How to make a livestream concert

You have your music equipment ready: instruments, audio-interface, cables, microphones, pre-amps, your camera - how do you get that now into a livestream?

This tutorial is made for musicians and bands who want to give a live streaming concert. Every musician has recording equipment - maybe not a complete high-end-home-studio but still enough to connect the instrument to the computer: thus an audio interface, cables and possibly microphones and pre-amps. And probably also a camera. So the typical set of equipment that most musicians have.

And that’s what this tutorial about: what more do You need to host a live-streaming concert? And how exactly does it work? Practically oriented, made by a musician for musicians or bands. In six minutes, I show my setup here: The whole signal path from the camera and the audio device, into the computer, through the streaming software into the finished stream.

I recently played a streaming concert for Dingwall Guitars. They are a Canadian high-end manufacturer for bass guitars and I am one of their brand ambassadors. So they booked me to stream live for an hour onto their Facebook page. It was really fun, straight out of the studio into the world. Since I also produce and mix music, I have quite some experience with studio equipment and music software. The stream went well and the sound was very good: the guys at Dingwall Guitars were very happy to hear their instrument like this. So they asked me to do this tutorial to help musicians and share my concept on this.

Of course, a streaming concert is a different energy than a live concert with an audience present in front of stage. But I think it's more than just a compromise and an attempt to get through the time of the corona crisis. It can also be an opportunity to present your music, independently from bookers and program makers in clubs. And that worldwide, not just in one city. When I stream, I get feedback from Europe, the USA, Russia ... Yes, you have to invest a little - but it’s actually not that much! And as you save fuel costs as you are not driving to your concert, it will soon pay for itself.