Very nice, Peter. Having not heard Crosby, Stills. & Nash for awhile, I found myself just enjoying your performance and not minding the cheap cameras. :)

BTW, it looks like you had an audience. If you'd indulge further, where was the performance?

GREAT - who cares about the picture quality!

Excellent!!! Brings back memories of my college life - i used to study to the local alternative rock station (i.e. played songs longer than 2:30) This song was (and is) one of my favorites.

btw, this song was a tribute to Judy Collins, who also had some classics (Send in the Clowns!).

...Jerry

> "BTW, it looks like you had an audience. If you'd indulge further, where was the performance?"

vtxr.., a group of friends have a monthly "Soiree" here in Perth, with a different theme each time - this month the theme was songs beginning with "J". We bent the rules a little ignoring the "Suite" before "Judy". We also did Jack and Diane, and songs featured by others included Just the Way You Are, Johnny B, Goode, Jealous Guy and Je ne Regrette Rien ....

Peter, what a nice way to start my Saturday morning. You guys probably sound better than CSN these days ;-). One thing I have always wondered - why do accents seem to mostly disappear in song?

Also, did you use your Zoom R16 for this session?

Thanks much for sharing!

/jerry

Hi Jerry,

Yes apart from a few notable exceptions, songs do seem to cancel out accents - not that I have one, of course.

No, I didn't use the R16 for this - very little space for anything, so I had the Zoom Q3HD and the Sony Bloggie on mic stands with Roland adapters, and the Go Pro on a suction mount on a window! The Go Pro sound is useable mainly for sync reference, so I muted that track and what you hear is a mix of the Bloggie and Zoom camera audio.

Excellent Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young tune. The guitar playing was great and the lady vocalist was very good kind of had a Stevie Nicks move in there and very easy on the eyes! ((:

It would have been really nice if the audio was a little clearer but as you mentioned the audio was from the cam mics so to be expected.

I love these small venue jams. Looks like everyone was having a good time.

I too enjoyed it. One doesn't expect first rate video from cheap cameras but with a bit of help they can punch above their weight:

Peter,
maybe next time try some scrims on the windows and doors. No need for expensive silks, just some old white sheets would do.

Bob.

Aw, thanks for that! One of my favourite tunes. And your rendition took me deep inside that alive-in-the-moment space.

One thing I have always wondered - why do accents seem to mostly disappear in song?

Not that this explains anything, but sung vowels (and consonants to a lesser extent) lose their cultural distinguishing markers at least partly due to the rhythm and melody constraints inherent in music itself. We really are all one when we sing.

Tim Robertson

Thanks to all of you for your most kind responses. Yes Tim, I must admit one thing about this clip I like is that it's very acoustic (apart from my little bass amp) and live and in someone's lounge room, as you say "alive in the moment", not a bad place!

Bob, yes thanks - scrims would help - the occasion is a monthly concert with maybe a dozen acts, and apart from a few cell phone holders, I'm the only video freak, so it's hard to modify too many windows just for us, but I'm gradually working on that .....
I had one of the trusty Z96s on a boom mic stand to try and counteract backlight, but needed more. Scrim will be much more effective

The other thing about these three cameras I forgot to mention is that the Go Pro and the Bloggie can only capture at 30 fps, whereas the Zoom is 25. All are 1920 x 1080. I set Project properties to 25fps and rendered to this via DNxHD and Handbrake. If I find time I'll try changing Project and Render settings to 30 fps and see if it looks any different.

Occasionally I donate promo videos for non-profts like churches & YMCAs. Some videos have been summer camp activities where there is great risk to our gear getting splashed with water or dropped (I sometimes ask students to help since I am a one-man-show when there is no pay...). Other events have been outdoor live music or drama events where I worry unmanned/expensive gear might get stolen…

I still wanted high quality video & sound without the risk so my "el-cheapo" setup is (3) factory refurbished Canon HV30/40s, a (used) Rhode shotgun mic & wide angle lens plus (3) inexpensive tripods all purchased for less than $1200 total (US dollars). Although they still use MiniDV tapes to record highly compressed HD, the results are very comparable to our $2000 - $4000 cameras. Although too heavy for a window mount, they work well with light tripods & beanbag supports.

The key has been using the wide angle lens to get close-enough with the shotgun to reduce ambient noise. I typically roam with this camera while the other two get different angles. If I get bumped or pan too fast I just cut to one of the other shots. This works well for an inexpensive one-man-show & folks are always happy with the results. Free is always good. Free high quality work will lead to paid work...