The Basics of Live Streaming
Philip Anderson
I started a live stream production company, LIVE at AVclub in April 2020, fresh off the news of the first lockdown in the US due to COVID-19. Live shows, unfortunately, weren’t going to happen for a while.
Many of my friends and colleagues are musicians who suddenly found the need for alternative ways to reach their audiences.
My partner Brent Veverka and I ended up producing around 75 live stream events in 2020, but the first thing we did was produce a How-To for all things streaming. That tutorial was sponsored by the local Akron arts advocate group Artsnow and is up on our website. I’m not going to copy and paste that info into this blog; instead I hope you’ll watch the video and reach out to me personally if you have questions!
What I am going to do is provide an overview of the basics of live streaming from my company’s perspective and lay out three possible approaches to achieving your own live stream success based on budgets: (1) Broke-Ass Garage Band, (2) Average Gigging Musician, and (3) Fiscally Advantaged.
First off, understand that you can go live from pretty much any new phone these days, and you’ll have all of this complicated stuff taken care of for you. Video, audio, stream connection, etc., can all be done behind the scenes with one or two taps within your Facebook mobile app. So if you are looking to get live ASAP and don’t care about any bells and whistles, you’re already ready to go!
If you do want to evolve your live offering from that bare minimum, let’s discuss those three elements separately: video, audio, and stream connection. The evolution from phone live streaming will be separate camera(s), microphone(s) and computer with a way to receive audio/video signals AND beam them out to your streaming destination. Now, how many cameras, mics, and computer goodies do you need to get what you’re after? And what brands are best? That, my friends, depends on your budget! Let’s discuss some options:
1. BROKE-ASS GARAGE BAND
If this is you, that’s OK! We all have to start somewhere, and yes, there is a live streaming package for you too. Here are my recommendations for equipment and setups:
VIDEO
You don’t need more than one camera source. The more you add, the more options you have for angles and switching cameras, but all you really need is one camera to capture the performance.
That camera needs to be on a stand or something that can keep it in place away from your hands, which you’ll need free to play that guitar solo everyone is waiting to hear! You can use almost anything for this; stack of books and duct tape, etc!
With that in mind, check out this webcam - it has a USB cable to plug directly into most computers, which means you don’t have to worry about an HDMI rig.
AUDIO
Many different mics for many different occasions and bands…you have to do some homework here because you know your band better than I do. Having said that, there are single-mic options here for you, even if you have a full band!
The step up from here would of course be multiple mics, but then you’d also need an audio interface or a board of some kind to receive all the mic signals and set levels. We’re keeping this down and dirty for your broke ass.
If you can’t afford more than one mic, I highly recommend you invest in a room mic that is capable of being placed in the middle of your band and capturing a 360 signal.
You may have to do some trial and error at first to find the best placement for your particular band’s sound. But in general, you can get a pretty good sound from a single mic if placed well.
My recommendation here would be something like The Blue Snowball because like the webcam on the video side, it can plug directly into your computer.
STREAM CONNECTION
No way around this one; if you don’t want to just hit LIVE on your phone, you’re going to need some sort of a computer to handle all of this. But you don’t need a fancy one and it doesn’t have to be brand new.
What you DO need is a reliable internet connection and a few USB ports.
You’ll also need some software to stream from, but hey, it’s free! Check out obsproject.com. Its Open Broadcaster Software works on both PC and Macs, and is pretty versatile. I won’t go into detail here about how to use OBS, instead I’ll remind you to check out my streaming tutorial on my website because I go in deep on OBS!
OBS will allow you to see the video signal from your webcam, hear the audio signal from your mic, and plug in the details of your stream destination (URL and Stream Key).
2. AVERAGE GIGGING MUSICIAN
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The webcam rig is actually still good here in this tier. Plugging directly into a computer and avoiding HDMI is a big perk. And there are pretty nice webcam options these days, even ones that offer 4k resolution and auto PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom).
Where you can step up your game at this tier is to get a few webcams. You also may want a few USB extension cables - this will give you more options for where you can place the cameras.
I love the Logitech C920 HD Pro. It’s a step up from the previous tier suggestion, but still affordable enough to where you can get two or three without needing to sell your house. You need your house.
AUDIO
If you’re a musician who works professionally on a regular basis, chances are you may have already invested in a mic for your live shows and/or recording capabilities. You’ll need to do your homework on what mics work best for your particular instrument/sound.
I recommend getting a vocal mic for singing as well as talking in between streams (viewers love when they get real-time shout outs!). That should be a separate mic from what you are using to record your instruments.
You’ll also want to pick up an audio interface that you can connect to your computer via USB. Run your mic(s) into the interface and set levels so that the mix on the other end of the stream is listenable.
Another great thing about an audio interface is you can plug directly in from any instrument that has a direct-out, such as a guitar, a keyboard, an amp, etc. The more direct signals you can bring into your stream (vs. all mics), the more clean and direct of an overall sound your performance will have.
