Steve Boudreau COVID Testimonial
Author: Steve Boudreau
steve@steveboudreaumusic.com
Date: March 17, 2021
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Ottawa Jazz Happenings or of JazzWorks Canada.
When David Miller asked me to write a piece on my quarantine experience so far, I knew right away the hardest part would be staying positive, but I truly think that's the most important thing we can all do. When restrictions hit last March and things everywhere changed drastically, I found myself with 80% less teaching and 100% less performing. Ever since dedicating myself to music full-time around twenty years ago, I've used the quiet times in my schedule to practice, listen, and write. At first it was great to catch up on old projects and practice plans, but this vacation-type feeling didn't last long. I'm sure many of you know the feeling of practicing when your mind is worried about other things; it doesn't feel great.
The first thing I had to consider was how to keep performing, as it's easier to practice when there are goals in sight. A lot of people have created live-streaming and pre-recorded online performance opportunities that really impressed me, but for the most part I didn't have the technological and financial freedom to really jump into that world. The few performances I did have last year really stood out as special. There was a backyard concert to a small but appreciative audience, and a solo concert in the Steinway Gallery parking lot. I'm hoping this summer brings more of this kind of thing, as it really is the type of music-making that I have trained for my whole life.
In the digital/work-from-home realm, I find it hard not to compare anything you make to all of the outstanding content already out there. Some content creators seem to effortlessly pour out videos that in reality take insane amounts of work and often teams of behind-the-scenes workers to produce. For me, I knew I would be approaching anything destined to be put online as I would an album recording, so I thought I should see what I can do in that department with the tools I already have. I practiced one set of music for about a month, quite condensed compared with normal circumstances, and then set up two digital recorders at their highest quality settings, one close to the piano and one farther back. After a few days of attempts and selecting my favourite takes, I sent the project to mastering engineer Philip Shaw Bova to see if he could take my amateur recordings to a professional sounding place. I was really impressed with what he did. Somehow these thin low-level rough tracks turned into something full-sounding and intimate. It felt like I was welcoming the listener into my home. I was really happy that I could focus primarily on the music side of things but still create a recording that was worth releasing. I used tracks from this first session to apply for a Canada Council for the Arts grant, which allowed me to complete four more mastering sessions over the next several months, and helped me cover the costs of releasing the albums digitally. I think in some ways that grant was the affirmation I needed that I was doing the right thing by working even harder on music during this time. I was even able to make a short run of physical CD copies thanks to supporters who paid in advance, because I still love taking out a physical album and putting it on the home stereo or in the car.
In late 2020, I started supporting a few artists on Patreon. Money was and still is an issue, but starting at a mere $3USD/$5CDN a month to directly support my favourite musicians in their endeavours feels great, and I love getting weekly updates on what they are up to. After seeing how it felt to be a part of these small specific online communities, I decided I could do something worthwhile myself in a similar vein. I started teaching weekly group classes to my studio students (and anyone else interested) on Zoom in January, and the support has been wonderful. My goal is to talk about topics that I am interested in, and send my students into their weekend with some new ideas to incorporate into their own practice. I started my own Patreon page at patreon.com/steveboudreaumusic as a place to host all of the previous classes and handouts, and it has pushed me to create new exclusive video performance content every week as well. It also feels like something I would happily keep doing even if life completely changes again, whether it's going back to more in-the-room performances, or getting some form of supplemental employment outside of music.
I truly hope all of you are adjusting well, even if that adjustment has been somewhat slow, like mine. Please feel free to come check out my Saturday group classes on Zoom, where we talk about all kinds of topics, from specific artists, songs or albums, to larger musical concepts. I really hope to see many of you at a safe outdoor gathering sometime soon.
Steve Boudreau
steve@steveboudreaumusic.com
The first thing I had to consider was how to keep performing, as it's easier to practice when there are goals in sight. A lot of people have created live-streaming and pre-recorded online performance opportunities that really impressed me, but for the most part I didn't have the technological and financial freedom to really jump into that world. The few performances I did have last year really stood out as special. There was a backyard concert to a small but appreciative audience, and a solo concert in the Steinway Gallery parking lot. I'm hoping this summer brings more of this kind of thing, as it really is the type of music-making that I have trained for my whole life.
In the digital/work-from-home realm, I find it hard not to compare anything you make to all of the outstanding content already out there. Some content creators seem to effortlessly pour out videos that in reality take insane amounts of work and often teams of behind-the-scenes workers to produce. For me, I knew I would be approaching anything destined to be put online as I would an album recording, so I thought I should see what I can do in that department with the tools I already have. I practiced one set of music for about a month, quite condensed compared with normal circumstances, and then set up two digital recorders at their highest quality settings, one close to the piano and one farther back. After a few days of attempts and selecting my favourite takes, I sent the project to mastering engineer Philip Shaw Bova to see if he could take my amateur recordings to a professional sounding place. I was really impressed with what he did. Somehow these thin low-level rough tracks turned into something full-sounding and intimate. It felt like I was welcoming the listener into my home. I was really happy that I could focus primarily on the music side of things but still create a recording that was worth releasing. I used tracks from this first session to apply for a Canada Council for the Arts grant, which allowed me to complete four more mastering sessions over the next several months, and helped me cover the costs of releasing the albums digitally. I think in some ways that grant was the affirmation I needed that I was doing the right thing by working even harder on music during this time. I was even able to make a short run of physical CD copies thanks to supporters who paid in advance, because I still love taking out a physical album and putting it on the home stereo or in the car.
In late 2020, I started supporting a few artists on Patreon. Money was and still is an issue, but starting at a mere $3USD/$5CDN a month to directly support my favourite musicians in their endeavours feels great, and I love getting weekly updates on what they are up to. After seeing how it felt to be a part of these small specific online communities, I decided I could do something worthwhile myself in a similar vein. I started teaching weekly group classes to my studio students (and anyone else interested) on Zoom in January, and the support has been wonderful. My goal is to talk about topics that I am interested in, and send my students into their weekend with some new ideas to incorporate into their own practice. I started my own Patreon page at patreon.com/steveboudreaumusic as a place to host all of the previous classes and handouts, and it has pushed me to create new exclusive video performance content every week as well. It also feels like something I would happily keep doing even if life completely changes again, whether it's going back to more in-the-room performances, or getting some form of supplemental employment outside of music.
I truly hope all of you are adjusting well, even if that adjustment has been somewhat slow, like mine. Please feel free to come check out my Saturday group classes on Zoom, where we talk about all kinds of topics, from specific artists, songs or albums, to larger musical concepts. I really hope to see many of you at a safe outdoor gathering sometime soon.
Steve Boudreau
steve@steveboudreaumusic.com