<p>OK, so DD and I have started the app process and are deep into music supplements, planning for a pre-screen DVD and booking audition dates around her choir & musical theater schedule. I knew this was coming, but I'm starting to feel the stress and I know D is as well. Luckily she opted for an easier academic load this year. First audition will be October 12 - I think that will actually be the fun part. It's all this paperwork and figuring out each school's requirements & deadlines that's draining. Anyone else feeling this way?</p>
<p>Check out this blogpost that one of our own Music Forum CC’ers just posted. You’ll love it! [A</a> Parents’ Guide to Conservatory Auditions, Part I](<a href=“http://www.violinist.com/blog/karenrile/20139/15001/]A”>A Parents' Guide to Conservatory Auditions, Part 1) It’s all about what you’re just discovering and what’s to come!</p>
<p>Wow - what a great read! And no, you don’t have to be auditioning just at conservatories to get something out of this. My D only auditioned at public universities (albeit large ones), and the process was exactly the same. VERY time consuming, VERY stressful! SO glad the process is over for us…until she decides to go to grad school. :)</p>
<p>Awesome and timely blog. Thanks spirit manager for the link!</p>
<p>Thanks - that is an awesome blog! It doesn’t ease my worries about what’s ahead though. We just spent hundreds of dollars on airfare for an audition across the country & all I can think is - one ill-timed illness & that’s all down the drain. At least we don’t have to worry about broken strings - just cold & flu season!</p>
<p>DD had to let go of some school activity with choir and MT. When we sat down and talked about her long term objectives and what was more important to her, she realized dedicating to the auditions was the most important thing and others had to fall away. Then she had to stand up to the choir director and MT director. The choir director took it out on her by taking away solos. She realized though that high school was not the important thing in the long run. Be very careful because a run down and exhausted singer will get sick.</p>
<p>My son is also facing these choices and will have to let some things go. He thinks he can do everything (don’t they all?), but it’s not feasible given his audition schedule in January, February, and March. He is begging me to do youth orchestra and it’s not even his primary instrument. I’m very anxious about the whole process, especially the screening DVD’s he will have complete in October/November. His audition repertoire is basically solid, and one of the admissions directors has very kindly offered to walk us through the video/drop box process. Still, I’m very nervous.</p>
<p>I hear you. My D will not even consider giving up her school musical which runs the first two weekends in Feb (and the kids are forbidden to have conflicts for two weeks prior to opening night, except on Sundays) and state Honor Choir, which is in March. We’re making her DVD at the end of this month, then trying to get to one audition in October, a couple in January, and two will probably have to be squeezed into March. Again, thank goodness she dropped AP Physics for “Drawing & Painting” LOL! Still in those other 3 AP’s, but I think they’re easier than last year’s bunch.</p>
<p>Just found this post of mine from May (seems like a million years ago now) - I was so relieved when she decided to major in science. Alas, the pendulum did swing back. LOL, I have to be happy about it - she is following her passion. She has not looked back since she gave herself “permission” to follow this uncertain path.</p>
<p>"Since my last post here, DD has pretty much decided to go the science route (chemistry) with a minor in music performance. Wow, does that make life easier. The music major audition process is daunting to say the least. </p>
<p>Now I’ll just bide my time waiting for the science/music pendulum in her head to swing the other way again… "</p>
<p>Some of the schools DD applied to did not offer audition times that would avoid the end of January - Mid February. That is peak audition time for the conservatories and more elite programs. When we did her spreadsheet in the fall with the possible audition dates and her desired choir and MT schedule, that was when the conflicts became apparent and she had to make the decisions. Good luck. It is early in the year. She may make a different decision as the application time approaches. </p>
<p>It is a stressful time. Make sure she takes care of her health and this is when she has also become one of those “neurotic” singers - always use hand sanitizer, have a personal steamer & netti pot, stay away from sick people, eat well, get sleep, and stay hydrated. Then pray a lot that she gets through with no illness 
We didn’t make it. DD ended up with strep throat half way through audition season. She did fine anyhow.</p>
