That Tall Blonde at the Callback — Get Ready to Self Tape
My usual full disclosure: I am NOT an expert at this. I’m learning and navigating this just as you are, but there is something even us casual musical theatre folks are now going to need to master RIGHT NOW — the “SELF TAPE” audition. If you are Equity or professional enough to be auditioning for work in remote locations, you’ve probably already got this down, and you can tell ME what to do and what I’ve missed in the comments below. But if you are like me, you have been doing theater mostly in your own backyard may have mostly avoided this type of audition up until now.
But here’s our new/current reality: if you plan to do ANY theater in 2020 or early 2021 (IF there is theater to be done in 2020/2021 –fingers crossed, sending up a prayer while throwing salt over my shoulder), this is something you need to do. We may not only be doing remote auditions, but perhaps remote callbacks, and even remote rehearsals and performances, at least for the time being. I filmed a self-tape audition today (the first in quite a while for me, but not my first ever), which I’ve posted to YouTube here if you’d like to see the finished product. The song is “City Lights” from the Kander & Ebb show The Act.
What you need:
· Two electronic devices (like a smart phone or laptop or tablet) if you need recorded accompaniment. If you want to play an instrument too, then you just need your smartphone camera (or another video recording device).
· Your instrument (if you play one)OR recorded accompaniment (if you don’t play, OR if you prefer to focus 100% on your vocal instrument)
· Good lighting (can be a window or something like a ring light)
· A stable camera placement. This can be a camera person if you have one quarantined with you, or a tripod or sturdy spot to put your “camera” where it won’t move around.
· A background that’s not totally distracting (so we focus on you, not on your laundry or cute fur baby)
· A quiet house (hard when your whole family is quarantined together, easy if you are holed up by yourself!) And put potentially ringing phones on mute or off.
That’s it! To film mine, I just sit at my piano with my iPhone propped on the music stand in front of my sunny window, flip the camera around and hit record on the video. No fancy post-production or editing, no fancy lighting. Those of you who feel more comfortable with recorded accompaniment will add a bit of complexity, as you’ll need to play the music on one device and record on another. Those of you who WANT to add complexity could use Garage Band or iMovie to add to that, but for a basic vocal audition, it’s really not needed. They just want to see and hear YOU, not evaluate your tech skills. The same goes for whether or not you accompany yourself. If it doesn’t distract you from job #1 (which is singing), do it. If it does, then find a good source of accompaniment (resource list below), go that route.
Do’s and Don’ts:
· Sing a capella ONLY if it’s a last resort. Everyone sounds a bit better with accompaniment.
· Dress as you would for an audition (aka put in some effort). I’ve done a bunch of Zoom meetings for work and pleasure recently in my sweats and glasses, but for a self tape, I’m going to have at least a nice top on with makeup and hair looking decent.
· Choose good material. This may not be the time to tackle that new piece or pull out all the stops on something complex. You may have additional constraints depending on what accompaniment is available to you in a key that works best for you. Pick material you know you can nail.
· If you need to look at the lyrics, you CAN! Just don’t look like you are. Which means, keep them somewhere (like on a music stand) near your camera so that you aren’t looking down or away from the camera too much.
· Don’t go crazy with a bazillion takes. 3 or 4 clean ones for me is usually good. If you do lots more, you risk tiring or damaging your voice and overtaxing your mental well-being as you internally scream “why am I so bad at this????”
· Listen after 2 takes and critique. And know that EVERYONE hates how they sound and look on video, but it’s so useful. Double check any notes you’d place differently, places you could add more emotion or act the song more, places to insert more of the character’s quirks or personality into your performance, etc.
· Do 2 more takes and pick the best one. If you have a tough choice between them, I’d choose the one that shows the most character and emotion, even if it’s at the expense of vocal perfection.
Resources for accompaniment (unvetted — just ones I’ve heard of and know about):
· Appcompanist
· MusicTrax
· YouTube (look for karaoke versions)
· iTunes (look for karaoke versions)
· Smule
· Your good friend who plays the piano and can record for you if you send them the music (please offer to pay them!)
A final full disclosure — Try not to feel too pressured. I’m so NOT productive right now, and even though I kept things simple, all this takes mental energy and time you may not have right now. Personally, I do not have a lot of extra time on my hands like some others do right now. I’m full-time mom of two, quarantine schooling, working my regular work hours from home instead of in the office, cooking WAY more than we usually do to keep everyone fed without resorting to take out (husband has been very helpful here, and is doing most of the venturing out for supplies as well — so grateful), and recovering from a medical issue and resulting surgery (totally non-virus related and non-life threatening, but VERY disruptive to my normal routine). So I’m trying to cut myself some slack and not lamenting the fact I’m not posting multiple cabaret performances and blogging every day or even every week. It was a lot to get the tape and this blog post done. Do what your “new normal” will allow and cut yourself some slack. Whatever you can do to stay sane and we’ll get through this together!
Happy taping, and staying safe and healthy should be priority #1. Take care.
