1. Headphones — the main rule
When the student listens to you through speakers, the sound gets back into the microphone, and the app turns on echo cancellation. It works well enough for conversation, but it cuts high notes, quiet singing and overtones — exactly what a voice teacher needs to hear. With headphones there’s no echo, so the processing can be turned off and the voice comes through clean.
Any headphones will do, even simple wired ones. What matters is that both of you — the teacher and the student — wear them.
2. The right sound mode
In I SING Room the sound mode is chosen with one click:
- “Headphones” — sound without echo cancellation or noise suppression. The cleanest option for singing.
- “Speakers” — with echo cancellation so there’s no echo. Works even with a backing track, but the voice is a bit less “alive”.
- “Student’s sound” — you adjust the student’s microphone yourself and choose headphones or speakers for them. No need to explain where to click.
Ordinary meeting apps have a similar mode too (“original sound”), but each participant has to find it and turn it on separately.
3. Microphone: distance and volume
A laptop’s built-in microphone is enough to start with. Keep a distance of 40–60 cm so the sound doesn’t “break” on loud notes. An external USB microphone sounds noticeably better, especially on low notes and in quiet phrases.
If the voice crackles or cuts off on forte, move back or lower the microphone sensitivity in the system settings.
4. The backing track — on the singer’s side
The most common mistake is playing the backing track via screen sharing. The student then hears the music with the internet delay, sings to it, and the voice reaches you even later: it’s impossible to judge the rhythm.
In Room the backing track plays on the student’s side, so they sing right on the beat, and you hear the voice and the music together. Tempo and key can be adjusted to their voice right during the lesson.
5. Internet without surprises
- Sit closer to the router or plug in a cable.
- Close downloads, cloud syncing and other video calls.
- If the network (a school, an office) blocks video, you can turn on a relay server in the room settings.
Room lowers the video quality by itself so the sound doesn’t break up — in a singing lesson sound matters more than the picture.
Check everything in a minute
Before the first lesson, open the “Tech check”: it shows whether the camera, microphone, sound and headphones work and whether the browser is suitable. Send this link to the student along with the lesson link.