When the pandemic started, my partner and I had a laptop each and were living rent free at the Ithaca Zen Center. Not only was interaction with technology minimal, but our use of it was actively discouraged. We were very fortunate to move into a tiny house a few months later.

While the tiny house was perfect for our living needs, there were some hiccups when it came to my teaching inside. My partner, Ace, couldn’t wash dishes, walk around, or even sit next to me because every sound could be picked up on my microphone. The space was so cramped that it was difficult to even find a corners to sit without seeing the other person.

This being my first year of teaching with ITE, I was committed to growing my studio and setting down roots even amidst the challenges of the pandemic. For a few months we took advantage of the weather and hosted lessons outside.

At Thanksgiving we decided to go all in. We committed to building an 8 by 10 foot studio in our back yard. We didn’t know anything about building, so we got to work educated ourselves with people like The Perkins Builder Brothers.

When we took a break at Christmas the momentum slowed. When Daina Staggs, my Unit 6 teacher trainer, described our class project I knew completing the studio had to be my top priority.

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But I took it a step further. Not only did I want to complete and polish the studio build, I wanted to convert it into a recording studio to capture quality footage of my lessons. The inspiration for the video came from watching Daina and Charles’ teaching videos, watching Ed Kreitman’s real violin lessons, and imagining what was possible in my preparation for Certificate of Achievement, Teaching Strategies, and future teaching training.

I was inspired by filmakers like Peter Mckinnon, Matt D’Avella, Jimmy Chin, and DSLR Video Shooter.

When I started this project I had no building experience and no experience making videos in Premier Pro. Below you’ll see a tour of the finished studio. This project has inspired me to polish and review these new skills, to see how far they can take me. I’d say I’m about Lightly Row level at both. There’s a long way to go, but I’m glad I pushed myself to complete this project so I know just how far is possible.

You can see the exact gear I used to film and edit this video tour. I researched and purchased everything on the list just for this project, but the items are going to be key to my teaching set up for a long time to come.