Livestreaming / Short Video & a Jamming Primer

Keep your peaks under -6dB and don't let the vocal clip (clipping makes it muddy, and post can't save it); keep your mouth about 15–20cm from the mic, slightly off-angle or with a pop filter, to avoid plosives; keep the noise floor “low enough that you don't notice it” — don't force it down to nothing, or you'll lose the live feel.

A song usually involves three kinds of rights: the songwriting copyright, the performer's rights, and the sound-recording producer's rights. Practically speaking: playing and singing someone else's song live on a stream, or recording a cover and publishing it, can both infringe; “I didn't charge money” often doesn't hold up (using it to draw an audience and monetize later is hard to call non-commercial).

The safe approach: use a platform's already-licensed song library / backing tracks, and favor public-domain or your own original songs — this is of a piece with this site's “public-domain / original” red line for its song library.

Before a jam, everyone needs to be able to hold steady with a metronome. Getting into the song relies on the “count-in”: one person (follow the drums if there are drums, the rhythm player if not) calls “1, 2, 3, 4,” and everyone comes in together on the 5th beat. With no drums, you — the one playing the rhythm accompaniment — are the “anchor”: you stay steady, and the others can follow. First run the whole thing through with one rhythm pattern from start to finish; whoever slips finds their way back to the beat and doesn't stop.