Crosscurrents Blog

This post is part of a series intended to become a Mermaid’s Tavern Guide to Zoom Singing publication for folk arts organizations, feature artists, session singers, and online audiences for folk music. We welcome comments below. “I’m starting to do more livestreaming music on Zoom/Facebook/YouTube. What mic and camera should I buy?” This might be the most commonly asked question I get from new Zoom singers. My answer is that it depends: on whether you’re solo, duo, or a group; whether you’re a casual session singer or a digitally touring feature artist, and how far along the gearhead path you are of setting up your own home studio. That’s a journey that never ends, so here are two rigs that will suit new budgets, and a set of resources for you to do your own research. Let’s Cut to the Chase: What I Use Myself As a Session Singer This is a modest rig that you can pick up as you can afford it for under $100 each for mic, webcam, and headphones/speakers. It’s also perfectly adequate

This post is part of a series intended to become a Mermaid’s Tavern Guide to Zoom Singing publication for folk arts organizations, feature artists, session singers, and online audiences for folk music. We welcome comments below. As a Feature Artist, you are the performer for the event, just as you would be for a live performance in the real world. You have a live audience! You might feel a bit lonely or self-conscious playing or singing to yourself in front of a camera, but your fellow Zoom participants are here to see and hear YOU and to enjoy the event with you. It’s a good idea to get all your tech together and have a tech rehearsal before sound check, just as you would for any live performance. Then all you will need is a quick tech check and it’s show time! What You Need A computer or laptop (not a tablet or smartphone) running Windows or MacOS Reliable internet access with high bandwidth: a wifi location close to your router is better, a wired Ethernet connection is best. F