STREAM CONNECTION
You’ll need a computer with reliable internet connection.
You’ll need several USB inputs on your computer. One for your audio interface, and one for however many webcams you decide to go with. If you need to add USB inputs, there are several extensions and hubs you can add on, such as these extension cables and this 10 port hub But remember that if you max everything out too much, you’ll notice it in the stream. Things might lag, get out of sync, or freeze altogether. So make sure your computer can handle what you’re asking it to do! And make sure you test before hitting LIVE on the real thing.
I still recommend OBS here at this tier, because it really is a strong product. It can handle multiple camera inputs so you can create that Zoom/grid type look if that’s your thing, or you can even switch between full screen camera angles if you can multitask. OBS has transition effects like crossfades to make your production look even better. And remember – it’s FREE!
3. FISCALLY ADVANTAGED
You’re used to getting everything you want, so why stop now? Go ahead and take your streaming rig to the moon with these suggestions:
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You definitely are going to want multiple cameras for your stream, and you should invest in cameras from the same ‘family’ so shots match as best as they can. Don’t mess around with anything less than 1080 resolution, and get cameras that allow you to manually control everything: ISO, focus, white balance, all that good stuff. We love Sony cameras, and shoot with the A7 family, but any big camera brand will have options that will work well here.
You’ll need stands for your cameras, but why get static tripods when you can have cinematic motion for all your shots? We are obsessed with GVM’s auto-slider family. You set your A and B points, and the camera glides beautifully between them, back and forth, for your entire stream. We like to put a camera on the auto-slider right in front of the bass drum with a wide-angle lens, or on the side of a pianist to get a nice profile shot.
A step up from the unmanned auto-slider is a Steadicam or Gimbal rig. Of course you’ll need a camera operator who has experience using one, but you can afford to hire a team to really do this stream well! Our go-to rig is an A7 on a Freefly Movi Pro connected to a wireless HDMI rig (more on HDMI in a bit).
For reference, check out this video I produced for Mack Avenue Records artist Dan Wilson… Auto-sliders AND the MOVI rig. Look at how much some simple motion can do for your final product!
AUDIO
Your best bet here is likely to hire a sound engineer to come with her equipment and run sound for the event. There are simply too many things to do for one artist alone! But here’s my recommendation nonetheless:
You need mics, mics, mics! Full drum mic set, mics for every instrument, DI boxes for direct instruments, and even some room mics for the live-room vibe, and of course, XLR cables, quarter inch cables, and mic stands.
Those mics have to run to a board where you can set levels, but if you really want to step up your audio game, you need a board with built in FX too. Compression, limiters, reverb, EQ – these are all important options for achieving a truly high-quality mix of your live performance. We work on the PreSonus Studiolive 32 with the stagebox ethernet rig.
Now, a board like that can also act as an audio interface, but in my experience you get a little more peace of mind if you separate out these two roles. We like to send the main L/R outs from the PreSonus board to a separate audio interface which connects to the streaming computer via USB. I personally love the Focusrite product family for interfaces, and we currently use the Scarlett 18i20, but any 2-channel interface will do here because you’re just taking the L/R main signals from the larger board.
STREAM CONNECTION
OBS is cool, but because it's a free program, sometimes it isn’t as reliable as you might want. We started on OBS but grew into VMIX Pro. There are many other enterprise level kinds of software that allow for too many options that we simply have no need for. You aren’t a global broadcast news corporation (unless you are, in which case you should not be taking advice from me, and you should probably get back to work). VMIX Pro gets the job done well and still provides more than we’ve needed!
You’ll need a strong computer with HDMI inputs. Most computers don’t have more than one built-in HDMI port, so you’ll have to add some computer parts. You can either grab something like the El Gato Game Capture HD60+, which is external and connects via USB, or you can get something internal which by nature will be more reliable. I’ve got the Magewell Pro Capture Quad which gives me four separate inputs for my cameras, and that is now built into my PC tower. From there, if we want to add more cameras (which of course we do!), we will supplement with external HDMI capture cards. The El Gatos are OK, but our preference is the ATEM mini pro from Blackmagic Design, which itself has four HDMI inputs, but only takes up one USB port when connecting to the computer.
Alright, my friends! You’ve got your three main elements covered now, regardless of your budget. But you may be asking yourself, where can we go from here? What about graphics? Animated titles with your logo? What about a starting screen video with music underneath? Streaming to multiple destinations simultaneously? Getting paid???
There is so much more to cover than will fit into a blog post, so once more I’ll remind you to check out my in-depth tutorial on how to stream, where I cover all of those elements in detail. Visit www.liveatavclub.com and stay in touch.
Photo by Heidi Rolf
Philip Anderson is a producer, musician, and teacher. He works as Director of Production for piano lesson app Playground Sessions and as owner/operator of LIVE at AVclub. Teaching for over 15 years has helped Phil develop a passion for sharing expertise and a strong drive to help build community around music. He and his wife and three kids (and dog Raja) proudly live in Akron, Ohio.
