Kennedy House Ginza, located under the JR guard between Yurakucho Station and Shinbashi Station, is a long-established live house. Launched in 1985 by the late Kunihiko Kase, the leader of The Wild Ones, Kennedy House Ginza a popular live venue. Visitors can enjoy rock/pop music played by the exclusive band Super Wonderland along with delicious food and sake. According to Kunihiko Kase's son and current president, Tomoki Kase, regulars have been going there for more than 30 years.

History of the Live House

Mr. Kase: This place was originally a live house called Ginza Meis, run by Watanabe Productions.

We held a press conference for the dissolution of Candies where top stars such as Miki Hirayama and Mari Amachi appeared. Kunihiko Kase’s former company also belonged to Watanabe Productions at the time. In 1983, he opened a live house in Roppongi. When Shin Watanabe, founder of Watanabe Productions, learned about it, he asked his father, “Will you create a place where you can enjoy music on the site of Ginza Meis?” Kennedy House Ginza opened in response to the request.

The concept has not changed since it opened. It’s a mature social environment. In the past, there was an image of a live house as a scary place. However, we create a space where anyone can have peace of mind. As for performances, we book them without sticking to a specific genre. This is so young and older people alike can enjoy them. Any generation, regardless of gender, is welcome in our space.

Adapting to the Present

The Coronavirus pandemic attacked venues like Kennedy House Ginza. They closed voluntarily at the end of February at the government's request. Since then, they’ve relied on crowdfunding to raise funds to run the operation.

Mr. Kase: It's tough to have no income for four months, so I was quite worried, but I crowdfunded. We prepared goods and tickets as incentives for pledgers. We set a target of 6 million yen, but we achieved the amount in no time. In the end, we were able to raise more than 18 million yen.

It was more than I imagined, and I realized once again that many people love Kennedy House Ginza. I was very impressed with the many messages I received. During his life, my father said, "Man has been living with music since primitive times, and he cannot live without music. Music is a person's energy somewhere.” I remembered those words.

Through crowdfunding, the company also set out to build a livestreaming system. After completing the campaign, they began to select equipment. According to Mr. Kase, they were considering livestreaming even before the pandemic.

Mr. Kase: There is a limit to the capacity of live houses. Also, some customers come from rural areas for shows like Yuzo Kayama's performances. So, when it comes to livestreaming, I've been wanting to do this for a long time. However, when I thought about whether it would be a good business model, it was difficult to get set up. This problem became a good opportunity.

4K-compatible High-quality Delivery System

The livestreaming system built by Kennedy House Ginza consists of the Roland V-600UHD video switcher, the Panasonic AG-CX350 video camera, the AW-UE70 (×3 units), and the GoPro HERO7 Black (Figure 1). The HDMI output of the V-600UHD connects to the delivery PC via a converter, and the AW-UE70 is a system that can be remotely controlled using Panasonic's remote camera controller AW-RP60GJ.

Mr. Kase: Our manager, Hitoshi Imamura, and I selected the V-600UHD, the core of the system online. I liked its large number of I/O channels, rich functionality, and intuitive use.

The main AG-CX350 and AW-UE70 are installed in front of the stage, with two AW-UE70s at the stage. The hero7 Black is installed on the stage as a drummer-only camera. According to Hitoshi Imamura, sound manager at Kennedy House Ginza, the setup came after trial and error.

Mr. Imamura: Overall, Mr. Kase designed it. A key feature of our system is that there are two cameras in front of the stage for fixed point and zoom. As a result, there are five cameras. It’s a system that’s optimized for recording moving images.

I tried various cameras, but the way the picture comes back is different depending on the manufacturer and model. To maintain a sense of unity, we aligned around Panasonic. As for the installation position of each camera, it was trial and error. We had to think about placing lighting in places that won’t get in the way of customers. I finally feel settled with the current layout.

For audio, we adjust the ambience at the PA table and enter the 2-channel mix into the V-600UHD. I have 6 channels of ambient microphones. However, with our current small number of customers, I only put up four microphones.

One of the most noteworthy features of the Kennedy House Ginza system is that it consists of 4K-compatible equipment. At present, they are not yet livestreaming in 4K. However, they have an eye to the future.

Mr. Kase: In the future age of 5G communication, livestreaming in 4K will become commonplace. With that in mind, I’ve considered replacing equipment. As a result, from the start, I’ve used a video switcher and camera that are 4K-compatible.

In addition to the internet access used in live venues, IPv6-compatible access also exists for livestreaming. At first, our distribution was over the venue’s internet. However, I was afraid there could be trouble and delivery might stop. So, I decided to introduce an IPv6-compatible line that could handle 4K communication volume separately. With two lines, we can continue to deliver even if there’s a problem with one of them.

Livestreaming 101

Kennedy House Ginza will reopen this summer and start livestreaming with spectators. At first, they will limit capacity to 50, half the normal number. The distribution platform is YouTube Live.

Mr. Kase: We haven't done this many times yet and haven't actively promoted it. However, it's very popular with people who watched. The image was beautiful. Plus, we got reactions saying it’s fun to see things not usually visible from the audience, such as the drummer’s expression. Many people comment in YouTube's chat function. It’s a very good feeling. We haven't had any delivery problems so far.

In charge of the livestreaming is Koudai Tachibana, a staff member at Kennedy House Ginza. He never operated this type of equipment before but had no problems.

Mr. Tachibana: I didn't have any experience at all. At first, I had no idea what it was. However, the V-600UHD is so easy that I was able to op-ed right away. With this equipment, anyone can operate it. During the livestream, I switch on the camera in the V-600UHD. Then, I display the shop logo using chroma key synthesis and insert a still “waiting” image. Last, I remote control the Panasonic cameras.

During rehearsals, I listen to the music carefully, learn the compositions, and have an op-ed while thinking about cutting in advance. What’s important is how to capture the facial expressions of the artists. I think the trick is finding the best moment on the multi-screen. I’m still learning and get nervous every time I deliver.

Tricks of the Trade

According to Imamura, the stage performance is essentially the same as normal. However, he’s careful about MC volume on the delivery audio.

Mr. Imamura: If you deliver the sound of the venue as it is, the MC volume will sound small in comparison. When we started broadcasting, many viewers said they couldn't hear the MC. Since then, we’ve devised ways to increase the MC volume just for delivery.

At first, it was also difficult to add and subtract ambient microphones. If you raise the ambience too much to create a sense of realism, the sound becomes blurry. It took a while to find the right balance. The V-600UHD has a trim audio input, so it's convenient to adjust there as well.

Selling Tickets to Tomorrow

The bottom line is monetization. To that end, Kennedy House Ginza sells tickets using Live Pocket, the Avex Group's electronic ticketing platform. According to Kase, ticket sales are going well. Still, he wants to work on the live streaming business without rushing.

Mr. Kase: In the future, as with 4K distribution, we’d like to keep ahead and add one more camera. I don't think we need to do anything similar to TV. Still, if you can add one extra camera, it will never get boring. We were able to start with good quality equipment. Since people can pay to watch these events, I’d like to improve distribution quality more and more.

When it comes to business, I want to work on it without rushing. A new value takes time to penetrate the market. What was zero suddenly does not become 100. At the moment, the customer response has been good, and I feel quite positive. Still, I want to be patient without rushing. If we do what we can steadily, there will be growth in the future. It will be great if we can expand it as a new business and create something other venues cannot easily imitate.

Publication / bimonthly ProSound Vol.219 (released in September 2020) / Stereo Sound Publishing Co., Ltd.