Cover band promo video

[asands]

My band is in the process of making a promo video to send out to venues for booking. How much success if any has a video contributed for your cover group? Did you do a single song or multiple? Where did you shoot? Pro quality video with editing or something simple? "live" recording of the song being played or a studio track of your band in the background?

Luckily we are finding folks willing to help and are able to put this together for much less cost than we originally thought. Just wondering how yours went and how much it helped!

Thanks TB

 

[sleeplessknight]

I have found a good video to be exceptionally handy for landing better gigs and clients. If you want to break out of the "$100/man/night" scene, I would even go so far as to say it's required. Don't skimp on the quality though, I've seen many bands who have done the 'second cousin just standing there holding a camera' thing, and IMHO it hurt (made the band look like a bunch of amateurs) more than it helped. Don't be afraid to go to a professional (i.e. spend some money) to end up with a professional-quality product.

 

[asands]

And that's exactly the scene we are trying to get out of. Luckily the guy shooting has some great stuff we've already seen of other bands so we feel confident there. Do you have a video Sleepless? I'd love to see it if you don't mind. And really that goes for anyone reading this

 

[sleeplessknight]

My good sir, I'm so cool and full of myself I have *TWO* videos!





We had a 5-camera crew do an entire night (4 hours... ugh), and they cut it into one full-length tune and a medley of our more popular ones. Total cost was something like $3.5k. If I had to do it all over again, I would've had them stay for one set (probably one of the later ones, where folks are drunk, happy, and dancing) and save some serious cash. I did like the various options a 5-camera shoot gave us though.

 

[two fingers]

Live footage showing hundreds of people going nuts in front of you would be great. Do NOT do a live video unless it looks like there are quite a few people in the room. If the camera is 50 ft back and there's hardly anyone between the camera and the stage that only serves to prove you can't/don't draw a crowd. If you can't draw hundreds of people, then make sure you ask the crowd for a favor and tell them you are shooting a video. Get them to bunch up right in front of the band and make sure the camera angle doesn't show a bunch of empty space on the sides. Also, fade in and out with audio/video of people talking about how much fun you are and how you play all their favorite songs.

Also, no band photos in front of brick walls or on train tracks (and try to avoid old gas stations, old cars, or log cabins too). If I were a festival organizer, reputable club owner, or wedding planner I would throw your press pack in the trash (or delete it if it's digital) before ever seeing/hearing your band if I got a band photo anywhere near a brick wall or train track. They just SCREAM "band of losers". Think harder. Do better.

 

[s0c9]

Live footage showing hundreds of people going nuts in front of you would be great. Do NOT do a live video unless it looks like there are quite a few people in the room. If the camera is 50 ft back and there's hardly anyone between the camera and the stage that only serves to prove you can't/don't draw a crowd.

Would love to have had this done professionally, but ..[shrug]! shot on a phone-cam. Sometimes you take what you can get.. we're just a 5-piece Country cover band..

Must have been about 300 people on the dance floor... check out first 1:45
Dance floor is around 2200 sq feet.

 

[asands]

Sleepless, those were great! I must say, I am jealous of your setlist. Thats gotta be pretty fun! Band sounds great. Also just a bit jealous of that Wooten....

Two Fingers, our band agreed with your thought of not showing a crowd unless it's packed. We have nights that are that way but not consistent enough to pay someone to come shoot video so we thought it might be better to have the focus on us. I couldn't agree more about staying away from the cliche stuff which is something we have had some disagreement over but I think everyone has come around to staying away from brick walls and train tracks and stuff is in our best interest. We did a couple pics that way but we made sure they were goofing around ones more for our entertainment and as a joke than ones we would put out in a press kit.

s0c9, you guys had a good sound going. Not a huge country guy, but you guys do it well. Nice to see a dance floor packed like that! Pretty amazing what a cell phone can do these days in video AND audio quality. We are kind of in the same boat of being 5 working guys and don't have a lot of coin to drop on something like this. We've only got a budget of around $500 for this video but we did invest this week in a Go Pro cam (on top of our budget) to shoot more live stuff to build up a Youtube page and for social media stuff.

