What Does Being In The Studio Look Like?

Despite the fact that I grew up around all kinds of multidisciplinary and multi-hyphenate artists (before we were even set on using those terms), it took me a long time to find and value my artistic voice, particularly after graduating from college. I’ve shared this many times, but growing up with a composer for a father I became accustomed to watching him sit at the piano and write for hours at a time. I never really looked at the other things that he was doing which were influencing his process like reading, researching, going to see live theater and dance, visiting museums, going for walks, and other activities. I mainly observed him focused on pulling music out of that piano and his brain, to continue putting out more and more music. 

So when I graduated college and started performing with my own groups, I thought I too had to sit for hours and hours at a time at the piano. But there was a problem, one I hated sitting still for that many hours, two I wasn’t a great pianist, three I wasn’t great at transcribing music! So for years, I actually cut myself off from a multitude of musical ideas because I thought my process should look the same as my father’s. 

Fast-forward to one day many years later when I decided I wasn’t going to call composing composing anymore. I instead chose the term “studio time”. For whatever reason redefining composing helped me to expand my definition so that I could actually be a part of it. Nowadays I switch back and forth between either phrase composing or studio time. Here’s a list in no particular order of what my composition/studio time/artistic process looks like: 

Sitting at the piano and playing, 

Singing and recording into my phone at the piano, 

Going outside to walk and singing ideas into my phone, 

Writing and rewriting lyrics, 

Listening back to dozens of voice memos to discern which ideas to delete and which  I want to continue developing, 

Recording demos of my songs, 

Creating harmonies, 

Researching , 

Cleaning my studio, 

Puttering around the house, 

Staring at the wall, 

Listening to podcasts, 

Listening to music that I specifically want to learn something from,

Listening to interviews with other artists or musicians, 

Warming up my voice, 

Rehearsing my original music

So, as you can see, there are so many different ways in which I generate, develop and refine my own music. If you’re looking to strengthen your voice and boost your confidence so you can feel grounded and like your true self, reach out to me about my 3 month program. I hope to hear and see you soon!