@khill87 FWIW: we used a Canon 80D DSLR with a Rode Stereo VideoMic to record pre-screen videos for my S (jazz drummer). We recorded the videos in a university auditorium from about 8th row of slightly raked audience seating. It seemed to work well enough – based on what we recorded, S was 5 for 5 on getting live audition invitations at the schools to which he submitted.
I had a Canon Rebel T1i DSLR for many years, and when my S was a HS freshman, wife and I agreed that he had a legit shot at making it into music school and that we better invest in a better mic, so I got the Rode mentioned above . . . and then I discovered the T1i only had mono recording capability. So I bit the bullet and upgraded to the 80D. Was it absolutely necessary? Probably not, but I’m glad I made the investment in the camera as we made good use of it recording decent to very good quality videos of all his live concerts at various distances throughout his high school years, not to mention YoungArts and other such submissions.
In contrast, S had an alto sax-playing friend a year ahead of him in HS who used an iPhone with small external mic attached to it for her pre-screens; recordings were done in a local music studio. She too was 100% in getting invitations for live auditions based that setup.
@JeJeJe - too funny about the concert. She didn’t even realize that Ambrose had a concert but someone that she recognized from her SFCM audition that was also auditioning at the New School today mentioned it to her. I was woken this morning to a “Mom - can you please order me a ticket” - instead of how the audition went. I’m sure all these jazz kids know each other - it’s such a small world.
@akapiratequeen - congrats on the acceptance. It is indeed a good day!
@khill87 - For the video part any old video camera or DSLR should be fine. Our video camera is at least 8 years old and did a fine job. A modern smartphone would probably be just as good, if not better. I would consider recording the audio separately. There are lots of ways to do this. Some buy microphones that connect to iPads. We bought a relatively inexpensive interface that allows you to use a professional XLR microphone and record to a laptop.You can get a solid microphone for $70-300. Ours cost about $120. The interface costs between $99 and $250, depending on what options you want. You can mix and match or buy a bundle like this:
I don’t think many people on this forum went down this path to record the audio. You need to have some technical ability or at least a willingness to learn. My D and I knew nothing about audio recordings, but we have both learned a lot by watching YouTube videos. She records herself fairly often now and doesn’t need my help anymore. She’ll take the equipment with her to college for future recording needs. For us, it was a good investment.
To be clear, I don’t think you actually need professional equipment to pass pre-screens for classical voice. I suspect a modern iPhone has good enough sound to give the screeners the information they are looking for.
my experience with iPhone recording is that the voice quality is very good but the microphone is very sensitive and not directional so it will pick up lots of background noise. With more professional setups / purpose built microphones you have directional focus so the voice / instrument is more isolated. When recording with an iPhone try to find a spot with minimal or no background noise and turn off all air conditioning / heating etc to minimize the white noise levels.
Regarding recordings, what we did was have the AV students record my Ds pre-screening videos at the high school. Her band director “Field-Tripped” them out of class one period per week to record her playing in the auditorium. Seemed like a win-win. The AV kids got needed practice and experience on their equipment, and her recordings were definitely better than what I could have done.
@akapiratequeen congrats on the Mason Gross admit! I recall that your son was more nervous about that one than others. So, kudos to him for keeping his nerves at bay when it mattered!
My 2 cents on the prescreen recordings. My jazz guitarist S had his prescreenings recorded with a bassist and a drummer at his music school. I wasn’t there and I have no idea what kind of equipment they used, but they came out well. I should add that there was one school (NYU, I think) that wanted a solo performance with no rhythm section. That one we shot at home with an iPhone 7. It was definitely not of the same quality as the ones shot at the music school, but good enough.
Where the prescreens required individual files to upload, we uploaded them practically unedited (a little bit of trimming at the beginning and end). Things got a little bit complicated where schools wanted one file with multiple songs to be uploaded to YouTube with an unlisted link. My S knows nothing about editing and was so focused on practicing for auditions that I took that project on myself. I took a crash course in iMovie editing (taught by my 13 year old twins) and became quite proficient in it at the end.
Thanks @lkbux64 ! We are excited! He got a letter of interest from another school today as well (not official so will not say which) so it’s a great day!!
Days like this all those auditions, prescreens etc. seem SO worthwhile. Keep the faith, fellow travelers!
About recording——— At some point, sooner or later, it would be important that all musicians to know the basic of capturing their own playing because for musicians, video auditions are endless, forever. All recording methods here are very helpful. Thank you.
