Guide to Live Streaming with a PC on YouNow :
1) You will need a webcam with a built-in mic, as a minimum, connected to your computer. For better results, a separate microphone connected to your PC LINE-IN or MIC-IN socket is preferred.
To plug your electro-acoustic (or electric) guitar in, you will need a small audio mixer to combine the guitar and microphone inputs, and connect this to the PC LINE-IN / MIC-IN (unless you have an audio interface/soundcard with multiple inputs, in which case you can simply plug guitar, mic, anything else into that).
2) On a Windows PC, you will need to make sure the LINE-In or MIC-IN sockets are active. To do this, right click on the speaker icon on your windows PC taskbar, and on a Windows 10 PC select 'open sound settings'
Next choose 'manage sound devices'
Finally, make sure your chosen input is enabled
If you have an older operating system, right click the speaker icon on the taskbar and select 'recording devices'
and select/enable the input you are going to be using to plug in your mic or mixer
3) In your browser, search for YouNow, and get the website open.
You can make an account, just the same as this forum, with an email address and password, but you can also log in with many other methods like your facebook, or google accounts.
I log in with my google account, it works great.
Once you are logged in, you can edit your profile (a bit like this forum), and choose which notifications you would like to receive etc.
You will notice 'tags' on the left in black, these are the broadcast catagories (I typically use either '#singers' or '#musicians' which seems to get me the most viewers.
You can click on any broadcast image and it will take you directly to that stream, where you can watch, and chat with the broadcaster, and any other viewers.
At the top, on the left you will see a green button GO LIVE. Click that !
You will be confronted by this :
Select the 'camera no set-up' (left) option - this is to stream without using any additional software (works great).
You can also enter a category tag in the box at the bottom, so put - #musicians
Click NEXT
Now enter a broadcast title - Me playing guitar (or similar), and click NEXT
It will now ask if you want to upload a photo as a stream 'static image', you don't need to do this, so just click NEXT.
Now you will see your broadcast preview screen
Click the ADVANCED SETTINGS link at the top right
Here you can select exactly which webcam you want to use, and which audio input you want to use.
When your desired devices/inputs are ticked, simply click on the green background to close this box.
Now click GO LIVE !
Congrats, you are now live to the world !
On the left is your video preview window, so that you can adjust your webcam if necessary, to get your instrument or yourself in shot.
To the right is your chatroom, where you can read what viewers have said, and reply yourself.
To stop, just click the red END button.
You will get a statistics page.
Obviously there is a lot more to the site than this, but hopefully the instructions above will get you started.
On YouNow, up to four streams can be seen at once by viewers of your page, it is very easy to do.
Streaming on TWITCH is slightly more difficult but I would be very happy to do a 'how to'.
If anyone would like to meet up one weekend evening on YouNow, please let me know and I would be only too happy to have a jam, and explain any questions they might have about using it.