Wow! Episode 30 of The Singing Studio. I can’t even believe it.
Hi friends, welcome back to The Singing Studio. This episode is not only the 30th episode which, wow that’s crazy, but this episode is a little bit bitter sweet because it’s going to be the last episode for a while. It has been an incredible journey doing The Singing Studio. I will be going on a break from the studio, but it gives me an opportunity to look at other projects for JSK stories and create new content. So giving The Singing Studio a little bit of a break will be great because it gives me an opportunity to explore new things. It does bring me some sadness because I’ve loved doing The Singing Studio and I love to sing. In today’s episode we’re going to sort of look behind the scenes. I’m going to talk about my original concept and ideas for The Singing Studio and my goals. That way you get a little bit of behind the scenes of how I created The Singing Studio. I hope you enjoy it.
What have you learned from The Singing Studio?
One thing that I have learned from The Singing Studio is actually how to edit films and edit videos. I had no prior experience with film editing until I really started doing The Singing Studio. I used to do little videos on my phone and there’s little edits on your phone, but to actually use a film editing program the professionals use was extremely scary. But you know what, I learned a new skill and I’ve definitely learned and have used these techniques outside of The Singing Studio. So that’s been a really cool experience and also helped me know how to film better because I knew how to edit them. I also knew the best angles, I knew what to do if I messed up, and so I made my life easier each episode because I was learning and growing and it was awesome.
Something that I like to do each week is to look at the content I’m creating for work that week and I like to plan that. Sometimes I do this a couple weeks in advance or up to a month in advance, but it basically organizes myself so I know what I’m going to be doing that week. So specifically for The Singing Studio I’ll list the episode, the title, video description, and then some filming notes. Even if I’m not filming it right then and I’m just planning it, it gives me an opportunity to sort of outline what I want to hit in that episode. So maybe specific exercises, maybe some tips. It also gives me an opportunity to know the order and where I need to splice the film itself in the video. So this is extremely helpful to me. This last column here is sort of the status. So if it’s in progress, if it’s been filmed, if it’s prepped, and if it’s in review. That way I know the status of each of my videos at any time. It also helps me remember what I filmed before because sometimes when we are filming lots of different things about specifically singing, it’s easy to want to hit another subject again. So sometimes I’ll have to remind myself, “Oh I’ve already filmed something about this topic.” So maybe I can share it in a different way, or maybe I can do a new topic. It’s really great to have this record. That is a little bit of my content map!
Do you mess up during filming?
Oh my goodness, yes! I mess up so much! There were times where I actually had to refilm an entire episode because I just could not film it correctly, or I kept messing up, or I kept saying the wrong things. That’s why having my little content map where I have the bullet points was so vital. Sometimes I would try to go in and just film on the go and then I’d be like, “Oh shoot. I should have had a little outline knowing what I needed to do.” So I definitely highly recommend if you’re ever going to film something like this or film a lesson, to have an outline and make sure that you’re organized and you have it prepared beforehand. Or else you’ll learn the hard way like I have! Over time I got used to the mess ups and I expected some mistakes here and there, but I was able to overcome those mistakes and try again. And that’s the beauty of filming and that’s the beauty of just being human. You’re going to make mistakes! So, yes, I did mess up quite a bit.
Okay you guys, I’m going to show you my studio. I’m really excited to show you behind the scenes where the magic happens. Here we go! Welcome to the actual singing studio! This is where I do my filming and my editing. I do live in a small space and so I had to be really creative on how I could have both the technology and the piano in the same room so that way I could film and play the piano and also edit easily. As you can see this is the program that I use in order to edit all the videos and spice them together. It’s really nice to have my piano and it’s nice that this is digital so I can move it in and out to help make it easier to do different angles on the piano. These are my fun posters. You’ve probably seen some of these in the actual videos in the background. I used to have bookshelves here, but we had to move them to make more space here. Here is my fun Playbill board. This is one of the things I actually love showing off in the videos because it shows all of the shows that I’ve seen. I love having that collection. It’s just a nice, unique touch. As you can see I have a to do list and things. I always have water or vitamin water handy. I also have a notebook, that way I can take notes while I am filming or before I am filming that way I’m ready to go.
