<p>Hi, is anyone else sending a recording of your playing (of a musical instrument) to Yale? Does anyone know if it actually helps the application?</p>
<p>I am sending a flute recording as part of my application. I spoke with an admissions officer this summer, and he said that a recording can help. They will send the CD off to the music department. With a recommendation from that dept your chances of acceptance will increase significantly.</p>
<p>not significantly lol. its just a supplement so they know how you are at what you do. it doesnt boost your chances that much but it can help somewhat</p>
<p>Well it also depends on the level of the playing. I was told directly by an admissions officer that if the music department wants you enough, you're in.</p>
<p>Thanks, that's great! I'm planning to send in a piano recording. I'm thinking of recording the following repertoire:</p>
<p>BACH Prelude & Fugue in C (WTC Book 2)
SCHUMANN Toccata
RACHMANINOFF Polka</p>
<p>Do you think it's necessary to include a movement from a classical sonata? My program above should be about 15 minutes, I wasn't sure if I should send a longer program as they may not listen to everything then.</p>
<p>StressedOutSenior... i'm also sending in a flute recording.. what are you playing?</p>
<p>How are you guys planning to record your playing ? I don't really know how I can record it and put it on a CD. Can you explain how that works ?</p>
<p>Also, how good are you guys ? Are you guys all national renowned players that received numerous music awards ? Or can you just be good and send the recording in ?</p>
<p>Thanks...I'm so confused.</p>
<p>Well, I've been trying to record it using an MD (minidisk) recorder. I can then transfer it to computer by connecting the earphone port of the MD recorder to the microphone port of the computer, and record it using WaveLab or something. I can do that at school, they have the equipment and the software. The problem is, I haven't been successful at making a decent recording... it seems like God is against me or something... like, every time I'm about to finish recording a piece, someone will barge into the LT (lecture theater; that's where the grand piano is) and make a h*ll lot of noise. Unfortunately there's little I can do about it because the LTs are public domain when no lessons are going on there, and when there're lessons, I can't record (duh). Aaaaarrrrggghhhh!</p>
<p>Oh by the way, armadantiger, I did win a national competition 2 years ago but that may not count because, well, Malaysia's such a small country so it's probably only equivalent to a state competition in the U.S., I don't know?</p>
<p>I'm doing the Hindemith Sonata. What about you?</p>
<p>I'm doing 1st mvt of Bach's Sonata in E Minor, 2nd mvt of Mozart G Major, and Hungarian Pastoral Fantasy by Doppler... it's a little long, but Yale's website didn't post a limit.. if they don't want to listen to it all they don't have to...</p>
<p>By the way-- I've played that one--it's so much fun! kinda weird but cool--good luck! let me know how things go for you.</p>
<p>I've recorded myself live (on MD) in a mini-concert at school today; the recording's not bad and the piano can be heard prominently (if a little too bright) but there's a lot of background noise (as the recorder was placed in the audience). Do you think that would be a problem?</p>
<p>I'm sure they won't really mind the background noise. I wouldn't worry about it. How long was your recording?</p>
<p>About 13+ minutes. My program is as in my previous post (Bach P&F, Schumann Toccata, Rach Polka).</p>
<p>I've found an alternative way to record, that is guaranteed to be free of background noise - connect the 'aux out' port of a clavinova (digital piano) to the 'mic' port of a laptop and record it (I used Nero Wave Editor). I tried it and it sounds pretty good (the mic level had to be set at 1% and the clavi volume to a very minimal level to avoid distortion) but the dynamic range is very limited. In addition, I'm worried that recording on a digital piano may qualify as cheating. In any case, I guess a live recording is the best guarantee of an honest, unedited performance. I'm still concerned about the background noise though.</p>
<p>Any thoughts? The deadline's looming... Any idea if Nov 1 is also a postmark deadline for supplementary materials, or must they arrive before Nov 1?</p>