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A Sound investment
Imagine the scene.
The costume looks fantastic, the hair is perfect, warm up completed and boots on. Now the skater stands, alone in the middle of the ice ready to make it all happen.
They wait……….and wait………..and wait !!! Finally the music starts but it sounds like the speakers are faulty, stuffed with pillows and hardly audible . What effect does that have on not only the skater’s performance but also how it is received by the judges.
We all spend a huge amount of time and money helping skaters to get ready for the big moment –lessons, costume, travel , hotels etc but how much attention do we pay to a crucial element of the performance-the music !
I’ve listed a few key points to make sure that the skater gets the most out of their music track.
- Involve the skater in the choice of music-they will skate much better to music that they like. If you hear a piece of music on TV or at the cinema that the skater likes…REMEMBER it –write it down !! You’ll be amazed how easy it is to get hold of such music. Ideally let them chose 3 or 4 tracks that you can then play to their coach. You can all then have an input into the final choice
- Try to find music that is different. We’ve all seen situations where skater after skater has chosen the same type/theme. Riverdance is the classic example of this, but what about James Bond, Indiana Jones, Let’s face the music, Diamonds are a girls best friend, Star Wars- all done to death !!!
- Try to find music that suggests a “theme”. This will make it easier to find appropriate costume and get the whole “look” right.
- Make at least one “master copy” from the original sound source (CD, DVD,MP3 etc) you will use this to make the actual tracks to be used at practice and competition.
- Always get the best format of the music available. Don’t be tempted to use a copy.
- When using mini-disks DO NOT USE SONY MD COMPUTER SOFTWARE ! Only a Sony portable player will be able to read the disk. To all intents and purposes you will have a blank disk.
- DO NOT USE LONG PLAY FORMAT. Only another long play machine will recognise the track and, again, you effectively have a blank disk.
- When using CD formats check them on as many different machines as you can. There are many recording formats these days, particularly on PCs, and not every player will recognise every format.
- Avoid copying a copy. This is called a “second generation” version (each copy is a “generation” so a copy from the original source is a “first generation” a copy of a copy is “second generation” and so on) and will inevitably be of a poorer quality.
- The skater needs a minimum of two versions. One for performance with just a 2 or 3 second lead in and a second copy for practice with around an 8-10 second lead in to give them time to start the track and then get to their starting position on the ice.
- Don’t mix up the 2 versions otherwise the skater will be standing, alone, in the middle of the ice for what seems like an eternity waiting for the opening bars.
- Think about the sound man. He will only just have time to switch one competitor’s disk for another. He can’t “scroll” through to find where the music starts-he simply doesn’t have time. Make sure the performance track only has a short lead in.
- Do not write instructions like “play loud” or have more than one track on a disk. Frankly the sound man does not the time to read the labels.
- Always have at least 2 copies of the performance track (2 or 3 second lead in) to take to a competition. Even mini-disks and CDs can fail so be prepared. !
- Finally, if any skater needs assistance with their music you will find Mike McNulty more than happy to help.
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