To continue musical activities during the corona pandemic! Entering a hybrid era of live performance and streaming.

The corona pandemic that affects the whole world has had a great impact on the music industry. If you have a sponsor, you have to be prepared to cancel or postpone an event. Not getting an offer to perform worries performers.
When I looked up high-quality live streaming companies on the Internet for ... Expensive! I don’t think I would be able to pay for each performance.
I have many sponsors, and wondered, "Why don't I do it all myself?" However, it requires special knowledge... at least I thought so until last month. It is profound, but actually it is not that difficult to start streaming with good sound! I will explain how to start streaming in three steps.

[First step]

"Instagram live streaming using a condenser microphone that can be attached directly to your smartphone"

This is the easiest method. When it comes to YouTube live streaming, you need 1000 or more subscribers, but there are no hurdles on the number of followers on Instagram. I would recommend getting a condenser microphones in the 20,000 to 35,000 yen price range. With cheap microphones, you will not hear the difference between it and the smartphone built-in microphone, or if you're considering something even more expensive, it's more rational to use full-scale equipment like an audio interface.

➡︎ Condenser microphones

"Connecting an audio interface to a computer for YouTube Live streaming"

It's not as easy as a smartphone, but you can do high-quality YouTube Live streaming with a computer in the same price range. All you need is a 20000 yen audio interface, a 20000 yen microphone (Recommended: Audio-Technica, AKG, etc.), a computer, and an internet environment. You don’t need 1000 subscribers to do YouTube live streaming with a computer. In addition, you can use condenser microphones that require Phantom power by using an audio interface, to achieve higher sound quality than connecting a microphone directly to a smartphone.

➡︎ Audio interface
➡︎ audio technica Condenser microphones
➡︎ AKG Condenser Microphones

[Second step]

Now I’m sure you feel a little confident after the first step, and you would like to try something further.

"Get a three-dimensional sound"

You need multiple microphones to get a three-dimensional sound. A "pin microphone" for a violin and a saxophone, a stick-type condenser microphone for a piano, and a condenser microphone for vocals to pick up all the sound at once (by the way, I use the audio-technica AT4050, AT4021x2, and ATM35).
Choose microphones that suit your budget and application, but I recommend that you have an interface with four XLR terminals. I would also recommend you get the high-grade model from the beginning, rather than adding better equipment one after another.

audio technica / AT4050

audio technica / AT4021

audio technica / ATM35

[Third step]

The next step is the video, and this is not an easy part.

"Switch images during live streaming"

A video mixer and video switcher are required for high-quality live streaming using a video camera. However, many of these are over 100,000 yen...
It requires as many cameras (usually 2 or 3) and video switchers. It costs even more if you use digital SLR cameras.
After a lot of research, I found the Blackmagic Design's ATEM Mini, a legendary video switcher. I'm currently waiting for it to arrive.

Blackmagic Design / ATEM Mini

It is difficult to hold a concert these days, but if you live stream on a paid platform, you can survive during the on-going corona pandemic. Nowadays, activities using ICT (Information and Communication Technology) are required, and I think we should be able to cover as many fields as possible by ourselves to survive, and let's continue to move forward during this difficult time!