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Briefing on the Studio Recording assessment

What is the Studio Recording assessment?​

The Principal Study studio recording assessment enables you to be assessed on the basis of a studio recording – that is, a recording that takes full creative advantage of the tools of the modern studio. This means that your studio recording should be carefully crafted to reflect, in Glenn Gould’s phrase, your ‘best thoughts’ on the music.

What do I have to do?​

The precise assignment depends on your award and department. In each case, the length and musical requirements are slightly different, but the common elements are:

  • Submission of the studio recording
  • Either an oral examination exploring the creative process in the studio or a written commentary

The details for each award and department are given in the Assessment Specifications for the relevant Principal Study module. You should check carefully that you have noted the correct length of recording that must be submitted, and any other requirements that may be particular to your instrument, voice, or discipline.

What are the examiners looking for?​

Examiners are looking for a fine studio performance, which will be assessed on the basis of the submitted recording according to our standard criteria for performance (which are given in the Principal Study module descriptors in the Programme Handbook) and, in addition, a creative use and understanding of the studio medium, which will be assessed in the oral examination or written commentary.

In the oral examination or written commentary (whichever you choose), you are expected to demonstrate:

  • Your ownership and engagement in all aspects of process, whether you produced your own recording, or worked with a producer
  • Your part in shaping the recorded sound quality (eg present, distant, dry, reverberant, etc) and spatialisation
  • Your role in the selection of edit points, and a rationale for these edit points
  • Your understanding of context for your recording, with reference to other recordings

Consideration of these criteria will form the basis of the oral examination or commentary. A single holistic grade is awarded for the performance and the oral examination or commentary.

Process​

  • Students who elect the studio recording assessment will be required to have a discussion with the recording studio engineer to plan programme choices and approaches to the process.
  • You will make your studio recording with the recording engineer. Following your session you will be receive the audio files from the session via OneDrive.
  • Listen to the recordings and provide a marked up score with a reasonable amount of editing, clearly identifying where edits should be made. You should also provide a set of notes describing the edits and their purpose whether this is musical, technical or otherwise. The recording studio staff will then make a first edit for you to check and, where appropriate, make a second edit or remix of the tracks. You will not be expected to attend the editing session. A .pdf file is available with more information about editing: How-to-mark-up-a-score-for-editing.pdf.
  • Following the completion of the recording, the finished tracks must be submitted for marking, accompanied by a clear track listing.

Recording elsewhere​

Your recording does not have to be recorded in the studios of the Conservatoire. However, if you choose to record elsewhere you are of course responsible for the entire process. If you would like to record at the Conservatoire using your own producer, you should discuss this in advance with the recording studio engineer.

We strongly advise that you should not attempt to do the recording or editing yourself, whether using a home studio or a studio to which you may have access. This is a Principal Study assessment, where we are chiefly interested in your ability to use the studio medium to realise a musical performance. You are not being assessed on your ability to use studio hardware and software yourself: the intention is that you learn how to work with a professional who is qualified in this area, not that you attempt to become a recording engineer yourself.

Strategies​

You will need to keep detailed notes on the process of making the recording, including the discussions you have with the recording studio staff or other producer. You should make sure that you are ready to demonstrate all of the assessment requirements given above by detailed reference to specific examples – this could include an annotated score with edit points marked, a log of ‘takes’, notes on practice recordings and even photographs of the recording setup and venue.

Audio or video?​

A number of the departments allow the submission of video recording. If you choose to go down this route, you should be aware of certain limitations. You will not easily be able to use different takes to assemble a performance: each movement will need to be played entire. Furthermore, a video made in a recording studio may be compromised by the layout and lighting of a room not designed for that purpose. If you choose to go down this path, you should be prepared to discuss this decision in your commentary or oral examination.

Studio time and bookings​

Classical students: ten to fifteen minute submissions are allowed ninety minutes of studio time, fifteen to twenty minute submissions are allowed two hours of studio time, thirty minute submissions are allowed three hours. These can be split into two sessions if required. This does not include time spent editing.

Folk and Jazz students: four hours are allowed for a thirty minute submission (multitrack and set up time). This does not include mixing time.

Hours booked for this assessment will be deducted from your studio quota accordingly.

  • Bookings should be made via email to recordingstudioa@rcs.ac.uk
  • Bookings will be accepted on a first come first served basis.
  • If a student brings a group or ensemble into the studio, the majority of musicians must be RCS students: a string quartet must have three students in it, a jazz sextet must have four students etc. (Exceptions to this rule may be made, but will require written authorisation from the Head of Department or Head of Programme)
  • Accompanist piano students cannot bring in non-student soloists to record.

Submission​

Finished submissions should be made online, accompanied by a track listing and, if chosen, your written commentary. The process is:

  • Download the files from OneDrive.
  • Listen to the recordings to make sure that you are happy with the final edits.
  • Make sure you are submitting the finished tracks, not the rough takes! You may wish to rename the files to make this clear.
  • Write up a track listing to make it clear to the examiner what they are supposed to be listening to, and in what order. For instance:
    • Track 1 – Mozart Horn Concerto No 4 in Eb Mvt 1
    • Track 2 – Mozart Horn Concerto No 4 in Eb Mvt 2
    • etc
  • Upload both the finished tracks and the track listing document to the appropriate submission dropbox on moodle

If you are submitting a written commentary instead of the oral examination, then this must be submitted alongside the recordings as well.

Deadline​

There are two published deadlines for the studio recording assessment, in March and May respectively. Which of these deadlines you are working to must be negotiated with your Head of Department and/or the Head of MMus Programme and recorded on your online student record. Once a deadline is agreed, it may not be changed unless there are mitigating circumstances.

It is important that you plan ahead, and book your studio sessions well ahead of time. You must also allow for a two-week window between submitting your edits and receiving the final recordings. For this reason, studio time at the RCS will not normally be available after early May.

If you choose to produce a written commentary, it must be submitted at the same time as the recording. The oral examinations, where agreed, will normally be held between a week and a fortnight after the submission of the recording.