<p>Hello just found this forum! Thank god! My DD has been to several auditions and has trouble finding places to vocally warm up. My DD has heard about this "BELTBOX" thing (beltyafaceoff.com). Has anyone used it? I'm not a singer so I don't have any ideas for her...</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of it but now I’m intrigued. Off to the ’ net I go!</p>
<p>I think its brilliant. The only downside I see is for singers who really rely on what they hear when they sing. The dampening of the sound could be problematic for those students, but you would have to try it to know for sure. I am going to plug it on my blog. I think its a great idea.</p>
<p>VT</p>
<p>My D goes to the car. Her warm up takes at least 20 minutes; all sounds, not even words. So it’s a bit odd to listen to.
The car may not be possible in some situations but we have made it work so far by planning for the time.</p>
<p>LOL Dramamom0804, thought my D was the only one who warmed up/practiced her songs in the car! I’m pretty sure it isn’t the acoustics, most likely she wants to get away from her crazy parents who love to hear her sing.</p>
<p>My D also warms up in the car usually on the way to an audition. She also uses the shower thinking no one can hear her. I always turn down any sounds in the house so I can enjoy it too!</p>
<p>Another car singer, here! That’s where she went during Unifieds when she didn’t want to wake up the whole hotel. Stair wells in the big hotels are also very good.</p>
<p>At both CCPA and TCU they gave the kids access to their practice rooms to warm up. Such a nice touch! At MMC and Wagner they had group warm-up time. Of course at MMC they also auditioned as a group, in front of all the other kids.</p>
<p>My son got one of these Belt Boxes from beltyafaceoff. He loves it! He uses it for NYC auditions where space can be very limited. He likes that it muffles a significant amount of sound while still allowing him to hear what he is singing. He has also used it in an Equity show. Some of his friends are using them on Broadway and National Tours.
I think it would be a useful item to have on college auditions. Not every school provides the best warmup options and you are not always near your car or a hotel room. We found that some of the Unified and Regional auditions were particularly challenging. My husband and I still refer to one particular school audition as the Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter audition. Many applicants were doing vocal exercises using their full voices while crowded in a hallway and small room. The young man next to us was repeating “peanut butter, peanut butter” over and over again at top speed. The sound of that plus all of the other applicants was deafening!</p>
<p>My D did 10 on campus auditions last year, and EVERY single school had warm up rooms available for the kids, most with pianos. We were surprised at how many kids DIDN’T use them. If the school doesn’t tell you where they are, ask. They are there, and they are available to you. At Unifieds, kids would warm up wherever they could. The hotel room is hard b/c it’s usually early in the a.m. and there are lots of people sleeping, but some of the hotels had conference rooms available for that us.</p>
<p>At Unifieds my D warmed up in the stairwell.</p>
<p>I would caution you about finding places to warm up, especially at Unifieds. We saw one group trying to warm up in a stairwell that just happened to be outside the room where University of Michigan was conducting their auditions. UM staff came out several times asking them to be quiet as they could be heard in the audition room and it was being disruptive. We saw something similar when someone was belting outside the CCM audition room and had to be asked to be quiet. In both cases the staff looked highly irritated with those students. It is best to find a place to warm up away from the floors where people are auditioning if possible. You don’t want to give them reasons not to like you!</p>