FAQ

GENERAL FAQ

Cancellation Policy

Cancellation vs. Rescheduling

We acknowledge that things can get in the way of your lesson and you might want to cancel or reschedule your upcoming lesson. To be respectful of each other’s time, lessons must be canceled or rescheduled at least 24 hours prior to the start time. To cancel or reschedule your lesson you need to login to your account on www.oboeacademyonline.com, go to your lessons and cancel your lesson or register a current appointment in the calendar of your teacher.

In case of a cancellation we will charge you a service-fee of 20% for the costs incurred by us. In case of rescheduling there will be no extra charges.

Rescheduling

We acknowledge that things can get in the way of your lesson and you might want to reschedule your upcoming lesson. To be respectful of each other’s time, lessons must be rescheduled at least 24 hours prior to the start time. Rescheduling is only possible one time per lesson.

To reschedule your lesson you need to login to your account on www.oboeacademyonline.com, go to your lessons and register a current appointment in the calendar of your teacher. Please note, that booked lessons can not be transferred to another teacher.

Cancellation

We acknowledge that things can get in the way of your lesson and you might want to cancel your upcoming lesson. To be respectful of each other’s time, lessons must be cancelled at least 24 hours prior to the start time and then any payment minus a service-fee of 20% will be refunded.

To cancel your lesson you need to login to your account on www.oboeacademyonline.com go to cancellation and follow the instructions accordingly. Before you cancel your lesson please note, that you can easily reschedule your lesson 24 hours prior to the start time without any extra charges.

If you cancel less than 24 hours before, the lesson will be marked as missed, in which case the teacher receives your payment.

In really unexpected cases, you can always get in touch with us additionally and we might grant you lesson credits.

In case of packages we do offer a full refund minus a service-fee of 20%, if the packages has not been started yet. If you cancel an ongoing package, you lose your right for the discount given for packages. The full price of the lessons that were already performed of the package and a service fee of 20% will be subtracted from the total fee payed.

Age limit

Due to legal regulations regarding the protection of minors, the registration at Oboe Academy Online is only possible from the age of 18. Under the age of 18, it is advised that parents or legal guardians register at our website, choose the type of teaching unit and a suitable teacher, execute orders and bookings and then follow the proceedings of the lesson. See our terms and conditions.

I forgot my password

If you don't remember your password or have troubles logging in on www.oboeacademyonline.com you can go here to reset it: https://www.oboeacademyonline.com/my-account/lost-password/

How do I pay for lessons?

Oboe Academy Online is using a secure payment processor which accepts most credit cards from most countries in the world.

All lesson prices are currently in EUR but you will be charged in your local currency without any additional fees.

You will always see the lesson or package price before you book a lesson. When you pay, we will wait for a successful lesson and then transfer the lesson price minus a service fee to the teacher.

Please also have a look at our cancellation policy.

How much do lessons cost?

It is free to sign up for Oboe Academy Online and there are no long-term commitments, contracts or enrollment fees. You just pay for each lesson or package you take.

What are the technical requirements to have an online lesson?

Computer

Microphone & Webcam

The most modern laptops have built in microphone and webcam, but if not a good quality external USB microphone or camera is relatively affordable. Since we're dealing with music, we recommend that you consider an external (USB) microphone - it can pick up many more nuances and provide richness if you are focusing a lot on sound.

Internet Connection

In general: the higher your internet speed, the better video and audio quality you will receive. For the lessons to run smoothly at least 2.0 Mbps outbound and 2.5 Mbps inbound or higher are necessary.Download is important to receive the best video and audio, while upload is important to provide the other person with great video and audio. You can check your internet speed using http://www.speedtest.net/

Headphones, Earphones or External Speakers

Of course you can extend your setup in many ways but often a simple pair of earphones can already give you a clearer sound.

Tips on improving connection

If your WiFi is not performing the best it can, try using an ethernet cable to connect directly to your router.

Often, you can also optimize where and how your Wifi router is positioned - especially if you're not in the same room as the router this can really improve your connection.
And of course, family members downloading or streaming movies during the same time will slow down your speed a lot.

Generally, newer computers with faster processing power will optimize the experience but with a few tricks, you should be able to have a lesson with older machines as well: Close down any other software programs and browser windows and tabs you don't need. They take up processing power and RAM.

What about tablets and smartphones?

