Twelve Technical and Non-Technical Tips for Live Streaming Musical Performances –
Tip 4 ‘Use Immediate – NOT Scheduled – Facebook Live Streams'
Author: Chris Thompson P. Eng.
[email protected]
613-692-5380
Date: July 1, 2020
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Ottawa Jazz Happenings or of JazzWorks Canada.
Note: Since the beginning of April I've acquired a fair depth and breadth of practical knowledge regarding live streaming musical performances, due to a) my two week technical investigation of Facebook Live and YouTube Live at the beginning of April (see 'Background' below), and b) my organizing the 'ZOLAS Live Jazz Saturday Nights ONLINE!' live stream performance series including, as required, mentoring series performers using a range of physical setups on doing live streams (see 'Background' below). Please feel free to phone me (613-692-5380) or email me ([email protected]) if you would like any advice on/assistance with live streaming your musical performance(s). My fee is a donation of whatever you feel is appropriate to the GoFundMe campaign for the ZOLAS series, every penny of which (after advertising expenses and GoFundMe's service charge) will go to covering performers' fees.
Introduction
This is the fourth in a series of twelve articles. Each article discusses in detail a technical or non-technical tip for doing live streamed musical performances. This article discusses Tip 4 ‘Use Immediate – NOT Scheduled – Facebook Live Streams'.
Tip 4 – Use Immediate – NOT Scheduled - Facebook Live Streams
In my June 24th, 2020, article ‘Twelve Technical and non-Technical Tips for Live Streaming Musical Performances – Tip 3’, I recommended using Facebook Live instead of YouTube Live for live stream musical performances which use (mainly) Facebook for promoting and providing access to the live streams. Facebook Live offers two types of live streams:
1. what I refer to as ‘immediate’ – this is where on the Facebook Live stream setup page you select ‘Go Live Now’ (see Image 1)
Note: ‘Go Live Now’ is confusing. Selecting it does NOT initiate the live stream. It means that the live stream will be initiated when you click on the big blue ‘Go Live’ button on the bottom left. This confusion, in my opinion, is poor design and reinforces my conclusion that Facebook Live was never designed for what it is currently being used for – live streaming musical performances to dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of viewers. It was designed for users with smartphones on vacation live streaming, for example, walking through a park in Paris to friends and family back home. It is NOT currently a professional-level live streaming service.
Note: Since the beginning of April I've acquired a fair depth and breadth of practical knowledge regarding live streaming musical performances, due to a) my two week technical investigation of Facebook Live and YouTube Live at the beginning of April (see 'Background' below), and b) my organizing the 'ZOLAS Live Jazz Saturday Nights ONLINE!' live stream performance series including, as required, mentoring series performers using a range of physical setups on doing live streams (see 'Background' below). Please feel free to phone me (613-692-5380) or email me ([email protected]) if you would like any advice on/assistance with live streaming your musical performance(s). My fee is a donation of whatever you feel is appropriate to the GoFundMe campaign for the ZOLAS series, every penny of which (after advertising expenses and GoFundMe's service charge) will go to covering performers' fees.
Introduction
This is the fourth in a series of twelve articles. Each article discusses in detail a technical or non-technical tip for doing live streamed musical performances. This article discusses Tip 4 ‘Use Immediate – NOT Scheduled – Facebook Live Streams'.
Tip 4 – Use Immediate – NOT Scheduled - Facebook Live Streams
In my June 24th, 2020, article ‘Twelve Technical and non-Technical Tips for Live Streaming Musical Performances – Tip 3’, I recommended using Facebook Live instead of YouTube Live for live stream musical performances which use (mainly) Facebook for promoting and providing access to the live streams. Facebook Live offers two types of live streams:
1. what I refer to as ‘immediate’ – this is where on the Facebook Live stream setup page you select ‘Go Live Now’ (see Image 1)
Note: ‘Go Live Now’ is confusing. Selecting it does NOT initiate the live stream. It means that the live stream will be initiated when you click on the big blue ‘Go Live’ button on the bottom left. This confusion, in my opinion, is poor design and reinforces my conclusion that Facebook Live was never designed for what it is currently being used for – live streaming musical performances to dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of viewers. It was designed for users with smartphones on vacation live streaming, for example, walking through a park in Paris to friends and family back home. It is NOT currently a professional-level live streaming service.
