So live music has been dead since basically February for me. Chandler and The Bings did do one livestream concert at a venue with essentially no audience in May, but it didn’t go well even though we played well. Anyone who watched the show saw the sad results – audio problems, inconsistent video-audio synchronization, etc. And it made me so frustrated, because we played REALLY WELL and it didn’t make it through the internet tubes to the audience. Earlier we had done some live streams by ourselves at our respective houses with acoustic guitars, with varying results in quality (most looked and sounded okay at best).

As a result, I’ve been investigating options for setting up a workable live-streaming setup on a budget. I figure if you can gather together a few cameras that can do a live HDMI output (GoPros, fake GoPros, old point-and-shoots, etc.), get one of those switchers like the Blackmagic Designs ATEM Mini, which can output to a computer like it’s a webcam itself, and run our usual BingsNet system as the audio source, we could come up with something that looks good and sounds great.

The desperation of not being able to play together as a group and connect with people, even if it’s just over the internet, has driven me into the world of video production. Now, I haven’t had the funds to get the switcher, so as of now, we can’t really do anything, but I know it’s possible…and that’s the cool part.

We expended so much energy getting the studio song together, it was a nice distraction from actually physically playing shows together, but every time we talk, we talk about how much we miss playing live. I mean, come on. If your audiences were like this, wouldn’t you feel the same?

So finding ways to get through when you can’t do what you do is a tricky proposition. We’ve tried a lot of things, and they’ve served as reasonable distractions. But they don’t replace the thing that makes us love this so much – the crowds. And that’s just not something that is going to be real for a WHILE for us, because there’s no way we’re doing shows until this virus is close to gone or people can be vaccinated and protected.

The next step? ANOTHER song in the studio. Me investigating ways we can do actual shows using a video setup and streaming it over the internet. We can all stay six feet from each other and we’ve all been very good about avoiding contact and sheltering in place (as much as that’s possible for some of us). We will find a way to get through.

As for straight-up Musical Schizo things, I’m planning on doing a new run of Bathroom Schizo videos (yes, the Friday Flush WILL return soon!), and if I am able to get the switcher and get the multi-cam thing working, it’s going to be FUN. Multiple angles in the bathroom! As I’m writing this blog I decided it’s worth it – I’m selling some stuff I’ve been hoarding to try and raise fundage for the switcher. Yeah. Gotta make it happen.

As a reminder – Black Lives Matter, wash your hands, physically distance, wear a decent mask over your nose and mouth, and stay home if you can.

Take care and peace be the journey!

TMS