‘Oh, I hate recordings!’

I often hear it from singers, usually just before we start the first take. I get it! The way things are now, recordings are seen as a ‘necessary evil’. You have no choice, if you can’t send in a recording, you often can’t even get an audition. They cost money, which means the stakes are high - your future income depends on this one 3 hour financial splurge, so you psych yourself out worrying about how well you’ll sing, and whether it’ll be good enough.

How far we’ve come from when recordings used to be the pinnacle of artistic self-indulgence, a crowning achievement. Now they’re kind of necessary, and sort of accessible to all in terms of affordability (both points are, of course, up for debate). They’ve gone from being a ‘treat’ to being a chore. And the ‘I hate recordings’ attitude hardly sets one up for success, at that!

Here are a few thoughts and tips that might help anyone who feels that way.

First off, the obvious - if a recording doesn’t live up to the standard you set for yourself, no one need ever hear it! All you’ll have lost is time and some money. If recordings are a stressful endeavour for you, limit the financial risk by getting them done as cheaply as you can (while maintaining quality, easier said than done, of course), or maybe even yourself, until you’ve gotten used to the process. I personally think conservatoires should run a monthly recording class - every student records a few takes one piece, takes them home, edits them themselves, learns a bit about how the sausage is made, what’s possible, etc. Then by the time they graduate, the sight of a microphone and a camera will be pretty familiar. 

The second obvious ‘advantage’ recordings have over an audition is the fact you can go back and repeat to get a better take. For some people this only adds stress, though, because they feel they have to be incredibly self-aware and self-critical in order to do their best. My reply to that is - as the performer, it is not your job to be listening to yourself in real time. It’s MY job as the producer/engineer. It can also be your accompanist’s job as your coach. You can take it on yourself by listening to takes after they’ve been recorded, but only if you know it won’t trigger the destructive side of your inner critic.

What you want is a team around you that you can trust. You do the singing, and then the producer and/or accompanist will tell you if it was up to your standard or not, and if not - what to fix (and maybe even how). You don’t want it to turn into a lesson or a coaching, but you want to outsource the ‘listening’ aspect of proceedings and focus on what you do best, and hopefully enjoy: the performing.

And on the topic of enjoyment - please, please, please record music you love. Don’t perform stuff just because someone told you to, or because you think a casting agent will want to hear a particular set of arias. Yes, sometimes there’ll be set repertoire for an application, but even then try to find something within the brief that you really enjoy performing. And if that’s difficult, bring an extra piece that’s your favourite, that you can record first to get into a positive zone before tackling the set repertoire. If a singer really connects with what they’re performing, it really comes across. It may be banal, but it’s true!

A recording is also your opportunity to present YOUR version of a piece. Forget how it ‘should’ be performed and do it the way you WANT to perform it. No teacher to say something isn’t technically perfect, no conductor setting the tempi, no adjudicators marking the stylistic ‘correctness’. It just has to sound good and represent your personality. It’s YOUR calling card, it should be all about you, and that should be a joyful opportunity to throw off any stifling feedback you’ve ever received.

There’s one pretty big con to recordings, and that’s the lack of an audience. Well… you can always invite one? A couple of supportive friends, perhaps? Or embrace the lack of distraction and get the energy you’d normally receive from the crowd through some other channel - perhaps the unbridled freedom to take risks? If something doesn’t work, no one will ever know ;)

Basically, what I’m trying to say is: try to imagine yourself as recording a solo album, rather than an obligatory audition reel. Attitude is key, and finding a sense of fun, joy, and excitement in the process of recording will really infuse the results with the same qualities.