What makes a good YouTube video?

[Flux302]

I tend to say ... stay consistent. put out videos often and stay somewhat in the same topic realm. if you like to noodle, then noodle away, if you like to talk tech specs and get nerdy ... do that but do it often. bottom line is there is an audience for everything out there. when I do videos I just try to keep my lighting as good as I can, ALWAYS use direct audio and make the video offer something that no one else's videos are offering. try to get video quality as high as possible.

here is an example of one of my videos. this is an older one with what I consider the bare minimum in video quality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lykUxkrUuGY

[Bald Eagle]

Wearing a shirt helps

When my S37 arrives I wont get dressed either ... but no vid of that.

[Voltor07]

Wearing a shirt helps

When my S37 arrives I wont get dressed either ... but no vid of that.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!

[EricK]

Great tips offered so far!



A lot of my videos don't have much of an audience retention rate, even if they get hundreds of views pretty quick courtesy of Synth TV, matrixsynth or wherever else. The factor that plays the highest in views is usually rare equipment or combinations of rare equipment. "Fender Rhodes and Ring Modulator is one of my most viewed videos and the audio to video ratio is so-so on that one.

1. Make your videos short.
2. Put some effort into the production via editing, title screen, etc, but don't go overboard. A catchy title coupled with good tag words goes a long way.

The picture to audio ratio is flexible. If the audio is great, you can still achieve what you want with lesser video. If audio isn't important then the video must be excellent quality.
Try to get as good a picture as possible and strive for the best audio.

I use a peavey 14 usb as my audio interface. So the gear goes to logic, and there is some type of audio that goes to the camera's onboard mic via speakers or direct. Import it to imovie, line up the audio from both the hi-fi and the camera's mic, then mute the camera's mic. Viola.
The problem comes when you have different A/D conversion rates between the board and the camera. After several minutes there will be some latency, but if you keep your videos short this will be minimal. Most consumer grade cameras don't have a way to adjust or view the audio levels, so I always split the signal.

Start your video first, then start the audio. You can remove video but you can't really remove audio without some severe editing.
Rehearse what you want to say a few times. Don't move the camera around a lot. Try for slow steady pans and don't use the zoom a lot if at all.

You can also get a camera with a mic input. Take your synth's audio out to a mult, send one to the camera and the other to the interface and still mute the camera's audio. I recommend this if there's no monitors for the mic to pick up.

You will figure it out the more that you do and there's no magic tricks. Cinematography is a totally different discipline though and it takes some creative thinking and some planning.


But then some stupid video of some stupid teenager blowing milk out of her nose will get a million views overnight.

With synth videos, you can expect maybe 100-300 or so views in the first few days. But put tags on there. Moog Mooger Fooger Ringmod MF-102 Modular Dotcom Synthesizers.com Synth Analog Analogue hotchcks game of thrones (just kidding).

[monokit]

hotchcks game of thrones

Now THAT is a GREAT tip! I have to try with my channel. Hooters, baby!

[robml]

i watch synth vids to hear what they sound like - i'd wager the majority of people watch them for the same reason - that is why the new synth vids are popular - people havn't heard them before

when i watch videos i want to hear awesome new sounds - direct audio recorded - quickly cycling through awesome presets

few people would want to hear you play more than 10 seconds on a single preset - boring! for me, if someone carries on with a single boring preset i'll just switch to another video - by making the preset time short people will stick around longer

if they are finding you by searching for the name of the synth, they want to hear what the synth can do - not your lengthy compositional skills.

add a beat underneath with your daw - make a song out of it with different presets

i like to see the synth panel when watching vids - that way we can see knob tweeks - synth panels are interesting - not so interesting is watching fingers on the keys- but still important

anyway - thats my 2c. im guessing others are of similar opinion - something to consider

cheers

edit: just saw this new vid from moog- i'd do something like this- but do presets you made
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... _QqgKppa74

[monsterjazzlicks]

Hi Synthesis,

copy this.. http://youtu.be/DYzsz2U7RM0, everything thing about it... camera action, lighting, text, etc...

Well that video is top notch all round!

Good posting!

