<p>ray198 - What is the "CD demo process?" You lost me on that.</p>
<p>I probably should have said "pre-screening CD". Many of the competitive music schools require that the applicant send them a pre-screening CD with a recorded performance of a repertoire of songs. The song selection is up to your S but they do have specific requirements such as selections sung in different languages and each usually requires two to three songs. The details are typically listed on the specific college websites. These competitive programs listen to the "pre-screening CDs" and use this to determine which applicants they wish to grant a live audition. I am no expert outside of the schools my D applied to but from what I've read on the CC boards, this is fairly common for Music Performance majors and sometimes required for Music Education majors as well. The CD is due along with the application by the deadline, which was December 1st for most of the schools my D applied to. </p>
<p>My D recorded a repertoire of five songs that she and her voice coach determined were appropriate and would meet the requirements across all of the schools she applied to. She prepared 1 in English, 2 in Italian, 1 in French and 1 in German. We hired an accompanist and a sound man who brought portable equipment and we recorded it in a local cathedral. This was obviously an expensive undertaking but the natural sound and quality was excellent and in my opinion well worth it. There are other options and I have seen other threads that discuss it in more detail. </p>
<p>If I am correct, you said in previous posts that your S is a tenor. Please don't take this the wrong way, I am sure he is extremely talented but from what I have seen there are a whole lot less tenors trying out for spots than sopranos. Based upon the "supply and demand" I believe it is much easier to for a S vs. a D to get into these programs. That's the good news. Regardless, if he sends in a lousy CD or if it is defective he won't get an audition, period.</p>
<p>ray198 - Thanks for this information. Which schools required a pre-screening CD?</p>
<p>SeansMom, a prescreen submission requirement, if any, would be found on the appropriate admissions guidelines or audition outline webpages. </p>
<p>There are no hard and fast rules, it varies by institution. The more selective the program, the greater the chance of a prescreening rquirement, but beware of generalizations... it's always best to check the particular school's requirements.</p>
<p>Sean'sMOm: Of the schools D applied to, SUNY Purchase was the only one that required a pre-screening CD (She did get invited for an audition, but ultimately was not accepted). In NY, SU, Ithaca, Fredonia,and Crane did not. Nor did IUP. Off the top of my head I know that Eastman and Oberlin do, as well as many of the conservatories. Some people feel this is a measure of a schools "snootiness", but in reality, I believe it's a good thing- saving kids and parents time and money by not auditioning kids who don't have a realistic chance of getting in. </p>
<p>She recorded hers in much the same way as Ray's daughter. Her voice teacher accompanied, we used the church where she is the music director and hired a local high school music teacher who uses his own equipment- and charged what I felt was a very reasonable rate for a 2 hour session. She did 2-3 takes of 6 songs and she and teacher picked the one they liked best. I felt the quality was very good, and I left the session with 2 copies. I have made more copies for family, and D. plans to give copies, along with thank-you note to guidance counselor, HS principal, the teachers who have written recommendations etc. So, it can be nice to have, even if you don't specifically need it!</p>
<p>Agree with musmom2. We did hire an accompanists, though, since DD's voice teacher does not really like to accompany and he wanted to listen for the best try. She was very reasonable since she was the mom of one of the other students. We also used a professional sound recorder who came out to the church to record but they had a very reasonable rate for the HS kids. </p>
<p>We used the CD for the NFAA ARTS submission too, although I think you have to do a DVD now. If that is the case and you are considering it, you might want to just do the DVD instead. Some schools may be switching to DVD but all should take them now. You should check out the schools you are interested in to find out. We also used them for thank you gifts to all who had done recommendations. The family members who have been there for her other recitals, etc also appreciated them. In addition to those mentioned, Peabody and UCLA required screening CDs.</p>
<p>I don't think the pre-recorded CD is necessarily a question a snootiness. I know at Eastman it was for the areas where there were many many candidates (more than could be reasonably accommodated in scheduled auditions) such as voice, cello, jazz, etc. This allowed an initial pre-selection so that they were not wasting everyone's times with on campus auditions.</p>
