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Originally Posted by gfirob
t is not easy to make one which looks good, or does not look so shabby as to make the performer look lame.
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A totally agree with this, tho the OP seemed to be happy with the video on his iphone, and was concerned about audio quality.
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and I notice that Doug is not one for low-balling his audio recording).
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All depends on "how low is low" :-) My You Tube videos are recorded on a Zoom H6 ($399) and lately I've been using an AT4050 stereo mic I got for $800. You could get 95% of the sound with an H4 and internal mics ($200).
There are two questions I should have asked: 1) What does "not breaking the bank" mean? A budget would help because everyone's idea of "cheap" is different. and 2) What gear do you already have?
Another consideration is the video itself. You said "high quality", but does that mean a studio look, an MTV-style (dating myself to when MTV did music videos) big production, or do you want to show a real performance in a club?
Let me throw out a few examples of what I've done (or am in the process of) along with the "bank" size. Maybe this will give you some ideas:
1) So-so quality, almost "free":
I just posted a live performance video of me and Teja Gerken over in show and tell. The incremental cost of that was zero. We recorded video to a Zoom camera that someone gave Teja. The audio was recorded directly in the board - QSC Touchmix, which has builtin recording. We could have just run a line out to the camera if we didn't care about draping a cable across the audience. Lighting is terrible, camera quality mediocre, but sound is ok and it's a reasonable representation of the gig (probably what a a future booker would prefer to see). I edited that in Final Cut (trimming out the one song, adding titles). Final Cut cost $299, but I could have used iMovie (free).
2) Good quality, costs "add up":
My own You Tube videos are shot at home, more of a studio (aka "spare bedroom") look. I use 3 Panasonic cameras ($1000-ish each) and have a pair of Umbrella lights bought from Cowboy Studios ($200?) and a chinese lattern from Ikea ($9?) and a black backdrop ($35). Audio is recorded to the Zoom H6 ($399) and an AT4050ST ($800) mixed in Final Cut ($299) and Logic ($299). So the cost adds up a bit, the audio portion is under $2K, with the mic being the biggest contributor. Here's an example:
3) Very High Quality, Very Low Cost
I've just started working with a local public access TV station, which is very cool because you get access to studios, and all kinds of pricey gear. They have cameras that cost more than most cars... Cost to me is $70 for a 2 hour rental session, plus the effort of putting together a crew from local volunteers (I have to bribe them with food). (I also had a one-time cost of $100 to take a class where they teach you how to use their gear.) They have editing software, great lighting, everything you need for a high quality video. I'm actually about to do a couple of videos for some acts looking to use the videos to get gigs using this setup.
Here's an example that I didn't shoot (I don't have any of mine I can share yet), but done by someone else at the station using the same setup. Just a local band:
Hope this helps - there are ways to do something at almost any price point!