<p>Having gone through this, you have my sympathy, it is a very stressful process. To give you an idea, we had a situation where my S had to audition on the west coast, then we had to take a red eye to the east coast to do an audition the next day, literally didn’t sleep much. </p>
<p>My recommendations?</p>
<p>1)Take as much stress off of other things, whether it be classes, or outside activities. Between practicing for the auditions, rushing to get paperwork done, recommendations, figuring out audition criteria, you name it. The audition is everything, and that competition that sounds attractive, the school musical, whatever, may have to take a back seat. if for anything, it is to take stress off the student, because there is so much, and adding time strains makes it worse. Encourage the kid to simplify things down until after the audition season is done, do what has to be done but put everything possible into making the audition process as stress free as possible. </p>
<p>One note about conflicts with school programs, having been there, the school music director might not be too happy, but you have to give priority to the auditions and the student. In a perfect world, being in music the music director or whoever would understand the process, but many of them don’t, they might have gone to programs that weren’t particularly competitive, or don’t realize how tough it is these days, it is very different than even 20 years ago. Music directors and schools try to pull out all the stops to guilt students into doing things in the school program, but ultimately the student and parent have to do what is right for the student. Put it this way, had a school pull this, saying my kid ‘owed’ the school, for what I don’t know (it was a private school, we were paying full freight,so wasn’t like they did anything particularly special…)</p>
<p>2)The kid is going to be stressed after the auditions, is going to feel like they fouled up, were no good, etc. It is going to be hard on you as a parent, and all you can tell them is that everyone feels that coming out of auditions, and that the panel knows the kid is nervous, they understand craziness…on one of my s’s auditions, he walked into the audition room and there was some parent screaming at the audition panel, literally, and it unnerved him…and I think they realized that and took it into account. </p>
<p>3)If you can, try to get sample lessons with teachers they may wish to study with, get exposure to them, it does seem to help, both with admissions and getting into a particular studio. It isn’t a must, but it can help, and even a little bit can make a difference.</p>
<p>4)Be prepared for when the admissions decisions come out, for there to be more drama. I am talking as an instrumental parent, but the real fun happens when they have to make a choice, especially if for whatever reason the studio /teacher is up in the air. That several weeks, of trying to find a teacher, etc, are nerve wracking, too. </p>
<p>One thing I can say, what you expect to happen often is not what happens, the school you thought was a reach turns out to be the one where they get in and get a great teacher, the school they thought of as a safety, rejects them.</p>
<p>Also enjoy!!! Your child will be off next year hopefully at a place they like doing what they love. The time you have now traveling with them is special. Try not to let the stress of the audition process take that time from you. LISTEN to them. If you don’t nag them and give them space they will open up. Try to have fun and laugh as much as possible.</p>
<p>My musician is in school only 30 minutes from me, but I miss listening to him practice and driving him to lessons.</p>
<p>Bachmom, how are you doing your prescreening videos? Are you doing them yourself, or having them professionally done? My daughter needs to do them (flute performance), and I’m dreading the experience!</p>
<p>Also, has anyone had any experience with prescreening videos for Peabody. The website says that the flute faculty strongly recommends using an accompaniment, but technically it’s not required. Of course, no place else wants accompaniments…</p>
<p>woodwindmom, there are a number of threads concerning how to make prescreen recording. It was our experience that most schools REQUIRED accompaniment for recordings; only one did not. I would go along with what the school “strongly recommends”. As far as the recording itself, my daughter did fine with me recording everything with a Zoom Q3 video recorder (for places that required video) and a Zoom H1 recorder for audio. She got in everywhere with my recordings. I thought using our recordings was better than going to a recording studio. My daughter could make multiple recordings in a relaxed environment, and then choose the best recording. Also, it was inexpensive.</p>
<p>Good question about the recordings. When my daughter, now a senior at a conservatory, was applying we used a regular videocamera (this was before she bought a Zoom Q3). She spent only a few dollars for recordings, therefore, but we know others who spent thousands on professional recordings. I’ve been told that there are some places that really do care about the quality of the recording , but I’m not sure how true that is. For grad school audition tapes (if she decides to apply) she will compromise and use the recording studio at her college. Not a professional recording, but a step up from a selfie with a Zoom Q3.</p>
