Thursday

The recording thing is growing on me! Yesterday, during my lunch break, I asked Joe to spend fifteen minutes working with me on the Handel aria, and I recorded our practice session. It was hilarious to listen to it as I was walking back to work, because I actually had a recording of myself asking Joe: "And it doesn't sound like I'm just like...in pain the whole time?"

He said no, and the great thing about the recording is that I now know that he wasn't just being nice. I didn't sound like I was in pain! I actually laughed out loud when I heard myself say that.

You know how it is, when there is an aria that feels like it is ever so slightly on the verge of falling off a cliff. You know, the precipice that we all teeter along the edge of, whether it be because of our passagi, or our high notes, or our low notes, or whatever the case may be...and you just feel like you are so close to falling off the cliff into a place of sounding really damn bad?

That's how I felt singing it, and it was interesting to note that I didn't, in fact, sound as bad as I felt.

Which is always great to know when you're a working singer who has to do a lot of singing at times and in repertoire that OFTEN doesn't feel optimally wonderful.

I recently read this article and it was great to get that little reminder that recording can be an invaluable tool even outside of voice lessons and coachings. It makes a huge difference when you are forced to sing sick, or under the weather, to KNOW what your voice normally sounds like, and to be able to record yourself in the compromised state and compare the two. You may find you can go out there feeling like ass, and sound rather fabulous!

It was almost stunning to note in the recording from yesterday, the huge discrepancy in how I felt and how I sounded-- in a good way. It's reassuring, singers. TRY IT!