Anyway, the plan for the evening was to have a recording session at my church. I wanted to record myself singing a few arias to have on hand as demos. I bought some high tech vocal microphones, on Svet's recommendation, a few months ago. These AKG mics are highly sensitive and are especially made for solo instruments and vocals, and they're rather expensive. I figured this would be a long-term investment, and I hope these are the only pair of mics we have to buy. Svet had all the rest of the recording hardware and software needed to record. I contacted the best accompanist I could think of in the area, Eric Trudel, who was available to help out. SCORE! I also had a fellow soprano friend contact me a few months before to ask if I had any suggestions on how she too could make a demo. I figured, if we were going through the whole ordeal of having to set up for a recording for me, it wouldn't be a big deal if she joined us to record some of her own arias too. So, I extended an invitation to my pal, and once everyone gathered at the church, we got going started.
We got to the church, only to find that the piano wasn't really tuned, and, well, wasn't what I thought it would be. It's a nice old piano, but it needed some work. I had thought about every detail of this recording session beforehand, but had taken for granted that the piano would be "in shape." Lesson #1.
Once we got set up, my friend began with a lovely Berlioz aria. She's got a great voice, and she's technically very strong. She chose very long, florid arias, in general, all of which showed off both legato/sustained and mellismatic/florid styles of singing. My only concern was that they were rather long. Do people who listen to demo CDs actually listen to a 7 min aria all the way through? It's a sincere question, because I don't know. Maybe a CD recording is just the place to present a longer aria. The adjucator can always fast forward if they want to, unlike in live auditions.
At the end of her first aria, my friend admitted that she felt she was getting sick. And it showed in her voice toward the end of the 2nd time through of the Berlioz. It just sounded tired. I suggested that she let me record something, thereby giving her 20-30 min of vocal rest. She could always come back to it later and see if it's any better.
So, I started with the most delicate, exposed piece of my three scheduled for the evening -- "Lorsque vous n'aurez rein a faire" from Cherubin. It was first because I didn't want to risk vocal fatigue while recording something so exposed. The damn piano was also pretty exposed in this piece, showing off its refined flat tuning and stunning squeaky sustain pedal...
After I had taken as many takes I figured I needed to choose from, my friend came back for round two - Donizetti's "O luce di quest anima." That aria is no walk in the park, yet, with the 30min of vocal rest behind her, she came back strong! Lesson #2.
The rest of the night went like that. She and I alternated, and we both benefited from the moral support, vocal rest, and even singerly advice to each other. Granted, the poor pianist didn't get much rest, but he was a great sport about it.
So there you have it. Two lessons, one blog.