Paul

[monsterjazzlicks]

Hi Synthesis,

get creative with some house lamps.. In your last video you have the window open so that lets in light, but its overall light, and it saturates the image. The sub37 is dark so it makes the camera confused as far as clarity of it, and what it should be seeing and or focusing on.

Where is VOLTOR's video (LINK) please?

Cheers,

Paul

[monsterjazzlicks]

Monokit,

I demoed the Sub Phatty...used my iPad for recording the pictures and video pieces and cut and glued everything inside iMovie on the iPad. I recorded the song with Ableton Live and imported it later into iMovie on the iPad.

http://youtu.be/E2eHonAML8E

Is this your OWN video please? I ask because you must use a different site/forum name for You Tube?

The above is perhaps a little too far out for me, man! lol

Best,

Paul

[monsterjazzlicks]

Hi GB,

Additionally what for me elevates videos over plain audio demos is the fact you can see what certain tweaks do to the sound, so a closeup view of the front panel would be cool.

Personally (and of course we are all, by default, DIFFERENT!), I much prefer (when it is a SYNTH DEMO, more or less as greenborder describes above. So this type of thing for instance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j5bbpV ... -dJcrbkqtg

And SYNTH MANIA includes a brief written DESCRIPTION of the PRESET/TIMBRE also. And he only spends a certain amount of time on each PATCH/RIFF (which definitely helps to keep things interesting [not that SM needs it!]).

Incidentally, I enjoy almost all of SM's video uploads.

Thanks,

Paul

[monsterjazzlicks]

Hello Igor,

Making music with synthesizers always gives better visiting and provides a better feedback. My videos using the keyboard and simply tweaking it are the less visited ones. Showing how a synthesizer sounds with music is the best way.

I am wondering if VOLTOR is perhaps a little more concerned about how to get more HITS to his You Tube Channel videos rather than the issues of (say) video and sound quality/imagery etc? Though I suppose there may be people who might argue that the two go hand in hand?

Cheetr,

Paul

[monsterjazzlicks]

Igor,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgeRDSr_Fgg

That is a very good AV QUALITY video you made above!

I think you recorded the first (meat and potatoes) track, played it back again filming yourself tweaking the FILTER (of the first track), and then filmed yourself a third time SOLOING over the top?

Nicely done in any event.

<Have subscribed>

Paul

[monsterjazzlicks]

Voltor,

I don't do covers for one reason...I can't. I can do soundscapes...it's why I bought my first synths. My greatest influence has been Animusic.

Because you mean you don't hear melodies in your head? Fair enough!

So I assume you do not play the PIANO (just SYNTH's)?

Ta,

Paul

[monsterjazzlicks]

Hello Flux,

I tend to say ... stay consistent. put out videos often and stay somewhat in the same topic realm. if you like to noodle, then noodle away, if you like to talk tech specs and get nerdy ... do that but do it often. bottom line is there is an audience for everything out there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lykUxkrUuGY

That is a good little DEMO and TUTORIAL. I think you have a very good theme going there with the "Tips And Tricks"!

And there was no (annoying) waffle either! lol

I do/did find the icons/links on the video footage a bit distracting (cluttering) but many people use these (eg SUBSCRIBE HERE X)and I so suppose most viewers just accept them.

Ta,

Paul

[monsterjazzlicks]

Rob,

i watch synth vids to hear what they sound like - i'd wager the majority of people watch them for the same reason - that is why the new synth vids are popular - people havn't heard them before...few people would want to hear you play more than 10 seconds on a single preset - boring! for me, if someone carries on with a single boring preset i'll just switch to another video - by making the preset time short people will stick around longer...if they are finding you by searching for the name of the synth, they want to hear what the synth can do - not your lengthy compositional skills.

Yes, if it's a DEMO of a NEW-ish synth, then I agree about 10/15 x sec's is, generally, about enough to hear what 1 x PRESET sounds like. And at the other end of the scale, some synths have an AUDITION button on which some You Tube users choose as a method for demonstration. However, these, typically, play a quick 2/3 x sec's riff which is ok if you OWN the synth (as that's what it is designed for), but too short for a You Tube video in respect of what this thread is about.

Ta,

Paul