My vocalist asks the front desk if there are any unused conference or meeting rooms. They are usually more than happy to unlock one for her if there are.
3 Likes
Mine has been traveling a lot for professional auditions. He usually practices in the hotel rooms and usually does not have issues.
Funny enough, he was at an audition last week and he said for the first time he got an automated alert to his phone that he set off some noise/volume sensor. Not sure how he worked around the issue, he was going to try the closet. 
1 Like
My son (and his many friends) play in hotel rooms all the time. They are classic string musicians. They use mutes.
1 Like
Ah yes! Woodwind players (and their neighbors) sure wish practice mutes were an option.
However, our instruments do all work as carry ons (except bass clarinets and contrabassoons) so overall a fair trade off. 
Travel practice can be a challenge since it takes the musician out of their comfortable routine. But it is good to figure out strategies to make it work, because travel is often a big part of a musician’s life.
2 Likes
My percussionist son goes to the pool area and plays on a practice pad.
What have you guys been doing to mitigate catching illness throughout all your travel/ auditions? My vocal performance son is terrified to fly and catch something and a mask doesn’t seem to calm his anxiety very much. Any tips?
FWIW I noticed that all of the hotels Northwestern partners with for visiting prospective students list “in-hotel practice spaces” as an amenity. Might be worth checking if the school you’re visiting does something similar.
1 Like
My kid swears by Zicam and a mask. Knock on wood.
1 Like
Mm voice applicant update
Yale- pass!!!
Bard- pass
BU- pass
NEC- pass
Peabody- pass
Juilliard- rejected
8 Likes
Ditto the hotel ballroom/conference room thing. My daughter (a vocalist) used one at a hotel near Eastman, and it was great. Although, I think she’s been warming up in her hotel room at YoungArts this week because they have been VERY controlling and won’t let them go anywhere else in the hotel except for their room.
I also just ordered her a BeltBox to use in the event she ever has to warm up and can’t find a more private space. I tried to get her one for Christmas, but they were all sold out, but I managed to score one on Amazon earlier today, and it should be here in time to take it with us for auditions.
Mine does frequent saline nasal flushes and it seems to help as long as you’re consistent with it. I do it now too and nobody wants to hear me sing LOLOL!
Ok just the name alone makes me want to buy it!
I’ve heard really good things! And yes, the name is awesome 
If she likes it, I’ll probably get one for myself as well. I can’t count the number of times I’ve gotten stuck warming up in some random and extremely unsoundproof room. The best was the back room of a cathedral in Italy where the wall didn’t even go up to the ceiling. Every siren and lip trill reverberated for like 30 seconds, but when there’s a concert in a few minutes, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do, LOL. Something like a BeltBox would have been amazing to have at that moment 
1 Like
I sent the link to my son- he loves a gadget- I bet he’ll want it!
Another helpful audition tip. If your musician tends to practice most or all of the time in the same practice space, have them experiment with playing in different places.
This might not be true for everyone, but my son feels it helps to hear himself with different amounts of resonance and varying acoustics. He used to get thrown off by the changes. You never know if you will have your audition in a well designed concert/recital hall or a small classroom.
2 Likes
Passed prescreen for BM at Juilliard, NYU, MSM, UMich, IU, CCM, BU, Eastman, Blair, Oberlin
Which schools are you waiting on?
7 Likes
also auditioning percussion. don’t know a lot about CCM but can try, we did visit last year. particular questions? maybe we’ll see you on the percussion audition loop!
1 Like
ooh good idea! even though practice pads are pretty quiet, That is better than the room! and i am super excited when we can find a pool, after the flying everywhere, that would be physically really good if we can have a minute to hit a pool!!
1 Like
DD just got the pass from CMU (BFA). So far she will audition (BM) live at:
IU, BU, SFC, CCM, Eastman, and CMU.
DD received an email from Peabody letting her know that the schedule of viola audition will be released soon.
She applied to Bard at the cutoff date, so we haven’t heard yet from them. Rice was a no.
We have an incredibly busy schedule for 5 days of auditions planned. She will be auditioning for 4 schools in 6 days! One school only had auditions one weekend and that weekend we already had another school scheduled. Thankfully they are pretty close to each other. But each night we get to the hotel rooms early, so she should be able to get a good night sleep. It is not ideal, but we had no choice. I was surprised most were in February. Thankfully IU will stand alone in March. That is where my oldest studies piano and we get to spend a couple days with her. She loves it there!
3 Likes
Actually I made a mistake on my DD college list of live auditions…it is not CCM, rather it is CIM…I didnt know the distinction.