Senior Project Detailed Narrative
Opera Outreach: Diction, Song Study, and Education
For my senior project, I have chosen to create a podcast titled, “Opera Outreach: Diction, Song Study, and Education,” containing five episodes. The podcast will educate singers around Columbus about classical music, specifically opera, by interviewing and hosting different singers, conductors, researchers, and teachers that will discuss the classical music industry, diction study, recordings, and additional educational material. The podcast will be unique in that it will be a catalogued version of interviews from opera industry professionals in Columbus. Through this project, I am wanting to combine the two fields; music technology and opera, in a way that will be entertaining and educational to both fields. I believe that by providing more educational resources online for classical music, the younger generation will have better access to the classical music industry and in turn will promote classical music. I have chosen this project to represent the knowledge I have learned from both of my degrees, Vocal Performance and Music Technology, during my four years at Capital. This project will allow me to solidify my skillsets in collaboration and education, while growing my skills in podcasting, which will include writing scripts, recording, and editing.
In order to achieve this outcome, I will need to reach out to people in the industry to interview, and find a host for those interviews. I will also need to book studio time to record these individuals, along with mixing the tracks. In order for it to be published, I will also need to work with companies to publish these recordings onto the internet (that would include Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, etc.). Some of the challenges that will need to be worked through include finding mutually available times for the person being interviewed, the host, and myself, while also having an available studio to record in. In addition, before completing a mix, I will need to reach out to those who were interviewed to determine if they approve of the recording. Lastly, I will have to learn how to upload these recordings onto multiple platforms in an album.
I will need a minimum of a smaller recording studio to fit around 4 people to record the basis of the interview, this could include Studio A, Studio E, or the suites. However, I can also use the larger recording studios and set up a table with mics for the exact same output. If I want, I could also video record these interviews and upload the videos with audio. I am planning on using either the Shure SM7B’s or the RE20 microphones for the interview, along with a clean preamp, such as the Focusrite. I am choosing these microphones because they are well-known for being good podcasting microphones, and the Focusrite because I am not looking for affected sound, just clear speech.
The goal of this project is to answer the essential question, “Why does opera matter, and how can it be experienced meaningfully by current audiences?” These recordings will help answer this by teaching audiences how the technique, history, musicianship, staging, interpretation, etc., helps opera tell timeless stories that center on universal themes (such as love, jealousy, or power).
Some episode specific include the flow of the episode, with there being about a 1-3 minute introduction, 20-25 minute interview, 1 minute take-away, and a 1-2 minute outro. The topics that will be discussed include 1 First-Time Opera Guide, Opera Storytelling: Why These Stories Still Matter, What is it Like to Sing Opera? How Music Tells the Story, Behind the Curtain: How Opera is Made, What Can Classical Voice Learn from Contemporary, or Classically Trained Producers and Engineers.
I will be starting the initial planning and communication for this project over winter break (the weeks of 12/8-1/5). This will include reaching out to industry professionals to do interviews, finding a host, and coming up with recording dates. I will have all of the initial recording process being done during the month of January, and completed by the first milestone (January 26). This will include all 5 recordings of the interviews. During the month of February, I will proceed with all the mixing and editing of the interviews the first three weeks of the month, and the last week, before Mod I ends and Milestone 2 (February 16) is due, I will upload all mixes to streaming apps.
The end product will include a short podcast series that includes about 5 recordings that will be uploaded to streaming services (Spotify, Apple Podcast, Pandora, etc.). In addition, I will be documenting my progress in a weekly journal that will list all that has been accomplished and when everything is due. This journal will also be uploaded onto my portfolio page on my website, along with the final product.
