<p>So, my Tanglewood audition (I'm a high school junior, applying for the Young Artists Voice Program) is scheduled for this Sunday... However, I need to make a professional CD recording for several other programs I'm applying for (Brevard, Northwestern, NC School for the Arts, Carnegie Mellon) anyway, so I was thinking that I might as well just send in that CD to Tanglewood instead of freaking out over a live audition. Oh, and besides which, I am almost 100% positive that the "live" audition won't really be live-- last year, when I auditioned down in Boston, they just set me up in front of a camcorder and I sang my two arias and left. It seemed like an enormous waste of time.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure that I just want to send in the CD recording because -- thinking about it this way-- if I do the "live" audition, I have one chance, and if I do a prof CD, I have an infinite number of chances and I am positive that I will sound my best.</p>
<p>However... do any of you guys strongly feel that this a bad decision? I mean, I have to make a CD anyway, so it's not like I'm exactly going out of my way to do anything additional. I know that personality shows through in a DVD and can carry some weight, but I can't help feeling that if they don't accept me based on a recording in which I sound at the absolute best that I can, that they WOULD have accepted me if I had done a DVD audition and not sounded AS good but having had some personality. But, what do you guys think?</p>
<p>And lastly, for the CD recording (which I'll do regardless of whether I send it in to Tanglewood or not), do you guys have any tips? I have a 1 hr. recording and editing session (the editing isn't included in the 1 hour) scheduled at a recommended studio in New York City, but I've never done anything like this before... Should I warm up before I get there? Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated!</p>
<p>Well in regards to recording your CD, treat it like a performance! I don't think anybody (certainly not I) sounds good playing/singing 'cold' without any kind of warm-up. You just want to give evaluators an idea of what you sound like on a good day and show them your range of skills and talents. </p>
<p>I think you should go ahead and record. I'm finding that having a library of recordings is extremely resourceful and useful because so many schools and summer programs require a recording so in my opinion it goes a long way. These are just my two cents, good luck!</p>
<p>I have had teachers at colleges, and specifically some of the ones at BU who are involved in the instrumental part of the Tanglewood program, tell me that they hold recorded auditions to a much higher standard than live auditions (and the BU-style "live" audition where you get ten minutes in front of a video camera counts as a live audition not a recorded one.) They realize that you can spend lots of time and money on your own recording and use only the best of many takes. They realize that some people do not play by the rules and edit the audio to patch up the occasional flub within a piece. (Not saying that you would, but that there are some people who do.) They also recognize the level of commitment that you show in coming to their live audition rather than making one tape that gets sent everywhere. </p>
<p>In your position, I would go to the live audition for Tanglewood as long as you are not sick that day. If you happen to do really well there, you will have a big advantage over the people who did really well on a recording. Even if you don't do your absolute best, the fact that you only had one chance will be taken into account. I have also heard of cases where people who thought that they screwed up the live audition were allowed to submit a recording for supplemental consideration. Even if you have a really bad live audition, you may still have the option of sending the recording.</p>
<p>You absolutely want to do everything you can to be ready to go into the professional recording studio so that you are ready to start recording at the beginning of the session. Warm up beforehand, use the bathroom, make sure that you have all of your music put together the way you want it, plan on arriving early, make sure your accompanist does all the same things if you have one. If you have to travel some distance, you may want to ask the studio if they have an area where you can warm up before your recording session starts. Once you get going, the hour will fly by and you will probably leave wishing that you had a bit more time to record more takes. You do not want to waste any of the time that you have by doing stuff that could have been done before the hour started.</p>
<p>A recent BU/Tanglewood voice applicant (who was expecting the video-only scenario) actually had several faculty in the room at audition, don't assume it's only a video camera. You never know.</p>
<p>For BUTI auditions, you can't predict which will be video'd' there and which will have live faculty in the room. DS auditioned twice. The first year it was for BUTI only and the brass faculty was there. The second year, he was also auditioning for BU admittance and again the brass faculty was there. He found out later that THAT year, BUTI only applicants had the video camera on some days and not on others. It depends who is in town and who is available to be at the auditions.</p>