<p>If you are unable to meet Princeton’s request for 10-15 minutes of recording, then it is possible that your level of talent is not up to the level that would help you gain admittance at HYPS. A recording which is merely very good rather than genuinely excellent is apt to detract from your application. </p>
<p>Possibly you have misinterpreted the time requirement to mean a continuous, uninterrupted, unaccompanied time. Ten minutes of playing is not too much to expect from a brass player. Remember that within that ten minutes you will probably include two or three different movements that are recorded at different times to allow your embouchure to recover. If you record a single long movement (less likely because it affords less opportunity to demonstrate your abilities to deal with different styles of music), then there will be piano interludes which also give you some recovery time. </p>
<p>The better high school trumpet players that I have heard recently often have Arutunian as one of the works in their repertoire. It is just over 15 minutes long, but with cuts to the orchestral parts would come in well under the 15 minute suggested maximum. I mention Arutunian just as an example of the level of playing that a good trumpet player should have reached. Haydn and Hummel are fine too, if well-played. If you are not at least close to the level required to turn in an excellent performance of these standard works, then you might be better off not including a recording as part of your applications to HYPS.</p>
<p>You ask whether HYPS are expecting perfection on the recordings. The simple answer is no because no recording is perfect, including those of the superstar classical recording artists. However, for a recording to help your application, it must be of a high level. </p>
<p>Too often I encounter high school musicians that believe the absence of wrong notes and conspicuously out-of-tune notes along with adherence to marked tempo and dynamics is sufficient to constitute perfection. Their ears are not well enough developed to hear the countless small intonational consistencies they make or to hear the difference in the tone between themselves and an artist (and the difference is not the mere absence of cracked notes, rather it is the difference between consistent and beautiful) or to hear the difference between an accurate performance and a soul-wrenching performance. I would avoid using the word “perfect” in relation to music as it normally indicates a profound misunderstanding of the nature of musical performance.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about a couple of cracks in your sound if you otherwise have beautiful tone, excellent facility on your instrument, and a mature and deep understanding of the music.</p>