Number 9, August 15, 2021

Singing for the Camera – Livestream Performance for the Singer

For the past year and a half my band and I (and sometimes just my duo) have been performing livestream shows online to replace the live shows we had planned for the year of 2020 and beyond.  During the early stages of 2020, all of us, musicians, performers and audience alike, had to LEARN FAST and adapt quickly to this new platform.  I’m sure I have company when I say that it was daunting, challenging, frustrating and even, at times, even scary!

But for all the challenges we faced (and are still facing as the pandemic limitations linger on), one of the most disorienting for the performer was to learn how to perform without any live audience, AND to address the camera that was filming and broadcasting our shows for the whole world to see.

I would probably guess that most live performers in music have had little to no experience addressing a camera while they perform.  Music videos have afforded a little bit of experience with that, but in the realm of performing live, this was really new territory.  How could we understand that we were being viewed by people “out there,” and that those audiences were INSIDE THE LITTLE GREEN LIGHT?

Super strange, I have to admit it!  I think we all shared that oddity, but it gave rise to the questions of how do we do this? And how can we be effective, natural, inspired, handle all the tech, and at the same time be great communicators?

It was a huge challenge, and today I want to simply and clearly identify some ideas for you if you’re going to be live streaming a performance.

Understand first that you must use your imagination.  The audience, even though you cannot see or hear them, are there.  It takes a real leap of faith to understand this while you’re performing.  Second, I suggest that you give yourself all opportunities to hone your focus in a way that you usually do when you’re about to step on stage in front of real people.  Imagine as you begin to play, that your friends and family are all there cheering you on, and in this era of pandemic, have to be, for safety sake and for you, inside that little green light.  Think of them there, and focus on them.  As your show goes on, let your gaze veer from them, taking in your room, closing your eyes as you typically do for a performance, but get back to them when you can.  At the end of your song, address them and thank them, commenting on how the song went, hoping they enjoyed it, etc.

This is a new era that we’re in for performers, and live streaming, in my view, is not going away.  Consider now how you can hone your focus and use your imagination to place your audience inside the camera, express your song well and get ready for the kudos at the end.

I’d like to share a really marvelous video performance of one of my favorite a capella groups, The Kings Singers, as they perform a virtual video rendition of the traditional Scottish song “Loch Lomond” arranged by David Overton.  Note how the singers address the camera with authentic emotion and engagement.

See you next time for more on voice production, performance and storytelling in song.

Thanks for reading!

Quick Announcement:  I’m opening my voice studio to new students, so if you’re interested in studying singing, check out my teaching HERE   Then get in touch!   Email me HERE

Blessings and love,

Susie

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Award-winning recording artist, Broadway singer, journalist, educator and critically-acclaimed powerhouse vocalist, Susie Glaze has been called “one of the most beautiful voices in bluegrass and folk music today” by Roz Larman of KPFK’s Folk Scene.  LA Weekly voted her ensemble Best New Folk in their Best of LA Weekly for 2019, calling Susie “an incomparable vocalist.”  “A flat out superb vocalist… Glaze delivers warm, amber-toned vocals that explore the psychic depth of a lyric with deft acuity and technical perfection.”  As an educator, Susie has lectured at USC Thornton School of Music and Cal State Northridge on “Balladry to Bluegrass,” illuminating the historical path of ancient folk forms in the United Kingdom to the United States via immigration into the mountains of Appalachia.  Susie has taught workshops since 2018 at California music camps RiverTunes and Vocáli Voice Camp.  She is a current specialist in performance and historian on the work of American folk music icon, Jean Ritchie.  Susie now offers private voice coaching online via the Zoom platform.   www.susieglaze.com