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Hello piano teachers!

Would any of you ever consider hiring someone to record your students' recitals, or individual students (or yourself)? I'm trying to gauge the interest of piano teachers in this, and I would be interested in knowing the reasons you would or would NOT.

I'm a piano teacher and composer, and I'm trying to gradually build up a recording service for classical musicians. So far, I've recorded numerous individual recitals of fellow piano teachers and grad students at a nearby university.

Ironically, I've not recorded my own students' recitals, chiefly because my clients' interest in it seems only luke warm, but also because it is too much work for me as one person, to put on the recital and record it. If interest in a recording were stronger, I would probably look into hiring someone...

I have all the equipment for digital recording and editing, and I used it a lot for my composing... So, while I don't have the expertise of a professional sound engineer, I do have some, and my charge is very moderate by comparison.

I also tried recording a recital...and totally forgot to press the "record" button when we began. I think the interest is lukewarm for me as well, probably6 because they have their own camcorders if they want it. But one thing I did start doing which the kids really appreciated (and I'm sure the parents will too), is to record pieces once they've completed them, then give them a CD at the end of the year. So each year they'll get a CD of the pieces they've learned. The kids are all very excited about this, and it's been a great teaching tool because they listen to their performances, and get to critique themselves. And for those little mistakes that happen, I show them how we can "fix" those like the pros do. Of course, I try to get them to play a fairly good rendition of the piece first. We just don't have the time in lessons to do 3-4 takes, so I work with what we get in one or two.

Perhaps this would be better for you because it is less work, and when it comes time to make the CDs, you can do it whenever you choose to. I save the recordings as mp3s for now, though because otherwise it would take up way too much space!

Maybe give this a try and see if you get more interest.

Thanks, Morodiene. That's a good idea. Recording my students throughout the year is a little harder for me to do since I'm a traveling teacher... The students' homes are not the ideal place to record, and I wouldn't be able to do it easily with my usual equipment. But your idea is certainly something to consider.

But really, my question centers around whether piano teachers in general are in the market to hire someone to record their students.. I'm not really asking about how I can more easily record my own students.

In any case, thanks for your thoughts about this.

I'll add that I'm new to this forum and find it just fantastic. There are plenty more questions / issues that I will be posting.

I'm surprised you get a lukewarm reaction. At my daughter's school, there used to be slugfests as parents duked it out jockeying for good recording position during the school concerts. Now the school hires a videographer, the parents get to enjoy the concert as it is occurring, and then we get a professional-quality DVD of it a couple of weeks later to save forever. The only downside is that we don't get the individual close-ups of our daughter... but that's something you'd be able to remedy when recording a recital that just has one performer at a time.

Sounds like a win-win situation to me. I'm baffled your parents don't like the idea. I'd sign up for such a service in a heartbeat.

Oh, perhaps I should have clarified that I've offered only an AUDIO recording, not a video recording... The recording business I'm trying to start is only audio... not a videography business...

I bought a Roland Hr-09 Edirol recorder (around $350 or so?) which does MP3 recordings. It's small and very easy to operate, and produces high quality recordings. I had a dad operate it so I didn't have to think about it, and gave each child a CD this week in their lesson. I also have made lots of individual recordings of their pieces in their lessons right before the recital , and can email them to their parents. They love it!! I would not see any need to hire anyone - the quality of this is good enough.

Carol

I actually do my own recording, though for higher quality recordings I have a couple of friends who do it for us. Then again, I'm very much a techie.

Meri

Well, I feel a little excluded after that statement!

Now why would you just offer this to only classical musicians?

Did record a few recitals, but one time I did hit the record button, but forgot to "turn the video camera on"!

Too much excitement in one day!

Diane -- Sorry to make you feel excluded!

I'm certainly open to anyone who wants to hire me, whether they're classical musicians or not!

As I'm thinking of people who've been clients or could potentially be clients, I consider the people in my professional and social circles, who are mostly classical and some jazz musicians. The local, head-banging, college-kid band is probably not going to hire me because I'm not in their circles... and I don't have much experience micing amps and dealing with club conditions. :rolleyes:

On another note: your experience of forgetting to turn on the video camera is why I haven't tried to record my own students' recitals -- too much for me to worry about as someone who is running the whole show.

Purepassion, piano teachers are in the market for your services, but generally do not understand the underlying costs involved in providing a quality product.

I use a hand held Sony for recording simple recitals such as our OMTA Sonatina Festival or Fall Harvest, and make CDs for my students. I also use it now for my Spring recital.

For our Youth Symphony and audition recordings, I use this setup which provides a very high quality product.

This fee, which is really break even cost, is outside the range most teachers would even consider.

Good luck.

John

That's a good point, John. Recitals tend to cost money, especially if the teacher is renting a hall. Some teachers do charge an "administration fee" at the beginning of the year to cover this sort of thing. But many, myself included, eat the cost of printing, treats, and renting a hall (or in my case, chairs for the recital space). I spend about $150 total for a recital, which does not get passed on to my students. I would not even consider a professional recording because of the cost involved. I suppose if I had students commit to buying a CD in advance and could get enough people to agree to it, it could happen.

I am finding that students are becoming much more interested now in having videos of themselves playing on YouTube than in sound recordings. The advantage of this is that it makes their performances available to friends and family internationally, and the process encourages them to both look and sound good as they perform. It also draws the attention away from recording sound quality (although this must obviously be reasonable) as there is no direct comparison with CDs. I don't teach piano, but accompany student instrumentalists and singers, and it is a pretty simple process to film them playing at my house with me accompanying (off camera), edit the footage (adding titles), set up a YouTube channel for them, upload the video, and then hand the channel details and password to the parents who can then take full control of replying to comments etc.