tips for recording pre-screening DVD...?

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>We will be recording a pre-screening DVD for college admission next month and would like some acoustical input.....</p>

<p>Was told by Juilliard & NW folks at CS convention that professional studios/equipment are not needed, so what I am interested in is what type of space to do the recording in.</p>

<p>I have heard that a church is good, but would a small intimate space (evan a small church) give a better 'sound' quality than a large empty church?</p>

<p>Also mic or no mic? Her voice can certainly project, but will it be needed to balance a loud piano in an empty space....?</p>

<p>Any tips are appreciated!
thanks,</p>

2

<p>There are many past threads on this subject. I did a cursory search using the word “recording” in the title just for the Music Major Forum and came up with a couple of pages of threads! However, to start check out this one:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/790864-prescreen-recordings-varying-requirements-whats-best-way-record.html?highlight=recording[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/790864-prescreen-recordings-varying-requirements-whats-best-way-record.html?highlight=recording&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>If you live near a music school, they have rooms with recording equipment built it. They may or may not charge (may also depend on whether or not you are a student there).</p>

<p>The music department at a local college/university can help you.</p>

<p>The music/drama department at your local high school can help you.</p>

4

<p>If you are recording for classical vocal programs, they will not want the voice amplified electronically. If the piano is too loud, place the singer closer to the recording microphone(s) to adjust the balance acoustically. Microphone placement is very important. You want to catch some of the ambiance of the room but not too much so that the singer sounds distant. You also want to keep the microphone as far as possible away from large flat surfaces like floors, ceilings and walls. Leave some time to move the microphones around a bit so that you can find where they sound best.</p>

<p>You don’t want a cathedral with a 6-second decay on the reverb, but you want a room large enough to give some sense of space to the recording. Don’t go too small or you might as well be recording in a studio.</p>

5

<p>I’ve only recorded a DVD screening once a very long time ago, but I do have a rather painful experience with pre-screening recording that I hope others may find insightful. </p>

<p>Last summer, when I was going into my senior year of high school, my voice teacher and I discussed which route to go for my prescreening recordings - a studio or using GarageBand on her laptop in her church, which we’d done before and with which we’d had much success. Instead of being rational and recording in a space and with technology that we’d had good experiences with before, I chose a studio, thinking that it would be much better in terms of sound quality and effiency.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, I was wrong. </p>

<p>Though I had spoken to the sound tech extensively about his experience recording classical singing (“Oh yeah, we get that all the time”), the recording itself was a huge disappointment. My voice has always been extremely large, and the stuffy studio and their mics and whatever else just weren’t having it. After four hours, I left disappointed with a CD on which I sounded technically very good, but fuzzy, far away, bland, etc, which did absolutely nothing to display the color and size and nuances of my voice. </p>

<p>When I voiced my concern about the quality of the recording to the sound tech as we sat listening, he kind of shrugged and said, “Well, yeah, this space really isn’t meant for classical singing.” </p>

<p>What the what? He tells me that after 4 hours? </p>

<p>Unfortunately, since this recording session took place only a week or so before the deadline (another grave error), I had nothing else to send in, and, against my better judgment, submitted my poor recording anyway, already knowing I wouldn’t make it.</p>

<p>Needless to say, I was not called back and 100% understood why. When they say that the quality of the prescreen WILL affect their callback decision, they’re being honest. </p>

<p>So, the morals of the story are:</p>

<p>1) give yourself a large window of time in which to achieve your desired results on the prescreen, ideally recording in several sessions, which will ease the pressure on you to achieve “perfect” results in any one session,</p>

<p>and </p>

<p>2) be absolutely sure of the space you’re singing in, and that it suits your voice and technology with which you’re recording. </p>

<p>Best of luck! </p>

<p>(Maybe I should add the outcome of all this, because, though it seems unfortunate, I consider it a blessing in disguise. I was disappointed and angry at myself for several weeks following the recording, but after I’d had a while to get through it, I realized that this was truly the best thing that could’ve happened to me. I know that sounds strange, but I really am very thankful for my mistakes: not only do I have an invaluable lesson to remember for the future, but I also decided last December that I was going to take a gap year after graduation, and it’s been fantastic. I’m studying with a wonderful teacher and making so much progress, and, especially as a young soprano with an uncommonly large instrument, another year to mature is definitely a bonus. I couldn’t be happier, and I look forward to heading to school in 2012!)</p>

6

<p>We did not go to the studio but had the studio people come to us in the church sanctuary. It was a few years ago now and things have changed as to ease of use on recording equipment, but I was not comfortable doing the recording so we hired people who understood microphone placement, etc. so DD and her voice teacher could focus on performance. They recorded several takes of each song. DD and voice teacher listened and selected the best. Then they cut the CDs for us with customized selections for which ones would go to which school. The only downside, her actual best performance was ruined with fire engines in the background. You do get environmental sounds in a natural environment but the voice sounds were far superior in space meant for voice.</p>

7

<p>thanks so much for all this…The NorthWestern & Juilliard folks did say that professional recording set ups are unnecessary, just a clean, clear, good example of your voice is what they are looking for. They say the real ‘test’ is the in person audition…</p>

<p>But I would like to make the best non-pro DVD possible…</p>