This is the Youtube page for the guy who will be shooting our video. We have given him some direction on shots and things we would like to see that may not be reflected on this. http://www.youtube.com/fadingdaylightpro

 

[drpepper]

My band is in the process of making a promo video to send out to venues for booking. How much success if any has a video contributed for your cover group? Did you do a single song or multiple? Where did you shoot? Pro quality video with editing or something simple? "live" recording of the song being played or a studio track of your band in the background?

Luckily we are finding folks willing to help and are able to put this together for much less cost than we originally thought. Just wondering how yours went and how much it helped!

Thanks TB

Just touching on the lower-cost production aspect with some random thoughts. I've had some (for-profit-hobby) involvement in video production. The lead singer in one of my bands asked me to shoot a show that his other band did at a picturesque mansion. I did a two-camera shoot by myself, roving with one and the other on a tripod. By coincidence, shortly after, they were asked if they had a promo video for a corporate gig, and I was able to throw something together. If I had been editing more to my thinking, I would have made it much shorter, which I think would have made it more watchable and impactful, but they wanted more content from each song. Also, if I had been shooting with a promo as the goal, I would have done several things differently and with more planning and care.



Anyway, I think that what this shows (and would show more if it had been tightened up and/or shot with a promo in mind) is that a purposefully done multi-camera shoot (whether pro or hobbiest) can be edited into a good promo. Today's consumer camcorders can take some great video. Two or three cameras operated adequately would give an editor (or the guy in the band/friend who's really good with iMovie) a great palette to work with. As sleeplessknight suggested, probably a later set at a nice looking venue.

Pulling it together with a group of people who are willing to help out, plan a multi-camera shoot. Watch some good promos and make sure that the people that you're using to get footage know what kinds of shots they're going for and stay out of each other's shots.

I like live audio. Get a feed from the board and you can mix in ambient sound from a stationary mic. Edit to highlights using the best and shortest parts of songs possible.

I think a goal should be 4 or 5 minutes, tops...but you can have 5 minutes that feels like 10 to the viewer (bad) and you can have 10 minutes that feels like much less (good).

 

[drpepper]

We are kind of in the same boat of being 5 working guys and don't have a lot of coin to drop on something like this. We've only got a budget of around $500 for this video but we did invest this week in a Go Pro cam (on top of our budget) to shoot more live stuff to build up a Youtube page and for social media stuff.

This is the Youtube page for the guy who will be shooting our video. We have given him some direction on shots and things we would like to see that may not be reflected on this. http://www.youtube.com/fadingdaylightpro

Didn't read this before I posted. Glancing at your guy's Youtube channel, I think you're going to come out with a killer promo. If he does it for fun and money (as a lot of us do with bass), it'lll be a fun project for him. Looks like he's done several of these.

 

[asands]

Drpepper, you touched on a couple things we were thinking about. Our goal is to have 3 songs really showcased (about a minute and a half of each) and have audio from a 4th going on during a short "credits" section at the end with the goal of it capped at 5 minutes. Most bar owners don't wanna spend a lot of time watching these but really just want an idea if you are the style they want and worth a damn musically.

We have just a single guy shooting, but I think he plans on doing something similar with 1 stationary and 1 doing close angles (or at least that is what we hope he is doing). We bought our Go Pro with the idea of being able to do our own in the future as we are lucky enough to have 2 graphic designers/programmers in the band. However, we are short on time to get this thing done and their workload isn't gonna let them get it edited in any quick time. We are going to have a good sound guy run everything into the board to give us a good audio mix to put with it.

The biggest problem we are having at the moment is lack of a great location. Outdoors is not really an option right now with Missouri weather and not to mention would probably not sound that great. We had an indoor location but we can't get a time scheduled that works for everyone. Our only other option was a bar owned by a friend of ours but it gives us a short window to work in because we don't wanna disturb their business hours and starting too early in the morning would piss off all the people who live on the block lol.

By the way, your singer is excellent! That guys voice is just smooth as glass. Loved it!

 

[drpepper]

Drpepper, you touched on a couple things we were thinking about. Our goal is to have 3 songs really showcased (about a minute and a half of each) and have audio from a 4th going on during a short "credits" section at the end with the goal of it capped at 5 minutes. Most bar owners don't wanna spend a lot of time watching these but really just want an idea if you are the style they want and worth a damn musically.

