Hey, I don't disagree at all regarding the absurdity of "no processing." I recently did a recording for a flute player in the area and the restrictions were unbelievable.

Track 1 - must be the auditionee stating their name clearly as well as their address and pieces to be performed. At a minimum, it had to be 16 seconds long (I have no idea why.)

Tracks 2 - 4 - prepared solo literature of differing styles

Tracks 5-x - prepared excerpts

Rules - no editing or modifications of any kind. No labels on discs, simply handwritten last name, first name.

I'm starting to see more of this kind of thing. The reason they're cracking down so much is because there are a lot of blurry lines in digital audio - if they don't draw specific lines in the sand, there's a lot of room for interpretation.

As for the sound quality - I think it depends. I've had the unfortunate pleasure of sitting on a review board before and the mass of tapes and CDs (and DATs) that we received were largely painful to listen to. Many of us were dealing with awful headaches by the end of the 4 hour session.

After a while, all of the recordings started to sound the same - an indistinguishable wash. Only when a performer was truly outstanding did it *really* capture our attention. I would venture a guess though that we probably let one or two slip through the cracks simply because the playing quality was barely discernable over the wash of wow and flutter and noise on the average tapes entering the audition call.

Of course, it's all a matter of conjecture, so my unsolicited advice is - go for the quality - there's no harm in doing so. Skimping - well, there might be harm, there might not be.

J.

I will agree that it can't hurt. Unless it sounds like Telarc did it, and then SOMEBODY will be suspicious!

Rich

The situation that Sublyme details is nightmarish! If every orchestra wanted certain specifics adhered to in their recording guidelines unique to them, then that would be a musician would have to make several different recordings to meet their specs. This increases cost and may or may not be used again to submit for other auditions.

Why can't orchestra's agree on one standard throughout and stick to it?

Even if all ICSOM or ROPA orchestras did that, they would NEVER agree on the actual excerpts for each position.

If you are going to go to the trouble to get a degree and practice like a madman to the point of being competitive, then the rest is of little consequence. And when you consider the cost of an instrument, degree and further instruction, the cost of a very basic audition CD is not that much either,especially for those who travel in order to study.

Rich

There is another factor at work with many vacancies: regardless of whether the predecessor's departure was greeted with regret or relief, how that person played definitely influences the committee's thinking and will often guide the selection of excerpts asked of the successful candidate, as well as the person's sound and style .

Rich

Excellent points Rich.

One thing I do for some of my regular clients is I maintain a Hard Drive with their various recordings and keep logs as to what has been done to each one (EQ, Reverb, etc). Some of my clients have 3 or more entire concerti and 30 or more excerpts on file. That way, if they have a demo requiring one of those pieces and several of the excerpts, most of their work is done.

For example, on horn, there are very common excerpts (as there are of course for all instruments) - Till, Tchaik 5, Mahler 1 and 5, Brahms 2,3, and 4, Beethoven 9, etc.

Many people lay down the more obvious tracks and then come back to add the "odd ball" excerpts when requested. This way, each demo disc only costs a little to produce and takes very little time.

Plus, I can burn and print the disc on site, so literally, a complete demo can be made on-site within just a few minutes. (and a VERY nominal fee.)

BTW - another interesting part of that flute story that I told above - I had to actually sign and have notarized and affadavit stating that I made no modifications or applied no effects at all through the recording and editing process. Now, I did use a high-pass filter on the flute mics, but I did that on the mic preamp and didn't feel as though this constituted processing.

J.

quote:

I had to actually sign and have notarized and affadavit stating that I made no modifications or applied no effects at all through the recording and editing process.

This is WAY over the top!! What orcestra was this?

Rich

quote:

This is WAY over the top!! What orcestra was this?

Agreed, over the top. HOWEVER:


I was on faculty for a prestigious summer festival. One kid sent a tape, and because of this tape he got a full scholarship to a major college and this festival. When we heard him play, we all knew we had a big problem:

The kid sucked bigtime, no WAY was it him on the tape. I am not sure if he lost the scholarships, dont remember.

For a symphony audition, you are just an idiot to pull this; getting your tape in means " Congrats, you get to spend $1000 to fly to Ohio!"

quote:

You wouldn't want your demo glossed over simply because the judges found it difficult to listen to, would you?

NO, personally I would like Mutt Lange or Trevor Rabin to (over)produce my demo

I just see in my head the reality of most orchestra commitees: you got the paper-reader, the donut-eater, the lady who doesnt like any playing, Mr. "it all sounds good" and Ms. "I'm hungry, lets hurry up".

My experience is that most people can tell a good player in 5 seconds. Anything after that is checking to see if they can do spiccato, play soft, all that good stuff.

I think when the CD starts there will be an audible groan of "Oh yuck" if it is a sonic nightmare, but I can stick on an old 78 of Heifetz and he would definitely make the cut.

Hey, it would be a good test ( a sneaky one). Send 2 cds by two fictitious players in different parts of the country. Have the same player play on both, one with Schoepps and an Avalon Pre in a stunning hall, one with a boombox in a closet, and see who is turned down.

Agreed - way over the top.

It wasn't an orchestral audition, it was a prelim for a competition of which the prize was definitely not worth the hassle.

Much of what I would say has already been covered by Rich and Jeremy... I will add a couple things-

First of all, a number of the larger orchestras have very specific audition tape requirements for preliminary rounds. New York and Boston come to mind where they specified a single mic (mono recording), where the mic needed to be placed, and everything. Absolutely no editing or processing was to take place on the tape as well.

I can see what they are trying to accomplish, but there certainly are issues with this (like a mic 6 feet back will sound different in a church than in a band room). It does make it easier to judge as the recordings will be more consistent.

Also, as a general suggestion to players out there- record a tape of all of your standard excerpts and perhaps a well-recorded solo or two. Keep it on file so when auditions come up, you can just make a copy and send it off. I see a lot of musicians that come to me to record tapes and the just don't have the time to record in a way that represents themselves well. Remember, the tape is a direct reflection of YOU.

In college and grad school when I was playing more often, I made a point of either recording myself or booking a studio to record every major solo work I learned. Come audition time, instead of freaking out about what I would play, how I would record it, etc.... I put a tape in the mail without thinking.

As for recording things yourself-

My biggest advice is to get a "real" recorder. Stay away from the minidisc recorders with the plugin mics. I can't tell you how many tapes I've had to rescue that were recorded on those things. The noise floor is high, they use dynamic compression that is usually really bad sounding (makes your softs loud and your louds soft- just what you want for acoustic music where dynamics are key), and they don't record at a CD quality anyways... There are a number of good recorders out there, but expect to put down some good money for them. You can get a pretty darned good setup for $3,000-4,000. Fostex makes a card flash recorder that you can get for about $1300 and then that leaves plenty for a good pair of mics (most will start at $600-$800/ea and you need 2 plus stands, cables, and a stereo bar)

In the end, learn to use your ears. You know best what your instrument should sound like so move the mics until you hear that sound.

--Ben