2. what I refer to as ‘scheduled’ – this is where on the Facebook Live stream setup page you select ‘Schedule a Live Video’ (see Image 2)
You’ll notice that selecting ‘Schedule a Live Video’ changes the Facebook Live stream setup page significantly:
Advantages of ‘Scheduled’ Facebook Live Streams
The advantages of ‘scheduled’ Facebook Live streams are:
a) Announcement Post
- under ‘Schedule a Live Video’ there is now an ‘Announcement Post’ section where you enter the date and time of the scheduled live stream (see Image 2)
- the right side of the page is completely different – the ‘Get Started’ and ‘Setup’ sections in Image 1 have been replaced by ‘Setup Options’ and ‘Stream Key Setup’ sections, and there is an ‘Announcement Post Preview’ section – I’ll get back to this
Advantages of ‘Scheduled’ Facebook Live Streams
The advantages of ‘scheduled’ Facebook Live streams are:
a) Announcement Post
Once you have scheduled the Facebook Live stream and clicked on the blue ‘Schedule Live Video’ button (see Image 3 above), an ‘announcement post’ is posted on all Facebook followers’ (live stream initiated from musician/band Facebook page) or friends’ (live stream initiated from personal Facebook page) Facebook pages – see Image 4 below.
The live stream can be scheduled minutes, hours, or days before the start of the actual live stream. The advantages of this are:
Note: An alternative with ‘immediate’ live streams is what I ask ZOLAS live stream performers to do – start the live stream ten or fifteen minutes before the show starts with a sign that says, for example, “Show starts at 7 pm” just to reassure people what’s going on (see Image 5), with some background music playing until the show starts. This lets people make sure that their audio is working before your performance actually starts. One ZOLAS live stream viewer told me “I really love the idea of starting (the live stream) a bit early, as I often miss the first few minutes trying to sort my end of things.”.
- The same post that advertises the live stream is also used to access the live stream, which is seamless for viewers. With an ‘immediate’ live stream, the post that advertises the live stream – for example, a Facebook event (example) – is separate from the actual live stream post.
- Viewers can use the announcement post to ensure that they are set up to view the live stream before it starts.
Note: An alternative with ‘immediate’ live streams is what I ask ZOLAS live stream performers to do – start the live stream ten or fifteen minutes before the show starts with a sign that says, for example, “Show starts at 7 pm” just to reassure people what’s going on (see Image 5), with some background music playing until the show starts. This lets people make sure that their audio is working before your performance actually starts. One ZOLAS live stream viewer told me “I really love the idea of starting (the live stream) a bit early, as I often miss the first few minutes trying to sort my end of things.”.
b) Countdown Timer
Three minutes before the scheduled start time of the live stream, the announcement post displays a minute and second countdown timer, as shown in Image 6.
Three minutes before the scheduled start time of the live stream, the announcement post displays a minute and second countdown timer, as shown in Image 6.
Three minutes before the scheduled start time of the live stream, the announcement post displays a minute and second countdown timer, as shown in Image 6 above. This lets viewers ensure that they are watching when the performance starts. At the scheduled time for the live stream, the announcement post becomes the live stream post, as shown in Image 7 below.
Clicking on the ‘Watch Live’ button in Image 7 results in the live stream being displayed ‘full screen’, as shown in Image 8 below.
Disadvantages of ‘Scheduled’ Facebook Live Streams
During my detailed technical investigation of Facebook Live and YouTube Live at the beginning of April (see ‘Background’ below), I encountered a number of issues associated with ‘scheduled’ Facebook Live streams, including at least one ‘showstopper’ issue:
a) Complexity
As I indicated above, selecting ‘Schedule a Live Video’ changes the Facebook Live stream setup page significantly, as shown in Image 2 above – the right side of the page is completely different – the ‘Get Started’ and ‘Setup’ sections in Image 1 above have been replaced by ‘Setup Options’ and ‘Stream Key Setup’ sections. ‘Scheduled’ Facebook Live streams require the use of streaming software, such as Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) as shown in Image 9 below.
During my detailed technical investigation of Facebook Live and YouTube Live at the beginning of April (see ‘Background’ below), I encountered a number of issues associated with ‘scheduled’ Facebook Live streams, including at least one ‘showstopper’ issue:
a) Complexity
As I indicated above, selecting ‘Schedule a Live Video’ changes the Facebook Live stream setup page significantly, as shown in Image 2 above – the right side of the page is completely different – the ‘Get Started’ and ‘Setup’ sections in Image 1 above have been replaced by ‘Setup Options’ and ‘Stream Key Setup’ sections. ‘Scheduled’ Facebook Live streams require the use of streaming software, such as Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) as shown in Image 9 below.
