Now that I am more advanced I use recordings of my live performances to give me a cue as to what to work on next, and to reassure me that I still have something worth giving. Only in a performance do I feel capable of giving '110%' The video recordings usually have quite poor sound quality, but can still offer me many hints on how I can refine my art, and indeed during a performance (living in the fast lane) I sometimes experiment with things to see how they look/sound in the recording - I rarely like to repeat anything in subsequent performances unless I perceive only one solution to a difficult problem, or unless something is so good that I really don't want to mess with it. I have used (and may again in the future) recordings, both video and audio in the practice room (and in the teacher/coach's studio) to help me with specific things, and video in particular is a great device for underlining the kind of points that teachers make about sound or posture that you don't really believe until you see. But videos can be very humbling, particularily for students at earlier stages, which can be a good thing, but must have frightened more than a few talents away. I should also note that sometimes I am hypersensitive and nothing seems to sound in tune - I'm sure I'm not alone amongst singers in having such phases. Conversely sometimes my ear is dull and I don't really notice any problem. In either case I cannot tell the degree to which what I hear is what others are likely to hear, and the recording does little to clarify how much is due to my current perception and how much is more or less objective. Video/audio is like any technological aid, from fire onwards: one should exercise care in its use, and develop discrimination as to its appropriateness, rather than considering it to be necessary and ubiquitous. john John Blyth Baritono robusto e lirico Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
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