Youtube concertina vids - getting decent sound. Help !

[Simon H]

Looking for some advice from seasoned Youtube concertina performers. I decided to take the plunge but am having limited success.

 

I have a selection of digital cameras I can use to capture video - Pentax Optio, Lumix none of these have external mic input.

 

To get a decent sound to the camera about 8 feet away from me, (my first failure was in thinking that the sound would carry well enough unaided), I rigged up a decent mic and practice amp, dialled in a tiny little bit of reverb to lift the sound after much experimentation and recorded away. I soon found that one of my cameras gave better sound quality than the others. So I stuck with that. Couple of problems though, even with the amp about 3 feet from the camera, the sound was pretty low level and lacked realism, sounding flat and tinny with little bite. Subjectively while playing it sounded pretty good. But the result didn't do the instrument justice.

 

Then it was transferring to the video suite to add a caption, saving in different formats, (some horrendous file sizes for a couple of minutes of filming.) Finally I got a version I was happy with that looked reasonable and the sound quality was acceptable. It came out at 90 MB - took ages to upload to YouTube and I left it to upload. I came back an hour later to find that the Youtube conversion on upload had degraded the sound quality to a metallic grating, warbling shriek. Rather than have ghastly comments I took the video down. So the end result of about 3 evenings work was zero.

 

Given that it had taken a while to figure the best camera and sound setup then the best part of twenty takes to get one without any playing errors, to get to this stage and find the end result on Youtube was unplayable was disappointing to say the least. The prospect of going through all that again for two minutes of video is a bit daunting.

 

So calling all YT concertina experts:

 

What are your tips for a good result on YT?

 

-Camera

-Getting the sound to the camera in reasonable form

-File formats/ conversion software/file sizes etc

-Youtube upload

 

I know this can be done - I've seen some great results from other players, it can't just be hit or miss. I don't expect everyone is using studio grade equipment/software.

 

It would be great to have a thread of best tips for getting the sound of a concertina onto the web in reasonable order. Perhaps there already is one. I don't intend going out to get a new video camera for the purpose unless someone knows of a very cheap one that does the job eminently well....

 

Simon

[LDT]

If you think my vids are ok then I'll tell you what I do...

see this

otherwise I'd like to hear what other people do.

[Will Fly]

I've not recorded a concertina on video, but I've done over 130 on guitar for YouTube. You can see the quality at:

 

Will Fly on YouTube

 

You can also see how I produce them by reading pages starting here.

 

The only real difference in technique is in the mic'ing of the concertina - two good mics through a small mixer will give you an even sound for each end of the box.

Edited June 24, 2009 by Will Fly

[Henrik Müller]

Brilliant! The highest quality, I've seen on YouTube. Even "Normal" quality is outstanding.

Learn from this man!

 

/Henrik

[LDT]

Synchronising sound and vision. Once dropped into the iMovie timeline, the video file sits on one trackline as a blue strip, and the audio file sits below it as a red strip. Synching up sound to vision requires me to adjust the two strips while the sound for each track is "live". In other words, I match the recorded sound with the crude camcorder sound from the video track - when they sound identical, I switch off the camcorder audio, leaving the video signal exactly in sync with the better quality recorded audio signal. I top and tail the video signal to get rid of the unwanted few seconds before and after the performance.

I always find that really hard in i-movie

[Will Fly]

Synchronising sound and vision. Once dropped into the iMovie timeline, the video file sits on one trackline as a blue strip, and the audio file sits below it as a red strip. Synching up sound to vision requires me to adjust the two strips while the sound for each track is "live". In other words, I match the recorded sound with the crude camcorder sound from the video track - when they sound identical, I switch off the camcorder audio, leaving the video signal exactly in sync with the better quality recorded audio signal. I top and tail the video signal to get rid of the unwanted few seconds before and after the performance.

I always find that really hard in i-movie

 

Yes, it can be a pain sometimes! It can take a lot of inching files left and right to get exact synch - and sometimes it just falls into place straightaway. It's probably easier for a guitarist because the visual clue of the picking hand is perhaps more obvious than fingering buttons!

[Boney]

Synchronising sound and vision. Once dropped into the iMovie timeline, the video file sits on one trackline as a blue strip, and the audio file sits below it as a red strip. Synching up sound to vision requires me to adjust the two strips while the sound for each track is "live".

I always find that really hard in i-movie

Yes, it can be a pain sometimes! It can take a lot of inching files left and right to get exact synch - and sometimes it just falls into place straightaway. It's probably easier for a guitarist because the visual clue of the picking hand is perhaps more obvious than fingering buttons!

That's why they use a clap board to mark scenes when making a movie. Try clapping your hands before you start playing -- or maybe better, after a good take. That gives a short, sharp sound and a strong visual cue to synch to.