How To Livestream Using Free OBS Software – An Accidentals Guide

Hey there – my name is Sav Buist and I’m in a band called The Accidentals. For six years, we toured 200-250 shows a year, and traveled both nationally and internationally playing shows.

When the crisis hit, we didn’t quite know how that would affect our personal lives and our careers – but we knew that at its core, art is still an essential business. During this time, we turn to our movies, our books, our favorite albums to stay grounded.

With that in mind, we decided to start livestreaming – with a level of quality that would make it fun to listen to, fun to watch, fun to interact with. Since I am a bit of an audio nerd (and a Type 5 on the enneagram, haha), I spent a lot of time compiling YouTube videos and articles in order to explore all the options and platforms for live streaming.

Then we decided to test our theories (see an example below). After throwing Accidentals shows on all the different platforms and figuring out what worked and what didn’t, I found myself wishing that I’d had a comprehensive look at the options in one space, in a living, breathing document – since livestreaming is a living, breathing world.

“I wanted to deliver something free and accessible that would help artists make art”

So, I created one. It changes every day, because every day, I learn something new. Using this document has allowed me to craft a show that feels like something I would want to watch and listen to, if I stumbled upon it in my feed.

Like OBS, I wanted to deliver something free and accessible that would help artists make art. If it helps you, mission accomplished.

Either way – I can’t wait to see what you make of it. 🙂

Download a pdf of How To Livestream Using Free OBS Software

HYPEBOT: Two of the three Accidentals are live streaming what they call their Daily Breather. They explain:

As a band family, we do a mental health check in with each other when things get heavy. It helps us acknowledge that maybe we need to ask for help or just give someone a little grace. No judgement, just acceptance.

So, in an effort to feel a little more grounded, we’re gonna take a #dailybreather every day for the foreseeable future. We’ll log on at noon EST, light a candle for healing, be thankful, tell a song story, and play a song – maybe 15 minutes of total stream time. We’re gonna try to be here every day at noon until we feel like we’re all good. Some days it might be one of us, some days all of us. We’re just gonna hold the space. We hope you’ll come take time out with us when you feel like it. xoxo