To all of you that posts Video on YouTube...

I posted one a while back and it was very challenging for me. First, I didn't want my face to be displayed (donno why, don't feel comfortable yet as I still play like a retard), and I was shaking in my legs a little bit. Stupid performance anxiety! That's why I have not been able to sing much in public :P

How do you all feel when you record? Any tricks to help alleviate the stress associated with that?
It is an important tool to tape yourself as to see what you are doing and what you should be doing...

I suppose each person works in a different way, but if you are like me in this... if I practice a song several times and when I'm reasonably satisfied I say "OK, now is the moment of the truth, now finally comes the moment of THE VIDEO!" and I ceremoniously turn on the webcam software, I'm going to get nervous and play worse than the previous attempts.

So my trick is to have the video on from the beginning, filming even the first tries even though I know they will be really bad (even for my standards ;)). That way, there is no "moment of the truth", so I don't get nervous at all. I guess that wouldn't work for you if you want to play gigs though.

Anyway, from other fields unrelated to music I know that the nerves disappear with practice. The first time I gave a talk at a conference my legs were shaking. After four or five talks, I was giving them reasonably confidently, and I hadn't done anything special or changed anything in my way to approach them, it was just practice. I don't know if it's the same with playing music but I don't see why not.

Al ~
I have seen (and commented)your videos - they are quite wonderful to watch and see how you progressed, in such a little amount of time!

Amethyste.
You were sweet enough to chime in about my newbie amp question, thanks! :) Just wanted to say that I just listened to your soundcloud uploads and ... *whoa* you're wonderful! Really very talented! ( that is you right?) Well, just wanted to let you know, you have a voice like an angel. that's all you need :)

Angel -

I am still learning as you are, and finding the perfect amp and sound you want is not an easy tasks. I have bought many different amps and tried them and none of them matched what I liked in my Fender... So I am sticking to it for a while :) I hope you are going to get it repaired and see if it works for your THeremin :)

Aww... Yeah that is me singing on my soundcloud uploads. I am really touched you took the time to listen to my channel, thank you! You said "Singing like an Angel is all you need" - Well, and play the theremin really well is another thing I would like to accomplish so I can incorporate it into my future projects :)

Thank you again :)

Amethyste: Thanks a lot! And sorry for not replying to your youtube comment these days - I only check the email account associated to youtube once every other week or so... but I'm really glad you like my videos :)

I hope to see more videos from you as well, I think your interpretation of "Pie Jesu" was very good - quite better than what I could do at that point.

I'll just echo AlKhwarizmi's advice, to say the best thing you can do is NOT set yourself up for a crucial Moment Of Truth.

The last time I recorded a video, I was woefully out of practice but (for social reasons) needed to post something in a hurry. So I created a CD with ten tracks of the same accompaniment, to facilitate repeated practice. At the deadline, I turned on all the audio and video recording equipment, and recorded ten consecutive takes. Of course, the only one I shared with friends (and the world) is the least-worst (in this case, take no. 10).