We have just a single guy shooting, but I think he plans on doing something similar with 1 stationary and 1 doing close angles (or at least that is what we hope he is doing). We bought our Go Pro with the idea of being able to do our own in the future as we are lucky enough to have 2 graphic designers/programmers in the band. However, we are short on time to get this thing done and their workload isn't gonna let them get it edited in any quick time. We are going to have a good sound guy run everything into the board to give us a good audio mix to put with it.

The biggest problem we are having at the moment is lack of a great location. Outdoors is not really an option right now with Missouri weather and not to mention would probably not sound that great. We had an indoor location but we can't get a time scheduled that works for everyone. Our only other option was a bar owned by a friend of ours but it gives us a short window to work in because we don't wanna disturb their business hours and starting too early in the morning would piss off all the people who live on the block lol.

By the way, your singer is excellent! That guys voice is just smooth as glass. Loved it!

Glad if I hit on anything that might be of use or help.

I guess when you say "Most bar owners don't wanna..." that raises the question in my mind of who is this video for? Opinions and circumstances can and will vary, but most "bar gig" scenarios I've been involved with didn't really call for a well produced video...they're not going to watch it. IMO/E bar bookers are going to tend to go by talking to you, referrals, and if you can get them to look at anything, self-shot (straight camcorder or cellphone) performance videos that you've put on your web site/Youtube/Facebook that show some talent and people having a good time will do it.

Another thought...a minute and a half of each song sounds a bit long to me. I guess you'll have to wait and see. If it feels too long, it's easy to tighten video up though.

With sound, you don't need a perfect mix, they can just set up a monitor mix to record for the video. Mixing in some ambient sound in editing rounds out the audio, giving it a live feel.

I'd say try to take your time to find the right place to do it, but you do have to go with what you have at some point.

Thanks for the compliments on the singing. It is an absolute pleasure to play with people who can sing well. I'm doing three different things right now, and I feel so fortunate that the lead singing on all three is really strong (the guy in this video is probably the best in some ways).

 

[asands]

I guess when you say "Most bar owners don't wanna..." that raises the question in my mind of who is this video for? Opinions and circumstances can and will vary, but most "bar gig" scenarios I've been involved with didn't really call for a well produced video...they're not going to watch it. IMO/E bar bookers are going to tend to go by talking to you, referrals, and if you can get them to look at anything, self-shot (straight camcorder or cellphone) performance videos that you've put on your web site/Youtube/Facebook that show some talent and people having a good time will do it.

You know, I didn't really think that one out before I wrote it. The idea is to get past just doing the "bar scene" although some bars, especially newer ones, seem keen on wanting video instead of just audio. Thats a good thing I suppose. Ideally we are shooting for more of the casino, corporate event, high end clubs kind of a thing. I suppose those people would be more inclined to take the time to watch a 5 minute video as opposed to some of the small bar owners who usually (but not always) say they want the promo materials and then never even check them out. We know we will never be completely out of the bar scene (just not realistic for the effort we put in) but want to get better gigs within our range. I think we are solid as a band but we know we aren't the top dog cover band in STL. Nothing wrong with that for us!

We also need the video for management companies as many of the great places to play around here use set companies to book through exclusively. Now if we could get our foot in the door with them, that will be making some great headway.

 

[Tony In Philly]

I've found that most venues don't care much about what you sound like. All they care about is what their receipts show at the end of the night. Often their favorite bands are the ones that have a few drunks in tow that buy rounds for everybody in the bar.

 

[drpepper]

You know, I didn't really think that one out before I wrote it. The idea is to get past just doing the "bar scene" although some bars, especially newer ones, seem keen on wanting video instead of just audio. Thats a good thing I suppose. Ideally we are shooting for more of the casino, corporate event, high end clubs kind of a thing. I suppose those people would be more inclined to take the time to watch a 5 minute video as opposed to some of the small bar owners who usually (but not always) say they want the promo materials and then never even check them out. We know we will never be completely out of the bar scene (just not realistic for the effort we put in) but want to get better gigs within our range. I think we are solid as a band but we know we aren't the top dog cover band in STL. Nothing wrong with that for us!

We also need the video for management companies as many of the great places to play around here use set companies to book through exclusively. Now if we could get our foot in the door with them, that will be making some great headway.

Sounds well thought out enough.

