In a perfect world, musicians would have the funds to audition - and tour - their dream music schools in person. This gets pricey and time-consuming if your top choices are far away. Fortunately, schools allow you to audition via video - but that means you have to ensure your finished AV file is good enough for your talent to transcend the digital chasm between you and the judges.
The following tips will help you put together an audition video you feel 100% confident in - knowing you put your very best string forward!
Check out our helpful article, Tips on Writing Your Music School Application, where we shared this same piece of advice: when applying to multiple schools, it’s easy to lose sight of who wants what – but that can cost you points from the admissions counselors.
Pay close attention to the instructions from each school – no matter how similar they are – so your audition tape meets their exact requirements. This means that one audition video may not “fit all,” so be prepared to make a few different versions depending on the length of the audition required and other instructional parameters.
The good news is that new, high-tech, gadget video recorders, and even your 4k video iPhone, are surprisingly high quality. There’s no need to pay a professional videographer to record the video for you. However, the space in which you create your video can diminish the quality of the final product’s looks and sound.
Unless you plan to record music frequently, there is no need to invest in recording equipment. Instead, ask around. Odds are your teacher(s) or someone in your orchestra has everything you need and will be more than willing to loan or rent it to you (or do the recording work for you) for free, some bartering, or a reasonable price.
At best, a friend or family member can help monitor sound output and the recording equipment levels. However, even the least techy person will come in handy, providing emotional support and helpful feedback as you work to create the most perfect recording you can produce.
Music schools have strict rules about editing – for instance, you can’t splice out the mistakes from one recording and swap them with music perfect recordings in another. However, you can take advantage of free music editing apps such as Garageband to create MP3 (or other specified) files, put all of your recording submissions together with small pauses, and to sync your video and audio recordings together. This way it doesn’t look like sound was dubbed in. What the admissions panel hears should match what they see on the screen.
Finally, we loop back to #1 - Follow the Instructions! Make sure you send your music school audition via the format they requested – DVD, CD, YouTube link, zip file, etc.
And, while USPS, FedEx, and other shipping companies are very reliable, accidents do happen. Always complete and send your audition off well before the deadline, so you have time to send another if it is accidentally lost in the mail or doesn’t get into the right hands.
The team at StringOvation wish you the best of luck as you pursue acceptance at your dream music school!