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  #1  
Old 01-05-2021, 12:47 PM
JPH JPH is offline
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Default What is needed for online concerts?

Hello everyone.

Is anyone doing online concerts? I don't have enough subscribers on YouTube to use Live through my iPhone. Does the number of subs matter if I try YouTube live through a laptop?
I tried a Zoom concert recently but experienced issues with the volume dropping repeatedly. So it was difficult for the clients audience to hear me.
I'm not sure what to do to overcome that.

What is the most direct/easy way to do a "Live" show on the internet?
What type of microphone do I need for the laptop to pick up the room sound which will be vocals and guitar?
What is the best platform to use? (YouTube, FaceBook, Zoom etc).

Please help.
Thank you
JPH
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  #2  
Old 01-05-2021, 12:57 PM
AeroUSA AeroUSA is offline
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We recently hosted this broadcast, it may help.
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Old 01-05-2021, 03:56 PM
PANDAPANDELO PANDAPANDELO is offline
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Listen to Aaron. If there's a guy here that know how to do livestreams is he!
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2005 Martin HD28 with K&K Trinity;
2012 Cordoba C10;
Grace Design Felix 2;
Sennheiser MD441;
DPA 4099 Core;
DPA 4018L;
Bose L1 Compact;
QSC Touchmix 8;
QSC K10.2;
Neumann u87ai;
Neumann KMS105;
Neumann KM184 (matched pair).

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Old 01-05-2021, 08:48 PM
tadol tadol is offline
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We’ve done a couple just using a Zoom Q2N 4K, plugged into a laptop. Good video, and good audio, with very little effort or issues. The important part is a really good internet connection ( we made sure to have a wired connection ) and to get the settings in your software set right. In Zoom, getting the audio settings set right makes a night and day difference in the quality of your broadcast -

I did a Christmas Carol show via Zoom for a social group, and invested in a mixer that I ran into my laptop via USB, which let me plug in 4 mics and 3 instruments and get our levels and balance all set nicely plus monitors for everyone (since we had to be 6+ ft apart from each other), then used the Zoom Q2N again, but only for the video. It was quite easy to set-up and use - I’m hoping to do it all again one of these days!
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Old 01-05-2021, 09:03 PM
Chipotle Chipotle is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JPH View Post
Is anyone doing online concerts? I don't have enough subscribers on YouTube to use Live through my iPhone. Does the number of subs matter if I try YouTube live through a laptop?
I didn't realize there was that limitation. I did a YouTube live stream last month off my YouTube channel that only has 6 subscribers (and probably fewer when the stream actually started). This was on Windows machines, though, so maybe the restriction is iPhone only? That would be odd, but I suppose possible.
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Old 01-05-2021, 10:15 PM
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Chriscom Chriscom is offline
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I know one trick with live music on Zoom is to turn off the auto-adjust mic level

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEAb...ature=emb_logo

That's a video on live music in Zoom, go to the 2:30 mark.

Aaron is da man but you don't have to spend wheelbarrows of money to have a halfway decent livestream (as I know Aaron agrees, he's going for total pro level and achieves it). I think his main camera alone, as shown in that excellent video, costs $1500.
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Old 01-05-2021, 11:23 PM
AeroUSA AeroUSA is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chriscom View Post
I know one trick with live music on Zoom is to turn off the auto-adjust mic level

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEAb...ature=emb_logo

That's a video on live music in Zoom, go to the 2:30 mark.

Aaron is da man but you don't have to spend wheelbarrows of money to have a halfway decent livestream (as I know Aaron agrees, he's going for total pro level and achieves it). I think his main camera alone, as shown in that excellent video, costs $1500.
I agree. I just did a podcast about this as well. I will post it when it’s published.
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Old 01-05-2021, 11:39 PM
buzzardwhiskey buzzardwhiskey is offline
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I recently did my second streaming concert via YouTube and I've worked out some pretty good audio...

https://youtu.be/G5AmwKltdlU

I've also done two via Zoom and I've given up. The audio in Zoom is just atrocious.

The key to good YouTube sound is using OBS to host VST plugins. Some EQ and compression does wonders.
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  #9  
Old 01-06-2021, 03:00 AM
PANDAPANDELO PANDAPANDELO is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JPH View Post
Hello everyone.

Is anyone doing online concerts? I don't have enough subscribers on YouTube to use Live through my iPhone. Does the number of subs matter if I try YouTube live through a laptop?
I tried a Zoom concert recently but experienced issues with the volume dropping repeatedly. So it was difficult for the clients audience to hear me.
I'm not sure what to do to overcome that.

