Ukulele not picked up by mics

[Miket123]

Hi All

I'm not sure if this is in the correct place, but one member of our small ukulele group has an issue. When meeting up on Zoom, we share picked tunes on our ukes, but one member's uke sounds pretty much muted when she plays.

We can all hear her speak ok, but when she plays, there is almost no sound at all. I suggested she switched over to her iPad, thinking it would solve the problem, but exactly the same problem.
When she sang along to her picking, we could hear more of the uke playing

None of the others has this problem.
She is using a built-in webcam on a new Lenovo Windows PC and a fairly new iPad with built-in mic.

It has me completely puzzled

Any ideas would be welcomed

many thanks
Mike

[Drew Stephenson]

I guess the first thing to do would be to check the zoom settings. Under the advanced audio settings there is an option to select for music, and then on the main screen there's the option to turn on original sound.
If those are already selected then the next step is probably to look at the mic position relative to voice and instrument.

[shufflebeat]

Failing that Marshall 4x12" is always a safe bet.

On reflection, don't listen to me, listen to Drew ^^^.

[Miket123]

Thanks for the quick response

Firstly, neither the iPad nor the PC zoom audio settings are on mute - we can clearly hear her when speaking. This also suggests to me that the position of the camera mic on the PC and the iPad are ok.

I did look at the audio settings, but I could find nothing to allow a change for a musical instrument or for music. I did go into the 'advanced' section but nothing there either.
Would it be possible to post a screengrab of what you are suggesting, please so I can compare it to what I can see?

So, I'm not sure where to go from here - any suggestions welcome

Many thanks
Mike

[shufflebeat]

This thread may be of some help. There are others but "Zoom" is an awkward one to search as it's also a brand name.

https://www.soundonsound.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=73675#p706111

[Murray B]

it's worth looking at the Suppress Background Noise settings - needs to be on Low otherwise Zoom interprets any sustained notes or a rhythmic pattern as something to filter out.

These options appear in the audio settings menu in the meeting interface or in the preferences section (on a Mac)

[CS70]

Failing that Marshall 4x12" is always a safe bet.

On reflection, don't listen to me, listen to Drew ^^^.

No, no, I concur: a Marshall 4x12 is always a safe bet

[CS70]

Would it be possible to post a screengrab of what you are suggesting, please so I can compare it to what I can see?

Perhaps you have an old version of Zoom?

On PC (Settings is the small gear icon on the top):

[Miket123]

Thanks to all who came up with advice.

I did have an old version of Zoom, now updated and I have set the 'Suppress background noise' to low and have clicked the 'Turn on original sound' setting for Music and professional audio and set it to echo.

Did I need to click on Hi-Fi music mode as well in that menu?.

I will test this out on Thursday when we meet and hopefully, I will see some improvements
Thanks again for all your help

Cheers
Mike

[Drew Stephenson]

The HiFi option is good too if your bandwidth is sufficient.

[Miket123]

Update:

I did try Zoom again with the changes and newer version, but no, it was just the same as before almost no sound at all

I did think this was all a little strange and not at all logical so decided to try and eliminate something from the equation.
I had a go with Skype and voila, sound back on and uke was playing clearly. I'm not sure why this should make a difference. I would really prefer to use Zoom as I have 3 cameras running concurrently and I can't do that with Skype unless I have 3 separate accounts.

If anyone has any more ideas as to why this should be happening on Zoom, I'd appreciate a heads up as it makes no sense to me atm.

Many thanks for the input so far

Cheers
Mike

[Drew Stephenson]

Zoom is set to pick up the right microphone right? It's not been switched to a webcam accidentally?
Also a screenshot of exactly what your zoom audio settings might help.

[Miket123]

The bit I'm struggling with is that the issue occurred on both iPad and the PC with a webcam, so it's not isolated to the mic or webcam on the PC only, it happened on two devices using Zoom.
It seems that switching to Skype on the PC sorted the issue, but I would still prefer to be using Zoom as I can connect more cameras to show techniques.

When you asked for me to post a screengrab of the Zoom settings, did you mean mine as the host or my friend who is having the problems?

Sorry if this is going on too long, but it is something I'd really like to be able to sort out and thanks for your help so far

Cheers
Mike

[Drew Stephenson]

Sorry, your friend who's having the problems.

[Funkyflash5]

I think I've spotted the issue, it is your friend with the problem who needs to change their settings in zoom. If I understand correctly they can hear you just fine, but you cant hear their playing because their settings are filtering music out as noise.

[Miket123]

Yes, that's pretty much the issue and as it's on both PC and iPad, your suggestion that it is software-based is what I was thinking. She can hear us fine but we can't hear her playing.

