A screenshot of Caveman's SXSW performance, webcast by IFC
On paper, webcast concerts seem incredibly appealing. They're a great way to showcase yourself to new fans, stay connected to the ones you can't get out to regularly, try out new material, and create opportunities for your fans to connect with one another, right?
But it's not enough to simply plunk your laptop down on a stack of books, fire up Ustream, and start playing. Just like television, radio, and film, the webcast is its own medium with a distinct set of strengths and weaknesses for presenting content. Here's what you need to be mindful of.
Be Careful About the Lighting!
As tempting as it is to think of a webcast concert as just another concert, it's probably more helpful to think of it as a photo shoot. After the music and how it sounds (more on that in a minute), the most important aspect of a webcast concert is what the camera sees.
At a typical gig, you don't have to think about this at all: the club or bar's ambiance is basically set (for good or ill), and you are a larger-than-life part of it. From a visual standpoint, your sole responsibility is to just get up on stage and represent yourself.
On the web, that ambiance is gone. People are going to be at home in their bedrooms, staring at a small screen, so the images it contains MUST BE visually striking. Make things too dark, and people aren't going to know what they're looking at. Make them too light, and it may seem disorienting.
It may take some tinkering to get a lighting balance that's right for your band. But whatever kind of music your band makes, it's going to require more than turning on the lamps in your basement.
Lots of Motion, or No Motion at All
We're all used to images changing quickly. The televisual culture we were raised in has conditioned us to seeing things shot at multiple angles, with different cameras and different lighting. Unfortunately, meeting these expectations with webcast technology can be rather difficult. You probably can't afford to buy or rent multiple cameras, hire camera-men and a director to follow your performance in real time.
But unless your fans also happen to like Andy Warhol films, a static, medium-to-long shot of you and your band is going to bore them. This leaves you with two options: either make your performance as kinetic as possible (get your drummer to play standing up, have your friends throw pillow feathers on you throughout the set), or zoom in so close that the lack of movement is made up for with simplicity.
For example, you could try playing a miniature set with an extreme close up, so that all your audience can see is your face. People respond instinctively to facial expressions, and the sight of the energy and emotion you're expending to sing might compensate for the lack of cinematic work being done.
Could a tight, unusual shot like this one hold an audience's interest throughout your set?
A Different Kind of Sound Check
As previously mentioned, the most important aspect of a concert webcast is the sound of the performance. Even if you can't solve the lighting or the cinematography problems outlined above, your fans will always appreciate the experience if you sound good.
But do you know what your music sounds like coming out of computer speakers? Or, more specifically, do you know what it sounds like streaming through the site you've chosen to host your webcast? Do you know what frequencies it has trouble with? Whether it can handle all the feedback your band likes to use to transition between songs?
The good news is that you can practice these things over and over again until you get them right. There's no sound guy who's going to get annoyed with you. There's no penalty for streaming your rehearsals and having a friend tell you whether it sounds okay.
Concert webcasts may not be right for every artist. But if you've ever thought about doing one, make sure you go over these things first.
