10 Tips for Recording and Editing Prescreenings
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Alright, so now that you have an effective recording schedule, you have some practice sessions under your belt, and you got some lessons on the piece it is now time to record!
With the ten tips in this article, my hope is that three things will happen:
The actual recording session will be easier on you mentally and physically
Post-Production will be easier
You will have high-quality audio and video
Tip 1: Find an Ideal Time and Space
I will be the first to tell you, that nothing is as frustrating as thinking you got a good take of an excerpt and hearing a door close in the background of a recording. So frustrating! So how do you avoid this?
Well, you got to pick the right space. When locating a room I would try and look for the following:
Minimal traffic from people outside the room
Minimal noise from inside the room, such as crazy loud air-conditioning.
Minimal noise from outside the room, like your neighbor Gary who never seems to stop mowing his yard, or your dog who gets amped up every time the mailman drives by.
Ability to get instruments into the room (like a marimba)
Enough Space to setup recording gear
Outlets for plugging in gear
Ability to reserve the room
It’s also worth mentioning that some of these details will improve during different times of the day. When I recorded my master’s prescreenings I used the percussion studio at night on Fridays when everyone was gone. I also did some early morning recording sessions on Saturdays, where I left up gear from the previous night and could walk in and immediately start playing. Luckily, no one was up at the crack of dawn practicing so it ended up working out for me!
Tip 2: Get the Right Equipment
Instruments
This will most likely not apply to most auditionees, but if you use shared equipment like I do as a percussionist try to be wary of what gear you use.
I’ve had issues with keyboards being out of tune, having marimba frames that rattled, or maybe even a freshly cracked bar. So make sure you check your chosen instrument for issues such as those, so you don’t have to worry about it during your recording session.
Recording Gear
I may or may not have gone overboard in this aspect of recording, but I don’t think it hurt anyone. I was determined to get the best quality recordings possible, so I really explored all of the options available to me.
Here is a list of all of the stuff I used:
Computer with Video and Audio Editing Software
Professional Microphones
Mic Cables
Mic Stands
Scarlett Interface
Camera
Camera Tripod
Black Backdrop
Lighting Equipment
Small Whiteboard and Marker (I did not use this, but wish I did)
Yeah, I know. It seems like a lot, but luckily you don’t need to personally own all of this equipment. If you are part of a music school there is a good chance that your school will own some or all of this equipment. Luckily, the music school I attended had all of this gear available for free.
To get an idea of what your school has, try emailing your teacher. They will most likely, be able to point you in the right direction.
If you don’t have all of this gear don’t worry, some of it is unessential and I have seen people pass prescreenings with less than ideal gear.
Tip 3: Be Mindful of Your Set-up
This is for both look and function. Making the recording space clean and well-organized can help the look of the video, but it can also help make your life easier. Here are some things to keep in mind:
Make sure the background of the video is nice-looking. Remove chairs, music stands, instruments, etc. If you have a backdrop this may not be an issue.
Position your camera angle so that it is recording your instrument and all of your body. Check out this screenshot below!
If you are using a backdrop, make sure that your camera doesn’t see anything past the backdrop.
Make sure the audio equipment isn’t obtrusive. I hid the cables underneath the view of the camera and tried to keep the microphones out of the shot.
Set up your computer connected to the audio equipment on a table close to where you are playing, but out of camera view. I used this to keep a journal for taking notes on takes, put extra sticks/mallets, and kept snacks and drinks there.
Tip 4: Double Check Settings
Using all of this equipment meant that there are a lot of settings I needed to double-check. I won’t get super detailed here, because I am not an expert on audio and video recording, but I know the basics so I’ll share those with you. Keep a lookout for future articles that go will go into way more detail about these subjects from people with much more experience than I have.
Audio
The first thing to check is your Microphone levels. What I would recommend doing is hitting record and playing the loudest section. In the audio editing program you use, there will be a level meter. When you play something the level meter will fill up with green at the bottom, yellow and orange in the middle, and red at the top. If I was to have the gain super high on the Scarlett interface and play at a loud dynamic it would hit the red which means it is most likely clipping. In simple terms, this is bad audio.
