Tag Archives: competition

Making the Impact-dance competition podcast

This morning, Making the Impact dance competition podcast released Episode 153, The Dos and Don’ts of Music Editing for Competitive Dance. The hosts of the show are Courtney Ortiz and Lesley Anne Mealor, and this week’s guests are myself and Amy Gibson. I was incredibly honored to be invited as a guest on this highly regarded and popular dance podcast. It was an immense pleasure to talk with Courtney, Lesley, and Amy for an hour. The conversation was excellent and time flew by in an instant. Listen to this informative episode here.

I am excited that this episode has been published! I hope that listeners come away with new knowledge about how to prepare your music so that it’s ready for the competition stage, or any performance stage for that matter. Listeners may gain a greater appreciation for how much a great soundtrack can elevate a dance routine.

Please comment below with any insights or tips that you may have learned. If you would like to learn more about making sure your music is stage-ready, get a copy of my free 5-page PDF: Top Ten Tips for Creating Stage-Ready Music

Find out more about my Catalog of stage-ready clean song edits and mixes. Each one is optimized to give your choreography maximum emotional impact.

Learn more about my custom Magical Recital Welcome Soundtracks.

To connect with me, email me at morriss@squirreltrenchaudio.com or message me on Facebook.

Barbie Girl Clean promo

Barbie Girl, Squeaky Clean edits for choreo

The Barbie movie is out today! Barbie Girl is a great song, but some of the lyrics are highly inappropriate for use in a dance studio. I have cleaned this one, removing the lines “undress me everywhere,” “kiss me here, touch me there”, and others, to present you with:
• Barbie Girl (Squeaky Clean) (3:04, 2:56, 2:41, 2:26 – $9.99)

Click to listen: 2:26 Preview2:41 Preview2:56 Preview3:04 Preview

Email me at morriss@squirreltrenchaudio.com if you’d like this version! Browse 1300 more clean edits and mixes in my Squirrel Trench catalog.

Buy 5, Get 5 Free

Buy 5, Get 5 Free!

It’s that time of year again – time to pick out new music for the upcoming season’s routines. If you want competition-level clean song edits and mixes, my Buy 5, Get 5 Free offer is now permanent! This offer also applies to any number of songs more than 5, so if you Buy 12, you get 12 Free! (The purchase has to be made in one request in order to qualify.) There’s no greater library of flawless, clean, choreo-ready song edits and mixes, than right here: Squirrel Trench choreo-ready music catalog

Check out the catalog, with 1300 tracks organized by style of dance, and email me at morriss@squirreltrenchaudio.com with your selections!

How to Edit Music for Choreography, beautifully

Below is the introduction for a book I am writing. I would appreciate any and all feedback you might have in the comments. I can be reached via email at: morriss@squirreltrenchaudio.com.

How to Edit Music for Choreography, beautifully by Morriss M. Partee. (c) 2023

Introduction

Dance is the art of human movement. And while dance can exist without music, most dance is performed with a soundtrack. For more than ten years, I have had the great honor of creating several thousand soundtracks for choreographers around the world, primarily in the United States, but also in Canada, Australia, the U.K., and New Zealand. It’s been my personal mission over that time to ensure that every dancer performs with flawless, beautiful music. Every time I take on a new music editing or mixing project, I give it the same care and attention as if it were my own child performing with it. 

This book is for choreographers, and those who create soundtracks for their routines. Having attended numerous dance competitions and recitals where dance was performed with the soundtracks I created, I have developed an array of techniques for making these soundtracks excellent. My aim is to give you the practical knowledge I’ve gained working with hundreds of choreographers, and studying music and audio engineering, so that you too, can produce flawless music for choreography.

This text focuses on transforming popular songs, which are generally three to four minutes in length, into soundtracks for choreography, which usually range from two to two-and-a-half minutes.  There are two disciplines needed to create flawless song edits for choreography – musicianship and audio engineering. Those two disciplines dovetail with understanding the intersection between music and dance, and the general cues that young dancers rely on to remember the choreography that they learn and perform. 

Music and audio technology have made impressive leaps forward over the past two decades. Fortunately, long gone are the days when choreographers would use two cassette decks to painstakingly align different parts of a song, often using a pencil to try to get it just right. (If you don’t know why a pencil is involved with cassettes, be glad!) What is now primitive technology came with a whole host of limitations. 

Digital audio and personal computer technology makes it so that all of us are within reach of an amazing arsenal of tools to make music for choreo that is flawless. Today’s laptop has more audio processing power at a reasonable price than the million-dollar recording studios built in the 1970s and ‘80s. Recording engineers of that era couldn’t have imagined that eventually we could put entire virtual orchestras inside of a portable computer that is less than ¾” of an inch in thickness. But while audio technology has advanced to the point where it’s relatively easy to shorten songs on a laptop, or even a tablet or smartphone, sometimes there are almost too many choices. For example, what bitrate should an mp3 be saved as? Should I save with constant or variable bit rate encoding, and why am I even being asked this question?

