Prescreening Tips and Tricks!

Written By Adrian Wong

By Jackson Howard

As you are looking into music schools, you may have seen schools that require prescreening recordings to be invited to a live audition. Prescreening recordings are used to help narrow down how many people who are at a live audition at each school, as some schools have over hundreds of applicants! 

So how do you stand out in this sea of people? By making the best recordings possible, of course! We’re here to help, and this article will tell you how.

Here is an outline of what this article will cover.

  • Make a list

  • Figure out your timeline

  • Find a recording space

  • Get a microphone!

  • How much does this all cost?

  • Tips and tricks

Make a list

The first process is to create a list of everything you will need for the recording. Here is a prescreening checklist made by Oliver with everything you will likely need!. Note that these may change depending on your instrument’s specific needs.

Figure out your timeline

The second thing to do in preparation to record your prescreenings is to make a timeline for yourself. This will help keep you on track to be able to get everything done. Here’s a sample timeline:

Before September

  • Find out the requirements of each school.

    • This involves looking on the websites of each school to see what they would like for recording. This may include specific cuts, specific recording angles of the camera, or other unique requirements. Use our Music School Organizer to help you out!

September to October

  • Recording space

    • You will need to find a space that is appropriate to record in. We will discuss more about what a great recording space is in a later section.

  • Microphone (and any other necessary accessories)

    • A microphone is a great investment and asset for the rest of your music career! Again, we will discuss what to look for in a later section.

  • Finding an accompanist (if needed)

    • This will involve asking your teachers for recommendations of pianists nearby, or asking someone whom you have already performed with before. Another resource is www.pianoaccompanists.com, which has pianists in many areas. This may not be a requirement for every program—but it is still highly encouraged if it is an option. Many programs require no accompaniment too, so be sure to check!

October

  • Test out how to best use your microphone

    • This is one of the most important and underrated aspects of using a microphone. This will involve performing with the microphone at different spots. This may be in the space that you will be recording it, but it is not necessary at this point.

Early November

  • Practice performing the prescreening repertoire for others.

    • Performing for other people will help ease your nerves about performing a piece for the first time, and it will show where you need to keep working and improving. This does not have to be a musician, but can be for anyone (including your dog!).

Mid-November

  • Recording Week

    • This is the fun part! Plan for a couple of days of recording and make sure to save energy for the sessions themselves. The recording sessions are much more tiring than you would first expect, so make sure to plan for this. You will want to bring snacks and water in case you get hungry, as well as recording signs to put up outside of the space to make sure that people do not accidentally walk in while you are recording. 

Find a recording space

Finding a great recording space is a very important aspect of any recording. It helps show you in your best light and gives you the best opportunity to share who you are with the panel. The best qualities of this space include being resonant and somewhat large—this allows for your playing to be clear, while creating an attractive sound for the listener. This space often is a church, a small recital hall, a school gymnasium, or theatre. 

Note that this is something you should be looking for early on in the process. When you find a space that fits your needs, you should try to practice performing and recording in it on a different day than your recording date to find the best placement of your microphones and to see where you sound best. The idea is so that you can save energy on your recording days in order to perform at your best.

Get a microphone!

For prescreening recordings, the quality of the microphone you have is not the most important, as the panel is not expecting a finished product. The goal of this recording is to get an idea of who you are and how you play, and having professional-quality microphones is not required at all. However, a mid-tier, stand-alone microphone is often much better than the mic on your phone! Here are some starts to find a microphone that may fit what you need. This is a starting place and should not be taken as the definitive opinion on the subject.

A good general option for any instrument is a Zoom H4N Pro.

Brass and Winds:

  • Ribbon microphones are a good option that will be flattering to brass and wind instruments. Ribbon mics are much more fragile than other microphones and you should take extra care if you decide to use them. Condenser microphones are also less good, but still work in a pinch

    • Ribbon - Apex 205, Fathead (any edition), RM BIV 

    • Condenser - Shure SM57, Rhode NT1 Signature, MXL 770

Singers:

  • You will be tempted to get a Shure SM57, but this will not end up with a great recording. You will have more luck with small condenser microphones that you can sing into from a distance. 

    • Octava MC 012, AKG P170, Antelope Audio Edge

Strings, Piano, and Percussion

  • Small diaphragm condensers are great for string, piano, and percussion. These generally get the best sound of the room, and will sound the most like a live performance. Below are some recommendations:.

    • Blue Yeti Condenser, XLR M5 pair, NT-5 (pair if possible), AKG P170

Accessories are sometimes needed for this as well. You will need to combine audio and video if you use separate devices for each input. There are a few free programs for this that have a relatively low bar to entry:

  • KdenLive

  • GarageBand

  • Shotcut

Using these programs deserves a much more in-depth course than this article can provide, but there are many great resources on how to do this online. You can find many tutorials on YouTube about how to combine your audio and video.

You may also need a connection to a laptop to use your microphone. This may just be a USB connection, which you can connect directly to your computer, but most likely, you will have to use a digital interface. If you are using an XLR connection, the best way to connect it is with a digital interface. Some examples of digital interfaces are below:

  • Focusrite USB Audio interface, Behringer UMC22, M-Audio M-Track Solo

How much does this all cost?

It is vital to know how much you should expect to spend on prescreenings so you can budget accordingly. Here is a draft budget that will look similar to what you may experience:

$50-$500 - Microphone and accessories

$100-$300 - Accompanist fees (if necessary)

$100-$500 - Venue Rental (if necessary)

Total: Approximately $250-$1,300

These costs do not include the application fees for each school, as they vary widely depending on which school and how many schools you are applying to. 

Tips and tricks

  • Plan ahead to finish early. You don't want to be the person uploading your recordings at 11:59 pm just before the application is due. Planning relieves stress. Uploading that late leaves you open to technical errors if your internet fails or something related.

  • Bring a friend on the day of recording. This could be a family member, your teacher, or even a close friend. This allows you to have someone to talk to during the breaks in recording to help keep you level. Just make sure that they are out of the frame of recording and that they stay quiet during takes!

  • Have fun! Mistakes happen, and nobody is expecting you to be perfect for any school auditions. Beautiful musical phrasing is more important than playing perfectly.

Canadian trombonist Jackson Howard is highly sought after as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician throughout the United States and Canada. A prize winner in the Jeju International Brass Competition, he has performed as a soloist with the Jeju Philharmonic Orchestra, the PRISMA Festival Orchestra, the Fraser Valley Symphony, and the Chilliwack Metropolitan Orchestra. As an orchestral musician, Jackson has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Canada), the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as guest principal. He holds a Bachelors of Music (Honours) from the Glenn Gould School of Music, and is pursuing a Masters of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music.

Adrian Wong
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College Auditions 101