What setting would she need to change, please?
Thanks
Mike

[Drew Stephenson]

I'm on a PC so it might not be exactly the same on an idevice or Mac but:
Settings > Audio > Advanced:
There's then got 4 tick boxes, the first allows people to select "Enable Original Sound" - technically only the host needs to have this selected but it saves time trouble-shooting if everyone has this ticked.
Tick that and you'll get three more options pop up - which your friend needs to tick on their machine as well:
Tick the first two of these (Disable echo cancellation and High fidelity music mode).
The third only matters if there's a stereo mic involved (most people won't be set up like this, but it'll do no harm if it is ticked though).

Then, once the meeting has started, your friend needs to select Enable Original Sound on the main screen (it's normally a hover-over option top left on a PC).

[Miket123]

Yes, I think you have the issue right there - it seems to be a software problem rather than a hardware one as it appears on both PC and iPad.

I think my friend needs to change some settings on Zoom as well, so will get in touch and see if we can fix it, she's not very good with IT skills, so I need to have all the info there before I start trying anything

[vany]

hi there. i am having the same issue with my ukulele NOT being heard on zoom. it is very frustrating. i had an old laptop all thru the pandemic and zoom and ukulele worked fine on that. then in nov 2022 i bought a new dell laptop... and the ONE thing NOT working on it is the ukulele over zoom. i have tried all the advanced settings you all have mentioned. it is still not working. i have called dell and zoom and they both think the problem is with the other device and software. unfortunately i am caught in between with no real solution.

once i was able to go thru hoops and on the dell, messed around with the sound settings and it worked briefly. but i have not been able to replicate that solution. and it is really frustrating to think that a brand new computer would need so much settings manipulation in order to get the uke to be heard over zoom. something is not right. i dont know what... but does anyone have any other suggestions?

unlike the original post where uke was not being heard on computer and ipad, i only have the problem on the computer (laptop). i dont have an ipad but when i do join uke sessions on zoom, i now use my iphone and done have any issue.

any help would be greatly appreciated. thank you.

[Drew Stephenson]

How are you actually getting your sound into the machine? Built in mic? External USB mic? Mic and audio interface?

Dell, like most manufacturers, tends to add it's own audio mangling software to their machines. Unless you have a specific need for it I would start by uninstalling that and just letting Windows audio do its job.

Start with the simplest possible set up, built in mic, Windows audio and Zoom. Add in other components (if needed) one at a time after that.

[vany]

you make a good point... and that's what i have. the simplest set up. when i got my new laptop dec 2022, i downloaded zoom and tried it with a uke session i had. i didnt change any settings. i didnt think i had to change any settings. the laptop i was using before was so old and that had worked fine with no issue... so i was hoping that the new laptop would also work fine without messing with anything.

i dont know how to share photo here but the mic is realtek(R) audio and the speaker is realtek(R) audio as well. both are the built-in versions. i dont have any external mic or speaker.

when i try to use my bose headphones, that are bluetooth or wired, the laptop doesnt automatically recognise it. and i have to go into audio settings and turn off the built-in speaker and turn on the headphones etc. this too is strange... that the machine doesnt recognise the headphones - even when wired.

after hours of working on this - in the early months of having this laptop - we did find one sort of solution where it seemed like the speakers were being assigned to or being used by another audio app. not an app i use and not an app that i knew anything about. and when i turned off that app, the zoom uke issue seemed resolved but it is not consistent and why the speakers were defaulting back to that audio app again and again, i dont know.

so i am still left sad angry and frustrated about this issue.

i have asked this same Q online at many diff forums and also on google search etc. zoom's solution to turn ON original sound for musicians has done nothing. sadly.

in my case i think it is a laptop issue. how the audio set up is done. maybe the audio drivers are not correct. maybe the factory settings are messed up. but i just dont know enuf to change the settings... whatever little i have tried and tested just shows that the system/mic is not picking up sound as it should.

do you have any other thoughts?

thank you.

[Drew Stephenson]

I think the key thing is to start with the basics and work through the signal chain.
So open the Sound control panel in windows and check the tabs there. The Playback tab should be showing your RealTek option and when you play audio the little bar meter at the right should light up to show output.
The recording tab should be similar and this is the first check. Is the realtek microphone enabled (green tick). Then, when you're playing your uke, is the bar meter on the right lighting up to show input. If it's not, then first try playing louder / closer to check that it's not just a volume issue. If that doesn't help try reinstalling the drivers.
If that's working and you're getting audio in, try launching either the voice recorder app or the video app and record some of your playing.
If this is captured ok then we know everything is good going into Windows.

[jimjazzdad]

If the OP's Zoom software also filters out banjo and accordion, some might argue it's a feature, not a bug...

Sorry - I know that's not helpful but I couldn't resist.

[Drew Stephenson]

If the OP's Zoom software also filters out banjo and accordion, some might argue it's a feature, not a bug...

As an occasional banjo and accordion player, I find your comment...

... accurate.

[forumuser840717]

If the OP's Zoom software also filters out banjo and accordion, some might argue it's a feature, not a bug...

Sorry - I know that's not helpful but I couldn't resist.

Uke, banjo and accordion would be a great start but the holy grail would be bagpipes! If it has a filter for those, I'm in!