Gear and service for streaming live acoustic concert?

[ataylor]

Not sure if this is the right section to be posting this in, but here goes.

I'm going to be recording another album and as part of the album release I'd like to do a live streaming concert online for people who support/pre-order the album via Kickstarter.

I've never done anything like this before but it seems to be common enough that I'm hoping there will be several AGFers that have some recommendations.

What service have you used to stream? It looks like I might be able to use something like YouTube or Google Hangouts. I also found a service called Concert Window but it looks like there's cost involved for the viewers -- I'd like it to be something that's free to the viewer, free or little cost to me.

I'm also curious what gear any of you have used. I'd like the quality -- both visual and audio -- to be good. Doesn't need to be pro-level, but a step above using a laptop's built in camera and microphones would be great. I have a Canon DSLR (60D) with a couple entry-level lenses in terms of camera equipment, and I have an Apogee Mic in terms of sound.

Anyway, thought I'd check with you guys and see if any of you have any experience with this sort of thing. It's probably a ways out but I wanted to get a headstart on it!

And just in case you're curious, my last album can be found here.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by ataylor

Not sure if this is the right section to be posting this in, but here goes.

I'm going to be recording another album and as part of the album release I'd like to do a live streaming concert online for people who support/pre-order the album via Kickstarter.

I've never done anything like this before but it seems to be common enough that I'm hoping there will be several AGFers that have some recommendations.

What service have you used to stream? It looks like I might be able to use something like YouTube or Google Hangouts. I also found a service called Concert Window but it looks like there's cost involved for the viewers -- I'd like it to be something that's free to the viewer, free or little cost to me.

I'm also curious what gear any of you have used. I'd like the quality -- both visual and audio -- to be good. Doesn't need to be pro-level, but a step above using a laptop's built in camera and microphones would be great. I have a Canon DSLR (60D) with a couple entry-level lenses in terms of camera equipment, and I have an Apogee Mic in terms of sound.

Anyway, thought I'd check with you guys and see if any of you have any experience with this sort of thing. It's probably a ways out but I wanted to get a headstart on it!

And just in case you're curious, my last album can be found here.

I did a bunch of these a few years ago. Things may have changed, and there may be some free options out there, but when I did it, I was unable to find anything free that didn't randomly blast ads in the middle of the stream. Streaming video costs someone money, so you sort of end up paying for it one way or another. I used StageIt, which has a "pay what you want' feature, that can be as little as 10 cents, but unfortunately they make you buy 10 cent "notes" with a minimum of $5 so it ends up being a $5 cost no matter what (tho people can keep 49 notes for use with other StageIt events). Google Hangouts is an option, tho I think the size is limited, and I never got around to figuring it out. I've seen a few people use uStream on facebook, so you might check that out too. If you check out uStream directly, it looks like $100 buys you 100 "viewer hours", so 100 people for an hour, or 50 people for 2, etc. LiveStream's another to check out, and You Tube might be another.

As far as gear, it tends to depend on how good a quality you want. There are a couple of programs that will let you mix video and audio into your laptop and stream it. Some is pricey, some is free. I used wirecast. Some people just turn on their webcam and connect to one of the services. There also seem to be some phone options these days. Check out LiveStream Producer. If you check out ustream, concert window, stageit, etc, they'll all tell you how to connect. You do need pretty good upstream bandwidth. Your Canon should be great, but streaming full HD is probably more than your bandwidth, or your viewers can handle.

There was some discussion of the technology I last used in this thread: http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=245862

Oh, by the way, I think StageIt now lets you "gift" notes, so maybe, just maybe, you could spend $5, and send 50 fans a 10 cent ticket!

[ataylor]

Thanks Doug -- super helpful! I'll check out those services you mentioned and dig a little deeper into the technical side in terms of bandwidth, etc. I might just have to do some trial and error and see what works

If anyone has any additional experience, please chime in! I'm particularly interested in the Hangouts/YouTube option as it seems it might be the most cost-effective and easy to set up.