Ever Elusive Sleep

Freshmen year there was a senior in my voice studio who was a double major Vocal Performance and Microbiology. When I asked her what was the hardest part of being a double major her response was immediate: sleep. The need for and lack of sleep has become a defining trait in modern society as high expectations and numerous time commitments reduce the number of hours which a person is able to sleep each night. According to the Center for Disease Control, sleep deprivation has reached the point of an epidemic with over 30% of adult Americans sleep deprived.

So how does this relate to music? For a vocalist, their physical body must be their most prized procession because their body is their instrument. While a violinist could purchase a new violin if disaster should strike, a vocalist is given one body and one voice to last them a lifetime. The immediate and long term effects (increased risk of hypertension, diabetes, depression, obesity and cancer) of sleep deprivation are common knowledge but to a vocalist the immediate repercussions are evident in the quality of sound which they produce.

As a vocalist, I need my 8 hours a sleep a night in order to produce a good sound the next day. As an engineer, 8 hours of sleep is as elusive as a perfect score on an exam. Here in lies the difficulty of being a double major, it is never a question of whether the tasks can be accomplish but a question of if they can before I have to go to bed. The decision between sleeping now so that I can sing tomorrow or finishing the EECS 463 homework is one which offers little room for compromise.

This week, sleep deprivation won. Next week, with a midterm to sing and an EECS exam worth 30% of my grade on the same day, it’s anyone guess. Here’s hoping that I (and the rest of my classmates) find the time to study and sleep.