Setup for 2nd guqin skype lesson

Here are some pictures of my equipment setup for guqin skype lesson (my side is the student's side), to be conducted by my teacher, guqin master John Thompson. I will be having my 2nd skype lesson on Friday 12 Oct 2012.

The external webcam is placed on a folder on my bookshelf so that it can capture the video of the entire length of my guqin.

During skype session, headphones are absolutely necessary to eliminate any noise feedback going from the speakers into the microphone.

After my 1st skype lesson on Friday 21st September 2012, my teacher mentioned to me that my guqin's sound was too "compressed" and a little metallic and do not sound like guqin silk strings, as I was using my webcam's built-in microphone.

So, for the 2nd skype lesson, I have prepared a good quality Audio-Technica brand USB condenser microphone, positioned just under the smaller sound hole of the guqin. Let's see if there would be any improvements in the sound quality during the 2nd skype lesson on Friday 12 Oct. There is emergence of preliminary qualitative evidence to suggest that, for the guqin teacher, being able to hear the sounds of the subtle nuances of the student's guqin silk strings during skype lessons, may be of paramount importance; even more important than visuals. For this self-study, we are not dealing with nylon-metal strings, only silk strings, as my teacher John Thompson is a leading (or perhaps even the number one) advocate of using guqin silk strings on planet earth. *smile*