE the much better video quality the Canon delivers! Their lessons now look like high-quality movies.

The nice collection of lenses that I bought further helps to improve the video quality. While I can use my Canon M50 for Skype, its software is no longer compatible with Quicktime. I always run the latest operating systems, and Canon has not caught up yet with Apple. I use Quicktime to record these quick videos of me playing guitar.

In addition: I decided years ago that I’d always have the fastest available internet. This is a necessity because I teach online so much. The 900+ Mbps internet speed ensures my students get the best possible video and audio quality from me. This also serves my many high-level clients who oftentimes need large files from me at a moment’s notice.

I am ecstatic that this new set-up makes it possible to give even better quality instruction. Moreover: this new setup is another huge step forward toward realizing my video lessons website. GuitarVoyage.com will be up in the next couple of months. I will definitely keep you posted on the site’s launch.