<p>I need inputs for making music supplemental cd for my demonstrations of my instruments. And I have no idea where to start, so any input would be great!
Thanks!</p>
<p>If you are a potential music major, colleges that require a recording usually have very specific requirements listed on their websites.</p>
<p>If you are submitting a CD as a supplement hoping that your musical abilities will be a hook to get you into a school, you need to consider the needs of the school and who will be listening to the recording. What instruments are we talking about? What schools? Why might the schools need any of the particular instruments that you play? If they like what they hear, who can most effectively argue your case with the admissions office? If you can do some research to find out the answers to these questions, you will then know what to put on the CD and to whom to send it.</p>
<p>Then there are the practicalities of recording. Do you feel comfortable making the recording yourself, or will you be hiring someone to help you? If you are doing it yourself, do you know the best place to record your instrument, and the right microphones and recording equipment to use? Will you be recording solo or have an accompanist?</p>
<p>The folks on CC can offer lots of advice, but I think we need to know some more specifics to be really useful at a detailed level.</p>
<p>I just want to demonstrate alto sax, piano and guitar to show my passion for my instruments and music.
And I just want to record the demonstration myself, so what would be the best options for me to show my optimal performance technologically?
And what kind of ambience should I use?
Should I take the demonstration of playing piano from the back or from the side?
And also with the guitar and asx.
Stuff like that.
Thanks.</p>
<p>I just checked out your other threads to see if you posted any more information there. If you are talking about supplements for the current admissions cycle (ie fall 2008 freshman class) then most schools will no longer have time to listen to them before Regular Decision results come out, as AdmissionsDaniel from JHU pointed out. If your intent is to get into ensembles at a school where you have already been admitted, that will generally be done on the basis of an audition held in the first week or so of the fall term. Either way, a recording is probably not going to do much for you right now.</p>
<p>you can find some basic techniques for recording piano and guitar [here.[/url</a>]</p>
<p>some more tips for all three instruments may be found at </p>
<p>[url=<a href="http://members.tripod.com/%7EPullpud/microphones.html%5DMicrophone">http://members.tripod.com/~Pullpud/microphones.html]Microphone</a> Selection & Placement](<a href="http://www.wikirecording.org/Shure's_Microphone_Techniques_for_Studio_Recording_Section_One:_Acoustic_String_and_Fretted_Instruments#Acoustic_Guitar%5Dhere.%5B/url">http://www.wikirecording.org/Shure's_Microphone_Techniques_for_Studio_Recording_Section_One:_Acoustic_String_and_Fretted_Instruments#Acoustic_Guitar)</p>
<p>I would suggest recording them in a space that is large enough to keep the microphones well away from any walls, ceilings or floors that would reflect sound. You want to capture as much as possible of the sound directly from the instrument without a lot of close-in reflections. Reflections from farther away are fine and enhance the sound but close reflections tend to distort the sound.</p>
<p>Thank you so much BassDad! :)</p>