Photo by Kat.
I had no idea I was doing a livestream music show until yesterday, and even then I wasn't sure I'd be up for it. This morning, the idea of doing some tunes for people seemed appealing, so I did.
OBS Is The Best
Since it's been a bit since my last livestream video show, I once again have to give some respect to OBS, which is the free, open source streaming software I use for shows such as these. It is incredibly malleable, it works on Mac and Windows, and it's entirely easy to get set up and running. Total hats off to OBS, and I'm planning on doing more frequent live shows... more on that later.
OBS Is The Best
Since it's been a bit since my last livestream video show, I once again have to give some respect to OBS, which is the free, open source streaming software I use for shows such as these. It is incredibly malleable, it works on Mac and Windows, and it's entirely easy to get set up and running. Total hats off to OBS, and I'm planning on doing more frequent live shows... more on that later.
Basically, here's how it works. I have a guitar and microphone running into a mixer (not necessary but convenient for me) which is feeding a computer audio interface. OBS sees that connection as well as the standard USB web cam plugged into my computer. All I have to do is grab a stream key off Facebook, copy/paste it into OBS, and... that's literally all. I click a button and I'm live, with broadcast-quality sound and picture.
I can be live-streaming to various platforms in about 30 seconds using OBS. It just works.
More People Than You Think
I can actually tell how many people are tuned into the stream, and for today's show we had over 50. Considering I made no announcement and didn't send any event invites out beforehand, that's pretty respectable. About 15 minutes before the show, I did make one post on Facebook and one Tweet as well, and then whoever showed up was there.
One piece of advice... don't worry if a lot of people aren't commenting or being active in chat or other live reactions. Some folks (most folks, really) just want to chill and watch/listen to your show. That's really fine. More often than not, it's what I do when I check out a livestream.
You can do as big a production -- or in my case, nearly a non-production -- of a show as you want. For me, I just wanted to jam and have some fun with random people, so no big stage set required. Screen capture by Kat.
Facebook or Not Facebook
I'm not the world's biggest Facebook fan for myriad reasons I'm not getting into now. the problem is, it's just super easy and convenient to do live shows there, with a built-in audience where people don't have to sign up and login... they're already there. That being said, I've long wanted to explore some more cool alternative platforms for live video shows. I've used many in the past. We'll see, but perhaps my next one will be somewhere equally ubiquitous... hello YouTube?
In any case, next time I'll plan ahead and send some invites and such.
Rocking the world from my little room. Photo by Kat.
ZCHFS set list...
Swirl (Charlie Martin)
Among the Leaves (Sun Kil Moon)
Wild World (Cat Stevens)
Blew The Dust Away (They Stole My Crayon)
River Man (Nick Drake)
Crime (Real Estate)
Shame Chamber (Kurt Vile)
Hannah Sun (Lomelda)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Either Way (Wilco)
Things Under Trees (They Stole My Crayon)
The Last Time I Saw Richard (Joni Mitchell)
Crosses (José González)
(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love & Understanding (Elvis Costello)
Huge thanks to everyone who tuned into the ZCHFS! I hope you had fun. I did.
No comments:
Post a Comment