New band promo - feedback welcome

[Bullitt5135]

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It's taken me a long time to realize that nobody booking bands wants to watch an 8-minute video of yet another cover band. I've been trying to boil things down to a 1-minute elevator pitch. Basically, "this is what we sound and look like, and these are the types of places we've played."

I just knocked this out over the weekend using some footage I had in the can, using Adobe Premier and a pre-made template. I wanted to keep it short at just over a minute since we already have a few longer performance videos on our page. I also wanted the focus to be as much on the venues and crowds as on the musicians. One minute is not a lot of time to feature a bunch of song clips, so I decided to use part of just one song. For the next promo, I will probably put together a 3-minute video with just our logo and a few band photos, with short segments for 5-6 songs that better shows what we sound like.

 

[mahsidivad]

Gave it a like on FB because it helps Make sure you've added tags to the video post that are relevant to what you offer: Live music, bars, events, & localities you cover. Goal is for someone either looking to hire or go out and see you via search. I also think you can squeeze at least 3 different songs into the clip's timeframe to add variety for the viewer. Direct link to current schedule or 'for bookings...' wouldn't hurt either. Hope this helps.

 

[Bullitt5135]

Gave it a like on FB because it helps Make sure you've added tags to the video post that are relevant to what you offer: Live music, bars, events, & localities you cover. Goal is for someone either looking to hire or go out and see you via search. I also think you can squeeze at least 3 different songs into the clip's timeframe to add variety for the viewer. Direct link to current schedule or 'for bookings...' wouldn't hurt either. Hope this helps.

Excellent points. Thx!

 

[IanStephenson]

Definitely the right idea. Really like it,

As you're using split screen I'd include more cut backs/inserts of close ups of the band playing. Not full screen as that's not what you're trying to show, but just to keep the link going between your band, the music and the party.

Particularly I'd like to see some close ups of the singer, singing the words - ideally from from different gigs, and when the guitar solo kicks in a few close ups of the guitar would be nice.

You're correct to focus on the people enjoying themselves, so keep that front and centre, but use the split screen to bring the band back a bit.

 

[mrcbass]

I agree with the feedback above. Definitely cut in two or three short samples of your music (that represent your range). I like to see music performed live, but understand that it's difficult to sync things up when you're using a prerecorded sample.

Another observation is to avoid showing a relatively dead dance floor. I know it sucks when you have a dead crowd on video shoot day, but IMO, it's better to not show the crowd if it's not big enough/engaged enough to help you.

Music sounds good, the overall approach is great.

 

[mike o]

I like it!

 

[Egg250]

That's cool. It grabbed me. Concise. Nicely done.

 

[ThinCrappyTone2]

Link Removed

It's taken me a long time to realize that nobody booking bands wants to watch an 8-minute video of yet another cover band. I've been trying to boil things down to a 1-minute elevator pitch. Basically, "this is what we sound and look like, and these are the types of places we've played."

I just knocked this out over the weekend using some footage I had in the can, using Adobe Premier and a pre-made template. I wanted to keep it short at just over a minute since we already have a few longer performance videos on our page. I also wanted the focus to be as much on the venues and crowds as on the musicians. One minute is not a lot of time to feature a bunch of song clips, so I decided to use part of just one song. For the next promo, I will probably put together a 3-minute video with just our logo and a few band photos, with short segments for 5-6 songs that better shows what we sound like.

I honestly think it’s great. I’d hire you off this promo

 

[JRA]

it's great, nice job!

 

[acid bass]

The video is terrific! Really high quality, you could probably market your services to other bands. Seriously, there are so many bands that just don't invest enough time putting quality promo material out like this and it kills their marketability.

If you don't mind me asking, how did you get the audio? Do you record the blended FOH mix or do you actually run separate channels and mix/master those as well for the video?

 

[evs]

That is great!

 

[Bullitt5135]

The video is terrific! Really high quality, you could probably market your services to other bands. Seriously, there are so many bands that just don't invest enough time putting quality promo material out like this and it kills their marketability.

If you don't mind me asking, how did you get the audio? Do you record the blended FOH mix or do you actually run separate channels and mix/master those as well for the video?

I try to record multitrack every gig on my Soundcraft ui24 and mix it down after the show. Invariably, i forget to hit “record” because I’m running around setting up for the show.

At most of our gigs, I try to get my wife and my best friend to record video of a few songs with their iPhones. They try to stay out of each other’s way and keep the cameras moving (that’s a key to good video in my opinion…tripod shots are boring!). It doesn’t always work. Sometimes the performance is bland and not worth editing. Or I forgot to record the multitrack, which makes the video useless.

Using my Adobe Premier software, it’s usually easy to sync the video and the audio. For this latest promo, I tried using an animated montage plug-in. Unfortunately, I can only drop video into it, which makes the audio tedious to sync to the video because of buffering problems.

I joke that I spend more time doing these mixdowns and promo videos than I do playing gigs. We’re a newer band and we need any help we can get finding gigs. My bandmates have also said I could make money doing this for other bands like us. My response is “there’s already enough band competition around here…I want to stand out!”

 

[Bullitt5135]

I agree with the feedback above. Definitely cut in two or three short samples of your music (that represent your range). I like to see music performed live, but understand that it's difficult to sync things up when you're using a prerecorded sample.

Another observation is to avoid showing a relatively dead dance floor. I know it sucks when you have a dead crowd on video shoot day, but IMO, it's better to not show the crowd if it's not big enough/engaged enough to help you.

Music sounds good, the overall approach is great.

Thank you, these are very fair points. I may take another pass at this and see how it works with 3 or 4 song clips. As for the dance floor…we do play danceable music. Our gigs have tended to be outdoor picnic gigs, where people are just chilling and only a few brave souls are dancing. We are actually working on booking a couple venues known for their big dance crowds. I’ll be sure to get a ton of footage if we get the gig.

 

[pepj]

Good editing. I agree that crown shots are great if rammed, but less good if not.

 

[Bullitt5135]

OK, I updated the promo with a few more audio clips. I think this is a better representation of what we play and how we sound.



In the future, and with a little preplanning, I’ll work on using video clips synched to the actual audio. It’ll never match up with every clip in a montage video like this, but key shots and closeups would have more impact if synced up.

 

[kevindahl]

Much better with different audio clips. Well done!

 

[SouthLatitude]

Outstanding. Don't sell the steak, sell the sizzle.

 

[lildrgn]

I dig it. My band just put out a promo video and unfortunately, all we had were static tripod shots. The movement really adds a bunch. And the multi-venues. Not to mention DRONE SHOT.

Great ideas and execution. Good luck with the bookings!