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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
 Posted - 05/30/2009 : 12:30:35 AM
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As some of you may be aware, our braddah Derek (Hookani) has recently posted some pretty fantastic videos on You Tube ( http://www.youtube.com/user/Hookani ).
Derek not only makes spectacular music with his 12-string guitar and his magnificent leo ki`eki`e, but they sound like professionally recorded, engineered videos. Derek darlin', here is some arm twistin' on Auntie's part to get you to tell us what kind of magic gadgets you use, how you get the great sound that you do and any other kine secrets to making great music videos for You Tube.
You other guys, too, like Zack, when he is playing guitar and accompanying himself on the `ukulele, too, through the magic of electronics. I know Kawika recommended the right camera for me, the Flip, because all you gotta do is push a button to turn the buggah on then push the button to turn him off, but I actually really would like to make Unko sound as good on the vieos as he really is and I don't think the Flip does that so well. For instance volume is not all that swell. But Derek, now, there is some good sounding stuff and he gets all that reverb and stuff lidat.
OK Derek, fess up.
Please.
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Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
Edited by - wcerto on 05/30/2009 12:40:19 AM |
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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2009 : 06:43:56 AM
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Fran - I do not even know what adjust the EQ means. So, yeah, write a blog, for the uninitiated. Your vids sound wonderful, too, Fran. What I did for Paul is just record them on the flip, as is. Ambient everything. Then I use the Flip software to put them on You Tube. I'm pau, but they don't sound like yours or Derek's or Zaks. OK, OK, not that I am saying Paul plays to those levels with Hawaiian music yet, but his "Touch a Name on the Wall" and his "Possum" songs are pretty swell anyhow. And I would like to make them better. On the cheap is good, like Fran says, with free software. On the other hand, I do not want to spend tons of time and learn all kinds of technical kinda stuff just to put Paul on the You Tube.
Paul does have sound gadgets and stuff from when he plays live gigs. He's got mics and mintorrs and I do not know what all. Does that live performance stuff work for recording these videos?
I love the look of Jesse's microphone in his videos. It looks so retro. And how you get like plain dark backgrounds and such? I neva like someone see my folded up laundry on the couch waiting to get put away. And I have taken to heart Jesse's advice about getting a tripod cause I know I wiggle. Some of the songs I find it very hard not to sway to the music or tap my foot or even do some hula moves while I am trying to record.
Maybe we should start with what constitutes a good video on you tube.
I say: the music, if course. Being able to hear what is recorded and being able to see what was filmed. So, obviously sound and light.
What else constitutes a good video in your opinions?
I love, for instance, the stuff that Keonepax does because it not only presents some darn swell music, but it presents it to us in a most creative and artsy way. I love the stuff Derek does because the sound is spectacular. It doesn't hurt that the guy can sing, sing SING!). Same thing with Jesse's. Others I have seen, I love the music, but they are so dark I no can see....maybe on purpose because someone is shy, or maybe inadvertently. Conversely, some can be so light, it is hard to see detail.
It is obvious there is much more to it than just turning on a button. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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Konabob
`Olu`olu
USA
928 Posts |
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Hookani
Lokahi
232 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2009 : 11:12:51 AM
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Howz it Aunty,
My stuff is nothing write home about and I could spend more time on the sound but I wasn't trying to make it great, just trying not to sound junk which I hope I accomplished. I'm still getting used to hearing myself and still don't like how I sound. I admire the guys who sound good no matter what the sound system sounds like.
In any case here's a run down of what I do. It's probably a bit more than what you want to do but I like to fiddle around with sound recording and stuff.
My basic equipment:
Laptop computer with good resourses.
M-Audio 1814 firewire interface - This gets the audio into the computer.
Reaper DAW - This is the software I use for mixing the audio. It's free and rivals a lot of the professional software.
Sony hard drive video camera on tripod.
AVS Video Editor
Mic, etc.
First off, so you know, my audio and video are completely separate, I don't even use the video camera audio and just use the audio I'm recording thru the computer. All my mics and instruments are plugged into the 1814 which is connected to the computer and recorded into separate tracks in the software so my guitar and vocals are two separate tracks that I can individually adjust.
Once everything is set up, I just hit record in the software, hit record on the camera and start recording the song. At the very beginning I do a clap so I can synchronize the computer recorded audio and the video when I put the two together.
When the recording is done I'll record more audio tracks to song such as bass guitar, ukulele and harmonies and using the software add whatever effects I want such as reverb, EQ, etc.
After I get the mix of tracks how I want it I'll render it to a single .wav file so i can work with it in the video editor. I'll now import the video into the computer for editing.
In the video editor I'll import the video and audio for mixing. Here I will mute the video camera audio and just use the audio done with the recording gear. I'll find the spot in the video where I clap and line it up with the clap in the recorded audio. It's not always exact but usually close enough. Once it's all synchronized, I'll edit out the beginning of the video to where the song starts (so you don't see the clap) and render the video as an .avi file. Then it's just a matter of loading up to YouTube and that's what you see.
