Big Heavy World's June 10 Musician's Panel
“We’re here to learn,” said folk musician Rik Palieri during the opening of Big Heavy World’s June 10 panel.
Consisting of musicians Rik Palieri, Sarah King, Bishop LaVey (Kane Sweeney), DJ Craig Mitchell, and late addition Sal Defrancesco (the tech wizard behind Cooie), the panel bounced around topics from how to improve your live-streams, what opportunities were lost and gained because of COVID, and what uncertainties the future holds for local musicians.
The musicians described facing live-streaming with varying degrees of trepidation and eagerness. Rik Palieri began sharing his music virtually twenty-one years ago on his TV show, Songwriter’s Notebook. He was reluctant then, but learned a lot which has helped him adapt to recent events. Rik’s uncertainty about broadcasting music seems to fit his character more than his current online persona, as Rik’s career began as a hobo-folk musician alongside the likes of Woodie Guthrie and Pete Seeger—decades distant from laptops and smartphones.
Artists Kane Sweeney and Craig Mitchell were fortunate to find opportunities quickly following the onset of social distancing. Kane joined Thomas Gunn’s online music festival, found a part-time home for his streams in Big Heavy World, and has been recording a number of isolation jam sessions on Facebook (including this awesome cover of “Working Class Hero”).
Craig Mitchell has undertaken a number of projects, including a running bi-weekly gig with Recovery Vermont, #VTstrong Prom, and other one-off performances broadcasted from the Big Heavy World studio. Craig’s difficulties came in the form of copy-right strikes from the likes of Facebook and Twitch, as his track-heavy setlists don’t jive with many streaming platforms.
Sarah King was quick to jump into the live-stream game, but immediately faced a challenge shared by many homeowners nestled among the Green Mountains: lackluster internet. King, tuning in from her home in Ripton, described receiving a meager 1MBps—just enough to host a single stream on Facebook with minimal video quality.
Her early struggles did lead to cheap solutions though. King has utilized free encoders and programs to control and improve her sound quality without spending a single cent. At a time when many musicians are trying to figure out how to feed themselves, macgyvering cheap solutions is a necessity.
Craig Mitchell described grappling with this sentiment directly, asking, “How am I gonna connect with folks and feed myself?”
Kane pointed out that live performances were not the primary source of income for all musicians anyway. Smaller artists have often had to rely on merchandise and album sales to sustain themselves. While artists likes Grace Potter can hold sway with venues, smaller musicians have struggled to profit off of live-performances even before COVID. This problem, he pointed out, is likely to burgeon once governments begin lifting restrictions: with restrictions on attendance, a lower number of open venues, and a lot of uncertainty regarding consumer behavior, smaller artists may struggle to find reliable gigs. Those who couldn’t guarantee large crowds before the pandemic will have to duke it out with more established acts for a lower number of spots. The effects of the pandemic will likely endure longer for smaller musicians than they will for larger acts.
But things aren’t all doom and gloom, as identified by Sal Defrancesco. Sal, who serves as the tech guru behind his wife Cooie, provided detailed advice on improving your live-stream.
With by far the best lighting, camera work, and audio on display, Sal showcased his well-crafted setup. Sal jumped between his cameras: an iPad, iPhone, his standard webcam, and a Sony A6000. His face was always in focus, his image crisp, and his audio clean. But one can succeed even without this setup, he says, as “good lighting can make up for a bad camera.”
Understand the limits of your camera’s sensor and work around that, he encourages. Avoid shadows and ring-lights—“They’re junk,” says Sal. Aim for soft, warm light. A pair of well-placed lamps can do the trick.
Sal’s advice did continue beyond a description of his set-up, and became a long laundry list of tips: upload speed is far more important than download speed when judging your internet package; musicians should prioritize audio over video quality; and don’t be afraid to haggle with your internet provider.
Sal’s advice became most pertinent and thought provoking as the topic delved into the future.
Sal urged musicians to continue to prioritize streaming even after venues begin to reopen. As Kane pointed out earlier, live opportunities won’t be guaranteed to small musicians for some time, and musicians should prepare for this.
Fans of streams will also become increasingly discerning as time goes on, so artists should continue to improve their setups whenever they can. Live-streaming has become a shark-pit, with artists fighting for fans’ attention. Artists who once sold out stadiums now broadcast on the same platforms as local tap-room artists, so fans often have to choose between multiple acts without having to consider ticket prices or travel—two things which made local acts appealing.
Although the future is still extremely uncertain for artists, some positive opportunities do still remain. Rik was forced to cancel a tour through Europe this Spring, but has still been able to interview artists from around the world (he recommends BeLiveTV for these sorts of events). Craig, King, and Kane were all able to connect with local studios like Robot Dog and Big Heavy World to broadcast streams with a wider array of tools and a helping hand. Artists can also piggy-back off of others, with one stream following another in tandem. Sarah King has also snagged some free beer after teaming up with Stowe Cider for a concert series and beer tasting mash-up.
And lastly, as Rik mentioned before the closure of our panel, Vermont’s musical community has always been extremely open and welcoming to musicians, and there will always be someone ready to lend a helping hand. Now, more than ever, we’ve seen this value on display within our community.
The full panel will be made available soon for listening on both 105.9 FM, and Youtube.
Text by Luke Vidic.