Advice on making a service band recording

[anonymous4]

Several auditions for Euph and Tuba upcoming and I thought it would be great to start a new thread to get some tips on recording your audition CD from any lurking service band people. Others who have thoughts are welcome to share as well.

Obviously, you want to have a good sound, good time, and good intonation, but what are some of the other things that make a really good recording stand out?

One of the more confusing things is choosing what to put on the recording. A lot of times, the only comment I get is "ten minutes of your best stuff", but when the options are unlimited, paralysis usually ensues because the "perfect" option has to exist out there somewhere.

Just band excerpts? Are orchestra excerpts ok? If you play a solo with accompaniment, is it acceptable to record it without accompaniment? Is a recording of just unaccompanied tuba/euph considered "cheap" and at a disadvantage? What about any great brass quintet/chamber music recordings featuring the player? Jazz/commercial music?

Thanks for any comments

[Doug Elliott]

I'm sure others will have different answers, but as a former Air Force trombonist who went through some auditions including screening the tapes (cassettes at that time):

It doesn't make any difference. The person(s) listening will hear what they need to know about how you play regardless of what you put on it. That's my opinion.

[bort]

Make sure the first 30 seconds of the tape is spotless and awesome. If that sucks and the last 30 seconds of a 10-minute tape are the awesome parts, no one except for you will know it.