An autoethnography of performance in the vocal booth

Performance in the recording studio is the engagement of bodies, minds and physical environments, the details of which remain largely hidden from public view. In researching my performance as a session singer, I apply a practice-based, autoethnographic approach to investigate production within the recording studio through the lens of the vocal booth performer. This approach connects observations of the studio world or "system" with descriptions of emergent knowledges, skills, and strategies devised and used by a vocal booth performer in the production of multiple takes. Data is collected, and reflexively read using a two-step theoretical framework that applies (1) Csikszentmihalyi's systems theory to the studio world, and (2) Argyris and Schön's action theory framework to account for the cyclical nature of multiple takes within vocal booth performance. As the researcher moves in and out of the observed spaces accounting for both emic and etic perspectives, aspects of performance that are difficult to observe using traditional ethnographic methods (such as emotional and physical regulation, the organization of thoughts and memory, and beliefs, feelings, and assumptions) can be enhanced with annotated lyric sheets, self-interview, reflective journaling and embracing reflexivity through autoethnographic writing processes. This enables a performer-researcher to articulate the bodily experience of singing, as well as the sociocultural negotiations that occur between themselves and every other actor whose actions and personal experiences are just as important to determining the outcome of a performance. This chapter also highlights how the addition of illustrations, video, and audio to the writing can complement the sharing of knowledge through performative texts, online publications, and multimedia formats such as eBooks. Further research might also develop new ways to disseminate findings that enable readers to engage more intimately with the experience of the autoethnographer to understand the nature of the performance.