What is the most direct/easy way to do a "Live" show on the internet?
What type of microphone do I need for the laptop to pick up the room sound which will be vocals and guitar?
What is the best platform to use? (YouTube, FaceBook, Zoom etc).

Please help.
Thank you
JPH
I also o livestreams. YouTube limit the Livestreams via cellphones for those with under 1k subscribers (I'm still fighting to get this mark on my channel, hahahahaha!).

I know you can do a pretty simple livestream approach. My simplest setup was with a Mixer, and a XLR main out to one of my Audio Interface input. Then, I set my audio interface to be the audio going into the OBS (Streaming Program). And I was all set. Tell me if you need some help into OBS for livestreaming. It's not THAT simple, but it's not rocket science, either).

The most important thing about OBS is that it's a free software! That's pretty important for me.

Take a look at the quality of my latest livestream (made on Christmas):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yf8...CxSCyQ&index=2

PS: for this setup, I used a few more things than the simpler setup I told you. I used the microphones directly into my audio interface, and the Mixing were done directly into a DAW (I used Reaper to do that, since there's a plugin that send the audio from the DAW to OBS... so no need for Mixer anymore!). I also used a DSLR camera as my webcam source, to get a waaaay better image quality.

Tell me if you wanna more details!

I hope that helps!
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Rodrigo Pandeló

2005 Martin HD28 with K&K Trinity;
2012 Cordoba C10;
Grace Design Felix 2;
Sennheiser MD441;
DPA 4099 Core;
DPA 4018L;
Bose L1 Compact;
QSC Touchmix 8;
QSC K10.2;
Neumann u87ai;
Neumann KMS105;
Neumann KM184 (matched pair).

http://www.youtube.com/rodrigopandelo
http://www.rodrigopandelo.com
http://www.instagram.com/rodrigopandelo

São Paulo/Brazil
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  #10  
Old 01-06-2021, 08:33 AM
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Chriscom Chriscom is offline
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Great videos, guys! And Aaron, I look forward to your video.

Around Easter I did a Facebook livestream using a device that was all the rage, the iRig2, still available and with a number of variants. My setup was condenser mic (for ambient pickup of both voice and guitar)>Boss VE-8>iRig2>Samsung S10e smartphone>Facebook. There were lots of detailed discussions here back then about it.

Looking at my old stream just now, the audio was fine, not stellar but fine, helped no doubt by my mic being a Rode NT1-A, and some EQ on the Boss pedal. The video quality was variable, limited in part by Facebook. Nothing like the great clarity above. I still want to do the occasional stream, not necessarily on FB, and think I'll end up going the OBS etc. route, plus a decent quality DSLR camera.

Last edited by Chriscom; 01-06-2021 at 11:20 AM.
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  #11  
Old 01-06-2021, 09:16 AM
PANDAPANDELO PANDAPANDELO is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chriscom View Post
Great videos, guys! And Aaron, I look forward to your video.

Around Easter I did a Facebook livestream using a device that was all the rage, the iRig2, still available and with a number of variants. My setup was condenser mic (for ambient pickup of both voice and guitar)>Boss VE-8>iRig2>Samsung S10e smartphone>Facebook. There were lots of detailed discussions here back then about it.

Looking at my old stream just now, the audio was fine, not stellar but fine, helped no doubt by my mic being a Rode NT1-A, and some EQ on the Boss pedal. The video quality was variable, limited in part by Facebook. Nothing like the great clarity above. I still want to do the occasional stream, not necessarily on FB, and think I'll end up going the OBS etc. route, plus a decent quality DLSR camera.
An important thing to consider is the internet upload quality. People recomend at least 5mb of upload speed (Just write "speed test" on Google and check it out!).
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Rodrigo Pandeló

2005 Martin HD28 with K&K Trinity;
2012 Cordoba C10;
Grace Design Felix 2;
Sennheiser MD441;
DPA 4099 Core;
DPA 4018L;
Bose L1 Compact;
QSC Touchmix 8;
QSC K10.2;
Neumann u87ai;
Neumann KMS105;
Neumann KM184 (matched pair).

http://www.youtube.com/rodrigopandelo
http://www.rodrigopandelo.com
http://www.instagram.com/rodrigopandelo

São Paulo/Brazil
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  #12  
Old 01-06-2021, 09:24 AM
AeroUSA AeroUSA is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PANDAPANDELO View Post
An important thing to consider is the internet upload quality. People recomend at least 5mb of upload speed (Just write "speed test" on Google and check it out!).
How do you like your Neumann vocal mic? I’ve been looking at those.
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Old 01-06-2021, 09:36 AM
MikeBmusic MikeBmusic is offline
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Zoom requires getting the audio settings correct - 'Enable Original Sound' has to be selected. I can send a PDF with screen shots if anyone wants it, send me a message with your email address.
I do Zoom open mics all the time and the sound is fine.
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Old 01-06-2021, 10:11 AM
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ljguitar ljguitar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JPH View Post
Hello everyone.

