Explore Eventide plugins while Matt Lange reveals sound creation tips:
Sunday, February 28, 2021
NAMM BIM 2021: Eventide Audio with Matt Lange
NAMM BIM 2021: Live Streaming
How do you stream yourself more effectively?
Scott Stratten of UnMarketing showed us, "How to Level Up Your Virtual Communication." "Stream Deck" is used to hop between cameras. He uses a DSLR: Cannon 7D for the best quality, and always keeps his focus on the camera so the audience feels continually engaged with him. And, of course, get your audio levels right! Distortion is distracting and if you're too quiet, how will they hear you? He uses a Shure SM7b to speak into. When asked how he live-streams his DSLR:
"I run everything through Ecamm on my Mac. The DSLR is plugged into the Mac via USB. Then Ecamm acts as a 'Virtual Camera'."
He also shared some great tips on making your video resonate with an excellent preview picture and keeping context with text (letter boxes) shown and keeping relevance as the messages leaves the first circle of contacts. Also, what a "view" means when you see a number listed for one of your videos can be very different depending on the platform. For example, on Youtube, it is significant because it means the viewer watched your video for at least 30 seconds with little distraction. On Facebook, a view can be 13 seconds of watching and in a timeline among many other distractions within the platform perhaps without any audio playing either. If you look at the metrics, don't forget the details to get an accurate read.
Live Stream Audio Like a Pro
Mike Zimmerlich, president of 80/20 Records and host of The 80/20 Show podcast, spoke with Brad Amick from Halocene and picked his brain about their regular live streams, type of gear they use, and challenges they come across.
Twitch is their primary home for live streaming and YouTube acts as a more for post-produced and commercial front content. To get started, Brad recommends:
- Get a camera: DSLR, webcam, mirrorless camera
- Get the free OBS software: https://obsproject.com/
- Don't use your camera's audio and get an audio interface and microphone
When you have these foundations, you can tweak it to make it even better by getting an audio mixer and use effects. Upgrade your camera with better lenses. Get a soft box for lighting. Play with the video effects in OBS.
You will need a good internet speed depending on where you are. If you are streaming a live show at a bar or some venue, you may get drop-outs. At home or your studio, consider paying more for upload speed if you are having dropouts. Hardwired internet via Ethernet is much more stable than WIFI. Also, consider what you can plug in directly if you are performing live. For example, do a DI input for your guitar and use electric drums to go directly in.
Saturday, February 27, 2021
NAMM BIM 2021: Highlights of Believe In Music
Here are a few highlights of the NAMM #believeinmusic week:
- At the AES With AudioNow Cast and Carl Tatz: Secrets of Near-Field Monitoring event, they provided a few resources. Get your studio monitors right in your studio. Use the Axial Mode Calculator and Null Positioning tools on Carl Tatz's website: https://carltatzdesign.com/acoustic-tools.html
MARKETING and Communication:
Scott Stratten showed us, "How to Level Up Your Virtual Communication." "Stream Deck" is used to hop between cameras, he live streams a DSLR: Cannon 7D, and always keeps his focus on the camera so the audience feels continually engaged with him. And, of course, get your audio levels right! Distortion is distracting and if you're too quiet, how will they hear you? He uses a Shure SM7b to speak into. When asked how he live-streams his DSLR:
"I run everything through Ecamm on my Mac. The DSLR is plugged into the Mac via USB. Then Ecamm acts as a "Virtual Camera"."
Glenn Haworth from Haworth guitars shared some tips on interacting with your website visitors. Opt-in and Buy-now buttons and widgets are great tools for engaging quickly. Have an offer and clear message within 8 seconds. Share trust-signals such as grantees and show testimonials. Make sure your website works well on mobile devices and have engaging content.
Peter Malick gave an excellent talk on how to, "Build Your Million-Dollar E-commerce Marketing Stack on a Shoestring" Checkout his resources here from AI assistance to a guide on where to host your store: https://inboundav.com/namm2021/
Bill Sebald from Greenlane Search Marketing shared his expertise in SEO (Search Engine Optimization). He explained it is no longer about keywords or algorithms to reach the top of google. You still need to have a fast loading website which can be checked here: https://pagespeed.compare/
Popularity and how long people stay on your website is also still important. Be knowledgeable with your focus s you become an entity. You need to be the authority on what someone is searching for. It's also about investing time and money to beat your competitor. Unfortunately, winning on all the different facets of SEO, is not an even playing field anymore. Focus on what you what is most important to you with the right strategy in place. You win in SEO through the aggregate of every part of it that you build to reach there.
Lisa Cruze from Red Shoes at the Reverb booth shared the importations of building a community and trust which requires us to always be learning and understanding the cultures you are reaching so not to offend them and finding the best way to reach them. Listening is also a key to finding what they are looking for.
Business tips:
Elisa Janson Jones did a great talk on, "The 7 Business Skills Every Music Teacher Needs to Create and Grow a Thriving Music Program" which can also be used in many other facets of the music world. Here is a list of her resources you can use to help you thrive:
https://www.musicedmentor.com/business-skills
DJ:
DJ Hapa from http://thedjcoach.com teaches the beginnings of DJ'ing as well as some more advanced techniques brought to you by Pioneer DJ which features the Pioneer DJ DDJ-FLX6:
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
NAMM BIN 2021: Mental Health for Musicians
If you are struggling and need some help, Behind the Scene Charity is seeking to help those in our industry with very unique struggles on topics such as suicide prevention and work stress while providing tools to help entertainment industry workers. You can find a therapist, take a self-assessment test or chat with the community completely anonymously within their app and their website has great tools as well.
See the resource below for more information:
The national suicide prevention hotline is:
1-800-273-8255
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