<p>I play the flute and would like to send in a recording with my supplements to the Common App. The problem is, the recording studios here are either really bad or outrageously expensive. My family doesn't have the money to spend on high-tech studios and accompanists; they need to save some to send me to college! How would Yale view a less-than-steller quality recording (if my playing was good, of course)?</p>
<p>you can record on your computer. :)</p>
<p>microsoft allows you to if you have a microphone. it's built in!</p>
<p>you can get good quality... around 128-256 kbps I think...</p>
<p>start -> programs -> accessories -> entertainment -> sound recorder</p>
<p>find a good microphone (borrow or rent one?), and use a free sound editing program like audacity (google it).</p>
<p>now, I'm not yale, so I have no authority on this, but wouldn't you think that a less-than-perfect recording quality with really good playing would seem more honest/real/believable than studio quality with really good playing? Like, less forced/doctored/whatever?</p>
<p>i did a piano recording which wasn't exactly studio quality. I still got in, although music wasn't a central part of my app.</p>
<p>What are you thinking about? You can't edit the music. The submission is intended as a substitute for live performance. Editing cheats the listener.</p>
<p>Not all editing is cheating: if you modify the volume, or something, so the listener doesn't have to strain to hear you, that would be a favor to the audience. However, the last recording I made with a "professional" was horrible because they did that to make everything uniform--made the pianos louder and the fortes softer--so there was no contrast, no movement, and the piece was dead.</p>
<p>And I used to think that good playing on a lousy recording was better than the other way around, but then this kid who've I've been rivaling since sixth grade spent thousands of dollars on a high quality recording with a top-notch accompanist and several runs at different locations, then had it "mastered" by a major professor on the other side of the country. He got into the National Flute Association finals, I did not. I wouldn't be bitter, except I squashed him last year in a live competition, and unless he spent four hours a day more than me practicing to become the best in the country, the recording did it for him.</p>
<p>So yeah, I'm bitter. I just hope Yale is more understanding.</p>
<p>take a look at this document - especially page 3.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.yale.edu/yalemus/undergrad.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.yale.edu/yalemus/undergrad.pdf</a></p>
<p>There is also contact information at the end of this - maybe you can ask your questions directly of the department.</p>