Video review preference

[Chas]

Hi all,

 

I'm in the process of putting together a Casio keyboard review for my YouTube channel. The model I am reviewing is the little SA-76, and I initially thought it would be about 15 minutes long covering all its features and sounds. However, the more I dug into it, the more this little keyboard surprised me with what it has to offer. To cover all its features with a good selection sound demonstrations, it looks like it's going to be around 35 - 40 minutes in total.

 

As I am reviewing each section/ feature of the keyboard, I could release shorter individual videos of each section, or combine them all into one in depth and comprehensive review. 

 

Can I ask what people's preference is for? One longer comprehensive video, or make it a multi part series?

 

Thanks in advance! 🙏

[Brad Saucier]

I would break them up into a series. YouTube viewers seem to prefer videos that are short and sweet.  

[Jokeyman123]

Mike broke up his demo videos for the XW  and other Casios into a series highlighting a group of functions at a time-a good model. I agree with Brad, shorter for the Youtube crowd.

[IanB]

I prefer long form videos personally. I assume short videos will be light on content and avoid them. A video about an old Casio is likely to have a viewership with a particular interest in the subject and I would think they would generally prefer the longer format.

[Chas]

Cheers for the input guys, some good points - seems like it could go either way!

 

@Brad Saucier is right in that often short and sweet is the way to go in this modern age. People's attention span online is short, however, as @IanB says, there is also still a need for more in depth comprehensive videos too. I would agree that a video about a retro Casio/ Casiotone would work better as a long format, though the SA-76 I am covering is actually a current model.

 

@Jokeyman123 is correct in pointing out that Mike Martin broke up his demo videos into multi part series. However, I would point out that Mike was producing tutorial videos of keyboards that had a huge array of features that would be impossible to put into one video.

 

For a bit of extra clarity, the video I am making is a review rather than an instructional guide/ tutorial. I wanted to examine, critique and demonstrate the main features packed into the SA-76. I've chosen a highlighted selection from each section of the keyboard to demonstrate the sound quality and the capabilities. The real time consuming part is demonstrating the tones enough to do them justice. I've picked a small selection from the 100 on offer to show the diverse range and quality of the sounds, and then approached each tone by playing impromptu and letting the tone inspire the playing and adding commentary if/ when necessary. Note that I am not a "keyboard" player in the traditional sense, I have almost zero training and I am self taught. I use my experience as a new wave/ synth pop fan/ player to play the way I do. Then I edit this footage down, cutting out (many) bad takes and condensing the good takes into snippets, again showing the range of possibilities that each tone can be used for, and combining them so that video flows well. If anyone is familiar with the crazy Polish synth guy "Jexus" (aka WC Olo Garb) and his YouTube demos, that's a similar approach to what I am aiming for, though without the surreal/ horror movie effects and movie clips!  What I didn't want to do was do what some other videos have done and just sequentially go through every single tone playing  a few notes from each. Asides from making the video even longer, such videos are somewhat boring to watch!

I should also add that I am using multiple camera angles, zooms, and also using video editing filters to emphasize certain aspects of the keyboard/ sound during various parts of the video. It seems to have evolved from simple 15 minute demonstration video into a James Cameron movie epic! 😂😂😂

I am still undecided, and perhaps what I should do is finally complete all the editing and then I'll have an idea as to how long all the parts will add up to if put in one video. I think 30 - 40 minutes for an in depth review/ demonstration might just be OK, but more than an hour would be too long and may benefit from being broken up to make a series. I could even upload it (when finished) as a private video and ask you guys to give it a screen test perhaps? I will of course report back, and if anyone has any further input/ suggestions before then, I'm all ears!  

[Chandler Holloway]

A trend I've seen with keyboard/synth demos on YouTube is breaking up the coverage of a particular model into two separate videos: one video is the overview/review, which is heavy on the talking and only includes brief snippets of playing to illustrate a particular feature or critique. A second video is purely a demo of tones/rhythms etc, maybe with a very brief speaking portion at the beginning pointing interested viewers to the overview video for more in-depth info. These demo videos will typically be longer and have a very prominent "ALL PLAYING, NO TALKING" disclaimer in the title to let viewers know what to expect.

 

Although, if your review and your playing examples are heavily intertwined, it might be difficult to split things up into two separate pieces. Food for thought.

[Chas]

On 10/16/2020 at 4:06 PM, Chandler Holloway said:

A trend I've seen with keyboard/synth demos on YouTube is breaking up the coverage of a particular model into two separate videos: one video is the overview/review, which is heavy on the talking and only includes brief snippets of playing to illustrate a particular feature or critique. A second video is purely a demo of tones/rhythms etc, maybe with a very brief speaking portion at the beginning pointing interested viewers to the overview video for more in-depth info. These demo videos will typically be longer and have a very prominent "ALL PLAYING, NO TALKING" disclaimer in the title to let viewers know what to expect.

 

Although, if your review and your playing examples are heavily intertwined, it might be difficult to split things up into two separate pieces. Food for thought.

 

Cheers for the input Chandler, I appreciate all views and angles on how to approach what I'm doing.

