Flow

A few more observations on the process of choosing from the many takes:

During the recording sessions I learned something about how my mind works.  My producer's usual procedure has been that once the first take has been recorded he gives me comments and feedback on how he heard it and what he'd like to focus on in the next take.   He's a man of great precision and detail, which is absolutely needed in his line of work, so he would give me very specific tasks to focus on at specific times in the music.  

I started to notice a pattern in my own response to this method. Generally, my first take would be somewhat exploratory and even a little hesitant, and perhaps a chance to remind myself of the possibilities of the piece which I had usually not played in a couple of days, due to the structure of the recording schedule.  This means that I would be in a "right-brain" mode while playing the first take, but not necessarily fully at home.  I noticed that in taking in the producer's comments, I would start to get more into "left-brain" mode, thinking more than feeling.  Invariably, the second take would not go as well as I habitually play, as my mind would be distracted with thinking and judging in a more micro way.  

As an experiment, I suggested playing the first two takes without any commentary from the recording booth, no matter what.  I really started to feel more successful immediately, as I was able to play much more from that place of "flow" that is the subject of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's book, aptly titled "Flow".  Enjoyment and concentration. Joy and focus: a combination that I have discovered might well be the antidote to Doubt!

Now, as I listen to the takes recorded a few weeks ago, I hear the wisdom of altering our process during the sessions.  The first take often offers something special and magical, although not always as convincing as subsequent takes.  I hear that as I progress through the recording days, the second takes become more interesting and less self-conscious than at the beginning of the sessions.  

The next phase

Back from my little hiatus from blogging. 

It has now been a couple of weeks since the recording sessions.  Last week there was a need to take a bit of a break from the project.  I played a couple of performances and tried to take some family time and rest in between the concerts.

Now, it's on to the next phase.  There are actually two main aspects on which to focus right now: edits and raising funds.  I find both of these areas somewhat daunting and overwhelming, and in fact struggled somewhat this past weekend to get rolling on the edits.    

My main task regarding the edits is to make choices, so many choices.  Not to diminish the magic of sound recording, but I think this process is much like quilting.  I recently completed my first quilt, which was inspired by the great textile artist and colourmeister, Kaffe Fassett, who launched me on the project at a workshop.  The satisfaction in creating the quilt was to make all the "right" choices regarding the colour and design of fabrics and how they are positioned in relation to each other, so as to create the optimal effect of beauty as a whole.  As there are several takes of each piece of music, one has to choose which portions of which takes to put together for the final product.   This choosing is my task.  The actual "piecing together" of the takes is done with great precision and sensitivity by my brilliant producer, Earl McCluskie.

My first self-created obstacle in starting this process was a bit of a block while I tried to figure out a process for keeping track of which takes I liked or disliked, and to retain the aural memory of what I had just heard while listening to the next version of it.  In constructing the quilt I was able to lay out all the squares of fabric in front of me and play with them.  With the recording, I do not have the technological equipment to do the equivalent audio-wise:  the placing of different "swatches" of takes side by side and listening to the various options.  I have to rely on my ears and my memory.  As with many things, there was a feeling of overwhelm in getting started.  I decided to use coloured markers to designate different qualities that I was hearing, and once I could envision my strategy I was able to jump in and get started.  

As I began listening to the many takes, I was relieved and happy to hear that the sound quality is indeed as very fine as we had hoped and intended.  The instrument has such an immense range and the acoustic resonance of the space sounds natural and beautiful.  There will be no need to add artificial reverb of any consequence.   

This next phase will no doubt be a slow and steady process, and will demand large chunks of time in conjunction with good energy and an alert mind.   A side benefit of this phase that I am already enjoying is that I now have a set of decent speakers in my house, something that has been sadly lacking for some time now.  My intention was to rent the speakers just for the duration of this project but I am now tempted to just purchase them.  A musician without a sound system at home? Enough of that!

