In the past, a ‘music promo’ was primarily something shot and edited by a videographer with an artist or band miming to playback. The rise in quality of camera phones and the fall in cost of cheap DSLRs means that video production has changed. A self filmed one shot/one take music video is now often all you need to accompany your music.

One take videos are great as they require little to no editing, and you just need a camera and a tripod to get recording. Let’s have a look at a couple of different examples.

A faux vantage effect works well here. My mate Phil here isn’t even fully miming which makes things a lot easier in terms of choosing a good take.

If you’re a performer or singer, a live performance video recorded in your own set up is something that’s easy to achieve. If the aesthetics of your location are less than ideal, think about a bit of set dressing with maybe some extra soft furnishings, lights etc to help create a mood.  Nothing more than a camera or phone used here.

Another one take video, but we’ve now thrown in a mic which means we’ll have to record the instrument (DI’d keys by the looks of it) and mic on a DAW and synch up with the video later. The sound here works well so if you have access to a home studio/interface it could well be your preferred option.

Another one take video.  We’re using a DSLR on a gimbal this time so there’s a videographer involved as well as an old time ‘one mic in the room’. The video works well to capture the spirit of the song.

So, are you doing enough one shot videos?

Got any questions about this post or how you can better market yourself?

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