Beyond minor issues like these, I routinely find many errors and glitches in choreo music I receive for repairs or cleaning. And I have also heard far too many routines’ soundtracks played at top volume for competition in civic centers and auditoriums with jarring skips, breaks, and thumps. Such glitches take an audience (including parents and judges) “out of the moment” of enjoying the dance performance, with the worst of them creating difficulties for dancers trying to count the music.

You’ve probably heard these mistakes as well if you have watched other’s dance performances, in music that otherwise flows smoothly. Strangely, while you’ve heard these mistakes in others’ music quite clearly, you may have not heard them in your own music edits — and there is a reason for that.

It’s not that your own music edits don’t have flaws. It’s in the nature of how the brain works, that you are less likely to notice flaws in your own musical creations. When you listen to a piece of music, over and over again, it eventually becomes “normal” to you, even if there are one or more issues readily apparent to anyone else listening to it. This is why good audio engineers need to work fast, or else they too fall into the trap of thinking that what they are hearing is normal or good. 

Trying to hear your music work clearly is known as ‘maintaining perspective.’ There are several ways you can maintain perspective while creating your own music edits. The first way is to know your tools and techniques extremely well, so that you can work swiftly. The faster you work, the better perspective you can maintain. Another method is to take frequent breaks. Yet another method is to “put away” your edits for a couple of days or even a week, ensuring that you don’t listen to them at all. But even this technique won’t work if you’ve already listened to your own edits more than a dozen times.

***

Some may question the importance of creating beautiful soundtracks for dance. Does one thump or awkward break in a song really ruin an otherwise beautiful dance performance? That decision is up to every choreographer or dance studio owner. Does a jarring sound break the audiences’ enjoyment of a graceful dancer? Most would answer yes. But in any case, with today’s technology, there is no need for any dancer to ever perform with anything less than flawless music.

Here are a few more reasons I feel every dancer ought to have perfect music to perform with. From a dance studio owner’s self-interested perspective, flawlessly edited music does several things for the studio: It increases the perceived quality and professionalism of the studio, and it also increases the likelihood of student retention. One way it increases those chances  is that a beautifully edited piece of music has less repetition than when a song is simply started from the beginning and then faded-out at the two-minute or two-and-a-half minute mark. We’ve all seen the dancer on stage who performs their solo beautifully for the first two-thirds of the routine, and then suddenly forgets the next move in their choreography, and runs off the stage in embarrassment. While I don’t have a catalog of such ‘forgetting choreo’ moments, I am convinced that some of these occur because the music is so repetitive the dancer loses track of where they are in the song. 

The other way in which flawlessly edited music helps studios retain students is by avoiding the awkward fade-out. When music is faded-out at the routine length, it is an incredible disservice to the dancer. When the music volume starts to drop, that is the dancer’s queue to exit the stage… and usually these fade-outs take the audience by surprise. So that when the music finally is over, the dancer is already in the wings, and only then does the audience start to applaud. This robs the dancer of being center stage to fully receive the audience’s applause that they so richly deserve after all of their hard work. 

But these are the self-interested reasons for a dance studio to utilize nothing but flawless soundtracks for their routines. Other reasons go beyond self-interest. Dance students are impressionable youngsters who are going through the most formative times of their lives. Each dance student will hear their chosen group and solo songs hundreds of times in the course of a season’s rehearsals. This music forms the soundtrack of their lives. For that reason alone, every dancer deserves that music to be as perfect as it can be.

Warrior for Peace, choreographed

I am pleased to share Julie Bartoletti and Carly Higgins Sargent’s (of Dance FX) interpretation of Warrior for Peace spoken word soundtrack:

Watch this space for another choreographic interpretation as a duo from Susan’s School of Dance, as soon I have a link to its video. If you are interested in this track, it is $9.99. Please email me with the request and I will send a PayPal invoice for that amount.

Making choreographers happy

When you need perfect music for a new routine, Squirrel Trench Audio’s catalog of more than 750 ready-to-go clean edits and mixes is an amazing resource. Here’s what Maggy had to say about it:

“A huge thank you to Squirrel Trench Audio for their fast and professional service. You have saved me many hours of editing. So many amazing cuts and songs to choose from! This site is a dance teacher/choreographers dream come true!”

—Maggy Elias Sonoski, September 3, 2017

The catalog is even searchable by dance style. Check out the catalog and find the perfect music for your next routine!

Music for a new dance season

Back to school time means it’s time for a brand new season of dance! One of the most exciting times of year for dancers is to find out what their new routines are all about. And in order to have a great new routine, you have to have great new music.

To transform the process of creating new music from a chore into a joy, we have more than 750 clean song edits and mixes that are instantly ready to be choreographed. Every song and mix is lovingly crafted to be the best possible foundation for your choreography. View the Squirrel Trench catalog of clean music and mixes here.

