Behind the scenes…of a video that doesn’t exist. (Exclusive)
I promised to make a behind the scenes feature documenting every step of my process of making a video. With this in mind I started shooting some early BTS footage for a future video, but as things turned out, this video had to be abandoned.
I do have plenty of other projects planned so I’m not too concerned, these things happen, although I am a bit frustrated that I spent the time on this instead of on something more productive.
To make something positive out of a bad situation, I’ve edited together the BTS footage into an extra video just for patrons.
There will be a proper new video along next week - but in the meantime you can watch this video if you like the idea of seeing an increasingly disappointed middle aged man talking to himself.
UPDATE: As expected (mentioned in the video) this got an auto-copyright match on the record used at the end - I've attached the picture showing how this gets notified. Fortunately I had no intentions of monetising this video, so it doesn't matter. Unfortunately, even though I had turned the adverts off - you may see them automatically added back on because of this.
Note - to keep my main channel clear of copyright claims, I've re-uploaded the video on my burner channel where all the non-monetised stuff lives.
Comments (42)
Thanks for cheering me up :) I needed that :)
I really enjoyed this video, so I'm happy for you to blather on more in the future. Didn't matter to me that the equipment turned out to be a bit rubbish, it wasn't why I watched the video, it's great to see you going through the process and to see you learning. I, erm, actually quite liked that first track you played, and I looked it up on Google Play. Cafe Central (Roedelius) if anyone else wondered. Rest of the album is pants.
Interesting, nice to know there's one that got away, I recall trying to build a similar device from an Electronics Today design, It was purely analogue and not especially effective.
This is great. It's a shame you got copyright matched after all. I was hoping you would kind of stumble of a new way to find unclaimed music (on various media) to use on your videos. Bah. Gods of Youtube.
The copyright match was on the 45 record used at the end - it wasn't the one I bought to scratch - that's still match free, but also unused (at the moment).
I enjoyed the video, thanks for posting. I can't tell you how many "wasted" videos I've created...at least a dozen, maybe more. It is frustrating to know you've wasted time, I know! Maybe you could setup a time-lapse camera to catch the entire BTS process of creating a video and it wouldn't be too much work? I'm particularly interested in your research and video editing process. Either way, thanks for always providing compelling content.
Still enjoyable even if it didn't work well. Like the new shelves for your equipment btw!
Great video mate, loved every minute of it. I'm curious how this thing was sold to the public back in the day, seems like a complete waste of money! Also, did you take the top off and see what was inside?
I haven't had a look inside...I could see through the air vents it's just full of stuff that I know nothing about, so better to spend my time on something else. I've been working on the next video today.
Failure is always an option. I enjoyed it all the more, it was definitely a behind the scenes look at what your process is and made me glad I became a patron!
Thanks for the video Matt. It may not work but still good fun seeing it tried out. You have inspired me to buy a 1970s JVC separates system with a record deck. Cost me 35 quid off eBay. It works fine but I am having trouble finding a suitable space in my tiny flat. I can emphasise that the small space that you have to work in and I'm sure our American cousins don't understand the size of the average UK property. I'm sure it will give your puppets something to talk about. Failure can be just as interesting as success. Maybe one day you can generate enough income off U-tube to buy a barn laden property. I suppose the modern alternative to this device is to play a scratched record into audacity and get that to remove the pops and crackles. When I first got a Windows computer I decided to try out restoration of records no longer available. I got a bit of OCD about it and spent two days restoring one record. I decided it wasn't worth the time and the efforts. If the modern recording is available it is usually more prudent to get that clean recording than waste two days restoring 60 minutes of audio. I hadn't realised that you've got a DBX decoder so I will look back in your archive to discover the story behind it. I'm very pleased to be a a supporter of your channel. And as always, keep up the good work.
Unfortunately there are quite a few people who don't understand anything other than their immediate surroundings. My house is pretty spacious compared to the tiny apartments some people have in city centres that cost 10x as much. I once sent something to a viewer in India and his address read something like, "third shack next to the tip behind the bus station"...and it got there. Doing youtube is a great leveller...it's difficult to use any generalities when talking to a global audience. In the great scheme of things I'm doing OK. as far as your experiences go with trying to clean up scratchy records I was hoping that this machine would have made it possible to buy old, less than perfect records and play them back without all the crackles and pops. Even if it did make vinyl sound a bit digital it would have been a small sacrifice if it meant that you could listen to records that you otherwise would be unable to enjoy.
Waffle on as much as you like - still a 'cracklingly' good video :)
I loved this video. Even though the device is completely useless, I've enjoyed the raw demonstration very much :)
That was actually quite fun. I can't say it was as good as the slick output you create for the channel, but it was an interesting insight.
