Teaching Skills beyond your Instrument in a Recording Studio
If you read my previous blog, you’ll know that my musical background is pretty varied. I initially learnt violin through the Suzuki Method. That not only meant a torturous first few weeks where we had to stand on a piece of cardboard with our feet drawn on, placing our feet in the correct position, but we weren’t allowed to get our violins out of the cases until we knew how to hold them. How did you work out how to hold them without a violin in your hand? I hear you ask — we had a cereal box with a ruler stuck on it! Yep — I was only 5 so couldn’t tell you how many lessons entailed this, but as a 5 year old who was keen to learn, it felt like forever!
Suzuki method also meant that we learnt by ear — listening to a piece and playing it back without sheet music. The cardboard box and every variation of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star are the lasting memories I have of those early days. I’m not criticising it in the slightest. One of the biggest issues I come across when taking on new students who have already been learning, is bad posture. Suzuki teaches you the discipline required to progress well.
My teaching style is, due to my nature, fairly relaxed. I’m keen to work students hard, but having fun is key. That means they have a huge variety of musical preferences and learning styles. My task, as their tutor, is to find the best way to relate to them and help them to progress. To empower someone to learn by themselves, continuously seeking to improve and move forward, is in my opinion, one of the greatest privileges of teaching.
Whilst the style of teaching I grew up on didn’t involve recording studios, I’ve been exposed to a whole variety of musical styles over the years. As well as being a Violinist, I also write my own material, film scores and songs and play several other instruments. I’ve always loved all forms of music so have always worked to keep learning. As a writer, having a home studio is important. When I had my first tiny studio setup, I would use it sparingly — once I thought I was ready to record a finished song or piece of music. As I’ve developed my studio skills, I’ve come to realise the tools that it provides extend way beyond recording a finished piece. My studio has grown over the years, as my skills have increased. Whilst the tech side of things doesn’t always come naturally to me, my desire to continually improve and learn has meant that I’m now fairly competent in using it.
In my learning, I realised the potential a simple setup can provide in a variety of settings — so much so, I approached a youth charity I was working for and worked with them to raise the funds and set up a mobile recording studio in the back of a van. The project goes into schools, working with disengaged young people, providing an opportunity to experience a professional level recording studio, record, write and mix their own music. You can find out more about it on their website: www.norwichyfc.co.uk/tracks
It therefore comes as no surprise that when teaching in my home studio, I often make use of the tools I have available to assist students. Here are a few of the ways it helps.
Let’s face it, not many of us love the sound of our own voices, or watching ourselves back on a video. Even after many years of being involved in such projects, I’d still rather be behind the camera than in front of it. I have, however, learnt to make use of recordings of myself to grow and up-skill along the way.
Do you find that we’re all our own worst critics? Perhaps that’s why we hate seeing ourselves on screen or hearing recordings of ourselves. I guess we all have an idea in our head of how we look to the rest of the world — and maybe that idea doesn’t quite match up to the image we see on screen, but we’ll always notice and pick at the bits that others don’t even give a seconds thought to. Over the years that I’ve been using a home recording studio, I’ve learnt to filter these thoughts. Self-evaluation is so vital in every area of our lives — if we want to continually grow and develop. Learning to self-evaluate positively and productively is something that I think many musicians struggle to do. Us creatives do have a bit of a reputation for being Divas or Prima Donnas! I find using the studio to demonstrate students’ development — recording and listening back to their work, really aids their skill development in this area, something which they can then begin to apply in other areas of their life.
In the day to day of life — work, rest and play, it can be really hard to see progress. Taking time to stand back and recognise where we were, where we are now and where we want to go, is really empowering, but how many of us take time to do that regularly? Annual parents evening for students, or our annual appraisals at work? Whether a serious pursuit or a fun hobby, we all want to progress and improve our playing. If a student takes the route of not wanting to take practical instrument exams, how do they objectively see their progress? The simple habit of recording a piece a couple of times a year and making time to go back and listen to them often leaves my students with a big smile on their face as they realise the progress they’ve made. Whether that’s their intonation or vibrato skills on Violin, or extending their vocal range and voice strength, the progress is there, in black and white for them to hear. Everyone is encouraged by that — even if we do cringe when we listen back to old recordings! I still have some recordings I did when I was a young Violinist — My Dad spent a couple of blocks of time working in Australia. Our only means of communication other than his once a week phone call, was to record tapes of ourselves and post them — I know — tapes! We’d chatter away about what we’d been up to and I’d always play him my latest piece of music (as painful as it was at the time). He’d send back recordings of the sounds of the wildlife in the area he was staying, as well as telling us what he’d been up to. 30 plus years on, they provide precious memories as well as great reminders of the progress made.
The majority of people probably have very little understanding of the process involved in recording an album. That’s understandable if they haven’t experienced it. Alongside the development and progress marking, I also find students deepen their understanding of music creation on a whole new level, if they have a taste of the process. Much like the photo-shopping that goes on in the modelling industry, there are a great number of processes in the music recording industry. Providing some insight into this along the way, demonstrating how many retakes can be involved in the production of an album, the hours of work, the layering of parts — the auto-tuning — can really open a students eyes and deepen their understanding. Whilst they may never use this or go into the industry themselves in this way, understanding and appreciating their craft and that of others in the arts are life-skills worth having.
So, whether classical music, pop, writing or any other form of music — using some simple recording tools can not only aid development in your instrument, but can grow life-skills that you can apply to all areas of life. After-all, aren’t we all learning — every day? I hope so — life would be pretty dull if we weren’t.