My reviewing and playing examples are intertwined, because I'm also trying to give the review a real time reaction feel. As mentioned, a lot of what I am playing is ad libbed/ impromptu/ spontaneous in direct response to playing a sound, then letting the sound inspire the direction of playing. Almost a sort of real time exploration and discovery. I'm also emphasizing some of the sounds with video filter effects to add more of a visual artistic element, only the video mind, the actual sound is untouched. I'm attempting to make it more personal and hopefully more interesting to watch. The other important factor in my case (as I mentioned above) is that I'm not a "keyboard player" per se (far from it - my primary instrument since 1984 was bass guitar), I have my own "style" for want of a better word, and I'm trying to get this to come across. I'm also hoping to show people that you A: don't need to be a trained keyboard player to make music, and B: you can make good music even with a humble entry level keyboard.  As such, playing prowess is not a factor in what I do, nor performing intricate keyboard pieces. I'm hoping that I am getting across that this keyboard sounds pretty damn amazing considering what it is, and that with minimal skills you can still have fun and make good music with it. It will also be tied in with a full track that I wrote/ recorded using only the SA-76 as a sound source to demonstrate this.

I've seen many other keyboard reviews that though they demonstrate the sounds and features, they are as dull as ditchwater, and so impersonal. I watched and examined other keyboard/ synth review channels and took elements that I thought were good and then combined them into a format that is what I would personally like myself. As I mentioned, I love the Jexus synth demos for his artistic take on mixing sounds and visuals, and I also like the 8 Bit Keys and the Keen on Keys channels. 8 Bit Keys is excellent from a technical/ oddware aspect, but David Murray doesn't do much musically with the keyboards he features. Keen on Keys is brilliant at demonstrating and making music with low level keyboards, but even though he narrates, you never actually see him to get that personal connection. My goal is to make mine more entertaining, in my own style, while still conveying the primary object of showing what the keyboard is capable of. I'm also attempting to incorporate these reviews with my own compositions using the keyboards I review, and promote myself as an artist/ songwriter alongside them. I'm not sure if I will succeed, but I guess once it's finished and uploaded, I should find out sooner or later what the reception will be.

I have also added up the Tone demonstration sections of the video and those are currently running at 33 minutes. There's a lot going on in these 33 minutes - multiple examples, multiple angles, little snippets/ anecdotes and visual references connected to certain tones etc.  as well as all the tone playing demonstrations. And as said, this is just from chosen selection of 100 Tones! This obviously doesn't include the patterns, song bank or free session features, nor some of the background information that I also want to incorporate. I'd say that it's almost certainly going to be a two part review now, possibly three parts.

I'll also say that I was wrong in thinking that reviewing a modern entry level Casio would be easy. Had I chosen a retro Casio such as my MT-70 from 1983, it would have been so much easier as obviously there is far less to cover in a keyboard of that vintage. It's also as I mentioned above, a journey of exploration, and the content kept growing because the more I delved into this little keyboard the more it kept on delivering. It really surprised me as to what I found within it, and hopefully that will come across in my review.  

Once again, thanks all for the input. It all helps to guide me as I make my first foray into the world of self produced online keyboard video reviews. 🙂

[Chas]

Hi all,

 

I'm trusting you guys with a sneak preview of what I've been working on! The video is an unlisted YouTube link, so only people that have the link that I've supplied below will be able to see it. I'm looking for some general feedback and will probably remove it once everyone I want to see it has seen it.

It's a section from the Tones part of my SA-76 review, that I hope will give you an idea of what I am aiming for in terms of content, presentation and overall look and feel. I should add that I have the bulk of the video content already recorded and I've also done a lot of editing already. There's a few areas that need tidying up, though overall I feel it's pretty much in the right direction.

 

Suggestions or constructive criticism are welcome!
 

 

[Brad Saucier]

Looks great!  I like the style, white table, clean layout, camera views, looks like a TV ad for it.  Nice editing.  Carry on sir.  😁

[Chas]

I was being HOPELESSLY optimistic thinking that I'd fit everything included in my review into 35 - 40 minutes! By the time I added the running times of the all the different recorded parts/ segments together, it was clear that I would have to make it a multi part series. I also decided to go for a four part series with part three, a section on using external effects, kept as a separate "bonus" episode rather than including it with the standard SA-76 features/ sound demos.

Part One is now up! If any of you get the chance to check it out, please have a watch and let me know what you think. And as always, constructive criticism is welcome. This is my very first video review, and I likely still have a lot to learn. 
 

 

[IanB]

Nice one Chas, I've subscribed

[giano]

Hello Chas, thanks for this video. I am looking forward to the next episodes and to more reviews of yours!

And the SA-76 sounds really nice!

[Chas]

Hey all,

Part 2 is now up! You'll see why I ended up breaking the review into a series as just the Tones footage alone (edited down) was approx. 35 mins long! Hopefully I achieved my goal of showing how good the Tones are with my 'performances' / jams, and the little anecdotes, snippets and thoughts thrown in to help make it more interesting.

As always, any constructive feedback is welcome!
 

 

[DevanWolf]

No wonder why there are two revisions of the SA-76 about having to do with TONE 72 BASS+LEAD. For the original 1.0 released in 2008 you get a nice sounding octave saw lead. But on the 2.0 released in around 2015 it is instead a sampled SA-10/65 Pipe Organ which could be the strange case.

[Chas]

I finally completed and uploaded Part 3. This time I investigated using a budget effects unit to expand and enhance the SA-76's already good sound. And as I keep finding with this SA-76 journey, the more I explored, the more I discovered it could do. The V-Amp can take the SA-76 to greater, and sonically impressive heights. Some of the sounds I could produce wouldn't be out of place on big studio hit record recordings!