Grieg Songs

I'm looking forward to the recital performance tomorrow at Grebel.  The program includes pieces from the 1st CD as well as some I recorded last week, as well as 6 of Grieg's songs, performed by my good friends Catherine and Mark Gardner.

The songs of Grieg are truly the height of beauty.  I really look forward to delving into learning both types of Norwegian ("book language" & "Nynorsk")  soon, so that I will be able to coach the songs with some degree of authority.  

What a joy it was to hear the Vinje settings when I was in Florida in January; they really are some the most beautiful music anywhere and were performed exquisitely by Njal Sparbo and Einar Roettingen.  And what an honour to learn from and get to know two of the internationally known experts on this repertoire:  William Halvorsen and Beryl Foster, both of whom have been generous in their praise of my work.  I very much look forward to continuing to learn from both of them.

Recording Session Slideshow on Youtube

I just posted a humble little slideshow composed of scrappy photographs taken with a $4 disposable camera.   The purpose of the photos is simply to give one an impression of the space and the feel of the recording sessions.  As a "soundtrack" you'll hear a couple of pieces from Grieg's Opus 12, which we recorded a few weeks ago when I did a dress rehearsal for a recital. These two pieces are among the two dozen or so that we recorded this past week for the CD.

Starring in the slideshow are St. James' Anglican Church, the Yamaha C7, producer Earl McCluskie ("The Earllustrious One"), production assistant and baritone extraordinaire Mark Gardner ("The Marknifiscent"), organic snacks, and yours truly.

Day Off

Took a jaunt to Toronto today and had a complete day off.  A nice change of rhythm and focus.

Must get back to practising tomorrow already though as I have two recitals this coming week.  On Wednesday, Earl will give me CDs with all the tracks/takes and it will be time to start listening in earnest and working on the edits.  

In the next couple of days, I'll also be working on a little slide show documenting the recording sessions and I'll hope to post it very soon.   (And then there's the house that needs cleaning as it has been completely neglected for the past week or so...)

Day Three (2)

Day Three was a very full day.  There was an extra piece to record after the delays of Day Two, and that was on top of a slightly fuller schedule to begin with.  When devising the recording schedule I categorized all the repertoire into small, medium, or large designations.  I then spread a roughly equivalent assortment of each category across the three days.  As I knew that Day Three would be the day with the least setup time, the larger large pieces ended up there.  So as it turned out, the day ran a couple of hours past the estimated schedule.  I dearly appreciate both Earl's and Mark's patience and dedication to making this work so well. As I had imagined would be the case, Earl and Mark made the perfect support team for this phase of the project.

We encountered only slight delays:  a tiny bit of pedal squeaking which Earl sorted out quickly, and an inexplicably cold sacristy/recording booth.  Poor Earl and Mark sat through the entire morning with coats and scarves on.  After lunch, when the room still had not heated up, it took only a few moments for Mark to get a space heater from his lovely in-laws just across the street, and that problem was sorted out as well.

There was a lot of learning for me in this process; particularly Day Three (which felt a little more pressured than the first two days) gave me lots of opportunities for noticing things about myself and my internal struggles.  The differences between live performance and recording are clear. The task of the musician in both cases is to move the listener in some way, but the route to doing so is vastly different and calls on completely different aspects of artistry and ways of working.  I will be reflecting on this further, no doubt.

Once we were finished recording, Earl and I worked for close to an hour to take down equipment and return St. James' to its usual order.  I was surprised to find this take down process extremely satisfying.  We came, we turned the place turned it into a recording studio, we recorded, and then we were done.  I am so grateful to have had the use of that beautiful space and piano, and so grateful for the support of the parish through this time.

Some photos and video was taken on Day Three, and if something comes of it I'll certainly post it somewhere on this blog.

Day Three (1)

Ahhh.  Phase One is Done.  Three days of recording finished.  

It feels good to have that task accomplished. But at the same time, I am well aware (having done all of this before) of the challenges that are to come:  raising the funds, doing the edits, and then the marketing!

After a bit of a breather tonight, I'll post some more about how things transpired today.