Quick tips for making videos
of your songs
- What to wear
At a regular in-person recital, we wear shirt/tie or maybe button-down shirt a sport coat but no tie. If possible, aim for a similar level of dressiness for recording videos!
- Where to record
This doesn't matter too much necessarily. The most important thing is really just placement of the video recording device. Carefully placed up on a bookshelf or an open staircase might be ideal. You want from your knees to your head to be visible, and then the angle of the camera to be pretty much straight on (not very angled, so it's not looking down on you or up at you). Lighting should be facing you as much as possible. Bright lights or open windows behind you will make it hard to see your face.
- Sounding your best
In a lesson, we warm up before singing the actual rep. Do the same on your own on video recording day!
- Announcing yourself
Up to you. Feel free to tell us your name and the pieces you'll sing.
- Where to look
Try not to death stare into the little camera on your iPad or computer, that's scary and unsettling to watch. Imagine there's an audience one half-inch above the video device; look at them, and then allow yourself to perform to slightly out to the left and right as well as straight on. You do not have to memorize the pieces, but the less you're staring at sheet music, the more comfortable and confident you will seem. Practice up!
- The piano part
Simply use the piano tracks that we've used in the lesson. It's important that you can hear the piano as you sing, of course, but also important that the video recording pick up enough piano that it balances with the volume of your voice. You might be able to strategically place the second device between yourself and the video device, then turn up the volume. If you had it, a Bluetooth speaker or some other way of extra projection might be best.
- Edit and combine videos
Make logical cuts at the beginning and end of your videos, then please do me the favor of combining your songs into one video. (If you're singing more than two, consider the best performance order for the pieces!) The final product will be too big to email. Upload it to Google drive and share it with me. (If it's an absolutely giant file and you're having trouble, it might help to find a video size reducer site online - the quality usually stays pretty good when reducing file size.) This method will allow me to put them all into one YouTube playlist quicker.
At a regular in-person recital, we wear shirt/tie or maybe button-down shirt a sport coat but no tie. If possible, aim for a similar level of dressiness for recording videos!
- Where to record
This doesn't matter too much necessarily. The most important thing is really just placement of the video recording device. Carefully placed up on a bookshelf or an open staircase might be ideal. You want from your knees to your head to be visible, and then the angle of the camera to be pretty much straight on (not very angled, so it's not looking down on you or up at you). Lighting should be facing you as much as possible. Bright lights or open windows behind you will make it hard to see your face.
- Sounding your best
In a lesson, we warm up before singing the actual rep. Do the same on your own on video recording day!
- Announcing yourself
Up to you. Feel free to tell us your name and the pieces you'll sing.
- Where to look
Try not to death stare into the little camera on your iPad or computer, that's scary and unsettling to watch. Imagine there's an audience one half-inch above the video device; look at them, and then allow yourself to perform to slightly out to the left and right as well as straight on. You do not have to memorize the pieces, but the less you're staring at sheet music, the more comfortable and confident you will seem. Practice up!
- The piano part
Simply use the piano tracks that we've used in the lesson. It's important that you can hear the piano as you sing, of course, but also important that the video recording pick up enough piano that it balances with the volume of your voice. You might be able to strategically place the second device between yourself and the video device, then turn up the volume. If you had it, a Bluetooth speaker or some other way of extra projection might be best.
- Edit and combine videos
Make logical cuts at the beginning and end of your videos, then please do me the favor of combining your songs into one video. (If you're singing more than two, consider the best performance order for the pieces!) The final product will be too big to email. Upload it to Google drive and share it with me. (If it's an absolutely giant file and you're having trouble, it might help to find a video size reducer site online - the quality usually stays pretty good when reducing file size.) This method will allow me to put them all into one YouTube playlist quicker.
Any other questions? Just let me know!