Any pianist knows that playing piano can be a lonely occupation – lots of hours work with often a limited audience for the output. However, in the new digital world, there are lots of ways to share with Family and Friends – and even the world at large. This article will get you started on how to film yourself playing piano!
I’m a member of a couple of Piano discussion groups on Facebook where the question of how to record yourself came up – at first I just thought to myself, well, isn’t it obvious? But, then it occurred to me that for my Facebook recording project (I’ve done a few recordings), I had quite a learning curve to go though to get away from just basic ‘point and shoot’ to something that looks and sounds better.
Back in the day
When I was a young learner, opportunities to play for other people were relatively limited. Naturally, there was always playing for family and friends at home or occasionally in a pub or bar where there was a piano. Other ‘public’ performances included the less pleasant things like exams. However, for the most part, real public performance was limited to
- Church concerts
- School concerts
- Competitions
Whilst most of us had access to cassette recorders in those days (so recording the audio was always possible), few of us (in my circle anyway) had access to video cameras. In any event, even if we did, being able to share these recordings was pretty much limited to giving people a hard copy or having people listen when they came to see you.
The digital age
Nowadays, however, with the growth of social media (so, the usual culprits of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and co.), we have the opportunity to share the fruits of our labours more easily. We can share either with limited people (as you can with Facebook sharing only for Friends) or, if we’re brave enough, with the world at large (as you can with YouTube).
Also, the equipment that you need to film yourself playing piano is mostly sitting in your pocket. So, first let’s talk about what equipment you might need to start sharing your work.
In terms of the equipment you could have, in some ways, the sky is the limit as there is a wealth of equipment you can buy. However, believe it or not, you can actually get away with nothing more than a smart phone or tablet! These devices now come with the ability to capture audio and video to a fairly reasonable standard – all built into the device. However, more importantly, they also give you the ability to edit the result to make it visually and audibly more attractive!
I did it once when I visited Steinway Hall in London a couple of years ago. All I did was prop my phone up against the side of the piano and press ‘record’ and then posted the video on Facebook.
I’ve also done the same thing with my digital at home. Visit my Facebook Page if you’d like to watch them.
Beyond the basics
I think these are perfectly serviceable recordings to post on Facebook perhaps and certainly your closer friends and family will happily take the time to listen and enjoy them and not spend time critiquing your video skills.
However, for very little extra effort and zero expense, you can make this simple recording just that little bit more interesting by some basic Video Editing direct on your phone.
I’m an iPhone user so for me the obvious choice is iMovie. For Android Users you’ll find similar video editing apps on the Google Play store and what we’ll be doing here is available on all of them and is far from complex. For Android users, you I did a short write up of how you can translate this advice from Apple to Android remarkably easily.
Remove the unwanted parts
To ‘Top and Tail’ our recording (introductions and the like), there’s not actually that much we need to do. We can start by getting rid of the bit at the beginning (where we were pressing ‘record’ and then getting ready to play) and the bit at the end (where we were getting up or reaching over to the phone to press stop). This is already looking better.
Add titles
Next we can tell our friends what the music is … quite often they won’t be familiar with the piece so we can do this by adding simple ‘Titles’ (just like on a TV show). Again, this is really easy to do. You could also add something at the end if you wanted, using the same approach.
Final touches
As a final flourish, we can think about adding a ‘filter’ – so, for example, you might want to have the movie in ‘Black and White’ for that retro feel or maybe something more cinematic. You can also choose is a ‘Theme’ – can be interesting to do sometimes and worth having a play if you have the time. Finally, set it to Fade In from Black and Fade Out to Black to make it that little bit less abrupt.
Now, simply upload the result to Facebook or save it to your Camera Roll.
Going to the next level
Taking home recording to the next level is remarkably accessible. For example, a plug and play microphone can dramatically improve your audio. There are ways to add Reverberation and Equalisation without needing any specific audio technical skills. If, like me, you have trouble getting a perfect performance every time, there are even ways to edit out bloopers! Finally, powerful video editing is easily within reach these days.
Often, things are easier to follow with a video and in my YouTube Playlist you’ll find videos on all of the topics above if you prefer to watch rather than read. If you watch the first view videos in order, that should give you everything you need to get started. I also have a 3 volume eBook that is free for you to download that goes into step by step detail.
Happy filming!