Using streaming software adds considerable complexity to setting up Facebook Live streams:
- streaming software programs such as OBS have their own learning curve with respect to using them
- streaming software requires the use of ‘streaming keys’ which must be copied from the Facebook Live stream setup page (see Image 10 below) and pasted into the streaming software (see Image 11 below)
Organizing the ‘ZOLAS Live Jazz Saturday Nights ONLINE!’ stay-at-home live stream performance series has required working with five of the ten performers in the series (at least one of them a self-admitted ‘luddite’) who had never done a live stream before and did not have technical backgrounds to get them to the point where they were comfortable initiating a Facebook Live stream on their own. This has involved at least one looong and painful Zoom meeting with each performer, just to walk them through step-by-step how to initiate an ‘immediate’ Facebook Live stream. In my opinion, the added complexity of using streaming software would have been beyond their ability.
b) Latency
I have observed a significant delay – ranging from about ten to thirty seconds – between the video displayed by my OBS streaming software (see Image 12) and the video displayed by the Facebook Live stream setup page. The former is ‘real-time’ (i.e. when I raise my hand, my hand goes up at the same time in the video displayed by my OBS streaming software – see Image 12), while the latter is significantly delayed (i.e. when I raise my hand, it’s ten to thirty seconds later before my hand goes up in the video displayed by the Facebook Live stream setup page – see Image 13).
b) Latency
I have observed a significant delay – ranging from about ten to thirty seconds – between the video displayed by my OBS streaming software (see Image 12) and the video displayed by the Facebook Live stream setup page. The former is ‘real-time’ (i.e. when I raise my hand, my hand goes up at the same time in the video displayed by my OBS streaming software – see Image 12), while the latter is significantly delayed (i.e. when I raise my hand, it’s ten to thirty seconds later before my hand goes up in the video displayed by the Facebook Live stream setup page – see Image 13).
I find this delay somewhat distracting.
c) Interworking
In a number of cases where I initiated test end-to-end scheduled Facebook Live streams, the video displayed by the Facebook Live stream setup page would either freeze at some point during the live stream, or would just disappear (see Image 14 below).
c) Interworking
In a number of cases where I initiated test end-to-end scheduled Facebook Live streams, the video displayed by the Facebook Live stream setup page would either freeze at some point during the live stream, or would just disappear (see Image 14 below).
This, in my opinion, is a ‘show-stopper’ issue. Curiously, however, when the video displayed by the Facebook Live stream setup page froze or disappeared, the video for viewers was fine (Image 8 above).
My Conclusion
My conclusion is that the disadvantages of ‘scheduled’ Facebook Live streams over ‘immediate’ Facebook Live streams outweigh the advantages. In other words, ‘scheduled’ Facebook Live streams aren’t worth it. Therefore, I have asked ZOLAS live stream performers to use ‘immediate’ Facebook Live streams and not ‘scheduled’ Facebook Live streams.
My Conclusion
My conclusion is that the disadvantages of ‘scheduled’ Facebook Live streams over ‘immediate’ Facebook Live streams outweigh the advantages. In other words, ‘scheduled’ Facebook Live streams aren’t worth it. Therefore, I have asked ZOLAS live stream performers to use ‘immediate’ Facebook Live streams and not ‘scheduled’ Facebook Live streams.
Background
I got involved with live streaming at the end of March 2020 when ZOLAS restaurant and pasta shop in Ottawa’s West End asked me to help them with live streaming performances by their jazz performers in order to help support their takeout and delivery business during this very difficult time for restaurants. I had been booking the performers for their ‘Live Jazz Saturday Nights’ program for the previous two years. Being an engineer (and borderline OCD – not a job requirement, but definitely an asset), I spent a couple of weeks investigating Facebook Live and YouTube Live from a technical perspective. I set up numerous end-to-end test live streams in order to understand how the two services work, understand the differences, and identify serious and less serious issues. These tests included (successfully) using as the audio source a USB microphone, a sound system (USB and non-USB mixers), and a high quality digital audio recorder.
I’m a retired Professional Engineer (degree in Electrical Engineering). I worked for 23 years at Bell-Northern Research/Nortel in Ottawa, Canada, designing telecommunications services. I’ve been playing drums and electric bass in gigging big bands and small jazz ensembles since 1970 (fifty years!). Playing in bands kept me sane when I was in school and working, and is now (or at least it has been until this year) my major retirement activity. I’m currently the drummer in the big band Standing Room Only and was the bass player in the bossa nova trio Wave until it disbanded (pun intended) in December 2019. Having a technical background and being a gigging musician is proving very valuable for my involvement with live streaming musical performances, since I can bridge the two areas.
