Nathaniel School of Music

How to Set Up OBS for Music Classes, Zoom and Live Streaming at Once (Part 3)

To run a multi-camera music class, build scenes in the free OBS Studio from your camera, phone, iPad and audio sources, then press Start Virtual Camera and select OBS Virtual Camera as the video source in Zoom, with recording and YouTube streaming available from the same setup.

Video lesson by Jason Zac · Beginner · 17 min

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Key points

What this lesson covers

This is Part 3 of Jason Zac's series on teaching and learning music online. It is for music teachers and students who want a professional-looking online class with several camera angles, handwritten notes and good audio, without paying for expensive hardware. The tool is OBS Studio, free and open-source software for recording and live streaming.

OBS does three jobs for a music setup: it records your class, it sends your feed to Zoom through its Virtual Camera, and it streams to YouTube. It can send both video and audio. In this setup only video goes through OBS, because audio is handled by a separate routing app, but you can send audio through OBS too.

Recommended OBS settings

Cameras and devices

The example setup uses a camera for the face view, an iPad running the drawing app Paper for handwritten notes (connected by the Lightning charging cable), and an old iPhone as the overhead keyboard camera. The iPhone comes in through Reincubate Camo, which also lets you adjust brightness, contrast and saturation while the phone charges. Android users can do the same with DroidCam.

Building a scene step by step

  1. Understand the difference: scenes are layouts, and sources are the inputs inside them.
  2. Click the plus button under Scenes and name the scene.
  3. Add an audio input source and choose your audio interface. You can mute a source without deleting it.
  4. Add a Video Capture Device for each camera. Choose Add Existing if the device is already set up, or create a new one for a new device.
  5. Resize each source by dragging, and crop by holding Alt while dragging the edges.
  6. Use Window Capture to bring in any app, such as a piano display that shows the keys you press, the chord name and notation.

Make separate scenes such as Face, Top (keyboard view), Desktop and a full Class View, then switch between them with hotkeys. A small 25 or 32-key keyboard on the desk can serve as a cheap scene switcher.

Sending OBS to Zoom

In Zoom, change your video source to OBS Virtual Camera. If Zoom shows that the camera is not started, click Start Virtual Camera in OBS and your full layout appears in the call. Keep Zoom's original sound setting turned on.

Putting it into practice

Use a wired ethernet connection, test one scene at a time, and record a short class in OBS to check quality before going live. Students can use the same method to share several angles of their playing with their teacher.

Questions about this lesson

How do I get OBS into a Zoom music class?

Click Start Virtual Camera in OBS, then choose OBS Virtual Camera as your video source in Zoom's settings. Your whole OBS layout then appears as your Zoom video.

What bitrate should I use in OBS for music lessons?

Around 4,500 to 5,000 for video gives good 1080p quality if your computer can handle it, and an audio bitrate of 160 is a good start, rising to 320 for higher fidelity.

Can I use my phone as a camera in OBS?

Yes. An iPhone can be brought in with Reincubate Camo and an Android phone with DroidCam, then added in OBS as a video capture device.

How do I switch camera angles during a class?

Create separate scenes for each view, such as face, keyboard and notes, and assign hotkeys so you can switch with a key press or a small keyboard on your desk.

Practise it

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