THE PROCESS

All of my recordings since early 2000s were done on an old Sony Vaio, which I had grown accustomed to. It had an ancient version of Sound Forge DAW installed around 2003, possibly even earlier, which only had capacity for working on one stereo track at a time. Multi tracking was not an option, and the closest I could come to having multiple voices involved a “paste special” function, the use of which was cumbersome and slow. Knowing the complexities involved with recording Chopin, having once attempted to create audio using this software, I decided to explore other software options. My Mac came with pre-installed GarageBand, which up to that point I hesitated to use. I decided for the sake of this project to try it out and was pleasantly surprised by the possibilities it offered!

I experimented with using metronome and varying the order in which I recorded the voices. Periodically I sent these rough drafts to my friend, pianist Yuko Gordon, for her feedback. We discussed voicing, articulation, pacing, and her suggestions were incredibly helpful! She also confirmed my suspicion that the use of metronome came across in choices of phrasing and tempo. And so the process changed. I eliminated the metronome and played around with what voice order of recording would work best. It turned out that recording the melody first, making sure I was imagining the other parts playing with me, followed by recording the rest of the parts while listening to the melody on wireless earphones worked well.

While figuring out the final order for the audio recording, I was also trying to decide what to do with the video. Initially I wanted to focus on Italy, look over my travel pictures and select footage of the Mediterranean, sites in Tuscany, and a few pictures of Florence, but just in case I decided to look at pictures from prior travels. It was then that I saw a picture I took in the south of France of a room with high arches and a hint of Mediterranean sea at a distance. I superimposed some of my green screen tests onto the image and something about the combination of Chopin and the appearance of the room felt right. The vision for the overall look came together in my mind. I raided my closet and chose potential outfits, ran a few additional video tests, selected makeup and physical positions: seated for the melody and standing for the rest. The filming day was selected and video shoot began. It was a nighttime shoot, exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. Thanks to all the prior tests everything was well prepared on logistical front: I made numerous check lists for every imaginable part of the filming process and things ran relatively smoothly. Once the audio and video footage were taken, I decided to give a try to mastering the audio in Logic Pro X, when it was running a 90 day free trial, which worked out well.

After completing the mastering process, I submitted the audio for digital distribution in late June. That’s when the fun really began. I had to resubmit my recording multiple times because, among other things, I needed to confirm that despite multiple parts being heard, I was indeed the only person playing. For the final resubmission I had changed the initial artwork for the audio track, which featured a portrait of Chopin, and instead created a cover with four pictures of my face. That turned out to be enough to put that issue to rest and my audio submission was finally approved in the middle of August!

The delay in release of the audio turned out to be a blessing for the video portion of the project! I used free version of DaVinci Resolve video editing software, which I experimented with a couple of times in the past, but which, for the most part, was new to me. The nearly two extra months of waiting for audio submission to be approved gave me time to learn more about editing and cropping out green screen, and a chance to consider in more detail all other aspects of the video. I experimented with placement within a room. I also decided that since one of the parts I played was rhythmically identical to another I eliminated it from the video, creating a more open feel in the space with three of me rather then four. I considered adding my doggie into the mix, but ultimately decided to do another video project in which my doggie can be the main attraction :) When approval finally came, the video was almost finished. I added titles, cleaned up an error I made when working on green screen (at one point there were a few seconds when it looked like I pierced through the couch with my bow), and the video was done!

With Chopin project now complete, I am ready to tackle new projects. The experience was amazing, and I learned more than I could ever imagine!