http://youtu.be/h48WYlPdkag
For this video I sang "Al Pano Fino" from Manuel de Falla's song cycle Siete Canciones Populares Espanolas. Emma Frazier is my accompanist. She's awesome. I had a piano lesson Friday so I figured, what the heck, I'll record while we're both there. We hadn't rehearsed this one before and neither of us had practiced it much, so... this is a pretty good example of our current abilities.
Mmk. First off, I dig my hair flip at the beginning. That was pretty artful don't you think? But aside from that... here's what I noticed going on:
Technical Stuff: My breathing is coming in short gasps that are pressed right out again as my rib cage contracts. I'm not suspending my ribs at all and the breath is not supported! My jaw is doing funny things too. It seams like it pulls to the left or something. Definitely not released. I need to create more space between the molars which is particularly evident whenever I say "e." Especially the last notes at the end: "aaaaaeeeeeee." My mouth is barely open. My pitch is kind of all over place, except in the center of the pitch, that's one place it is not. I was sharp at the beginning - a little over excited I'd guess - and a little flat in other places especially at the end. My tone is inconsistent as far as vibrancy, which I'll blame on vowel shape. I need more space. There's some airiness as well. Constriction of the tongue most likely. Umm something positive, something positive.... .... .... I like my tone on lower notes. It's very full? And speech-like.
Physical Appearance: I can see now why Cindy keeps telling me to stay centered, I definitely sway around a lot. My eyes are also moving around the room way more than I realized they did! It's really distracting. I'm really going to need to figure out what to do during this long introduction so I don't look so frantic and weird. I am pleasantly surprised that my upper body doesn't look especially tense. Just jittery. My hands don't seem to know what to do with themselves and a sway from hip to hip a lot. On the one hand this is kind of a good sign, I have a physical response to the music, or "itchy feet" as Ristad would say. I just need to channel that energy into movement that fits in the context of the piece. Ok. So I was focusing on my face and I am laughing my so hard because my eyebrows are going up and down so much! That is just not sexy. Was I trying to be sexy? Because that is not sexy. I had no idea I was doing that. My facial expressions seem very contrived. I'll need to work harder on finding natural expressions for this piece.
Wow, is this crazy or what? I had no idea all the weird things I was doing. This is really helpful. I think I'll record all my rehearsals with my accompanist from now on.
Sarah, I think the hair flip just really adds to the sassy nature of this song. Haha, but really, I love the timbre of your voice! I agree that you could use some more suspension in the breath to free the sound even more. I can see the fire in your eyes, but I think a more centered and grounded stance could help you not only in your sound, but also with the storytelling.
ReplyDeleteI like your full, mature sound. I actually thought the breathing was mostly good, but there was one phrase where you had to reach up quickly for a note higher in your range where I sensed some constriction. Maybe this was a result of a shallow breath or weaker breath distribution. I really liked the precision with the diction. Good job rolling those Rs!
ReplyDeleteDearest Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't keep my eyes off of your face at the beginning! Not just because I love you, but because you had a very engaging face that gave me the energy of the piece. You sounded very Spanish, I enjoyed the dentalized consonants. The first phrase that you sang was confusing, because it didn't seem like your pitches were correct. It seemed as if the entrance surprised you, and you weren't ready. I notice on the mordents/trills/whatever they are, you don't stay connected on the voice in the top pitches. Even though it's fast, I think they can all stay connected. In general, I think your sound could use more speech feeling. It doesn't sound you transfer straight from talking into the style of singing you are doing right now. But overall, coolness!
I really liked this performance; I especially enjoyed your focus from the very beginning of the piece. I actually liked the expression you had, but to make it move convincing, try engaging the eyes a little bit more rather than just the eyebrows. Breathing is a little gaspy and your shoulders/sternum jump up at the ends of phrases, so try calming that. When practicing this, try taking it a little slower so you can coordinate when you breath and the quality of your breath. I feel like you're siphoning off your air--try giving it a little more freely and see where that takes you. Overall, I like this performance because I could tell you knew what the song was about and you were enjoyable to watch!
ReplyDeleteI sensed some gaspy breathing at the beginning but was fixed going forward. There is some tension somewhere in the voice, I think possibly in the tongue. I have the same problem. The air isn't flowing as freely. There were parts when it was but not entirely. Diction was good but could be better. I feel that expression wise you did well.
ReplyDeleteFirst here are the things that I loved! 1. I loved how professionally you presented this video. 2. I loved your sassy expressions, and when you really invested yourself into the character.
ReplyDeleteI felt as if you were being too careful in your singing, however. It seemed a little stiff except when the sassy came out and then the sound improved as well.