We record auditions at Rarefied Recording in North Park, and set up time is in fact part of the time we book. This means if you are auditioning with a jazz trio, your engineer has to set up mics on every instrument. This could include: drums, upright bass, piano etc. Along with miking up the instruments, there's setting up headphones and getting the right recording levels. Keep in mind that this process alone can take approximately 45-75 minutes. Plan accordingly!

You’ll be most comfortable if you are very, very well rehearsed, especially on intros and endings. Figuring this stuff out during the session can be stressful and will burn up time. We recommend rehearsing EXACTLY like you will play it at the session. Make a rough recording on your phone. This demo version will allow you to work out a lot of issues before you get to the studio.

If you are a pianist, or if your session will feature piano, we recommend having our tech tune the piano right before you start. Piano tuning can make or break a recording. The cost of tuning is approximately $135.

Your audio is recorded in a program called Pro Tools. If you would like to take rough mixes home for review at the end of your session, Pro Tools has to “bounce a file.” We will need additional time at the end of the session to do this. Pro Tools "bounces files” in real time, meaning, if you have 30 minutes of music it will take 30 minutes for Pro Tools to convert it. When you pick up your final mixes, please bring along a Mac-compatible external harddrive or flashdrive if you’d like to have a backup of your entire session. You can also purchase a 16gig flashdrive from us for the price of $10. The Music You’ll be most comfortable if you are very, very well rehearsed, especially on intros and endings. Figuring this stuff out during the session can be stressful and will burn up time. We recommend rehearsing EXACTLY like you will play it at the session. Make a rough recording on your phone. This demo version will allow you to work out a lot of issues before you get to the studio.

We now offer video packages for audition recordings! You are also welcome to bring your own camera-person if you plan on doing the shooting and editing on your own.

If we are shooting video as part of your audition, this requires extra setup time. It will generally take about 30 minutes to set up the camera, frame the shot, and adjust the lighting. Please note that video set-up time is part of your session time.

Video sessions generate large files and require extra editing time. Between synching the audio to the video, and transferring and converting files, this process does take time. We can only work as fast as our computers will let us! Video sessions must be booked a minimum of one week ahead of your deadline, as we get very busy during audition season. We need that time to process and convert the files into the necessary format. Please don't wait until the last minute to book this!

The college audition process has been changing dramatically over the past few years. More and more colleges accept online submissions, including uploading your video file to a server. Please make sure to get a clear picture of the submission requirements before you book a session with us, so that we can provide the service you need. You will need to find out what format the file needs to be in, how long it needs to be, what the size limit is, and any other requirements.

Kindly remember that we do not offer an upload service and you are responsible for submitting your material.