I love everything about the recording studio… I love the location – the breathtaking scenery all around us; I love the aroma – being inside that room, the smell of guitars and other instruments in the air; I love the feel – the creativity that is produced in that room, and I love the memories…

I remember the first time I met with my producer for an actual session…  we did the preliminary recording for that first Armenian folk song, and I loved singing in the studio that day… I felt carefree and joyful.  And this despite the fact that I was going through an intense period in my life: a time when I felt defeated, doubtful, exhausted, and sometimes, very confused…but in the studio, something changed…

I remember taking home the track and listening to myself… I was so nervous as I prepared to turn the CD player on…  what was I going to sound like?  It was one thing to feel carefree while singing, but how was I going to sound recorded?  I hesitated, and then began to listen…

That same freedom and bliss that I was experiencing while singing had come through… at least for my ears… I could hear it in my voice.   Yes, I could hear imperfections; I always do…  I am my biggest critic when it comes to my music… but I was able to hear something beyond the notes and phrasing… Something had changed from the way I used to sing in the past, something had been stripped… I could hear more vulnerability, more emotion… and I could hear a new strength coming through… I could hear a girl who was dancing again… I was dancing again… I wept and wept as I listened to that song, tears overflowing…  we had come a long way…

My journey recording began while I was in the middle of a very painful time in my life, and that pain brought with it a new strength, a new joy…something I never expected would happen.  There were days when I had felt utterly hopeless…  but I had continued to hang on to my faith, or really, my Father had continued to hang on to me…

And I remember being absolutely thrilled as I listened to that track because I realized that I was healing…  I was getting stronger…  I could hear it in my voice.   There was hope.

I love that day…  the rush of emotions,  the joy of realizing that I was coming out of the storm…

Yesterday, I was back in the recording studio again…  there was that same excitement of beginning a new project, and an even deeper level of joy… the hope remains… in fact, it has only grown stronger since that first day in the studio…

Tags: Armenian folk song, creativity, music, producer, recording, recording studio, singing