We just recorded live an accompanist playing each cut that D needed on a computer. That way it was at a tempo D wanted and the cut was exactly right. D then created a playlist on her phone with each cut labeled so it was easy to pull up just what she needed, when she needed. She also used these recordings to practice with. We did purchase a small speaker compatible with her phone to use at auditions. The phone itself is not loud enough. There is a wide variety of speakers from which to choose. I think hers was called Jawbone or something like that.
D decided to change her songs before Unifieds and we didn’t have time to make the arrangements to record all the cuts with an accompanist (d was in the middle of a show), so we did the following:
- Purchased and downloaded one song from PianoTrax. Edited the MP3 file with Audacity to get the cuts.
- Ripped one song off an accompaniment CD that came with the Hal Leonard Song book containing the song. Edited the WAV file with Audacity to get the cuts.
It is very easy to adjust tempo with Audacity to a very fine degree, and you can also easily change keys if necessary (changing keys is generally not recommended for college auditions, but sometimes the accompaniment may not actually be in the originally published key). We had to speed up one song considerably from the recorded accompaniment and it worked flawlessly.
There are many good videos on YouTube that show how to use Audacity. D has used her Audacity skills several times to adjust tracks for various venues or events that required tracks. It is a very useful skill to have.
One simple use of Audacity is to adjust the silence before and after a cut (saves having to try and record the opening and closing “silence” precisely during a live performance, and sometimes the act of turning off the recording generates a sound that needs to be eliminated from the track).
If you record cuts from a live piano, I strongly recommend that you beg, borrow, or steal a decent microphone if possible or use a digital audio recorder designed for recording music (Zoom, Tascam, etc.). The mics that come with phones (and computers) are not good for recording music. Zoom and Tascam both make good mics that plug directly into the Lightning connection on an iPhone 5 or 6 and turn them into very good digital audio recorders. Zoom and Tascam mics that plug into phones run around $90-100.
There are many good USB mics available for computers such as a Blue Snowball. These can also be hooked up to an iPhone 5 or 6 using the Apple Camera Connection Kit - Lightning to USB, but the cable is a little less convenient and compact than the Zoom or Tascam mics that can plug directly into the phone. These mics also support improved audio for prescreen videos shot with the phone camera, which is quite good. A Blue Snowball runs about $50.
D used a portable JBL speaker dock designed for iPods and iPhones that was particularly good at reproducing the range of sound from a piano recording. We did a little research to find a good one that was reasonably priced and was good for piano recordings - many/most of the docks available are designed for pop music and not piano music (they are very good at bass, not so great in the treble range). There are many Bluetooth speakers available that do not require cables or docks, but be sure to do some research and find one that is good at playing the range of frequencies generated by a piano vs. one optimized to boom out a throbbing bass.
CD’s are basically almost dead for this sort of application, everyone uses phones or iPods.
We used a live accompanist as well- and we had music marked with cuts.
This thread freaks me out… could not find the right imoge to match my emotions…
You can do it @Joyfulmama !! While I will freely admit it was complicated, it was NOT as hard as it sounds. 
@Joyfulmama - I totally get that. Recording, copying and editing are all great skills to acquire - but i must say that I don’t think when you are in the midst of applying and auditioning for college is the time to test out those new skills if it’s not something you are comfortable with. It can be hard for people who like techy stuff to understand, but it is a lot of stress and worry for those of us to whom technology does not come easy. I highly recommend getting some lo-cost help to record pre-screens and audition cuts if you are nervous about these things. D’s voice teacher actually recorded the accompaniments for all her audition cuts at no charge and just sent her the digital files via an email. As far as I’m aware, she didn’t use a special microphone to do so. Most kids are very adept at creating a playlist with those files on their phone. And if not, I’m sure they have a friend at school who could help them create their playlist. There are many, many options for speakers. There are recommendations on CC of several brands. Go ahead and get one and then have your child practice each day with the recorded accompaniment cuts that they have put on their phone and play it through their new speaker. Practicing now will mean they will be completely comfortable with it if needed during audition season.
