Tips for Videos in Virtual Piano Recital

This is going to be a new experience for everyone, regardless of how long you’ve been taking piano lessons!

Below are some tips for recording video for the virtual piano recital:

Expect multiple takes

The recording process may take some time, so please block off multiple 1/2 hour or even hour long blocks to get it right!

Please record at standard HD or higher

Standard HD is 1280 x 720 at 30fps. You can go higher, if you want, just anticipate longer upload times. Keep in mind we don’t want poor quality, grainy video!

Separate videos please!

Videos generate large file sizes, so please record a separate video for each recital piece.

Clear the room/quiet

Make sure that other family members know that there is a recording session going on and they will need to be mindful of not talking and not walking in front or to the side of the camera as you are recording.

Lighting

Just like taking a good photo, make sure your light sources are not behind your son/daughter. Close the curtains if you have windows and make sure the light is source is indirect (as much as possible to avoid glare).

Picture Orientation

Please use landscape and not portrait orientation. Your son/daughter’s video is going to be limited in viewing area on the recital video if you use portrait.

Framing / composition

A good angle to use is where we can see your son/daughter’s profile and some portion of their hands. Multiple camera angles would be helpful in making the video more interesting. For instance, you can record one piece from the right side and then the next piece from the left. Ideally, it would great to have each video recorded on multiple devices with different angles. Note: you can also take a video with headshot only from several angles, and I can edit this in as another angle while the main audio plays.

What to wear?

Concert attire please! Boys: button down shirt (suit and tie optional, no t-shirts), dress pants (no shorts or jeans) and dress shoes (may or may not matter depending on your camera angle). Girls: dresses, button down blouse (no t-shirts), dress slacks, and dress shoes (may or may not matter depending on your camera angle). Also: keep in mind if you do multiple videos, try and keep the same attire, but if you want your son/daughter to show off several nice outfits, go for it! Recitals are special occasions!

Audio

Most current smartphones and tablets have excellent microphones to capture your video. If you are using a laptop, you must use an external microphone as most internal microphones are low quality.

Submitting videos

When the videos are ready, do NOT email the video. You won’t be able to anyway because the file size will be too much. Please share the video:

iOS (apple): either try and share the video on Messages, or if that doesn’t work, create a shared folder and include my email address on it.

Android: share the video via the Photos/Videos app on the phone so an email link will be sent to me.

Questions?

Please leave a comment down below.