At long last there is light at the end of the tunnel, all of the new PC and equipment is here. It has been a very frustrating time over the last few months knowing what can be achieved but not having the system to achieve it. Add to that the heart in mouth moments when the Mac decided to develop a major fault that is random in nature and can result in crashing at any moment. It has served me well but I will not mourn it going!
Before going on holiday Kate plugged the parts of the new system in and gave me a little insight in to what can be achieved. The opportunities for us will provide true broadcast streaming.
For those of you interested the system will run on Full Fibre Broadband, and the PC has capability of many more times the Mac at lightening speed. It has built in capability to expand and has no problem doing what we want now or in the future. I have talked before about problems of latency which is when you try to combine audio sources. The audio interface I now will have is a Motu M4 for all intent and purpose it eliminates latency (always some but not discernible by the listener).
Set up, the next week from Monday will be quite disrupted as we will need to set up and test things out. More importantly is the learning curve for me as I get to grips with a totally new way of streaming involving multiple sources. If you are a member of the channel and receive notification that hugukulele123 is live then this is why. You are welcome to have a peak, say hi though as It may help us to ask questions. I want it to be natural for you so that you join and it just happens. If you are familiar with viewing streamed content from your TV it is exactly the process I will use. We are simply another channel.
So for the now I will try to continue streaming of some sort during the changeover using the current setup. Please bear with me. I will keep you informed as to when we will be live with the new setup. I am aiming for the 18th September at least to some degree. Other features might be introduced over a little time as I get used to things.
An insight in to some of the benefits we will enjoy are as follows:-
The ability to stream video and to record future streams for replay as and when people want to.
Our Youtube Channel has been set up to support our streaming and will come in to its own. Featuring individual contributions in sound and video will become available. Get performing and video recording your Open Mike stuff BUT don' t send anything just yet!
We can stream in our website content which is why it has been more and more interlinked with other sources to make this easy to do, Internet, Youtube amongst others.
I will use multiple cameras, this is useful when demonstrating things during learning as I can get close up shots.
Prior to Lockdown the use of a projector to display song sheets onto a large screen was in the offing. Within the stream I will be able to put the Songsheet onto your screen beside a live camera image of me or other performers. (the ability to make use of this will be dictated by your screen size!). Doing this has many benefits for instance of lifting your head from the music sheet and ensures we use the same version. Those who already have experience of using tablets when playing will experience simply sharing my iPad screen.
Again for the purposes of learning this will be a useful resource as I can highlight particular points.
The ability to talk and see each other will feature, Muting will become very handy at times!
Text Chat will still have a place.
Quality of sound and picture will be high. I have confidence that the stream to you will be stable. Those with good Broadband connection speeds will benefit. If you do not already, I would suggest linking your tablet, computer, phone etc. to your Smart TV. To get the benefit of being able to view content on a larger screen. I know some of you already do this as I have seen photos of the stream on a TV screen.If anyone is able to help others doing this I would be grateful.
Quick Lessons, thank you for those of you supporting the lessons, I hope they are of benefit to you and will transfer the learning into your playing.
I will continue to explore the theme of Enhancing Our Chords this week.
Learning via the stream will become more and more of a feature for us as it is particularly useful to be able to demonstrate things close up and make lessons available for future viewing so that you can go over a particular point in your own time and way. Or even view a lesson you missed live.
Learning new songs will become easier to facilitate also.
I will probably introduce lessons on more niche subjects, it would certainly be interesting for those who want to explore and learn together a particular aspect of playing.
HUG & LETTUCE QUIZ, again thank you to the hardy souls still joining in. The quiz was introduced at the height of Lockdown to give us an opportunity to to stay in touch and have some fun, it's the social aspect.
I am keen to continue with a social aspect but will evolve the current format to a mixture of social, learning and playing and group news.
Poems, thank you to those who have submitted an audio of their Poem, please continue to pen and perform Poems (original only for copy write reasons). Please hold off sending recordings to me at the moment as I change systems.
As I type this Blog I am adapting what I originally wrote. The current increase in Covid -19 positive tests on the Wirral is a concern, especially as the rise is exponential. It is hoped that the increase doesn't lead to hospital admissions and deaths amongst at risk groups.
The announcement regarding clarifying and limiting interaction from next Monday has an air of inevitability given the very evident ignoring of basic distancing and complacency amongst younger people in particular but not exclusively. The indication is that with a time lag this will lead to greater hospital admissions and the inevitable rise in deaths, albeit not to the extent previously experienced. We are the at risk group so I am sure will continue to take responsibility for minimising the risk to ourselves.
So thanks go to all who have stuck with the streams, it really is appreciated. It will be a period of change and getting to grips with things for a little while. So bear with me. Hopefully we can encourage more to join in.
Dave
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