[Mike Rivers]

David Grant wrote:

I got into it because I recorded a friend's opera recital at a church (which
had good acoustics and a good piano) and one of the other performers
approached me to do this work. A gig that led to another. This church would
be ideal except that it isn't available at a price the singer is willing to
pay.

OK, then you have at least a little experience. That's a good start. The
fact that you have a cheapskate for a client, though, makes it tough for
you to apply what you've learned.

What's riding on the audition recording?

I was hesitant to ask that question because I couldn't determine why I
needed to know. Let me guess, knowing the answer might make it obvious that
I need to recommend the singer spend more money on a better venue.

Yup, you got it! But another way of looking at it is that it may be that
what's important isn't so much how good she sounds when recorded, but if
her phrasing and diction are good, if she can bring the proper emotion
to the music, if she sings in tune and can follow the accompanist. All
of those things can come across no matter what the recording environment
is. If it's an audition to get into a school program or a local
production, then a casual recording will do. If it's an audition for a
record label or to join an opera company, then having a well made
recording is an important indicator of how professional she is and how
committed she is to the business. I expect that she knows something
about this.

But can you really capture the "full sound" of an opera singer up close? I'm
sure that the singer's technical abilities can be captured fairly accurately
in this configuration but I'm not really sure it would sound anything like
what an audition judge would expect it to.

It all depends on what the judge is looking for. I think you need to
find out just what're really expected and then advise her of what to do.
If having a good quality recording is a high priority, then just tell
her that the only way she'll get that is in a better space than what she
can afford. If what's important is how good she is as a singer, as long
as she feels good singing where you decide to record, then it'll be OK.
Let her make the choice. Invite her over and have her sing a little in
your room. If she says "Oh! I can't project in here because it sounds
like I"m singing in the shower, then she'd better try the church.

I'm still trying to find the Roland model #.

I doubt that it really matters, particularly if you're going to record a
direct output. If the only piano sound comes from built-in speakers, it
might be difficult to balance with the singer since it probably doesn't
project like a grand piano. But given that this is a low budget project,
all you can do is try your best with what you have to work with.


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