One of my favorite places to reflect on pacing and its effect on success is in the studio.
When a studio session is going well, one good take leads inexorably to the next good take. A flow evolves that seems to induce better and better singing/playing out of the group.
When it’s not going well, an hour or two can be lost in futile attempts to get one good take.
The thing is, the pacing is reliant on so many factors out of the producer/conductor’s control.
- The mood of the singers and how they treat each other between takes.
- The engineer and her ability to execute actions quickly.
- The ambience of the studio.
- The temperature that day.
So many more factors can influence the pace, but in the end, it has to fall on you, the producer. You have to make split-second decisions: should we do one more take to get a slightly better version, or will that ruin our pace? Do they need a five minute break or not? How can we right the ship as the ideal pace disappears?
It falls on the producer to make these decisions, just as, of course, it does on the conductor and educator. For various reasons, the pace is more tangible to me in the studio, but we have the same potential to enhance or ruin pace in every rehearsal. We must pay attention to all of these factors, and be ready to change our plans to make whatever decisions necessary to keep the pace effective.