Puzzle or Performance? Finding Flow in the Editing Process

In part two of this series, I talk about the editing process — and how it’s often more than just “cleaning things up.” It’s where you decide what kind of story you’re really telling.

Allegro from Violin Sonata No. 2, BWV 1003 by J.S.Bach

📅 Release Date: May 23, 2025

📹 Video coming soon in YouTube!

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Once the recording session is over, most people assume the hardest part is done. But in truth, the editing process is its own mountain to climb — part technical, part emotional, and part philosophical. I’ve come to believe that how you edit says just as much about you as how you play. It’s not just about fixing notes or cleaning transitions; it’s about shaping the identity of the piece and staying honest to your intentions as a performer.

For me, the approach really depends on the piece. Sometimes I just go with the flow — I hit “record” and let the piece unfold as naturally as possible, knowing that later I’ll listen back and assemble the best version, like stitching together a quilt. Other times, I’m incredibly methodical: I pre-plan the sections, the breaths, even the exact phrasing links where I’ll cut and reconnect. With this Bach Allegro, I chose something in between. Even though it’s a fast and fiery movement, I aimed to record in much longer stretches than usual. I didn’t want to fall into the trap of over-cutting and risk losing the forward momentum or the natural energy that’s so vital in a piece like this.

In fact, I took more risks than I normally would. Many of the sections you’ll hear are left exactly as I played them — uninterrupted, raw in the best possible sense. I wanted the recording to retain that sense of immediacy, of urgency. Bach places this Allegro right after the Andante, a movement that feels almost suspended in air, otherworldly and introspective. And then, suddenly, this! The Allegro hits with relentless figuration, a driving pulse that doesn’t give you room to breathe. I wanted listeners to feel a kind of positive stress, to be pulled along by the rhythm and tension, to sense that something is always slightly on edge. It’s not a polite, neatly-wrapped little Allegro. It’s alive — and maybe even a little dangerous.

That’s the balance I tried to strike in editing: preserving the wildness without letting it become messy, honoring the phrasing without dissecting it into something unnatural. Sometimes editing is like polishing a gem. But this time, I wanted to leave some of the sharp edges, to keep the shape of the stone as it was found — because that’s where the light hits it differently.

We’re just 11 days away.

May 23, the single and the full video drop together.

More soon,

Merce

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The single “Allegro” will be available on May 23 on all streaming platforms, and the full video will premiere on my YouTube channel. I’d love for you to listen, and if you enjoy it, to share it.

Pre-Save Now!