I’m currently organizing the ‘ZOLAS Live Jazz Saturday Nights ONLINE!’ live stream performance series. There have been eight successful live stream performances so far:
I got involved with live streaming at the end of March 2020 when ZOLAS restaurant and pasta shop in Ottawa’s West End asked me to help them with live streaming performances by their jazz performers in order to help support their takeout and delivery business during this very difficult time for restaurants. I had been booking the performers for their ‘Live Jazz Saturday Nights’ program for the previous two years. Being an engineer (and borderline OCD – not a job requirement, but definitely an asset), I spent a couple of weeks investigating Facebook Live and YouTube Live from a technical perspective. I set up numerous end-to-end test live streams in order to understand how the two services work, understand the differences, and identify serious and less serious issues. These tests included (successfully) using as the audio source a USB microphone, a sound system (USB and non-USB mixers), and a high quality digital audio recorder.
I’m a retired Professional Engineer (degree in Electrical Engineering). I worked for 23 years at Bell-Northern Research/Nortel in Ottawa, Canada, designing telecommunications services. I’ve been playing drums and electric bass in gigging big bands and small jazz ensembles since 1970 (fifty years!). Playing in bands kept me sane when I was in school and working, and is now (or at least it has been until this year) my major retirement activity. I’m currently the drummer in the big band Standing Room Only and was the bass player in the bossa nova trio Wave until it disbanded (pun intended) in December 2019. Having a technical background and being a gigging musician is proving very valuable for my involvement with live streaming musical performances, since I can bridge the two areas.
I’m currently organizing the ‘ZOLAS Live Jazz Saturday Nights ONLINE!’ live stream performance series. There have been eight successful live stream performances so far:
- Lucas Haneman and Megan Laurence on May 9
- Laura Anglade on May 16
- Roddy Ellias on May 23
- Elise Letourneau & Tim Bedner on May 30
- Mark Ferguson on June 6 (see Image 8 below)
- Diane Nalini and Adrian Cho on June 13
- Sean Duhaime and Suzie Q on June 20
- Spencer Scharf on June 27
Organizing the series includes having Zoom meetings with the performers in the series as required (some of them are self-admitted ‘luddites’, so our Zoom meetings are looong and painful, although by the end I get them ‘from zero to sixty’) to a) determine the best technical setup for their live stream performance, b) do a step-by-step walk-through of how to set up and initiate a live stream, and c) do a test end-to-end live stream. I’ve authored a detailed technical user guide ‘Live Streaming Stay-at-Home Musical Performances – Technical User Guide’ for the performers to use as a reference document after our Zoom meeting, and which you can access (read only) at this URL. Appendix B of the reference document provides twelve technical and non-technical tips on live streaming musical performances based on my technical investigation and on the experiences from the ZOLAS live stream performances so far:
Technical Tips
Non-Technical Tips
10. Start your live stream 15-30 minutes before the start of your actual performance
11. Use a tablet (e.g. iPad) or smartphone (e.g. iPhone) as a ‘viewer’
12. Don’t erase your recorded live stream
Technical Tips
- Do a TEST end-to-end live stream
- Use an Internet connection with the highest upload speed possible
- Use Facebook Live if viewers will access your live stream on Facebook
- Use Immediate (Facebook Live ‘Go Live Now’) NOT Scheduled (Facebook Live ‘Schedule a Live Video’) – Live Streams
- Use a computer for your live stream
- Use a wired ethernet connection between your computer and your router
- Use an external audio source for your live stream
- Use a ‘VHS to DVD converter’ to connect a non-USB mixer to your computer
- Mic your performance for recording – not a live performance – when using a mixer as your external audio source
Non-Technical Tips
10. Start your live stream 15-30 minutes before the start of your actual performance
11. Use a tablet (e.g. iPad) or smartphone (e.g. iPhone) as a ‘viewer’
12. Don’t erase your recorded live stream
Comments
Bob Nesbitt, 4-November-2020 - "Wow, what a resource Chris Thompson is for technical matters! I read a number of his articles and they were truly excellent."
Davina Pearl, 16-August-2020 - "I very much appreciate all the careful thought that you put into your articles. It’s an amazing way of supporting our little community during these times. It’s heartening to read them, and to build hope that we will find some excellent ways to overcome the challenges of our new reality.”
Devon Woods, 17-June-2020 - "Very interesting and relevant series of articles by Chris Thompson."
Bob Nesbitt, 4-November-2020 - "Wow, what a resource Chris Thompson is for technical matters! I read a number of his articles and they were truly excellent."
Davina Pearl, 16-August-2020 - "I very much appreciate all the careful thought that you put into your articles. It’s an amazing way of supporting our little community during these times. It’s heartening to read them, and to build hope that we will find some excellent ways to overcome the challenges of our new reality.”
Devon Woods, 17-June-2020 - "Very interesting and relevant series of articles by Chris Thompson."