While it’s different from playing in person to a live audience, streaming on Twitch connects you to your fans on a global level. So here’s a down and dirty guide explaining how to stream on Twitch if you’re in a band and want to rock out in your living room.

Setting Up Your Twitch Account

To stream on Twitch as a band, first you’ll need to set up at least one Twitch account on Twitch.tv. Once your account is set up, head on over to Twitch Creator Camp to start building a following, filling in your streaming schedule, and updating your profile.

Subscription and Pay

When it comes to interacting with your fans and making money from your streams, there are a few things to keep in mind. To monetize your Twitch streams, you’ll need to be eligible for the Affiliate program.

Once you’re a Twitch Affiliate, you can start getting subscribers to your channel who will have exclusive access to your custom emotes, which are a fun way to personalize your channel and connect with subscribers.

Streaming Software

Now that you’re up and running with your Twitch account, it’s time to think about what streaming software to use. Here are some recommended streaming software options:

Twitch Studio

Twitch Studio is built right into the Twitch website and works seamlessly with your Twitch Creator details. This means that you can set up audio and video settings, add scenes to show when you’re not streaming yet (such as a Be Right Back screen), and add media to your stream. If you want to stream using your webcam, just set it as your capture device. You can also screenshare as part of your stream.

Open Broadcaster Software (OBS Studio)

If you’ve already used non-linear video editing software like Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro, the OBS Studio layout may look familiar to you. When you launch OBS, you’ll see the cued footage for your stream on the left, and the live footage in real time on the right (once you actually start streaming).

See our full guide to OBS for help getting started.

Streamlabs

One of the cool things about Streamlabs is that it’s open source and available on GitHub. You can import streams from OBS Studio. You can also use Streamlabs with other streaming accounts like TikTok and YouTube.

For those keen to learn more, we’ve previously shown how to get started with Streamlabs.

Audio Gear

Now that you’ve set up your accounts to capture your stream, you need to set up your audio gear to capture your sound.

Microphones

Your choice of microphone will depend on what type of music you’re playing, if you’re planning to do any voiceovers between songs, and if you want the recording to be from the studio or “live”.

For a voiceover mic, get a directional condenser mic if you can. If you’re recording a studio session, you can use the studio mics that you usually use. You might want to get an additional room mic to capture more ambient sound.

Lastly, if you’re recording “live”, go with a dynamic mic such as an SM57, SM58, or SM Beta58, all of which are commonly used in live settings.

Headphones, Headsets, and In-Ear Monitors (IEMs)

If you’re playing along to backing tracks, the drummer will need to hear them while they’re playing and will need a pair of headphones. If you want the band to be able to monitor themselves in the most accurate way, consider In-Ear Monitors so that everyone can have their own mix.

Overall, it’s just like recording in the studio or playing a live show, only when you’re streaming on Twitch, you need to monitor audio levels of the live footage as well as the audio levels of the stream itself.

Microphone Stands and Mounts

If you don’t want your video to look cluttered with lots of mic stands, you can get creative with clamps or tabletop mounts. You could also try lavalier (clip-on) mics for voiceovers, especially if you’re walking around while you’re talking. For example, if you’re giving a studio tour, you might want the flexibility of a wireless or wired clip-on mic.

Digital Audio Workstations and Audio Interfaces

If you’re brand new to recording as a band, you’ll need to get recording software for your Digital Audio Workstation and audio hardware, called an audio interface, to record. Depending on your computer’s specs and your operating system, you might find that one type of software works better for you than another. Recording software includes applications such as:

Ableton Live Audacity Logic Pro X (Apple only) Pro Tools

As for your audio interface, think about how many mics you’ll typically be using, and that’s how many inputs and outputs you’ll need at minimum. Most audio interfaces connect via USB and require very little additional setup.

Video Gear

You don’t need a high-end video camera or expensive lighting, but if you’re interested in learning more, here are some suggestions.

Cameras, Drones, and GoPros

Ideally, you want a video camera that at least captures in Full HD and has external SD storage. Especially if you’re recording an entire set, when video clips can get big pretty quickly.

Lighting

With today’s cameras, whether you’re using a smartphone or a digital video camera, you don’t need a lot of lights, but they can help fill in backgrounds or add atmosphere. Keep in mind that strobe lights or special effects lights might look cool at a live concert, but can be distracting on a video. You really only need one light for your main subject, one to light the background and illuminate edges, and one to fill it all in.

Tripods and Camera Mounts

If you don’t have a camera operator to shoot handheld footage, you’ll need a tripod or camera mount of some sort. Again, you can get creative; you just have to make sure it securely holds your camera or smartphone.

Pre-Recording a Stream

If your bandmates have scheduling conflicts or are more comfortable playing in the studio than live, you can always pre-record the video for your stream and queue it up later in your streaming software of choice. It’s not cheating and a lot of bands do it.

If you record your video ahead of time, you’re less likely to have latency issues or lagging due to slow buffering speeds, which could result in choppy audio and video. You can also set up Disconnect Protection in Stream > Stream Key & Preferences in the Creator Dashboard.

Here you can also archive your Twitch streams, so your viewers can watch them again even when they’re no longer live.

About Creative Commons

A Creative Commons license has a little more flexibility, as it allows ownership of a song to be shared to various degrees, such as for royalty-free music for projects or podcasts.

Are You Ready to Rock?

Just like when you first formed the band, it’ll take time and practice to develop a good workflow for Twitch streaming, but hopefully this guide has given you some pointers on how to get started and what you’ll need to do so.

Which means you should share it with your bandmates… yes, even the bass player.