Is anyone doing online concerts? I don't have enough subscribers on YouTube to use Live through my iPhone. Does the number of subs matter if I try YouTube live through a laptop?
I tried a Zoom concert recently but experienced issues with the volume dropping repeatedly. So it was difficult for the clients audience to hear me.
I'm not sure what to do to overcome that.

What is the most direct/easy way to do a "Live" show on the internet?
What type of microphone do I need for the laptop to pick up the room sound which will be vocals and guitar?
What is the best platform to use? (YouTube, FaceBook, Zoom etc).

Please help.
Thank you
JPH
Hi JPH

[EDITED IN LATER]Do you want to do something the level of Busking, Coffee-house, Open-mic, Living-room concert, or Stage concert? Each of these require different approaches and probably equipment.[EDIT-OVER]

Do you expect people to watch and interact? If they are not going to be allowed to interact, then just record it on your smart phone and post it to YouTube, or FaceBook.

I do a lot of prep for live in-person performances, including rehearsing. I'd do even more for an online event where people can 'walk out' and you don't realize they have gone.

How elaborate I'd get would depend on whether I'm playing a single song for my family on a Zoom call or a broadcast to the general public (online event). Even for family calls I ALWAYS use an external camera, USB sound interface and decent mics.

Zoom will pass your live-feed on to both FaceBook and YouTube for you.

For me, even for family calls I use my BRIO (camera), a MOTU-M2 interface and a studio mic just out of frame. If I were even doing just a single song, I'd pick a non-reflective area of our home, and use either my AKG 414 or Shure KSM-44 as my mic. The mic would likely be in-frame. For all Zoom meetings I'm in, I also use lighting so I look better.

For a serious online 'broadcast' I'd ask some questions of people from this group (like Doug Young) who are successfully doing this. And I'd make sure I could connect to my internet via Ethernet instead of WiFi (it just takes a cable run to your router).

I'd also enlist help from a VERY-computer-techcentric-friend to help run the gear (equivalent of a sound tech for online work) while I perform.

While there are software ways to connect a camera or Smart phone solutions, a medium high end web camera (like the Logitech Brio) will provide better video with less stress on your computer and without more cables and software to put strain on the computer processors for a broadcast.

It is really hard to run gear, correct volumes and play/sing, and take questions or comments…all at the same time…UNLESS YOU CAN JUGGLE 5 BALLS AT ONCE…for an hour. With a helper and second computer set up (for the assistant) while performing this becomes doable. There will be a substantial delay between what is going out and when it shows up on YouTube etc.

I'd practice singing to the room (without electronic monitors), and I'd give watchers opportunity to chat between songs probably via text or mic. Easiest way for live feedback is a second computer with it's sound piped back to the room for interaction and muted during performance.

On Zoom, Skype etc. I'm better off not depending on live-monitoring my sound in the room. I just want to interact with the crowd between songs. I'm great at singing to a room without hearing myself, especially if someone else is adjusting things for me. I still want to interact with watchers. A tech friend can help you resolve this.

I'd hold at least two 'live' rehearsals ahead of time (with the tech). I've watched too many attempts at live 'concerts' or 'events' which fall apart…and I'm quick to leave when things fall apart (as are most other viewers except our moms).

Hope this adds to the discussion.




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Last edited by ljguitar; 01-06-2021 at 11:02 AM. Reason: Had a secondary thought which I added up-front
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Old 01-06-2021, 11:27 AM
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Chriscom Chriscom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PANDAPANDELO View Post
An important thing to consider is the internet upload quality. People recomend at least 5mb of upload speed (Just write "speed test" on Google and check it out!).
Yes, and thanks Rodrigo.

I was testing that a few days ago and it was just under 6mb, and that was over WiFi. Whatever signal shortfall I experienced was likely a combination of variable WiFi and FB throttling. I'm reorganizing my apartment and part of that is arranging things so I can stream with a hard-wired connection.
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