Hi, I was wondering if you could tell me how your student did college application prescreening recordings (or is planning on doing so?) Are you paying to do the recordings in a studio, or are you recording at home? If at home, did you acquire any special equipment for the recordings?
We are doing a studio. It is expensive but it creates a deadline and gets the accompanist and student at the same place for a set amount of time. We did record things for summer programs at home and used an iPhone with a zoom audio recorder and then S merged the two together with iMovie
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What instrument or program type? People may have more specific suggestions.
I have 2 kids that recorded for vocal. We did reserve a space and hire a pianist for each. My last kid’s teacher had access to a concert hall during the day she got for free, so definitely ask teachers, ensemble directors, etc if they might have ideas for a space espcially if you are trying to keep it affordable.
I think it is fine to video. But I highly recommend using a mic to pick up sound. My first kid had to record twice (long story). The recording with the better mic was SO much better than the other I really feel it could have affected results. I bought both my kids a blue yeti usb mic during covid and having a good quality mic just seems like a need for a music student anyway. Learning to merge video/sound is also a good skill to learn. But of course, you can hire all that out. And some local spaces here offer that as an option. We practiced filming/mering ahead of time at home and it went really smoothly. My kids use hit film express for editing, there is a free version.
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Thank you! My son will be auditioning for viola performance programs. I do have the yeti microphone on my list, glad to hear good feedback on that!
We have been super happy with those blue yeti mics!
Oh one last thing, if you do end up doing your own audio/video recording, do a sound check before you start recording! Ask me how I know. 
Good luck!
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Lol! I can ONLY imagine!!! We will do lots of testing first, but I’m also going to ask his private teacher’s advice. It’s looking like this part is going to be the easy part. I’m writing down all the possible audition dates couple with all of his other commitments and let’s just say that January-April is looking lively!
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Yeti blue + webcam + laptop at home. Higher quality video, larger file size.
zoom h2n at pianist’s home. Easy set up, low quality video, smaller file size.
No editing since some places required so. Recorded from May to early October.
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I think the answer to this really depends on the instrument and what level programs you are applying for. While it is really inequitable, it is just fact that a large percentage of students auditioning for the top conservatories are going to be recording in nice halls with a good recording engineer. (Incidentally, it is actually better for sound to record in a hall than a lot of studios since you cannot do any editing of the sound quality for audition videos.) This is especially true for popular instruments like violin, cello, and piano.
Yes, teachers can tell if you are competent or not regardless of the video quality. But if you are borderline, especially for a really competitive program or on a competitive instrument, a better recording might just give your kid the edge. There are minute differences between the top candidates at some of these schools.
If you are applying to more middle-level programs or you have no concerns about your child passing the prescreens at the schools they are applying to, then it is less of an issue, though I would still make sure to invest in a decent microphone.
Not going to lie – my son only applied to 5 schools, but the requirements varied a lot, so he required 4 recording sessions to record his 7 pieces. It ended up costing us over $1000 between the recording engineer and the hall, which luckily we were able to get partially funded by a scholarship. But the investment ended up being very worth it in his case, as the amount of scholarships he ended up getting dramatically eclipsed the amount of money we spent on recordings.
Also look into what free options might be available to you for recording. One of my son’s programs lends recording equipment, and our city has free youth recording studios with quality sound equipment. Churches will often let you record there in exchange for playing at a service (no matter your religious background). Programs will often have halls you can use for free, and sometimes colleges will as well.
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At home recording for solo pieces and at collaborative pianist’s home for pieces that require piano part in addition to flute parts my daughter plays. Invest in decent microphone, does not have to be super expensive though.
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someplace with nice acoustics - not sure if studio really needed. We used a couple of different churches at different time depending on availability - my D is a vocalist. We recorded on an IPhone and a nice camera (that had an external microphone attached)
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Agree with the above. My son recorded in a small recital hall with a recording engineer. Quite the investment up front, but seems to be the standard for pre screens for top conservatories.
This level of recording may not be needed for all submissions. I would recommend consulting with your musician’s private teacher as to what would be the norm for the specific programs where they are applying.
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Search YouTube for audition videos… you will be shocked at how they vary in quality. You will have a great idea of what works and what doesn’t after watching a dozen of so videos.
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