I will be evaluating all of my rehearsals I can dig out of my grave, I will be covering what I did well, and what I could’ve done better and how I can improve in the future. I will be comparing how I progressed from my first rehearsal to my last.
This was one of the first time actually performing my setlist to an audience, and I can say confidently that we definitely needed a lot of practice. I didn’t feel confident, and Honestly it doesnt even look like I wanted to be performing. At the time that video was recorded, we had only ran through those songs about two times between eachother, and we were no where near sounding polished or ready for the showcase. In this performance my body language was very stiff, I was very nervous and I was shaking because I hadn’t performed infront of an audience in a while. Staying at home and not trying anything new can really leave lasting effects on a singer, because I begin to forget important techniques and in my case, I lost a lot of my confidence. With being so nervous, I rushed through my songs, taking sharp breaths that would effect my breathing and the whole entire time I was shaking. Luckily, people said that I didn’t look like I was nervous. I am still glad I was able to find the courage to stand in front of microphone and perform. We definitely went through the songs way too fast, especially on another love, it’s very noticeable that it’s been rushed, and I had trouble trying to sing it all that fast. I wish I would’ve taken time to practice the songs more so we didn’t have to face this problem, I could’ve set up a schedule for me and nicolas to meet so we can practice in practice rooms. I do like how I was able to keep my composure and still give a really good perfomance, from the out side perspective, I looked confident and I was able to sing the song well even with all the anxiety I was feeling.
Looking back and listening to this perfomance I loved how my voice sounded. I made sure to control my breathing and it made it easier to perform. I can definitely see how much I have improved since the cafeteria performance, It sounds like I have a lot more confidence in my songs, and I love how I am able to sound confident throughout my perfomance. I just wish the microphone didn’t make the sound throughout my first perfomance, But it was an error that happened that was out of my control.
It did make me very nervous to be performing in front of people again, but knowing that they were all my college friends made it easier to perform. It was a good way to release some of the stress before the actual performance. Having Nicolas, Abby and Harry to support me in the background help me feel more confident and gave the stage and music more life. Performing with them was a lot of fun and they were very easy to work with. Nic helped me with the piano, Abby helped on the box (the drums) and Harry helped me on the bass and guitar. I loved the projection of video in the background, it’s a great way to incorporate aesthetics into any perfomance and I also like how it was used to showcase other peoples projects.
One of the many actions I could’ve taken to improve this perfomance wouldve been communication and involvement. I could’ve set up my own video to play behind me in my own perfomance go make me stand out more. I also could’ve gotten more involved with singing sessions, and created times for us all to meet up in practice rooms and practice together because I still felt like we could’ve improved more. Communicationid something that I have lacked throughout most of my performances and learning to speak up is something I am still learning to do. But even with those improvements in mind, I still believe that this perfomance was really good, and I definitely did well in the perfomance. In terms of communicating with the audience, I wish I had thought about what I was going to say fully, because even though its only my mock, it was evident that I was still unsure if what to say, and that’s going to be important on the night of the perfomance. As a singer you want to try your best to engage with your audience to not only form a connection with them but also for the audience to feel included in the showcase.
In this performance I am happy to see that I had improved on my breathing because in my cafe rehearsal a few days before I had picked up that I was breathing very sharply between every sentence therefore shocking my body everytime I would try to sing, and it would actually make my breathing worse. This was because I was rushing through my songs and not giving myself a chance to pause, talking with my singing teacher on the day of the showcase helped me realise this. He taught me how breathe steadily and calmly while singing, and told me to sing Slower and calmer and trust that Nicolas and the rest of the musicians will follow along. In this perfomance I can definitely hear the improvement, I dont sound as a stressed and I no longer sound like I am struggling, and I am very glad I was able to fix that problem before I walked out on stage. I wish I would’ve had the chance to let Nic know to play a little slower but I felt shy to say anything to him, and when I walked on stage I had to have belief that everything would go okay, and that my perfomance would go well.