Christmas party video...

[One_Dude]

Our band has been asked to record a video concert that is to be played at a local corporate Christmas party. The latest news from our Governor is that all large gatherings are banned, so whether the party actually will happen is questionable at this point. We are scheduled to record at the studio the first week of December. Set list includes Christmas songs and some of our more popular 50's forward songs that we play at regular gigs. We are scheduled for a one-shot recording session with a short sound check before recording. Based on video concerts by other local bands that I have seen recorded during this Covid business, I suspect it will be just like a live performance, warts and all. Of course, the difference is that there won't be a live audience at the concert, just the recording engineer and maybe some helpers. We played 40 dates in 2019 and were scheduled to play 39 in 2020, but this will be a new experience for us so we'll see how it goes.

Thump on,

One_Dude

 

[2saddleslab]

For the last dozen years my band has done an Xmas show for the Veterans Hospital. We're trying to video our show so the Vets can watch in their own rooms as the regular Xmas party has obviously been cancelled. Not sure it will even work.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi @One_Dude,

Make love to the camera.

We played a few virtual concerts over the summer. It's a little weird. Try to have fun.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[One_Dude]

Thanks for the tips Cliff and 2Saddleslab. While this will be a new experience for the band, it is not a new one for me. In an earlier band I played with we did two live broadcasts; one was a live radio concert, and the other was a live TV concert. Each concert took place in a studio, the difference being that the TV studio had all the necessary lighting and three or four cameras, whereas the radio concert just had mics and monitors that went dead during the concert by the earlier band. The members of that band actually gave us a heads-up about the monitor problem when we passed them in the hallway as they were leaving. I studied recording engineering and have quite a bit of studio experience, so this will be the next step for me. There is some concern that our lead singer may "freeze up" when she sees the camera, but we'll deal with it if that happens. Of course, I suspect the difference in this case will be the lack of any retakes and there will probably be no editing to the final project. So in that respect it will be a "live to tape" event.

We record the concert during the first week of December, so I'll let you know how it goes.

P.S. None of us are really in to Christmas music, so there is that.

Thump on,

One_Dude