Quality of pre-screen recordings

StacJip
Wed, 20 May 2015 23:33:09 +0000

My son passed all his prescreens…we hired teachers from the NEC prep program to be additional rhythm (son is a Jazz Bassist) and recorded it at one of the studios at a local high school that has a conservatory. We did it in one evening and they spent about four hours on it.

Now my own son has participated in playing on numerous successful prescreen recordings for younger students as a Jazz Bassist. Many are similar in quality to what he did, but others just do it at their local high school with recording equipment there. So much depends on where a student is applying. If you are using the recording as an addition to an academic application then it is less important to get an actual recording studio. But if you are applying to conservatory I would invest the time and money. At a minimum it is a nice thing to have.

Think of the recording as your presentation. Obviously if you are applying and it is clear you live far from resources or do not have the money then schools will make allowances for a poor recording. But if you clearly have the ability to do a nice recording then if your recording feels a bit less polished the conservatories you are applying to might question your child or your commitment to this particular path.