And as I’ve mentioned previously, we hired a local high school student (who is now a college film student) to record and edit all of her prescreen videos which he also provided her in the correct formats to upload. In fact, he even helped her upload one she was having trouble with. We spent $100 on him - money well spent to know everything had been recorded properly and was in the right type of files. My stress level if we had tried to record, edit and have everything uploaded in the right file type on our own would have been off the charts. it was well worth $100 to make sure it was all done properly.
Just when I think I am on top of the college audition stuff, bam I read a new thread! I guess stop reading is one answer lol but the advice and experience of others really does help!
Ikr @Joyfulmama . I feel the same way but also I have had to take a “chill pill” so to speak because this forum is SO helpful but also can make you feel like a nimwit and that you are clueless so don’t get stressed out like me! I am getting too worked up over the whole Mt process and I have a long way to go yet to raise my blood pressure this high lol
In order to become an “expert”, first you have to be a “nitwit” - as most of us were when we stumbled out of the darkness, into the light that is the MT forum on CC.
I recorded D’s prescreens with an old video camera on tripod. After several takes of one of her songs, my D really liked one particular version that was out of focus…not horribly so…you could still see her facial expressions but the picture was fuzzy. She decided to submit that version and passed 5 out of 6 prescreens. Perhaps the one she didn’t pass was because of the fuzzy picture, but I really don’t think so. (Btw…the one school she didn’t pass no longer requires prescreens this year! SMH!)
The point is, as @theaterwork states, don’t stress about the technical part. It’s far more important to have good material and being happy with the performance.
We “sweated” the videos. Filmed them on a digital SLR with external microphone AND on an iPad with built in microphone (both on tripods). Turned out the iPad version was easier for S to edit and more “upload friendly”. Those are the ones he sent. He passed both prescreens at schools that make pretty deep cuts in their application pool. Wish we hadn’t “sweated” it.
joyfulmama, I came to this forum not knowing what a dance belt was! I was below the level of a nitwit
The iPhone 6 has phenomenal quality and is more than enough. I did a video shoot for a student recently and brought along my Canon T3i but ended up using the iPhone instead because it worked better with the lighting of that particular room.
Yay for the iPhone 6… One thing I do have… lol
Thanks for the input @VoiceTeacher
For those of you who say you recorded live accompaniment… Did you record the piano separate from the vocals, or did you record them simultaneously? I’m trying to decide which is better. I think as far as filming goes, it would easier to not have our accompanist sitting there waiting for us to get everything perfect. It would also be nice to be able to adjust the volume of the piano. However, my D likes to change tempos in the middle of some of her songs, which I guess we could just communicate to the accompanist prior to recording. We also have two videos to create with live accompaniment requirements. Not sure if it would be easiest to just do the required ones live and record the rest so that we have them saved for future auditions. Stuck in planning mode!
@MTMusing, my daughter had live piano accompaniment recorded without her but a few songs were not the tempo she sang it. To fix that she recorded a song or two again with the accompanist while she mouthed the song the tempo right.
Our Ds vocal coach recorded the piano accompaniments for all of her cuts. There was no vocal recorded with it. D used these accompaniments during auditions that did not have a live accompanist present by taking along a portable speaker. She also used them to practice with. She kept all of them on a playlist on her phone.
For her pre-screen auditions, she used a live accompanist in the room with her while being videotaped. But if a school allows it, you could use the recorded piano accompaniment for these prescreen videos also.
Do schools typically give feedback after prescreen submission, or is it just a yes or no?
We never got anything more than a yes or no. Generally, you get very little feedback throughout this process from the schools. That’s one thing we really appreciated about MTCA - my D continued to get feedback throughout the process from her coach. Especially at unifieds - when every school gave her a different correction on her monologue - she skyped with her coach to help her re focus for her remaining auditions.
I don’t recall D getting any feedback from prescreens. I agree, like @kategrizz 's experience with MTCA, our Ds coach, Mary Anna Dennard, discussed auditions with D before and after. Being able to break it down and analyze what was said and done with someone “in the know” was really helpful because as @Kategrizz said, it can get confusing when you are getting differing opinions from different auditors.