I’ll chime in on pre screen advice. My D a classical VP major, utilized a recital classroom at a local university. I think any location is fine but a nice background certainly creates a good impression. Just make sure the acoustics are good. Don’t sing in a room with carpet everywhere! We used a camcorder with an external mic. I too considered hiring a professional but after discussing it with her voice teacher and my D decided against it. She indicated that hiring a professional would make her more nervous. So any benefit would be outweighed by her nerves. In the end, The video was good but the audio was great. She dressed as if giving a recital. Again, it’s an audition and important to make a good impression. No idea if it was the video quality but she passed all her pre screens. So if it ain’t broke - don’t fix it! Good Luck!
Congratulations @tripletmama on getting things sorted with The New School. What an ordeal that was. Glad your D finally made it through. Kudos to her for handling it all so young.
Congratulations @akapiratequeen on the Rutgers acceptance. Great news.
My .02 on a couple things. My son is taking 3 AP classes and a college dual credit class this year (down from 4 because he realized going into semester 2 that AP Econ was an unnecessary addition of workload so he dropped to regular). But up until two weeks before school started he was going to be a physics major so Calc BC and Physics C were a must. The workload is killing him, but he’s still managing great grades. Straight A’s first semester and close to it right now with plenty of time left to get there. But every kid is different and only yours can know their limits. He regrets it now that he has changed his life course. But it will prepare him well for what life in college will be like.
On auditions… definitely begin your repertoire early. Mine started too late (for above reason) so he was learning repertoire when he could have been perfecting technique on already learned pieces. It also put his pre-screens down to the wire. We bought an external microphone and plugged it into an iPad. It definitely improved his sound quality. It’s what his flute teacher suggested as it’s what she does. The recordings themselves were done in a practice room at school and he allowed nobody in there. They could have been better… bad angle, poorly edited. But he insisted to do it 100% himself. He should be making a new recording for a couple scholarship auditions but is refusing. Says it’s not good for his mental health. He would rather go in person. He says he has no issue with a panel recording him. Has no issue being recorded at recitals. But doing videos himself is a nightmare for him. I suggested playing for a panel of his flute teacher and band directors and letting them record it but he says no… live is better. Glad he’s going into Ed not performance. Hopefully he will get over it in time. He passed one of two pre-screens but I don’t think the quality was the issue.
School absences… our state has a legal limit. We’ve gotten notices over the years (like when my kid missed a bunch of school for surgery… not like we planned it). We ignore them and they never follow through on threats. We didn’t communicate with school at all. It was on S to do and he didn’t outside of band. We are allowed 3 days a year junior and senior year for college visits. We exceeded that but not by a lot. We did visits over long weekends. We had auditions be lucky enough to fall on in-service days, school improvement days or holidays when there wasn’t school. They were all close enough to drive a Friday after school for a Saturday audition. So we really only missed 3 days for auditions… all Fridays. But he’s definitely behind on homework. He missed as many days for All-State and he missed for our conference honor band.
Got a scholarship award yesterday from a school he did an audition at a few weeks ago. It was his Top 3 that he suddenly decided against randomly. But now with more money he’s interested again enough to give it another look. Also got another acceptance today at the school he auditioned at last week. Now just waiting on 2… one of which comes out tomorrow. Not expecting to get into that one. It was a reach. Then that will just leave his top choice. Why does that one have to come last?
Soliciting advice from the village. D has gotten some official and unofficial notifications about admits, but no scholarship / financial aid info yet which is crucial for us in any decision. However, some of them are starting to try and “check in” with her–directly or back channel–to try and get a sense of her level of interest. In fact, her level of interest in her top 4 is still very high, pending financial info. She and we made an agreement that she would not get too invested in one particular school or pick a favorite until until we have all the financial information. I know professors are in a tough spot trying to figure out how to allocate their limited resources Private teacher said to sit tight until we have all the offers, but D feels super stressed about it–especially if they want to talk to her in person.
Wondering the same thing. Still waiting on admissions to 3 schools, but he’s revisiting the cello prof at one school (not sure why except the guy really wants him to visit again, but he’s not been admitted and therefore doesn’t have a scholarship offer).
My son’s got his eye on 6 schools and financial aid is a huge deal for us, too. I would say at this point, we know 2 schools will be affordable at this point, so it’s a start!