About Studio Session Live:

Studio Session Live started at HCAM-TV in Hopkinton with a concept by access producer Bob Crownfield.  Music, on cable access, but with PBS Quality.  Studio Session Live is music: A concert  recorded in the studio with a Guest Artist, and then edited for broadcast. 56 programs were recorded, with Guest Artists from MA, ME, RI, VA,  and and the UK. This winter it starts again, with 52 programs scheduled for the first year,and for each of the next 5 years. We will record programs in three venues, north shore, south shore, and metro west. Shows will air in not one town,

Airing this spring, it will bring Folk, Folk Rock, Blues, Celtic, Renaissance music, others styles to come, in a new Hour Show every week, cities all over Ma and beyond

About Producer Bob Crownfield:

 Bob insists on quality in music and in program, PBS quality.  “The goal is to bring good Guest Artists and their music to the audience, and to do it with ‘PBS Quality’. Keep the production centered on, and don't distract from, the Guest Artist’s music, which is the real subject. Search for and choose good Guests, concentrate on making a good show, and let the Guest Artist make the good music. Choose emerging artists as well as established artists“.  Experience has shown that attention to both artistic and technical production quality pays off. 56 shows later, it has worked very well. SSL video is chosen by Guest Artists for their websites because of its quality. Bob understands artistic technique as well as technical equipment and technical problems, from the effect of frequency response of condenser microphones on voices, to setting white balance and exposure on studio digital cameras so all the shots match. Bob is at home with artistic problems from sound mix, to camera angles and transitions, and selecting the right Guests and helping them to feel at home and to make another great show.

About Producing Studio Session Live

When Studio Session Live was first an idea, one of the first goals was to achieve audio and video quality that exceeded the average cable access quality. The second goal was to make sure that the production was as transparent as possible so that nothing we did came between the audience and the guest artist.

Studio Session Live is a commitment between the guest artist and the producer. In return for the show that the guest artist creates, it is our job to produce the show, and to make sure that nothing comes between the audience and the performer. Our show should be transparent. The viewer should enjoy the performance, not see the medium.

As you can imagine, producing a television show like Studio Session Live takes a lot of resources. When I walk into the studio and start setting lighting for the show, I look at more than $150,000 worth of very expensive and technical equipment.

Before the guest artists walks into the studio, we have already spent more than two man hours on the show. The volunteer crew will include at least three cameramen, a director, a sound engineer. By the time the show is recorded. we have spent another 10 man-hours. Post production and editing will take another eight to ten man-hours. That adds up to 20 to 30 man-hours per show, all donated by volunteers.

 “Made possible by viewers like you” can take on a new meaning.
You can underwrite part of the startup equipment.
or
You can be part of the crew.
Contact us.