Brekelefuw

Hey Manny,
I did my final recital last week and I just got the dvd and cd back and I had a listen to it.
When I finished my recital, other than a few little hangups, I was happy with how it sounded, but as soon as I watched the dvd of it tonight I felt really upset at how it sounded. Hearing the recording doesn't sound like I remember it sounding, and I am now not nearly as happy with the outcome as I was before I heard the playback.

This leads me to my question.

I constantly get a bit blue when I hear myself played back because I can pick all the little things I don't like about my playing. I guess it is like hearing your voice on a mic and thinking you sound funny.

How do you go about critiquing your playing ( especially recordings,) without becoming so critical you get depressed about the outcome even though you may have thought the performance went fine?

There seems to be a fine line between listening to learn from the past, and listening and becoming overly picky.

Manny Laureano

Brek,

What a great question. It affects all of us. Fortunately, the answer is simple but a little labor intensive until you get used to it. Simply, do you have access to a quality recording device that you can have set up in your usual practice space? The point is that if you can walk into your practice space and flick a swith and start recording on a regular basis, you'll start to make improvements almost immediately.

You'll be able to experience your playing from without rather than from within and have a better handle on cause and effect, y'know? You'll just play and do the listening later. Arnold jacobs was very big on this, the dea of just playing and doing the analyzing later. Not that you're analyzing, you understand. But it's less of a surprise to your system if you're used to playing and start to hear inconsistencies consistently. You'll know what to fix quicker and more objectively.

So, the key is to try to record yourself more frequently and you'll know what to expect and your improvements will be more and more frequent.

ML

Vulgano Brother

A bit of consolation -- right after the performance, we'll notice all the dirty stuff when listening to the recording. Listen to your performance a month from now, and those things that didn't quite match what you were hearing in your head won't jump out quite as much. In the meantime, record often -- not looking for failure, but for feedback.

Don't forget to notice all the good stuff, either.

Have fun!

Danny W

That's an awesome idea because you never know when your next gig will call or audition will come. It's always great to keep your skills up and learn new things as well. Perhaps I'll start recording myself more often as well.