Where is the best advice on recording and posting videos?

August 21, 2024 9:30 AM

I'd to get some vintage guitar content out into the world, and I don't know where the best advice is.

I inherited a couple of gorgeous guitars from the late 1920s/1930s, along with a leather satchel full of handwritten tabs from my grandfather-in-law's days playing hawaiian music and old time barn dances.

I want to make a series of videos where I open the satchel, go through the tabs, do some research on the context of selected tunes, and learn to play them on the original guitars. The idea of having those instruments resonate with sounds similar to what they vibrated with in the past is pleasing to me.

I'd like to build up a bit of a youtube/instagram/(tiktok too?) presence while it stays just a hobby, not a source of income necessarily. I want to have enough people watching the videos that I don't feel like they are going into the void, but I also don't have the time or focus to be a Josh Turner pro-type, with almost a million follows on guitar youtube. Honestly, a few hundred views would be great. Maybe 1k as a goal?

With that goal in mind, whose advice out there is worthwhile regarding building a video channel and positioning videos so that at least a few people see them, things like that.

I have good equipment, and I'm not too worried about the technical side of audio and video recording. It's more the editing decisions based on what people are used to these days, and how to get them placed so that they will be watched and not passed over. That kind of thing.

I also have over 30 solo guitar arrangements of cover tunes I like, that I could record and place in the same channel as the vintage guitar content.

posted by umbú to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

Sounds fun! I would say your easiest bet is to try Tiktok. Go look around there and check a few hashtags that seem relevant, and see what people are posting - do they have subtitles, do they start with an intro, do they have just the guitar or do they have their face in there, what kind of narration or context do they offer, etc. Find what you think is good but also something you can put your spin on - your thing is "Grandpa's century-old guitar stash" and you should emphasize that clearly. Succinct, original, and immediately engaging is the Tiktok success recipe I've seen.

Also look up some up to date guidelines on things like length and so on - the tiktok algorithm favors stuff under 90 seconds recently (IIRC) but that can change quickly. So it would probably be better to record 10 individual videos and post one a day rather than cut your 15 minute video into 90 second chunks. Or some such strategy - others will have more practical advice.

I'd also try recording a few practice videos and showing your friends, then coming back to it with a little of their feedback and your own perspective after a week or two. Suddenly you'll realize "oh man why didn't I do it with the light like this" or "they're right, I talked for too long about that" - and your first "real" videos will be strong out of the gate.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 9:56 AM on August 21 [1 favorite]

(No advice about video production -- but I really hope that you post your works-in-progress to MeFi Projects for constructive criticism and, uh, my own enjoyment!)
posted by wenestvedt at 10:53 AM on August 21 [3 favorites]

I am a big-dork swing dancer, and know a couple of amazing guitarists who have enthusiastic followings for their posts about jazz history and vintage instruments. Taking a look at these folks might give you some ideas for what choices they are making, and link you to other content for inspiration: Jonathan Stout (another Facebook link), Nick Rossi (website link, but he also posts a lot on Facebook).

Both Stout and Rossi play with Mikiya Matsuda, who among other groups leads The Alcatraz Islanders (Facebook link), who play swing-era Hawaiian music.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 12:55 PM on August 21 [1 favorite]

I watch a lot of video on most platforms (fb, insta, and youtube mostly, but also tiktok). Many of the short videos I watch are being created and released on all 4 platforms. You're just going to find different audiences on each one. Some are releasing short videos on all 4, then using youtube for longer "deep dives".

Keep it short and catchy to start to build your audience. Watch some videos of others who are doing similar content so you can get an idea of what works and what doesn't.

If you're only doing long videos, then I think youtube is your best bet. They'll still push you to release some shorts as well, but do what you want. :)

TikTok will be a good platform for engaging with other creators, giving you a chance to duet with someone doing the song you're doing, for example. This is a great way to build audience, too.

Here's a great example of an unexpected youtube page that's up to 3.48 million subscribers. With just a simple premise of showing off their historic printing press and other museum exhibits, they've created enjoyable content that connects with their audience: Sacramento History Museum
posted by hydra77 at 12:57 PM on August 21

Circling back to add that, if any of those barn dances would have been playing music that has a contemporary social dance or niche music scene (contra, folk, zydeco, blues, “roots”, classic country, etc?), people in those dance scenes that I know are great audiences for this kind of content, since many people either come to dance through musicianship or move on to learning the music after falling in love with the dance. Again, Facebook is a key site for social dance scenes, both locally and globally.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 9:52 PM on August 21 [1 favorite]