Recording for State: Popper Edition

   Like last class, I spent the period practicing for All-State. Except, this time I began to record them. The problem of performing is that you have to account for the differences in your surroundings while you play. For example, how I sound in my room is going to sound different than when I play in the TAG hallways, which have nice live acoustics. Of course, all of that is going to sound different when you record.

   This audition is different from other auditions I've prepared for. Instead of performing live for a judge, whether for a blind audition or not, I have to record into a microphone, and the judges will listen to me when they get all the recordings for all the cellists and other string players. When I practice, I do not notice some of the mistakes that I make. However, today, I recorded the Popper etude and realized some newfound errors. When I played it back, I circled which measures were out of tune, which runs needed better articulations, etc. I liked my style; it's buoyant. It has to be because the etude is a scherzo. In the higher registers, I tended to play sharp, and some of the notes had pitches that were in between the standard pitches of notes on a piano.

   Later on in the day, I did record more excerpts. I recorded 4 of the 6 excerpts from  the pieces I mentioned in the last blog. Some sounded beautiful ("On the Summit" from Alpine Symphony) and others need work (I played the wrong notes in the second movement of the Symphony Metamorphosis).

   I think I alluded to this in the last blog, but if I did not, here is what I am nervous about: I have one shot to play everything. I do not get to start over. That's the stressful part of it. But I do have over a week to polish the pieces, so I think I will be fine. Today, after I recorded, I slowed down the tempo to half the speed and I practiced shifts and tuning passages. I fixed the tone and musicality in other parts. I do not like to listen to myself play, but the best part about recording myself is that I get to hear my playing from an audience perspective. I can adjust to how I want them to hear me. That is how I plan on transforming student etudes to solo cello masterpieces and performing the excerpts as if I were already in the orchestra.