Livestream Guide

For total beginners

What is a Livestream?

A livestream is a way to broadcast sound and/or video over the internet.

(You don’t need to livestream to celebrate drone day. Solo drones at home with your cat, your family, or your walls are entirely welcome.)

Tools and equipment needed:

You will need a microphone and may want a webcam. Many phones have these built in, so if you are looking for an easy option, use your phone.

Consider the space you are performing in. If you are using a camera, does the view capture the magic that you are trying to create? Can you craft a beautiful visual and sonic world? You can surround yourself with all your favourite things. You can point the camera to your face, to your hands, or your lovingly adorned plant.

Ways to livestream:

Don’t be overwhelmed. There are a lot of options. But you can choose one that feels in reach, and explore other options another time.

If you have no internet and want to share with someone far away

• You can use your telephone and call a friend and make music for them over the phone.

If you are comfortable on social media and want something easy

• If you use Facebook* on your phone or your computer there is a button to go live.
• If you use Instagram* on your phone, there is a button to go live.
• If you use Twitter* on your phone, you can use Periscope to livestream

These will all notify your followers, so (unlike the video meeting option below) you aren’t totally reliant on inviting people manually.

If you are comfortable with video meeting software

You can use almost any video meeting software to stream. This includes Jitsi, Zoom, Google Hangouts, Google Meet, and many more.

For video meeting software, you can email the link or share it on your social networks.

If you are comfortable learning new tools

Check out GISS, OBS Studio or Streamlabs OBS.

These tools are useful for more complicated setups. It should only take about 20-60 minutes to set up the basic software

You can use these tools with Youtube, Twitch, or other platforms.

Going deeper

This a guide for total beginners. If you are looking for a more exhaustive list of tools, you can check here, or here.

If you are interested in helping write a more advanced guide, please reach out.

* Most of the companies have a singular priority at any cost: economic growth. They are not safe, they are not friendly, they are not our friends. Let us lift our hands up and pull each other out of here.