What tech do I need for quality FB Live

[Chriscom]

Hey gang, my local beloved brewhouse is starting to help promote performers starting up FB Live streams so live music doesn't completely disappear. I'm just an open mic guy there, but figured I could do the same thing for my friends. What do I need to do this with very good quality? Most of the how-to guides I've found are pretty basic or outmoded.

I have quality dynamic mics (Sennheiser E935, EV N/D 457A, Shures) and a couple of condensers (Rode NT-1A an Audio Technica somewhere), a Yamaha MG10XU mixer, a T1 Tonematch, and although not essential to my question a Boss VE-8. I have a decent laptop and my smartphone is a Samsung Galaxy s10e.

Stray ends I've bookmarked include:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...mv88-video-kit

https://www.guitarcenter.com/IK-Mult...#productDetail

My smartphone is fairly decent spec-wise, but I wouldn't mind buying a dedicated camera if it makes a significant difference (provided I can get it, I'll likely start with the phone). I initially focused on the Shure MV88 but the ambient audio quality has to be inferior compared to dedicated guitar and mic lines going through a mixer with effects and EQ.

I'll stop there, I'm still obviously at the point where I don't know what's possible or even what the right questions are. The FB Lives I've seen around my parts are gallant but technically could be better.

I have plenty of standard cables but in some configurations this is useful (mandatory?) and I don't have it

https://www.amazon.com/Rode-SC4-Micr.../dp/B00L6C8PN0

One nice thing about the VE-8 is that it has a 1/4 in out so, I guess I could ditch the mixers and just go with that?

[difalkner]

We do FB live for our church services and just bought a new camera system - 3 cameras, remotely operated for PTZ, and a control system. We've been doing it with just a regular video camera for a few years.

The best thing I can tell you is to lower your expectations - FB audio/video is mediocre, at best. We tried to feed at the highest quality and it didn't work. I don't know if our bandwidth at church is insufficient or if it was FB but it could be a combination of both.

That doesn't help you with gear but our pastor does a Sunday School lesson each week and uses the webcam and mic on his Mac notebook and it's hard to tell the difference between that and our multi-thousand dollar system in the sanctuary.

So I would start simple with the phone and go from there.

David

[Chriscom]

That's helpful, David, thank you. One other thought I had is, maybe I should go the YouTube route, or something else, for higher quality?

[hubcapsc]

We tried to feed at the highest quality and it didn't work.

I don't know nuthin' about no facebook, but I learned a few things
on posting youtube videos from the camera on my motorcycle.

Youtube (and I bet facebook) has a faq that tells you about how
they don't just upload your stuff, they transmogrify it along the way
compressing it and blah blah blah blah... they tell you details
about the settings on your end that will help you end up with
the best results on their end...

-Mike

[phcorrigan]

A friend uses one of these for recording live music sessions. It does have a USB output for live streaming. It also has two XLR inputs for mics, mixer, etc.

https://www.zoom-na.com/products/fie...ording/zoom-q8

[difalkner]

We bought this system - https://datavideo.com/us/product/HS-1500T and three of these cameras - https://datavideo.com/us/product/PTC-150 for our live streaming. Once we backed the video down from the highest resolution for broadcast it worked fine.

It still allows us to record to memory in full HD, though, which is pretty cool. We still need to work on lighting and our camera crew is all new so all of it is a work in progress. We also don't yet have a separate mixer for the FB audio feed so that needs work, as well.

Here's the second video with the new system - I'm the guy with the Koa Takamine, first song starts right off the bat - https://www.facebook.com/airlinebaptistchurch/videos/639710406815277/

Our plan is to do some editing in post and upload these to YouTube at some point.

David

[Chriscom]

Thanks for all the feedback and links, folks! Really appreciate it.

That video-playback has super quality, very encouraging. Nice message too.

Thanks!

[Chriscom]

Originally Posted by phcorrigan

A friend uses one of these for recording live music sessions. It does have a USB output for live streaming. It also has two XLR inputs for mics, mixer, etc.

https://www.zoom-na.com/products/fie...ording/zoom-q8

This is very much what I had in mind, thank you.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by hubcapsc

We tried to feed at the highest quality and it didn't work.

I don't know nuthin' about no facebook, but I learned a few things
on posting youtube videos from the camera on my motorcycle.

Youtube (and I bet facebook) has a faq that tells you about how
they don't just upload your stuff, they transmogrify it along the way
compressing it and blah blah blah blah... they tell you details
about the settings on your end that will help you end up with
the best results on their end...

-Mike

Yeah, I did a 1 hour show last night and I was disappointed to see that the finished result was only 350p. The sync between video and audio started out ok but drifted pretty far off after awhile. But it sounded good and people really enjoyed it. I had about 350 people watching and then hundreds more saw it later.

[Brent Hahn]

On the low-low-tech end of things (which all of this is) I think the acoustics of the space are far more important than the gear. Room treatment can be a mind bending and expensive rabbit hole. But for an acoustic guitar and a vocal, the main thing is to get the space to sound pretty dead. Your mic or your phone will hear it as being more live than your own ears will.

[leew3]

Our duo has participated in numerous FB live recording at a local general store over the past few years. Look on FB for the Olivesburg General Store and their FB live feeds for Old Enough to Know Better.

Here's a link: https://www.facebook.com/LikeOGS/vid...8909587697342/

Not great quality recording but it's literally from an iPad balanced on top of a shelf about 10' from us so relatively low tech and gets the job done.

[Chriscom]

Originally Posted by leew3

Our duo has participated in numerous FB live recording at a local general store over the past few years. Look on FB for the Olivesburg General Store and their FB live feeds for Old Enough to Know Better.

Here's a link: https://www.facebook.com/LikeOGS/vid...8909587697342/

Not great quality recording but it's literally from an iPad balanced on top of a shelf about 10' from us so relatively low tech and gets the job done.

Thanks to all for the continued responses, good, bad, and "cautionary tale."

Appreciate the FB link! Nice playing and tbh the video quality is better than I would have thought.

[leew3]

Thanks Chriscom. It was (and hopefully will be again in the future) a monthly gig we play to help out the young couple that bought a 19th century building that has a long history as a General Store. I joke with Jamie that we'll never break even as we tote about $5k worth of gear to play for tips. Glad I don't have to pay my bills with music at this point!

[phcorrigan]

Originally Posted by leew3

I joke with Jamie that we'll never break even as we tote about $5k worth of gear to play for tips. Glad I don't have to pay my bills with music at this point!

Definition of a musician: Someone who hauls $5,000 worth of equipment 50 miles in a $500 car to play $50 gig!

[Chipotle]

I found a link to this tutorial video elsewhere:



Full disclosure, I haven't tried the apps. It assumes you have a Mac or PC available. But being able to capture good mics through your interface will help the audio part of things. Obviously, for the video you want something better than a webcam too, but I'd sacrifice some video quality for nice clear audio, myself.