You will need computer, audio, and video equipment to get started with live music streaming. We will create a non-exhaustive list of useful tools to achieve high-quality live streaming.
What audio equipment?
The most important aspect of live streaming is sound, and this is even truer for any musician or singer! What you play, sing, and say must be perfectly audible. The capture must be high-quality, and the audio mix must be good.
If your audience cannot hear and listen to you properly, they will close their browser window and often permanently stop listening to your future performances.
Voice capture
For managing the sound of your voice, you need at least a microphone. A basic voice microphone for chatting will suffice unless you plan to sing. In that case, a microphone suitable for singing is important.
Obviously, you will need a stand to hold the microphone. Many streamers use foldable tripods with articulated arms that can be attached to a desk, allowing you to move it aside when not in use.
Music instrument capture
To capture the sound produced by your instrument, you need an audio interface. It is essential and will serve you in dozens of other musical projects. It’s truly an important tool for any musician. It’s better to choose an audio interface suited to your needs, as it will also be useful in any recording situation.
Regarding audio interfaces, there are several installation options: internal or external audio interfaces. It will be easier to connect an external audio interface using a USB port, for example, than to open your computer to install an internal audio interface. If you opt for an internal audio interface, check that your computer’s motherboard has the slots needed to insert the audio interface. This is most often a PCI or PCIe (PCI Express) connection.
Before the audio interface, you can use the devices you typically use during recording or on stage, such as a stompbox, effect pedals, a looper, a preamp, a wireless system, etc.
Why start live streaming as a musician?
Headphones
For electric instruments, you add headphones, without which you won’t be able to hear what you’re playing. Obviously, for acoustic instruments, headphones are unnecessary to hear yourself, but they can be useful for hearing a backing track to play along with. In any case, it’s better to have headphones plugged in during a stream.
To start, you can opt for a traditional headphone-microphone combo. If possible, choose headphones with a microphone that can be raised and/or muted so it doesn’t get in the way while playing your instrument.
For a violinist or violist, headphones are not always ideal. They can interfere with the musician while playing. In this case, in-ear monitors will be the ultimate solution!
To choose headphones suitable for musical practice, look at studio headphones. They are much better suited to instrumental frequencies than the headphones we use daily with our phones or computers. There are three types of headphones:
- Closed headphones: they limit external noise and isolate you. When using closed headphones, the user barely hears surrounding sounds.
- Open headphones, with which the user hears both their music and ambient noise. People near you will also hear some of your music.
- Semi-open headphones: they isolate better than open headphones but remain slightly audible to those nearby.
Can you play an electric violin with headphones?
What video equipment?
A camera
While a camera isn’t essential for a gamer, as they share the game they’re playing, for a musician, it’s only you to show since it’s your musical performance you’re highlighting. Using a camera is therefore essential!
The video feed can be captured by a webcam or a camera. There are dozens of webcam models on the market. Opt for a model offering 1080P capture at 60 frames per second. You’ll find plenty of comparisons on YouTube. Ensure the webcam has good capability to render images in low-light conditions.
If you choose a camera, go for a mirrorless hybrid with a lens that has a wide aperture to handle low light and a wide enough angle. The wide aperture will also allow you to stand out from the background by achieving a focused shot on you with a blurred background. Note that a camera will require a much larger budget than a webcam.
Some streamers offer a multi-camera stream with different viewpoints. It’s even possible to configure cameras so that viewers can switch angles live.
What computer equipment?
Computer
For a musician, a gaming PC is unnecessary. You’re not going to play video games but share your music. The computer will therefore only have one task: creating and sending your audio and video feed to the streaming platform. A desktop computer with a good processor can handle this without issue!
Which live streaming platform should you choose to share your music?
If you plan to stream your music but also share your gaming sessions, then a gaming PC will be necessary. Some musician streamers don’t hesitate to split their streaming time between music and video games. This is the case, for example, with violinist Rachel Grace, who mainly plays the violin and sometimes shares her gaming sessions! In this case, the computer must perform double duty: run the video game and stream to a platform. It must therefore be more powerful.
If you want to stream and take advantage of certain DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations), like Ableton, the computer must be powerful enough to handle numerous calculations.
What is a Digital Audio Workstation or DAW?
