Notes_Norton Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 Recommendation please: A good camera for live performance. We're really missing gigging, and many of our 'extended family' of fans have been asking us to record performances and put them on YouTube. So we're thinking about setting up, putting a stationary camera on a tripod, and recording some live performances. The camera would be stationary as we have no one to run it, especially in COVID times, and if possible I'd like to take a balanced output of my PA and feed that into the camera directly. If not I suppose an external mic might be a good option unless the camera itself has a good mic. Since we are unemployed, I don't want to break the bank on this, but want decent quality. Any suggestions? Thanks, Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byron Dickens Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 Just start using your phone. Most of them have a semi decent camera. Get one of those Rode or iRig mikes for it & you're good to go. You can always upgrade later. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good enough ! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
57Gregy Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 And I'm sure you both have phones? Set them both up from different angles then use a video editor to stitch them together. A few years ago I bought a Samsung HD video camera for $89 at WalMart*. It works great! It's about the size of a cell phone. It came with the editing software so al I have to do is plug it into the computer and edit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted September 2, 2020 Author Share Posted September 2, 2020 Thanks. I don't want to use the phone because I don't like the aspect ratio. Too skinny in letter, to short in landscape. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigb Posted September 2, 2020 Share Posted September 2, 2020 10 minutes ago, Notes_Norton said: Too skinny in letter, to short in landscape. I know I've never been accused of either! ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennywtelejazz Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 (edited) You can always use what you have now to get good at working with video and music at the same time as you save the money and shop around for the camera of your choice . It is very common for people to record the musical performance in the DAW while they use the camera only for the visual end of things w crappy audio. The thing is a camera that can do DAW quality Audio cost bucks ...most people will use the visual of a camera and mute the on board camera audio for music video.It is easy as Pie to sync up an audio file w a video file if you set up the cues ahead of time . For an audio lesson w a vid , that is different so people will use the audio from the camera ( often edited in a DAW ) Before recording a live video w music what most people do is they set up a visual cue ( clapping hands , mouthing a 4 count , or insert another cue ) This is done because it makes it easy to take the pristine audio from your filmed / live video performance and sync them up in your DAW (if your DAW does Video w Music & Video editing + export) ... if you decide to use a dedicated Video software program ...you will have much better video editing options .... Me personally , I use a few older Magix Video programs or some of the Newer Sony / Magix software apps .. for what I do when I do it those are fine for now ... Because I scare women and children with my intensity and Saskatchewan looks , I do videos infrequently ...but hey I may have a new lease on life now that everybody is wearing masks and covering their faces ... For the record all my u tube videos involve a straight through musical performance while being filmed in one take .. IT's a BRUTAL Workflow I SAY .....make a mistake early on and it is back to the drawing board early on ..LOL If I may offer a suggestion Bob , while you are doing your research , have you considered taking one of your best recorded audio performances and then having you and your lady ham it up for the camera by doing some cute moves that put a little stage presence in your vid? Acting , story telling , pure silliness or whater you guys may think a visual look is that is cool and gels with your music .. All Music Videos are done this way . Lady Ga Ga and Beyonce aren't recording their singing when the are shaking their moneymakers while recording a new video ... Shheesshh Look at the ED Sullivan Show . Every Band had wireless 20 years ahead of the times because no body had a cable going from their guitar to an amp .... I don't know what type of chops you have w video but it will certainly offer a creative solution for staying in touch with your fan base and giving you the opportunity to remain a content creator for your friends and fans .. Why not try this , for grins and giggles even if you only use a phone , Film your old lady doing a guitar solo to one of your songs , have her film you playing some safe Sax ...put those two scenes in a video and I guarantee you will get a much better idea of how deep this thing can become ... all the best, Kenny Edited September 3, 2020 by kennywtelejazz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted September 3, 2020 Author Share Posted September 3, 2020 Thanks y'all. It's certainly food for thought. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gswitz Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 (edited) I use a $5 tripod for my phone so it can sit on a table or a shelf. If you use several, you can mix the videos together as you like and then do the audio in Cakewalk. ? I edit the video in Microsoft Movie Maker which is a free download. I'm not sure what tool would be best for editing multiple video recordings where they are all similar and time and mixing between them. Like... this video for the next 30 seconds then this other one... I'm sure most video editing software supports this, but I'm curious what folks like. Edited September 3, 2020 by Gswitz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted September 4, 2020 Author Share Posted September 4, 2020 Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhonoBrainer Posted September 4, 2020 Share Posted September 4, 2020 (edited) Or a live feed from your phone using youtube, Facebook or similar? Then it's a gig - you just have to proactively advertise the start time, see which of your folks show up? Do your thing live, record your thing for eternal posting. Plus you can run a chat with the fans for real time banter. I've not done this myself, but if this guy can figure it out, I daresay anybody can . . . Edited September 4, 2020 by emeraldsoul 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornpdx Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 On 9/2/2020 at 12:17 PM, Notes_Norton said: Thanks. I don't want to use the phone because I don't like the aspect ratio. Too skinny in letter, to short in landscape. Notes You can likely change the aspect ratio somewhere in the menu. You'd want 16:9 which should give you a HD video (1920x1080) which works well on YT. I would use a portable digital audio recorder instead of the phone's audio. Just don't make a vertical video! ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted September 5, 2020 Author Share Posted September 5, 2020 Right now it looks like I'm going to go with the Zoom Q2n-4k I won't be doing live stream, just recording and posting on UTube. The audience I chose to target here in Florida are retired folks. It's a huge market, and I've been playing that one since I was 40 years old. They aren't the most tech savvy group out there, so pointing them to a UTube page should be fine. Definitely landscape mode, and the aspect ratio will depend on some experimentation. I'd like to get both of us in with little or no wasted horizontal or vertical space. It's not going to happen overnight. I just found out my roof needs resurfacing, and since I'm not gigging due to COVID (and not getting gigging money) I might try it myself. Notes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigb Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennywtelejazz Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 3 hours ago, Notes_Norton said: Right now it looks like I'm going to go with the Zoom Q2n-4k The Zoom Q2n-4k sounds like a decent choice for your camera needs. I have the much older Zoom Q 3 . It is not as feature rich as the newer Zooms yet it is a work horse camera ....The Video records fine ( considering my weakest link is I do need to get external lighting for better video quality ) recording audio alone is great ... I have recorded many acoustic guitar parts using the Zoom audio .. good luck I hope you get it , There once was a guy named Bob Who decided to record with a Zoom . While he and his lady were playing their tune Their Music was turned into a pleasant sound and video All Thanks to The Zoom ! Kenny 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettelus Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 (edited) I was looking for similar a while ago and reviews kept steering me to a Zoom Q2n-4K. I ended up getting a tripod and using my phone, but that Zoom is 4K and records 24/96, so it does have some advantages for ease of use. It seemed more focused on capturing gigs, which is why it is cheaper than some alternatives (and not bad if that is what you want it for). Edited September 7, 2020 by mettelus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted September 7, 2020 Author Share Posted September 7, 2020 Thanks all for the help. I'm going to pull the trigger on the Zoom Q2n-4K today. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 I'm late to the thread, but I have a Zoom Q8 that's not only a video recorder, but has a couple of XLR inputs with phantom power. The switchable onboard mics are great, so you can get both a room sound and 2 channels of board mix or vocal mic or whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starise Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 I don't think I've ever heard a decent live recording of a band unless there were thousands of dollars thrown at it.. This is because most venues have crappy acoustics. No matter how good the recorder is. As a suggestion I wouldn't discount the average consumer camera. Most of them can take wonderful video. This was taken on an old Cannon 70D. My wife bought a new camera and gave me her old one to play with. IMHO nothing Zoom makes matches the video quality. The 70D is probably 10 years old? I use it to see my mistakes when practicing my violin. In this video I could have used a bit more rosin on my bow since there were a few squeaks here and there.....anyways, I think the video is pretty outstanding quality wise. Not necessarily playing wise. I'm using the standard mics in the camera. I have a handheld TASCAM recorder and I would recommend something like that for capturing audio for a demo video. They are all similar, tascam ,zoom etc. Then just join them in a video editing program. I only used the camera mics here and with the higher ceiling in that room it was good enough for me to hear my mistakes. Might be good enough for a "demo video" . So if you already had an old digital camera this might be an option. One thing I noticed about putting video on YouTube- On my computer sometimes the video is grainy initially and "catches up" becoming better after a minute or so. Maybe this is just the video in my computer? I noticed uploads sometimes are not in HD and take awhile to go to HD. Until then you get SD video feed. You will need to specify HD on uploads too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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