Jennifer Hamady is the author of the book The Art of Singing Onstage and in the Studio: Understanding the Psychology, Relationships, and Technology in Performing and Recording. Her other books include Learning to Sing. She is also a voice coach and a therapist.
Q: What inspired you to write The Art of Singing?
A: Each of my three books was written in response to questions posed by clients, whether verbally or in their wants and needs. In this book, those specific “asks” involved the technology singers interact with when performing onstage and in the studio.
The book is divided into three parts, addressing how to use this technology, as well as the psychological and relational challenges present in live and studio singing.
Q: The producer/engineer Bill Schnee said of the book, “I’ve spent my life recording great singers and found Jennifer's book to offer a tremendous amount of valuable information every vocalist headed to the studio needs to know, in a very easy-to-read format.” What do you think of that description?
A: Bill is a wonderful man as well as an incredible, Grammy-award-winning audio engineer, so his words are particularly heartening and complimentary. He and I worked together for years on a number of my own recording projects and I am touched that he discussed our relationship at length in his book Chairman at the Board (BackBeat, 2021).
Q: As a voice coach and a therapist, how do you see the two disciplines intersecting?
A: Your question touches the heart of my work and is the reason I became a therapist.
I began my career as a professional singer and was always curious as to why so many of my colleagues struggled with technical issues and emotional challenges in their singing and performing. I received questions about both in master classes, workshops, and emails over the years, and I became determined to find and provide answers.
While of course every person is unique, I discovered that about 90 percent of seemingly technical issues were caused or exacerbated by emotional ones. And that by lovingly exploring and releasing the latter, the former would begin to resolve themselves.
Supporting clients and readers in achieving this resolution is the mission of my private practice and writing.
Q: Who do you see as the readership for the book, and what do you hope readers take away from it?
A: While all three of my books speak specifically about singing, I receive countless emails from people in a wide range of professions and personal circumstances sharing how they’ve appreciated and benefited from the explorations of communication, self-expression, creativity, and anxiety mitigation.
That has been my intention with this book as well: while speaking directly to the heart of the psychological, relational, and technological issues in performing and recording, to also provide a window for all readers to learn about their own voices, communication, relationships, and self-expression.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I am about two-thirds of the way through writing my next book, which addresses the implications of correlating our self-worth with our passion. It has been a true labor of love and, as with the other books, addresses the actual and energetic questions from my clients and culture.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I welcome the opportunity to connect further with your readers! More information about my books, articles, work, and how I may be of service is on my website: FindingYourVoice.com.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
No comments:
Post a Comment