Violin Studio Method
Recording yourself in practice can be tricky. First and foremost, find a mic you trust. Avoid your iPhone mic as much as you can afford to. If you must use a less desirable mic, keep it at least 12 feet away and possibly even cover with a thin cloth to filter out the noise that isn’t actually a “problem” to deal with. Ideally, invest in a zoom mic or Apogee or something of that quality. No matter what mic you are using, test it with a partner. Play something, record it, and listen together. Have your partner tell you if there is anything on the recording that sounded different than it did in real life. Play around with distances, height, levels on the device (if they are adjustable) and filtering (i.e. a cloth?). Find the situation that is most flattering and most true to reality. Every time you record, set up the same way. When you are listening back to your recordings, keep in mind what your partner disclosed as the “not true” impressions the mic picked up. Focus instead on the things you can tell, like intonation, rhythm, phrasing, smoothness of line, swells in sound, extraneous noise (that is true!), etc. Here are some guidelines to use:
1. Record short passages at a time. Start with one phrase or 1/2 a page.
2. Stop. Listen
3. Use a different colored pencil each time you listen to mark what you need to change so
you can see the layers of issues and the progress.
4. Record a 2nd time, same passage. Listen back with new pencil color.
5. Record a 3rd time (can continue this a 4th, 5th, etc until satisfied), same passage.
Listen back with yet another pencil color.
6. Move on to a new passage, and repeat 1-5, over and over until the piece is complete.
7. Go back and string the sections together. Do a full page, then 2 pages, same steps 1-5.
Video Recording is equally as valuable, especially when it comes to viewing posture habits, facial expressions, angle of bow and arms, seeing the tension issues and how they start. Utilize video recordings to solve these issues. Check in at least 2-3 times a month for maintenance. Do almost every day if there is an issue to solve until you have successfully dealt with the issue.
Becoming your own teacher is the goal. Knowing what you are actually doing is the first step to making a wise choice of what you are going to do instead, if anything. Once you see things yourself, that is when you can change it. A teacher can tell you the same instructions for years, but until you see that it needs to change for yourself, usually it won’t. Basically, you cannot be taught anything you don’t already know to some degree. Teachers can offer you the information and expose you to the knowledge, but your understanding of the issue only comes when you truly see it and know it yourself. Knowing about something is different than knowing it.
Caution: Your recording does not define you. It is a tool, and only a tool. Just like your eyes, ears, and other senses tell you what is going on in the moment. A recording device it another tool to show yet another view of yourself. But, whenever you are actually playing, do not define yourself by your last recording, rather envision only what you WANT to hear, not what you just heard. Do avoid the things you don’t want to hear. But there are some of us who are so sensitive and worrisome that hearing back a recording (especially when using the iPhone mic) that will cause us undue stress and despair. Another reason why a partner at first is important. Often it seems we are harsh and brittle on some mic’s. Reality is likely at least slightly different unless you have the ability to invest in a mic that does pic up the soul of the player and the truth of the sound. Yes, I’m saying that some mic’s don’t pick up on the soul, so don’t be discouraged. Use it for other technical issues. It’s a part of the toolbox only.