Yep, there's a difference between the "bar scene" and corporate...and there's presumably a difference between scenes in different areas. Like I mentioned, that video was requested. That's my singer's "main band" and they have been together for over 10 years with the same lineup. Here (like I assume it is many other places), the bigger bars are locked up by booking agencies (really, mostly one agency). That band plays the agency bars and various higher profile based on their long working history. They periodically mull the idea of going with an agency, but just don't need it.

 

[asands]

Here (like I assume it is many other places), the bigger bars are locked up by booking agencies (really, mostly one agency).

This is exactly how it is in STL. There are a few smaller agencies but many of the best places book exclusively through 1 agency. That agency doesn't take on new clients often so it's tough to even get a foot in the door. They rotate the same 5 bands constantly. Frustrating sometimes but it would fantastic to be one of those five bands.

 

[asands]

I've found that most venues don't care much about what you sound like. All they care about is what their receipts show at the end of the night. Often their favorite bands are the ones that have a few drunks in tow that buy rounds for everybody in the bar.

this is true and unfortunate lol

 

[kvent]

I did a somewhat proffesional video of my brother cover band. It featured 20-30 sec. clips of multiple songs (they choose which one they wanted), and there as a lot of focus on the crowd, and how they started a party. (This is what most "customers" of cover bands want, right?) The sounds was taken from the exact live gig. Taken from the mixer, and mixed professionally. (Their drummer is a professional sound engineer). From what I've heard, the video has worked well for them, in getting new gigs.

 

[jive1]

IME, IMO, bars don't like produced videos because it doesn't tell them the band's draw or what they actually sound like live. Bars and clubs tend to be more savvy music buyers because they will hire many bands in the course of a year. However, a bride or the person planning the company Christmas party is hiring a band once in their lifetime or once a year. They are not as savvy, and they really don't care about draw. For that group, a produced video is more effective than a live one. For my band, we have a produced video. Even though our material is really geared toward a bar scene, the bars don't touch us. However, we've been getting wedding and corporate work, which in the end pays much better than a bar does.

Here's our video:

 

[s0c9]

s0c9, you guys had a good sound going. Not a huge country guy, but you guys do it well. Nice to see a dance floor packed like that! Pretty amazing what a cell phone can do these days in video AND audio quality. We are kind of in the same boat of being 5 working guys and don't have a lot of coin to drop on something like this. We've only got a budget of around $500 for this video but we did invest this week in a Go Pro cam (on top of our budget) to shoot more live stuff to build up a Youtube page and for social media stuff.

Thanks man... I put the vid up to show the crowd aspect, not for selfish promo... Country is not everyone's cup of tea, but being in Texas... [shrug].
Pay is better, gigs are mostly double-headers and regular, and venues tend to be well stocked with dancers and eye-candy.

We were also (coincidentally) looking at the GoPro approach and doing the multiple camera/takes thing while editing appropriately. We do a few Corporate/Weddings and most of the bar/club venues we play (as mentioned by Jive1) don't care about vids. They either audition you on an "off" (Tue/Wed) night to decide if they like you, or you get booked via word-of-mouth from patrons or other venue owners. I took us almost 2 years to get on the rotation at the venue where that vid was taken. It was well worth the effort/wait!

I think the vid's for us are more about spreading the word and using social media as a resource to get us into the few remaining "A" venues in our region. We already play 80% of them, and would be happy to get booked in the remaining 20% so we can rotate venues less frequently. The typical club will try to book you once a month if they like you. For us, that is too frequently with Fri/Sat night at same venue and only 4 weekends in a typical month. We prefer 6 week rotations (twice a quarter) so we bring new music with each round (we add about 8 songs a month) and keep our presence fresh. There's enough venues to support that and we've had to turn down gigs at some venues based on schedule/availability.

 

[justin fleenor]

My good sir, I'm so cool and full of myself I have *TWO* videos!





We had a 5-camera crew do an entire night (4 hours... ugh), and they cut it into one full-length tune and a medley of our more popular ones. Total cost was something like $3.5k. If I had to do it all over again, I would've had them stay for one set (probably one of the later ones, where folks are drunk, happy, and dancing) and save some serious cash. I did like the various options a 5-camera shoot gave us though.

we do use me and were a 80s & some 70s rock band,its a cool song.