Guitarist's Guide to Live Streaming

[Doug Young]

A few people suggested I repost this link to an article of mine that Acoustic Guitar just published:

https://acousticguitar.com/a-guitari...live-streaming

This was fun and a bit of challenge to pull together (quickly...), but I had a lot of help from Al Petteway, Mark Hanson, Stevie Coyle, and others, and also got a lot ideas just from the questions being asked here on AGF. I hope it helps someone!

It's a fairly long article, but as always there's more to be discussed and discovered than I was able to cover, so let us all know if you have a technique or tip that wasn't covered.

On a related note, I'm working on another more general guide to "online collaboration" for musicians, much more loosely defined, and not limited to live streaming or just guitarists. If anyone has success stories, ideas, or even just questions, I'd love to hear them, and would, of course, credit you for anything I end up using.

[Lost in Sound]

Thanks Doug, it’s a great article! Lots of good tips in there.

[Akousticplyr]

With Facebook live, if you manage a page ie your pro page, you can create a test stream that only you & other mods/owners can watch for a good sound check.

[El Conquistador]

Originally Posted by Akousticplyr

With Facebook live, if you manage a page ie your pro page, you can create a test stream that only you & other mods/owners can watch for a good sound check.

Would you mind expanding on this post?

Steve

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by El Conquistador

Would you mind expanding on this post?

Steve

I discussed this concept in the article, tho I'm not sure what the "manage a page" part is in this recommendation, maybe a different angle?. Anyone can create a private group on facebook. Just create a group and don't invite anyone. You'll be the only member, and if you post something to that group, no one should see it but you. So you can stream live to it, and then play it back. Or invite just a friend to join the group to they can watch it live as a test.

I would keep in mind that facebook's visibility can be a bit inscrutable, so I'm never 100% sure who sees and doesn't see anything I post. Its also easy to make mistakes. While I was testing some of this stuff, I streamed live to You Tube, intending to mark the stream private - which you can do, just like when you post a video. I forgot, streamed public, and someone immediately commented - oops - as I was staring into the screen, going, "ok, now what button do I push" :-) I've also seen more than one stream on facebook, where the person is just saying "ignore this, I'm just testing, I'll really be on later"!

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

…It's a fairly long article, but as always there's more to be discussed and discovered than I was able to cover, so let us all know if you have a technique or tip that wasn't covered.

Hi Doug

The "Tips & Techniques" section alone was worth the price of admission!!

The rest was the cherry-on-top of the Sundae for me.

Thanks for all the work that went into this.

[SpruceTop]

Very Informative--Thanks, Doug!

[Akousticplyr]

Originally Posted by El Conquistador

Would you mind expanding on this post?

Steve

Sure. If you have a band page, anyone who is an Admin can set up or watch a test stream.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Akousticplyr]

Originally Posted by Akousticplyr

Sure. If you have a band page, anyone who is an Admin can set up or watch a test stream.

[IMG][/IMG]

It is grayed out if the stream is already scheduled. Recommend you set up a stream, test it, then schedule it.

[phcorrigan]

Thanks, Doug. I'm posting a link on my Facebook page.

[varmonter]

Great article Doug..
thanks for all you do here
on AGF..

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

…It's a fairly long article, but as always there's more to be discussed and discovered than I was able to cover, so let us all know if you have a technique or tip that wasn't covered.

Hi Doug…

Do you have any already-produced lighting guides, or are you currently considering a simple lighting guide?

As you mentioned, lighting makes a huge difference in people actually starting and finishing our videos (as big as audio in my mind). I admit to bailing out not very far into low quality videos where the lighting, or resolution are inferior. If the sound is bad, I don't continue beyond the intro…

There are so many other better shot-edited options out-there to endure low quality videos. That said, many solid videos are not elaborately nor expensively lit…but they are adequately lit and shot.

Just asking…

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Doug…

Do you have any already-produced lighting guides, or are you currently considering a simple lighting guide?

I don't, but there are a ton of lighting guides out there on you tube. Basic 3-point lighting and so on. Probably also depends a lot on your video setup. Webcams really do better in brighter light.

And you can always go for something different. Stevie Coyle did a facebook live stream last night that looked really cool. Very dark room, almost, but not quite black, with what appeared to be a single spot on him. I think he was just in his living room, but it looked like he was on stage under a spot. Totally not what any good video/photo light guide would suggest, but it looked very striking, compared to all the other streams.

[phcorrigan]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

Totally not what any good video/photo light guide would suggest, but it looked very striking, compared to all the other streams.

Those guides are typically geared to average scenes. I've done a bit of stage photography, and spot lighting is great for adding dramatic effect.

Here is a a recent cameraphone photo of a friend at an open mic in a venue that had a single light. I don't think it would be half as good if the lighting was broader.

[Doug Young]

That's very nice! I like the look. Here's what Stevie Coyle's set looked like last night, in a similar vein, tho yours is more dramatic:

Stevie.jpg