<p>We are planning to use and iPod with a wireless blue tooth speaker. From those who have gone before, is this a solid plan?</p>
<p>Exactly what we did. Worked fabulously. Used a JBL Flip. It’s a fabulous little speaker. Great sound. We gave both D’s one for Christmas last year and MT D used for auditions, but still uses nearly every day. Our older D is in the student dance org at her university and choreographs a tap number for recital each semester and it’s been fabulous for her for that as well. It can really fill a room with sound. If the iPod gets iMessage, be sure to switch that off during auditions. You don’t want notifications dinging through during an audition. </p>
<p>Another tip: make a playlist for each audition. D had 3 audition songs actually. And tailored her choices to the school. Plus 16 and 32 bar cuts. It just made each audition smoother to not have to search around one playlist for the right cuts. She learned this after the first audition with the iPod and speaker and fumbling around to get the song cuts to play. </p>
<p>Fabulous advice @kategrizz!! D has been using the speaker to play dance music when she is helping people learn their dances and I thought…wouldn’t this work :)</p>
<p>Son used his iphone and a jbl speaker. I had the music on my phone for backup and on his ipod. I also packed a spare speaker just in case. Be prepared was the motto! :)</p>
<p>Playlist for each school, YES!!! The D used a JBL dock and her iPod. I had the music on another iPod and my phone-on her phone too, I believe-and I brought an auxiliary cord in case the dock decided to act wonky. Can you tell I like to be over prepared??!</p>
<p>Playlist is a great idea. Jotting that down on my LONG list of tips and tricks. Thanks!</p>
<p>No wonder the class of 2018 CCers got along so well, I never thought for a minute that was over kill LOL</p>
<p>Another tip- take the speaker to EVERY audition, even the ones that are supposed to provide an accompanist. D had a friend auditioning for a school where the accompanist got sick (this was at NYC unifieds) and they had to scramble (mom had to run back to hotel and get speaker etc). Friend said NYC unifieds were cursed- it was the same day that Ithaca was audtioning in a building with no heat…</p>
<p>And along the same lines, always bring your sheet music as well. I have heard of cases where the student didn’t expect a live accompanist but there was one. Possibly a miscommunication or a failure of the “grapevine.” In any case, be prepared for both, for the rest of your auditioning lives.</p>
<p>Otterbein is one that requests recorded music at unifieds but has an accompanist if they want to hear another song.</p>
<p>So how big a book did people bring into unifieds, knowing that you can rightfully be asked to sing anything you bring in?</p>
<p>My son was asked for his sheet music when he auditioned for Otterbein in Chicago. Luckily I’m an over-preparier and he was able to hand it to the accompanist 
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<p>We had a section in our D’s book for 16 bar cuts and a separate section for 32 bar cuts of each of her pieces, along with having the original, full sheet music. This made it very easy to locate the exact cuts needed at each audition. She also put them in the order she preferred to sing them, although many schools dictated which piece they wanted to hear first.<br>
As far as how many pieces you should include, you need to cover your bases in terms of time period, and tempo. D also included a Disney-sequence piece and was asked for it a couple of times, maybe due to her type. It would also be good to have at least one pop song. She did not have one except for her Disney piece so she used that if asked for pop. In retrospect, she should have had a straight up pop song in her book also. She also had 2 classical pieces, at least one of which was in a foreign language, which were needed at some auditions (OCU is the one I recall specifically but I think it was needed for at least one other school also.).
Practice, practice everything in your book and absolutely do not put anything in it you are not willing to sing or that does not show your talents well. I do also recall at one audition she was asked to sing something from a role/show listed on her resume. This only happened once. </p>
<p>I say overpreparation is KEY!! You may think you’re overdoing it and your child may roll their eyes and say the same thing. Trust me when I say you’re not and your child will thank you when they’re thrown a curveball AND he/she has just what they needed!</p>
<p>D had a section of 6 sixteen bar cuts (3 ballad, 3 uptempo) varying time periods, 4 thirty two bar cuts (2 ballad, 2 uptempo) with full music also available, and a pop song. Still… you NEVER know what to be prepared for- at one audition D was asked to sing a specific song from a role listed on her resume which was NOT in her book. She sang a cappella… </p>
<p>Beware of taking your “big binder of rep” if all of the songs are either not polished (vocally & monologued) or show your skills to best advantage. One of my D’s friends devoted many private lessons to preparing her choice songs for audition only to have a director grab her book from her and say, “ooh, I love this song, can I hear this one instead?” she didn’t think she could say “I’d rather sing the one I prepared first” for fear of how that would look so she ended singing a song she hadn’t sang in over six months and hadn’t practiced all that much. She did not get into that school but ended up with a full ride at another where she did get to show her best stuff! She is an amazing talent, but that one school did not get to see her best stuff…</p>
<p>One thing my D mentioned just a week or so ago that she would have done differently would be to have a legit soprano piece in her book. She was asked for one in two different auditions, and had something that sort of worked… But she just added something that would have worked better… She wishes she had added it before audition season. </p>
<p>Oh, and like @addicted2MT mentions above about paring your rep binder… we actually has a binder with just the audition songs, An extra binder with a few specific extra songs in it (which she only brought out if asked), and the BIG rep binder we left at home. </p>
<p>Great advice everyone and my D needs to make sure she has a legit song also. She has two so far, neither one is a true legit. I am sure her MTCA coach will be on this.</p>