Zoom: how to play music during recording?

If you are a videocast creator, a podcast host, or simply recording a business or personal meeting using the Zoom.us application, you might run through the issue in which you would like to play some audio file from your computer for all participants to listen to at the same time, such as your open source jingles during a podcast recording, but you might also want this sound to be included in the voice recording that will be generated at the end.


Creating a video and audio record with Zoom

If you are a videocast creator, a podcast host, or simply recording a business or personal meeting using the  Zoom.us   application, you might run through the issue in which you would like to play some audio file from your computer for all participants to listen to at the same time, such as your open source jingles during a podcast recording, but you might also want this sound to be included in the voice recording that will be generated at the end.

The best way to have a good quality video and audio recording of your whole meeting while included sounds from your computer probably is to use  Zoom.us   service and play sounds from your computer - here is how to have these sounds played for all participants and included in recording.

1. Select the share screen option

Once you are in the Zoom meeting window on your computer, move your mouse to the bottom of the screen to see the meeting options appear, included the Share screen option which is probably highlighted in green and has an arrow to expand the existing list of options.

2. Go to advanced options

In the screen sharing window option, you will first be able to select between your currently opened windows to share with your audience - but that only counts for the visual part of the windows.

If you want to include audio sharing in your meeting, then you have to navigate to the second tab of the options, called the advanced tab.

3. Select the music or computer sound only option

From there, select the music or computer sound only option from the advanced tab.

This will allow for any sound from your computer to be shared in your Zoom meeting - beware, as it includes any and all mouse click or other sound that is played on your computer, included the background noises that you might not want to share.

Therefore, before selecting this option, make sure that any third party application on your computer that might make sound is closed - think for example about your antivirus update notifications, or incoming messages on social network page opened in browser.

That is how we include jingles in our  International Consulting videocast   for example, without having to manually edit the video or audio files generated by the meeting.

International Consulting videocast

4. Play your computer sounds to share in the meeting

Once the computer sound sharing option will have been activated, you will be notified on top of the Zoom meeting with a specific label on green background.

As long as this very visible notification is there, it means that any sound played on your computer is shared with the whole meeting, including the sound recorded from your microphone.

That's the way for example to include open source jingles in your podcast recording, by opening the audio file in  VLC media player   and having the software playing the sound in the background.

In our  International Consulting podcast   we click recording and right away start the intro jingle to have it included in the recording – for the other jingles later in the podcast, it is easier to play them as the recording has already started.

How to get open source jingles for your podcast?

Even if you switch windows during the screen record to find a sound to play, such as a podcast intro, the video will only record what you are currently sharing, most likely your webcam, and the window switch won't be included in the Zoom recording. However, any computer sound will be included in the recording, as long as you are sharing your computer audio.

5. How to record a meeting video?

To record a meeting video and create a videocast, create a podcast, have it include your computer sounds played during the meeting and be able to share it online, the best way is to use the  Zoom.us   software.

Once the meeting has started, all you have to do is to press the record option - only one participant at the same time can record the meeting though, and see the recording magic happen.

At the end of the meeting, if you have never recording anything on  Zoom.us   software before, you will be prompted for a file saving location. Otherwise, the files will be created in the same folder as before, under a new subfolder name after the current day.

The Zoom software will proceed at the end of the meeting with converting audio and video files and creating them on your computer, in the local folder that you specified.

Once the conversion will be over, which depends on your computer's speed, the target folder will be opened automatically, showing you the recorded audio and video files.

Expect the video file to be about 5MB per minute of recording, and the audio file to be about 0.5MB per minute. Both files will be created, and you must have enough space on your  hard drive   for both of them.

You can open them with your favorite media player, such as the great open source  VLC media player   software and share them with all participants - if you have enabled the option, the records will even include music and other computer sounds that have been played during the meeting!

VideoLAN open source player VLC media player

Yoann Bierling
About the author - Yoann Bierling
Yoann Bierling is a Web Publishing & Digital Consulting professional, making a global impact through expertise and innovation in technologies. Passionate about empowering individuals and organizations to thrive in the digital age, he is driven to deliver exceptional results and drive growth through educational content creation.



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