The lessons will be held on Whereby. Phones and tablets are supported by Whereby. For iOS devices you can download the iOS version of Whereby from the App Store. On Android devices, you can use the Chrome browser to go directly to any Whereby rooms! Simply type the Room URL into your browser.

TROUBLESHOOTING

My Camera and Microphone aren't working

For further details, please go to: https://whereby.helpscoutdocs.com/article/502-my-camera-and-microphone-arent-working

I can't join the Room

I get an error when Joining a room

If you get this message when you go to join a Room link, it's likely that there is a typo in the link that was entered.

I keep having network/connection issues

With internet-based applications like Whereby, your internet and network connection play a key role in the proper use of the application. In many cases there isn't any error with the entire underlying system, but instead the condition of the network causing things not to work right. There are several things to check on if you're experiencing network connection issues, or getting a message in your room that you're having network problems, and these have been detailed below.

Firewall: We do understand that many organizations prefer to route their network traffic through a firewall to improve privacy and security. However, because Whereby is a peer to peer service, we do need some traffic to be allowed through the firewall. We require that outgoing traffic via TCP and UDP on port 443 is open, so this change will need to be made by your network administrator.

Proxy or VPN: At the moment we don't use a static range of IP addresses for Whereby's servers, so we don't recommend using Whereby behind a proxy or VPN. In some cases users will have initial success using Whereby behind these services, but in many cases those users do end up experiencing connection issues at some point in time.

Network Latency: In some cases it's possible that the connection problems don't have anything to do with your actual internet speeds, but instead your connection to your service provider. The most common point where this can happen is your WiFi router. WiFi routers have the best performance when your computer has direct line of sight to the router. In situations where there is one or more walls between you and your router, it's possible for your network speeds to slow, and for the connection to your network to degrade. A good way to test if this is happening is to run a few internet speed tests in varying locations to see if the speeds and PING change. You could also try hard-lining over ethernet so that WiFi degradation isn't impacting the test.

Other Situations: In a few countries like Russia and the UAE, we're aware of restrictions that have been put in place for peer to peer applications like Whereby. In many of these areas we've had reports from users that they have spotty access to Whereby, or that the service doesn't work for them at all. Unfortunately because these are government-level restrictions that have been put in place on the internet, there isn't anything we can do to address these types of situations.

The sound quality is poor

Overall Volume: If the volume is very low, ensure you and the other party have their computer's volume turned up. Sometimes this simple, yet common, oversight can solve this issue.

Microphone Position: Ensure your or the student/teacher's microphone ispositioned optimally. Try moving closer to the microphone or further from the microphone.

Microphone Input Volume: You or the student/teachers's microphone input volume is not set correctly.

Room Acoustics: Make sure both you and the student/teacher are playing in a room with an acoustic that you would find pleasant playing in - usually not too dry and not too wet. If it feels good to you, it usually sounds good to the student/teacher.

Use Earphones or Headphones: Use a good set of earphones or headphones. These will give you a much clearer sound than the one coming straight out of the computer loudspeaker.

Consider an External Microphone: Especially for professional musicians and advanced students who want to work with a clear and as rich sound as possible, we recommend to use an external microphone instead of the built-in microphone of your computer.

Optimize Performance: Lessons can be intensive for some older computers. Ensure you free up enough computer power by closing unused applications, tabs and programs. Background applications that use your network may also impact performance (Dropbox, Software Updates .etc). For the best performance we recommend just having a single browser tab with your lesson running.

Test Your Connection: Sometimes your internet connection may not be performing it's best. Try our internet speed test.

The video quality is poor

Lighting: Make sure both you and the student/teacher are well lit. Just as with taking a photograph, a strong light from behind will make you appear as a silhouette to the other party - meaning they won't be able to see your face clearly. Try to have natural or soft unnatural light fall upon your face for the best picture.

Webcam Quality: Investing in a good quality webcam can go along way. Most built in webcams on modern laptops should do the job well, but if your computer or camera is old we recommend one that is at least 5 megapixels.

Optimize Performance: Lessons can be intensive for some older computers. Ensure you free up enough computer power by closing unused applications, tabs and programs. Background applications that use your network may also impact performance (Dropbox, Software Updates .etc). For the best performance we recommend just having a single browser tab with your lesson running.

Is it normal that my computer fan is so loud?

Lessons can be intensive for some computers. Ensure you free up enough computer power by closing unused applications, tabs and programs. Background applications that use your network may also impact performance (Dropbox, Software Updates .etc). For the best performance we recommend just having a single browser tab with your lesson running.