It may not be the BTS video you were aiming for, but I have enjoyed it massively! :)
I did enjoy that video techmoan. I appreciate that you send out some "raw" footage with you genuine thoughts sprinkled into the mix. It felt more personal in being a patreon exclusive and I actually didn't feel my time was wasted. My dabbling is more with computers but I experience the same kind of emotions when something I had great anticipation about does not work at all. VERY cool to see the 8-bit guy is a patreon :) I did enjoy that collab last year.
This was very interesting. It shows how much work actually goes into one of your videos. Sad that you had to give up. However I wonder if you could still make a video about it that goes like: "Here is a device that does not really do what it is supposed to do.... and let's have a look inside if it is broken or we got shafted in the first place." By seeing what sort of stuff is inside you can sometimes tell if it is even able to do what the advertising promised.
For what it's worth, I think there's value in product reviews where the product doesn't do what it's supposed to do. Help folks decide what products not to buy. Although I don't image there's a lot of demand for this particular one either way.
Yes with new things I would continue to do a full review even if it turned out to be poor (like the Polaroid Snap Touch). Something like this is no longer available though...so there was little point.
hmmm... just thinking, would there be a market for a device that inserts snap crackle and pop into terrible music ?
There was a bit of a fad for apps that added vinyl crackles and pops to mp3s a couple of years ago.
Keep them coming, these non-formulaic chats are great.
I fully understand and can relate to failed videos.. I've had several where I spent 20 or 30 hours and then had to just give up for whatever reason. It is really irritating to spend all of that time and get no payoff.
At least I tested this out before I got too far into it. Like most of us, I've learned this lesson the hard way.
Great video, interesting not working device, at list we know that this device existed and we know why it wasn't a success, I've enjoyed it a lot!!
best techmoan video ever! energy saving light bulb moment made tea come out of my nose.
How long does it take to make this video? Research, Setting up shots, Filming, Editing...
This video has only taken about 6 hours. A proper video can take weeks, I bet there's over 60 hours in that minidisc video. The bits that are difficult to time though are the reading up, researching, ordering and buying parts...setting things up. Since these occur on and off over months it's difficult to put a number on it.
Great video, loved the improvisational style and BTS look. Also, love that Eames chair.
Thanks for showing this to us Mat, I totally understand that you 'suppressed' it; the device itself does nothing. But it was interesting to see part of the process. btw, the most interesting thing I liked is the Etsy's 'closet' for records, is not only useful and nice, but seems 'well put together' as you say sometimes.
I've just had a look on their store to see if the record trunk is still there- and my taller custom version has now become a standard item. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/509427804/recored-storage-solid-hardwood-lp" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/509427804/recored-storage-solid-hardwood-lp</a> I think it's pretty cool that something I imagined is now available for anyone to buy.
I really enjoyed this video, I thought it was quite nice to see a less formal video. Sometimes these type of videos actually get across a lot more than a formal review of really how the system performs. In this case, it didn't go well but I think sometimes the fun of watching a video is to see if it will actually work out, a negative result is still worthwhile to watch! Thank you for your hard work in the videos 🙂
This was one of the rare occasions where a failed object can't be made into an interesting video on it's own, as it just does almost nothing at all. I know supporters here on Patreon can appreciate this...but the normal youtube audience wouldn't get it. Hopefully I'll have something more fun to show everyone in the future.
Interesting, if only because it did get me thinking about how you could have one of these things that actually works. I use DAWs a lot for making music and there's a famous set of plugins called Waves, that, among other things, has a de-click and de-noise plugins that can work in real time (or rather with latency that wouldn't be a concern in a HiFi setup) and are the real deal when it comes to a proper DSP solution for restoration . If you had a hardware plugin host (they do actually exist), I'm imagining passing the signal through that and hey-presto - a very expensive de-clicker/de-noiser! Of course, you've still got the issue of an A/D convertor in your signal chain.
It seemed to react best to the regular click of the scratch better than the random crackles, so perhaps it's looking for loud clicks at regular intervals. There are analog versions of things like this available, but they are very expensive <a href="http://www.esotericsound.com/NoiseReduction.htm" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://www.esotericsound.com/NoiseReduction.htm</a> ....hence why I wanted to try this one out.
You should have put out the word that you wanted old beat to crap, no one will admit to having the copyright records. I've got a 1964 Young World Singers version of Ringo for President on 45 I would have happily sent you.
I rarely plan that far ahead, but on this occasion it's probably best that I didn't ask for records as they would never have appeared in a video. People might think I was running a scam to steal terrible discs.
Really enjoyed the conversational style of video, so thanks for sharing even if it didn't end up as intended. I was less impressed with hearing Nick Heyward, since that reminded me how ancient I am... :)
Even if it's about a device that doesn't work - it's still very enjoyable. Thanks!
Hi Mat. That was really good and great to hear your thought processes. Shame that the device was bog useless but still very enjoyable. Thank you.
Well coming from one increasingly disappointed middle aged man to another increasingly disappointed middle aged man, at least you are talking to yourself in front of a camera. 😉 lol So far I am enjoying this video and look forward to finishing it later this weekend. Take care! :D