UpChord Music in Beijing streams with ATEM Mini Pro mixers for students worldwide

For a typical online class, UpChord uses three signals: the DAW user interface, the JoyChord system interface composed of a virtual keyboard and musical notations generated in real time, and the camera signal.

UpChord Music, a Beijing-based music production training school, is broadcasting its courses online to students around the world with different mixers ATEM Mini Pro y ATEM Mini of Blackmagic Design.

Founded in 2016, UpChord Music is dedicated to providing training in musical productions, including arrangements, composition, soundtrack and sound design for those who want to be professionals in this discipline.

UpChord is not like other traditional schools, where teachers play the keyboard and not all students can see their hands, or teachers cannot write musical notes on the board while improvising on the piano. In order to solve these types of problems, UpChord uses an internally developed system, JoyChord, which captures the teacher's hands and fingers, converts them into musical notes and displays them on screens, all in real time.

“We didn't offer online classes until the Shanghai Theater Academy asked us to teach their students musical performance in 2019 because we didn't want to waste a lot of time traveling between Beijing and Shanghai,” he says. Zhiheng Wang, founder of UpChord Music.

When we started online classes, UpChord's main concern was making sure the quality of teaching was the same as that of classroom classes. "Online classes are not just video conference calls. As a professional music training facility, we need to show our students 1080p HD images with optimal quality stereo sound and low latency, which would not be possible using a smartphone or webcam."

With the help of alumni from the Communications University of China, where the majority of graduate students are professionals in the film and broadcast industries, Wang created an online teaching system by combining the JoyChord method with an audio-visual mixer.

A new concept of online class

"The first audiovisual switcher we used cost more than $15,000 and offered support for 1080i60 formats. But we realized that interlaced images do not meet our requirements, because the lines in the musical notations appear blurred in this type of format. We discovered a solution to this problem, but soon we realized that the scores did not look nice. Therefore, we started looking for a better switcher that supports the HD format. 1080p, Wang points out.

"In addition, we wanted it to be as compact as possible, since the idea was to have the opportunity to put it in a backpack and take it anywhere where we had to make presentations at different universities and schools. We chose the ATEM Television Studio HD model from Blackmagic Design, which is compatible with 1080p formats and is so compact that, together with the HyperDeck Studio Mini recorder, they only occupy one rack unit," he adds.

"When they announced the ATEM Mini, it surpassed everything I thought such a small mixer could offer. Also, what caught my attention was the ability to automatically convert and sync sources, which is ideal for beginners. Just plug in the cables and the device takes care of the rest. Even the audio tools are exceptional. Therefore, we bought it without any hesitation."

The launch of the new ATEM Mini Pro model caught his attention again in April, when innovative features were incorporated, such as live streaming over the Internet, recording in H.264 and simultaneous image monitoring. "We added it to our work dynamic as well. The way of operating it is the same as the original ATEM Mini. When we gave it to our teachers, who had been transmitting over the Internet with the ATEM Mini, they quickly became familiar with the new model," he emphasizes.

“Both models allow you to save presets, including live streaming and overlay images, which greatly simplifies our work.”

For a typical UpChord online class, you use three signs: the DAW user interface, that of sistema JoyChord composed of a virtual keyboard and musical notations generated in real time, and the live camera signal that captures the keyboard that the teacher is playing, which is sent to a multimedia processor that combines the three signals. Below, the collated images and the teacher's live signal in front of a green background are transmitted to the ATEM Mini Pro mixer, where the teacher's video is superimposed on the collated image using the chrominance composer, while the channel logo is added with the subsequent overlays function.

He stereo audio Then it is integrated into the HDMI signal, the teacher's voice is detected by the microphone as mono sound and sent to the mixer through the MIC input.

The program is sent to a computer, which has the application Zoom via a USB-C connection, which allows real-time interaction as well as stereo audio and HD images.

"With this online teaching solution built on the ATEM Mini Pro model, when the coronavirus outbreak forced most institutions to pause classes, we were able to move all courses online immediately. Live streaming also helped us break down geographical barriers, allowing more great teachers around the world to come together online and share more high-quality and diverse content with their students," concludes Wang.