The Song Fight Bulletin Board

If some kind of Song Fight Live Online happens for this year, who's going to perform? "Sign up" (no guarantees this will actually happen though) here.

We would potentially still have individual "sets" of some form, live or prerecord or something, as well as the "live fight" at the end, in some form TBD.

I think Merisan would do a set.

How would this work? I'm currently in contact with my better half about this possibility, but the logistics of this would probably entail one of us recording a live video and the other recording a live video to that and editing them together. Would this basically be a bunch of pre-recorded live videos streamed? Otherwise logistically it's kind of... difficult.

Probably there would be individual "sets" and it would end with the "live fight", per standard Song Fight! Live format, although exactly when those things would happen and how they would work is TBD. The live event is also about folks from the community interacting together in real time, rather than e.g. via the boards, so, it would be nice if some or all of an online version also involved folks interacting in real time, whether that's via chatting on a live stream of a live performance, chatting on a live stream of prerecorded material, getting on a Zoom like video conference, etc.

If you haven't been to a Song Fight Live before maybe check out the FAQ to get a better understanding of what they're normally like: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=9658

Also we wouldn't necessarily have to have everyones' "sets" all work the same way, I guess. If some folks wanted to perform live on a live stream, great, if some folks would rather prerecord, cool, maybe we can at least set up a "watch party" type thing at a specific time for those, etc.

This is all still way way up in the air and just in a brainstorming, information gathering phase. But knowing who would want to participate and how they'd like to participate would be really helpful.

I am definitely interested in participating. I've been meaning to figure out some music livestreaming stuff and this would give me the needed motivation.

I do think that livestreaming would be preferable to having people pre-record video, both to get closer to a concert feel and because if I had the chance to re-record I think I would stress out more over trying to get the perfect take. But maybe that's just me.

People could pre-record their live fight entries and we could do a listening party like Tommy G hosts for Nur Ein and SpinTunes. Or we could do a Zoom (or whatever program) videoconference. Surely easier than trying to coordinate a dozen different three-minute independent livestreams.

I'm no expert on the technological aspect of this all though, so this post is mostly just to say: yes, I would definitely participate.

I would love to be in. Gotta figure out the logistics and plan around my pain shit, but other than that, yes. Very yes.

IN THE FUTURE OF 2020, ALL CONCERTS ARE ONLINE

Assuming the other event that was going to prevent me from making it this year is also cancelled for the same reason (as I strongly suspect it will be), I’m in!

I’ll participate. I kind of like Jack’s prerecorded set idea because it gives us more control over the final result and sound, and allows folks in other time zones to participate. Streaming with two computers sounds like a nightmare to set up, but I’d be happy to try streaming on just one computer or my phone.

To reiterate the two computer setup is just easier to explain how to set up than doing loopback audio on a computer. And I use it in my setup to free up computing resources so I don’t have Logic and OBS fighting for CPU since OBS is a CPU hog. If you’re just going to play an mp3 backing track or stick to live instruments or whatever there is no reason for a second computer.

The only reason I don’t try to explain the way to set up loopback audio for a stream is it’s INCREDIBLY hardware-specific.

That said, a way that usually works (but might not be optimal) is to install BlackHole and follow its setup instructions. Note that this is currently Mac-only but they're working on a Windows version too.

But still, be warned, OBS takes A LOT of CPU, because it's doing a lot (capturing/resizing your video sources, encoding video in real time, etc.), and that'll be the case for any streaming setup. This is NOT something to set up the same day as the show itself. Install OBS and get a twitch or youtube account and experiment with running streams, and check the recordings to make sure the sound works right. The sooner you do this, the better. Even if the streaming setup were a magic black box, you still have to worry about tweaking your encoding settings to make sure you have enough CPU and bandwidth. It's one of those things where you need a lot of headroom; the minimum requirements are a hard requirement and anything that causes a dip below the minimum will cause problems on the stream. So you want to minimize the number of dips.

I don't think we would need to have a one-size-fits-all approach to how people contribute their sets.

Oh certainly, I think a prerecorded set can be okay. Personally I was planning on basically doing karaoke against prerecorded backing tracks. I do like the ability to at least somewhat interact with chat or whatever. But folks should do what they feel comfortable with above all else.

I would most likely participate in this. As long as I can also sell my merch.

Just popping in to say that I would do my best to participate in a virtual SFL.

I would be interested in doing something.

Yes!!!!

I watch a lot of the "Socially Distant Fest" on Facebook (one of the only reasons I use FB now) and they're great. Mostly all live but many playing with backing tracks. We could use any combination including pre-recorded videos, with someone playing MC (...we know who that is!) between each performance.

Just did an Irish music workshop where all the instructors did little virtual sets together at the end. Worked really well.

Here's what I'm thinking: We're mostly multi-instrumentalists - instead of recording multiple video takes of ourselves playing various instruments, we cobble together a virtual band like we'd have to do at the live show. Say Roymond agrees to play guitar for me: I send him a track with everything but guitar muted. He records his audio and video to that track. Rinse and repeat for the other instruments. Eventually I have 4+ video tracks that get edited together.

If we want to preserve some sense of a live feel, we can have a master of ceremonies basically video-DJ the event, using OBS or something similar to run their own video and fire off the clips that the songfighters have sent in. Introduce the sets, color commentary, etc.

I know not everyone here has video editing capabilities - people like me can chip in to help where possible. Thoughts?

*Read roymond's post after writing my own. He gets it!

Sober wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:16 pm

Here's what I'm thinking: We're mostly multi-instrumentalists - instead of recording multiple video takes of ourselves playing various instruments, we cobble together a virtual band like we'd have to do at the live show. Say Roymond agrees to play guitar for me: I send him a track with everything but guitar muted. He records his audio and video to that track. Rinse and repeat for the other instruments. Eventually I have 4+ video tracks that get edited together.

Yeah that’s an idea I’d briefly mentioned in one of the other threads somewhere as well. It’s a pretty straightforward idea, and you don’t even need to be that good at video to do the splitscreen thing, although I don’t know what cheap/easy software looks like for Windows (but on Mac I’m pretty sure iMovie can do it).

The hard part would probably be getting the tracks in sync and making sure everyone’s video is just their own part. Probably what makes sense is if each contributor’s part has the reference on one channel and their performance on the other, which would make the synchronization and mixing a lot easier, but that’s getting into difficult-for-people-who-don’t-do-this-already territory.

Sober wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:16 pm

If we want to preserve some sense of a live feel, we can have a master of ceremonies basically video-DJ the event, using OBS or something similar to run their own video and fire off the clips that the songfighters have sent in. Introduce the sets, color commentary, etc.

yeah JB and I were discussing this a few days ago. I’m glad to see this as something others are thinking about too, means it’s probably the way to go.

I've heard from coworkers putting together those kind of collab videos reecntly that iMovie has a relatively low limit on how many split screens you can have.

It'd definitely be fun to have some folks do those kind of collab videos and debut then in Song Fight Live. That seems like it could be another format we could support as one of many ways folks could participate.

I'd be in, in some capacity. I have a few sneaky ideas.

I would try to participate. I would probably only do the record and post video. I’m really having issues with the mountain (Computer) setup here.
Anyways, I think it could be fun. I haven’t played a live show in months.
Sayin’

Count me in!