Reflections on recording in the time of COVID

I admit I have been resistant to technology in the past, but I have never been more grateful for my Ipad Pro, IPhone and Zoom Q8 video camera than I am now. The Pro and Zoom were purchased less than a year ago, so I got them in the nick of time!

I am not trying to boast about my devices--there are certainly better things with which to record. Rather, these devices have allowed me to continue to collaborate and make music with other people, which is what brings me joy.

I have been recording both video and audio tracks for voice lessons, personal practice, and for posting on YouTube or other social media platforms. Some videos are on this website, in fact. Several things have struck me: one, I am terrible with technology. That I can now switch my Zoom video camera function to audio only is a huge accomplishment! Two: the metronome never lies, and one click in the wrong direction can derail your collaborator. Three, and most importantly: when I collaborate with a singer, my playing is SO much more interesting, and so much more right. 

One of my partners and I began our work with me sending piano tracks first. Of course I knew the text and translation, had an idea of her tempo, and in my practice tried to anticipate what she would need by singing the vocal line in my "voce di coache." But, recording alone, I would either milk a phrase a hair too long or move forward a bit too much. And if I stayed completely true to the metronome, sometimes I sounded wooden or robotic. We then switched tactics--she sent her vocal track first. It was night and day. I could hear her breathe; I could hear the direction of the phrase and I could hear when she was ready to leave the high note. I relaxed and breathed with her, and everything fell into place. There were colors. The tempo was steady, but flexibility was possible. Forward movement happened naturally. It felt like we were in the same room, even though I had huge yellow headphones on, listening to her track on my IPhone, while reading the music off my IPad Pro and recording on my Zoom video camera, audio only.

Is this an ideal setting for a collaboration? Of course not. Have I grown from this experience? Absolutely. It has been challenging to record tracks, send them to my partners, receive feedback and sometimes have to re-record again and again. (Let's not discuss finding quiet moments to work in a house with an open floor plan, a husband, a child and a cranky basset hound-perhaps another time). Despite the challenges, I have been flooded with overwhelming gratitude for singers and what so many have taught me over the years. Flexibility, line, breath, colors, persistence. 

My dear singer colleagues, I can't wait to be in the same room with you again. Thank you for all you give to the world, and for what you have given to me. Stay well.