If this is the case simply turn down the gain on your interface so that when you play something loud it doesn’t hit the red or orange color. Once you do this play some various dynamic levels and listen back to the recordings. Can you hear the softs clearly and is there any distortion or clipping on the top end with the volume on your computer at a reasonable level? If not, you should be good to go. I would also take a picture of the settings for future use.
If you are recording multiple instruments, you will have to figure audio settings for each one. They will each require different things.
Video
I personally find videos a little easier to set up. Here is a small list of things to check for:
Make sure the camera is focused
Make sure the camera is capturing exactly what you want
Check to make sure there is enough lighting to see everything you need
I accidentally recorded something with not enough lighting and had to re-record. Whoops!
Once this is ready it’s time to start recording!
Tip 5: Stay Organized
When I recorded pre-screenings, doing post-production was a complete pain, because I failed to stay organized during my recording sessions.
So how do you stay organized?
First, hit record on both audio and video and let it run. You don’t have to stop recording in between every single take which will allow you to get many more takes in during a session.
The second thing to do is call takes. Every time you are going to play another repetition, call what number you are on out loud so that you can listen for it in the audio when editing. Another method is to mark it down in your audio File. In logic you can set markers while recording that can correspond to takes. Pretty neat!
Third, you should do some sort of visual take system for the camera. Filmmakers use clapperboards which help them sync the audio and video. You could also use a small whiteboard with a marker or even just hold up fingers. This would have saved a ton of time in post-production. I would do this at the same time as when you call takes!
Fourth, after the take is done make some sort of note whether or not the take is good, bad, or possibly usable. When I recorded I said these details out loud, so it was recorded and I could listen back to it in post. You could also keep a notebook nearby and jot down quick notes or even type it into a computer. Any of these are fine!
If you do all of these consistently future you is going to be seriously thanking past you.
Tip 6: Take Breaks
I’ve said this in other articles mainly about practicing, but I think it applies here as well. Don’t fall into the trap of going for an hour or two hours straight without giving yourself a brain break. Your mental stamina will not be able to keep up and your quality of playing will go down.
After a couple of not-great sessions, I started using the Pomodoro method to help alleviate this. twenty-five minutes of recording and five minutes of rest. This kept me from getting fatigued early in the session and helped boost the number of good takes I had.
Taking breaks also helped me from staying in a slump. In some sessions, the first couple of takes would go poorly and it started messing with my head. Having built-in breaks gave me a natural reset for when things were going badly during a recording session.
Tip 7: Cut Your Losses
This happened to me and it may happen to you. Sometimes you get into a recording session and it is just not happening. It could be for any number of reasons, maybe your focus is out the window, you need more practice, you are crazy stressed from school, etc.
Whatever the case, don’t freak out! It happens to the best of us. Instead of trying to continue to hammer away at it, I suggest you walk away and reschedule. If you are using the recording plan, I suggested in the previous music school audition article then everything just shifts over a week and you are good to go!
Ultimately, I think you will get a better recording from doing this and most likely you will do it in less overall time.
Tip 8: Double-Check Your Audio and Video Thoroughly
Once you find the take that you think will work, all you have to do is sync them together. I use Final Cut Pro which allows me to automatically sync them with a button. You could also sync them manually by zooming in and matching up the peaks of the audio. After you do this double-check the entirety of the video and make sure that everything is synced perfectly.
Afterward double-check this video with high-quality headphones so you can catch anything you didn’t the first time. If you think it is good show it to a trusted teacher and/or colleague to get approval!
Tip 9: Put Some Finishing Touches on Final Edits
This may be another thing I went overboard on, but it takes only a few minutes in any video editing software. I like to add the following:
A Title Screen at the beginning of the video with the name of the piece and composer
A transition from black at the beginning to the title screen
A transition to black at the end of the video
Color Correction (I did not do this, but could be a nice touch if you or a friend are savvy at video editing)
Make sure to double-check how they need to be submitted as well. Some schools may ask for one long video with all of the pieces edited together, and some may ask for links to individual pieces. As an example check out this screenshot below!
Tip 10: Make a Blooper Reel
I’m only slightly kidding and if you do this, please send it to me. Everyone needs a good laugh.
Good Luck!
If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me! I would love to help or connect you with someone who is knowledgeable in that area. If you have any other tips to help recording novices I would love to hear them. Please comment them down below or send me an email!
In the next article, I’m excited to share some tips to play your best live audition. Looking forward to it!