<p>Woodwindmom --</p>
<p>We will probably use the Zoom Q3 as this is what Oberlin recommends. I don’t think the recordings need to be studio quality as long as the sound and video are good, but would double check with each school your child is applying to. </p>
<p>My son is also more relaxed in an informal setting and will likely need to do multiple takes. That said, I will hire a professional if we run into difficulties. My understanding is that each piece should be recorded as a separate file. This is a first for us – does anyone know if we’ll need an audio mike in addition to the Q3? We plan on practicing quite a bit with the camera before making the final recording. </p>
<p>Thanks to all for your advice and support.</p>
<p>I also used the zoom q3hd (no extra mike) with a tripod to record my daughter. I did make sure to find decent recording spaces, since any after-the-fact doctoring, or enhancement, is forbidden (not that I would know what to do anyway). They did take a bit longer to get done than we had planned. </p>
<p>The camera is a snap to use – the main decisions you’ll have to make will be which audio mode to choose, so experimenting with that, camera placement (closer is generally better when it comes to audio, and can make up for a lot of other technical shortcomings, but you’ll need to get what you need visually as well) and the sorts of dynamic extremes you’ll encounter, could be helpful. You don’t want to get home and suddenly finde the FFF sections are distorted or something. (There is a setting that avoids that.)</p>
<p>You might also want to practice with file creation; I can’t remember all the details but converting those recordings to DVD and creating copies for upload did entail some reformating of file types (and the downloading of a free converter that I found on the fly), depending upon the school and method of upload-- so waiting until the last minute can be stressful and time consuming. Some of the uploads took a really long time, and during the incredibly busy final hours, websites can go down (same true of app uploading, btw).</p>
<p>StringPop,</p>
<p>Thanks for your suggestions – they’re very helpful. Good to know that the Zoom Q3 is easy to use and that we won’t need a mike. Definitely will practice with angles, sound, and file creation as I’m new to this game. My son is a pianist, so we’ll probably record him at home.</p>
<p>With my daughter’s pre-screens, we missed a few things the “first” time. Such as, some schools want blind recordings, i.e. no introductions. Some want introductions with the names of the songs, others simply wanted audio and not video. Most want them as separate files due to size issues. So, I suggest making a list of what is needed school by school! We learned the hard way when we had to go record intros separately! </p>
<p>We also recorded at a location with good acoustics and did use a professional who knew how to make the various files for us and gave us a DVD. Granted, he gave us a break, but started a niche market for him! But, the requirements for voice may be different, I haven’t researched instrument requirements. </p>
<p>I concur - DO NOT wait to the last few days to upload the prescreens! It can take a long time! Get the accounts set-up ahead of time and then, upload as early as you can! One school did call us the night before the deadline and told us that one file didn’t transfer, even though we though it had! </p>
<p>Good luck, it is a fun and difficult process, but worth it too!</p>
<p>The quality on the zoom is pretty high, they are known for their audio pickup especially, so you probably don’t have to get another mike. Given the nature of the pre screen, I would not record in full HD, but rather make sure to use the 24 bit/high sampling rate mode, the video if I am led to understand it is primarily to make sure it is the person playing who is supposed to (i.e isn’t being played by a 30 something pro violinist on a cd, which yes, folks has happened). </p>
<p>When setting it up on key is to check the gain setting (it is a slide switch), if you are in a small room you may want to experiment with that, to make sure you don’t overload the recording (the flourescant led bands on the screen show red when you overload, easy to see, have the person play, you don’t even have to be in record mode to see that)…</p>
<p>It records in a native .wav format I believe, and that can be converted to either an MP3, or can be burned into a DVD. My son used Nero, but there are plenty of programs that allow you to do it. The Q3 has a usb connection, and it shows on a pc or mac as an external drive, so easy to find the files. </p>
<p>My S did his at the school where he had his pre college program, simply for convenience sake, but we used the Q3 for a lot of other things.</p>