It's actually pretty simple once you learn the software. There are way easier ways to do this as Fran mentioned. I believe Jesse also just edits the camera audio but I like to use a separate audio signals for each mic/instrument for ultimate control. When using the camera audio, you can't separate the vocals from the instruments (at least I don't know how) so it's hard to balance things out say if the guitar is too loud compared to the voice or vice versa.
Anywayz, that's just how I do it. There are a million ways you could do it but that's my process. Hope that sheds some light on how I do my videos. Like I said, they're nothing to write home about it's good for me as a critiquing tool but I'm glad you're enjoying them and thanks for all the wonderful comments on the videos.
Can't wait to see you guys in August.
Aloha,
Ho'okani |
Ke Kani Nahe
YouTube
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sm80808
Lokahi
347 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2009 : 12:08:07 AM
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Cool Derek. I like your vids too. The ones I have up are just straight from my Kodak zi6.
I have been playing with Logic Express a little bit to do multi-tracking, but haven't produced anything good enough to actually save (love that delete function...)
I have an iMac with an Apogee Duet interface and some mics in case anyone was curious. |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2009 : 01:47:36 AM
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Thanks, Derek -- I find it easier to speak `olelo Hawai`i than to speak recording electronics ha-ha.
Here Jesse Tinsley has been inspired by Derek's recordings to multi-track one of his own, as song that I love, "Aloha wau `ia `oe" -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZICI16S2Jn0 |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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abrigoohana
Lokahi
271 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2009 : 08:28:46 AM
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Very nicely done Uncle Derek! Almost like sitting with you at the kanikapila... miss you already!
Aloha,
the Abrigo Ohana |
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RWD
`Olu`olu
USA
850 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2009 : 06:49:05 AM
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Wanda
There is another way to get decent audio. If your cam has a socket for an external mic, you can plug one in and put it near the guitar/voice. You will need a mic designed to use with camcorders but they are available and not too expensive ($30-150).
I found that when you get a camcorder far enough back to get the scene right, the sound is too far away and the quality is poor.
I personally use an external mic for video and then add reverb with the movie making software.
If you look at my duet vids you can see the mics (in my case, two) on a stand and also hear the reverb I added with the movie software (Pinnacle). |
Bob |
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rendesvous1840
Ha`aha`a
USA
1055 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2009 : 2:58:55 PM
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I don't think Wanda's Flip Mino has an external mic input, but we have options. If we get computer savvy enough to use the editing software out there, we can record the audio part on the Zoom H-2 and combine them. Or, we can use my live show rig to boost and eq the live sound so it comes through better, and place the speaker closer to the Flip camera. For us dinosaurs, there's always my 4 track deck. I'll probably resort to that sooner or later, anyway, so's I can mix instruments. That will also require editing software to combine the audio and video. The stumbling blocks on all thisare 1) The time it would take for me to become computer savvy would cut into my playing time or my internet posting time. 2) rendesvous 1840 is more than a handle, it's a way of thinking. Electricity? Ain't that what Mr. Franklin got when he was flying his kite? I'm jamming with a Civil War/ Minstrel era band. And that's POST 1840. Hopelessly modern for me.
Some day. Back when I avoided computers as evil things, Wanda had to drag me (kicking and screaming) into the 20th century, as it was fading away. I may get to the 21st some day, but not TODAY!
Paul |
"A master banjo player isn't the person who can pick the most notes.It's the person who can touch the most hearts." Patrick Costello |
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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
Posted - 06/11/2009 : 12:14:24 PM
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OK, it took a little longer than I thought, but here are a couple of blog posts that discuss editing video with Avidemux. The principles are exactly the same if you use Windows Movie Maker or other video editor, but Avidemux works on many file formats and it doesn't mess with the video unless it has to.
Here's the scoop on that (please correct me if you are more knowledgeable, I'm learning this stuff as I go) - all the video we shoot and pass around is compressed - raw video files are humongous and they contain a lot of redundancy, so we use computing power to reduce the size of the files. There are always quality tradeoffs, but video compression makes the world go round.
Most video editors work in their own internal format - if your video matches exactly, good, if not the editor expands your file then converts it to that internal format, then (possibly decompresses and) compresses it again when you render the project. Each time the video is processed some quality is lost - it's the (mathematical) law (of information theory).
Avidemux can perform some useful functions without decompressing the video - things like trimming the length and extracting or merging audio. And these are just the functions we're interested in. So it's worth fooling around with this slightly quirky tool in order to preserve the quality of our videos.
So, if you have an externally recorded audio file that you want to merge with your video, please visit the Homebrewed Music blog and check out this blog post.
And if you have no external recording tool and need to work with the camera sound, I hope this blog post will be helpful.
Fran |
E ho`okani pila kakou ma Kaleponi
Slack Key Guitar in California - www.kaleponi.com
Slack Key on YouTube
Homebrewed Music Blog |
Edited by - Fran Guidry on 06/11/2009 12:17:01 PM |
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