It’s a computer specially designed for the acquisition and processing of digital sound. It has components optimized for ideal performance in sound capture and processing.
Audio capture and processing software
Generally, as a musician, you have a computer capable of running audio editing software like Pro Tools, Logic, or Ableton. It is therefore more than sufficient to launch and stream! Your DAW will allow you to send your audio feed to the streaming software. It can also let you process your instrument’s sound before sending it to the streaming software. For example, some musician streamers use the DAW to capture sound and clean it using effects like noise gate or denoiser.
A good Internet connection
It’s not really computer equipment, but without a good Internet connection, streaming is difficult. Any data feed sent over the Internet requires an Internet connection. To send with a certain quality, you need a good Internet connection. It must be powerful enough to share the video and audio feed without interruptions or signal loss. Twitch specifies in its streamer help:
It is crucial that your Internet connection is fast and stable if you want to stream in good conditions. If your connection is unstable, the video feed sent to your viewers will be choppy, pause intermittently, or even cut out entirely in some cases, forcing you to restart it.
We suggest capturing in 720P; it will then be converted into multiple resolutions by the streaming platform. When starting on Twitch, you have access to a maximum of 720P encoding. Encoding in 1080P is reserved for larger streamers who have achieved partner status. You may occasionally access 1080P transcoding if the servers are not overloaded.
It’s better to run tests before starting. Simply launch a stream and check the quality broadcast by the chosen platform.
Other points to consider
A space, studio, or office
Find a space in your home where you can stream freely. Most musicians rehearse and record in a specific area of their apartment or house. This is likely where you’ll stream from. Try to organize the space so it’s not too cluttered, and avoid showing overly personal items.
Be mindful of the sound produced and your neighbors! If you play an acoustic instrument, your neighbors might quickly tire of hearing you several times a week. In this case, either find a way to soundproof the room or use an electric instrument. An electric instrument without direct amplification doesn’t produce loud sound. By connecting it directly to the audio interface and using headphones, you won’t disturb your neighbors!
If your apartment is too small and you don’t have a dedicated space, a green screen with lighting will prevent showing your kitchen.
Lighting
Since you’re showcasing your performance, lighting is really important. You need to be properly lit so people can clearly see what you’re playing.
Many streamers use a small rectangular or circular light positioned in front of them, invisible on screen. It produces diffused light that highlights facial features. An example of a light source is shown here with Elgato’s Key Light.
Mixing console
A small mixing console can greatly simplify the management of audio feeds. On Windows or macOS, it’s always tricky to control the incoming volume of different audio elements from the streaming software. Nothing can be done with just a few clicks. With a mixing console, you just need to adjust the right sliders to mix each sound element.
A deck
It’s absolutely not essential, but really useful for launching commands, controlling actions remotely, etc. Two options for this: purchasing Elgato’s Stream Deck, or the DIY option with the Touch Portal software paired with your computer and smartphone or tablet.
In general, decks are very useful for managing your stream with a few buttons. This avoids dozens of interactions with the mouse, software, or operating system. In the music streaming world, many musicians use decks to launch tracks and/or control their looper remotely.
A tablet
Again, a tablet isn’t essential, but if you need to read sheet music while playing, it can be a great tool to display it. Especially if you only have one monitor showing your chat and streaming status.
What do the final connections look like?
Here’s an example of connections for a musician wanting to stream. The electric violin is used as an example, but it can be replaced with any other musical instrument (guitar, keyboard, bass, etc.).
The electric violin is connected to the audio interface, optionally passing through effect pedals or a multi-effects processor if you use one. To connect these elements, use your usual cabling system, typically jack cables.
If your audio interface has multiple inputs, it can capture the sound of the musical instrument and your microphone if you use a separate microphone. The audio interface is connected to your computer either via USB or by being installed inside the computer.
Your headphones will be connected to your computer like any other peripheral equipment (webcam, camera, deck, etc.).
Your computer handles capturing and processing all incoming audio and video feeds (webcam, musical instrument, voice, etc.) and outgoing feeds (streaming to the chosen platform) using various software: DAW (Ableton, Logic, or others), streaming software (OBS, XSplit, or others).
Sources and images: Manufacturers, Focusrite, Elgato, Unsplash – Stanley Li