What was your favorite topic to teach?
I think one of my most favorite topics that I taught on The Singing Studio was how our voice has different abilities and can do different styles. I think there’s a common misconception that if you sing classical you can only sing classical and if you sing contemporary you can only sing contemporary when really our voice is one voice. The techniques we use and the vowel shapes we use and the placement of where we put the voice and our tone – that is what dictates what sort of style we’re singing. However, we’re still using the same technique, we’re using the same breath support, and we’re using the same voice. I definitely think that that was my favorite thing to teach because I never want a singer to feel like they’re limited in one box. “Oh I can only sing musical theater,” or “Oh I can only sing classical.” Who says? You can sing whatever you want as long as you get the proper training and you really work on it with your voice teacher. You can learn different styles because your voice is capable of so much more than what you think. So that has been probably my most favorite subject to talk about and I think I talked about it over a few episodes actually. I really enjoyed teaching that and really touching on that topic.
What was something hard you had to overcome?
So I think one of the harder things going into The Singing Studio was actually thinking how I could teach voice not only virtually, but have it feel personal to each of you. Typically in a voice lesson you you meet with your voice teacher and it’s one-on-one and you either have an accompanist there playing for you or your voice teacher’s playing for you. You’re able to ask questions in the moment and you’re able to get that immediate feedback. I had to really think creatively in planning some of these episodes because I wanted to make sure that each viewer felt that I was talking to them and that they could pull something from what I was saying and apply it to their practice. Then actually getting into doing some of the singing and the technique, I decided to do supplemental videos where it was literally just piano playing. And it was in relation to the lesson, so you have to watch the lesson and then you do the supplemental video. Basically you could think of it as a resource of the piano so that way the singer can be at home and if they don’t have a piano to play the exercises they could just press play on the supplemental video and it would play it for them. So that was sort of my solution to a virtual voice lesson because virtual voice lessons aren’t typically the norm. Typically you’re doing voice lessons in person, so that was definitely the most challenging part of the singing studio and creating it.
Behind the Scenes Secrets!
Okay, something else that is a little bit of a secret is if I don’t feel like doing my makeup or if I’m feeling really extra tired one day, I’ll just put on a pair of glasses. I do have prescription glasses, but if I have my contacts in, I’ll put on non-prescription glasses. So I have some here I’ll show you! We have some nice plain black frames that I love. I love these. These are polka dots. And then I’ve got these. I call these my Harry Potter glasses, but I love them and they actually protect from blue lights so they’re actually really good for when you are looking at a screen for a long period of time.
What do you do when you aren’t doing The Singing Studio?
So right now I am actually a student. I’m getting my master’s degree in vocal performance. I got my undergraduate degree in musical theater, which is why I LOVE musical theater so much. So as I have been getting my voice degree, I have been exploring new styles like opera and other classical music. I was recently in a musical this past semester. I played the lead role and that was a lot of fun. I am also in the process of writing a musical. So I’m always doing personal projects, school projects, and performances outside of The Singing Studio. And I’m always pretty busy but I love it. I love performing, I love singing, and I love teaching others how to sing. It’s just a big joy in my life to be able to do this. I am definitely busy and I do have quite a bit going on outside of JSK stories and The Singing Studio, but it definitely does bring me a lot of joy when I do work. I definitely love working and doing something that I love which is music.
What is your advice to those who want to become a singer?
If there’s any advice that I would give to anyone that wants to be a singer or going to music, it would be to believe in yourself and to practice. Take the time to practice! It’s a very tedious thing to sit down and practice and to take that time to learn music and all that stuff, but when you practice a little bit everyday you start to improve and grow. Yeah you’re going to hit some challenging moments on the way, but if you just continue to believe in yourself and you continue to practice you’re going to just amaze yourself at how much you’re capable of and what your voice is able to do. So that is my number one advice to believe in yourself and practice. Both of those things equal success.