<p>tango-that was precisely my point, maybe you said it better!</p>
<p>My son had pre-screens everywhere but his safety, and I didn't think it was snooty either. It did speak to the overall competitiveness of the program in his instruments (less competitive programs seemed not to ask for the pre-screen, as a rule), and it also indicated whether or not he was in the running, or not. If he had not passed pre-screens, I would have wondered whether pursuing performance at that level made any sense. </p>
<p>I have often wondered, and queried as such, how the competitive musical theater programs can easily audition 1000 students for six spots. It seems as if the pre-screen automatically eliminates well over half, and then the focus can be on the rest. I guess I am also in favor of any means of screening kids who shouldn't be wasting the time or money taking audition trips. It is such an expensive process.</p>
<p>I'd prefer that they would ask for a DVD for pre-screens (S did send DVDs the nationwide stuff like NFAA), as I think there is less tampering, and the adjudicators can see more of the overall musicality of the applicant. I actually hope they move more towards this, although it does add another layer of difficulty (finding a camera, etc).</p>
<p>Houghton College in New York would be a great Pick!</p>
<p>Houghton College is in our backyard - and it would be a great choice! It is on my S's list, but he thinks he wants to get a little further from home, if possible. </p>
<p>When did you all start the CD pre-screening process (time-frame)? That is, when did you start planning and getting it put together. All of this is starting to overwhelm me.</p>
<p>SeansMom, DD started with her voice teacher over the summer before Senior year selecting a range of songs that would fit almost any audition requirement. As a baseline, they used the requirements for the NFAA ARTS competition: [url=<a href="http://www.nfaa.org/Students/Disciplines/Voice/%5DNFAA%5B/url">http://www.nfaa.org/Students/Disciplines/Voice/]NFAA[/url</a>]
By having those selections done by the end of summer she was ahead on preparing for the auditions. By end of summer most of the programs had their audition requirements posted. All had requirements that fit within what she had selected for the NFAA. We prepared a spreadsheet to track which schools wanted which kinds of material, which had pre-screeing requirements and what the deadlines were.. Then she and her voice teacher selected what would be submitted each pre-screen and then audition. The recording was done in October. </p>
<p>She also started on her core essay. One essay that speaks to why music or what music means in their life is pretty common and she was able to use it in various forms for most of her applications.
By doing these early, some of the stress was reduced when trying to get all the applications in by the early deadlines required to get auditions.</p>
<p>I just found this site tonight, and am soo sorry I didn't know about it when my son (tenor) was still in High School. He was required to have a pre-screen cd for the schools he wanted to go to. Actually, he only had one on his list..lol, we had to convince him to choose at least one more school to audition for. His first choice was Oberlin, his second was Eastman. The live auditions were @ Eastman on a Thursday at 6pm, then at Oberlin at 9:30 am the next morning!! We had to drive for I think it was 5 or 6 hours from Rochester to Oberlin, and he had to audition the next morning. We were blown away when Eastman offered him a place at his audition...and eventually a full ride. It took longer to hear from Oberlin...but he did, with a dean merit scholarship, which for Oberlin was pretty hefty.</p>
<p>Since he's been at school there, I have come to see how much easier it is generally for males pursuing this "way of life" then it is for the women. I think that being a tenor is a huge plus for my son, vs. his female soprano freinds. They just don't get the same help the guys do.</p>
<p>He's been very happy at Oberlin, and we are really pleased with his progress.<br>
The school has been everything he hoped for as an undergrad. Music is his passion...time will tell us where it all leads to. </p>
<p>Good luck to anyone going thru this with their HS age child right now..I think there is a great school out there for everyone. If finances are an issue, and aren't they always......keep looking until you find the school that appreciates the talent your child has, and will be able to foster it as an undergrad to the fullest potential. As the mother of a son, he's got years to go before his voice is fully developed, so we know that his grad school is going to be maybe even more important then undergrad is........thats assuming of course that he's getting the right vocal coaching now (and I am confident that he is).</p>
<p>Anyway, thanks for letting my fingers babble:)</p>