Here’s what a dance teacher had to say about the service today:

“Thank you so much! I’m going to continue browsing your mixes- you’re SO much more affordable than other sites and save me all of the time in editing. What you’re doing is great- thanks again.”

— Heather Closson, Dance Instructor
Ratio Dance, Auburn IN, August 28, 2017

Tap choreographers: It’s Time for Tea

If you choreograph tap or jazz, I have come across the most amazing song for a routine. And it’s pretty far off the beaten path, not a song I’ve ever heard at a competition. I will deliver a squeaky clean version, perfectly edited for a 2:39 routine​. As one dance teacher exclaimed today “This is FABULOUS!”

Listen to the preview here:
Time for Tea (Squirrel Trench Clean 2:39)

If you’d like to get this version, just email me at morriss@squirreltrenchaudio.com!

Two ways in which poor music editing can lead to students who quit dance

Recently, there was a great conversation about the value of music editing as it pertains to dance studios in the Facebook group Dance Teacher Network. As I’ve outlined previously, there is much more to quality music editing for choreography than simply making a cut and calling it a day. Good music editing for choreography takes into account song structure as well as employs a variety of audio engineering techniques when needed. But there are two specific cases where poor music editing can completely frustrate a dancer, and in extreme cases, may even lead a student to quit dance entirely!

There are two kinds of poorly executed music edits that can lead dancers to quit: Awkward fade-outs and too much repetition

The first kind of poor music edit is one that robs the dancer of the applause that he or she so very much deserves after performing a routine. This poor choice is when a dance group or soloist’s song is simply faded out without any thought as to how the music should flow from start to finish. These type of fade-outs usually have the performer(s) dancing off the stage at an awkward point in the song; at a point where the audience isn’t expecting the routine to end because the music does not sound like it’s supposed to end. So the dancer is all the way off stage before the audience realizes that the routine is over, and there is a hesitation before they start to applaud. AND, the dancer is now not on the stage to properly feel, and fully receive, the audience’s applause. In extreme cases, this leaves a young, fledgling dancer who is timid, or a little bit uncertain of their dancing abilities, feeling like the audience may not have really appreciated their routine after all. Instead, always put a button on the music to ensure the dancer(s) receive the applause they deserve while on stage!

The second, and even more direct route where a bad music edit can lead to a dancer quitting entirely is when there is too much repeating left in the music edit for a young soloist. This can happen no matter whether it’s a competition solo or a recital solo. When too much repetition is left in the music, it is extremely easy for a dancer to lose track of where they are in the song and thus where they are in the choreography. When the music repeats over and over (especially choruses that repeat and verses that repeat), the dancer doesn’t have the “help” of the music or lyrics to serve as auditory cues as to where they are in their choreo and what comes next.

Properly edited music for dance has all possible repetition removed. This is an aspect that the vast majority of DIY music editors (and even many audio professionals who have not studied the intersection of dance and music) fail to realize. Music with too much repetition retained leads to students who more easily lose track of where exactly they are in their choreo, an especially big problem in solos where you can’t cue off of another dancer. In these cases, the person creating the music edit doesn’t even realize that the repetition in the music is a big contributor to the problem. And if a student doesn’t not have the “help” of the music to help them remember their choreo, then that leads to frustration, which can lead to quitting dance entirely.

I’m sure you have viewed hundreds and hundreds of solo routines in competition as I have, and therefore you know that at a large comp, there will ALWAYS be at least one young soloist who runs off the stage sobbing because they forgot their choreo under the bright lights of the stage. I have come to the conclusion that poorly edited music containing too much repetition is a major contributing factor to these breakdowns.

Of course, sometimes a dancer who forgets their choreo returns later to the stage and performs triumphantly, but some of these dancers decide to quit dance forever right then and there. Why risk it? Why lose young dancers forever due to poorly thought-out music edits? Sure, there are sometimes when a student forgets their choreo, even with perfectly edited music. But no one wants their students to experience these kind of choreo-forgetting melt-downs.

You, as choreographer and teacher, pour your heart and soul into your choreo, into teaching your students, and cleaning their routines. You spend hours picking out the perfect costume to match your choreo. You deserve to have perfect, optimized music to match the effort you put into every other aspect of the dance, and you deserve to have music that actively helps your dancers remember their choreo instead of being a stumbling block.

This is why Squirrel Trench Audio music is created with the UTMOST care and precision — with song structure analysis to eliminate all possible repetition, ensuring that each music edit is a complete soundtrack, start to finish, that is ideal for choreography. Squirrel Trench Audio even has more than 1,000 clean song edits and remixes available in our archives. Check the listing for the songs that you want and email me or use this form to send me your music requests or for more information.

Encumbered performed by Eden Ryder

Squirrel Trench Audio is proud to have done the editing and mastering of the soundtrack for the routine titled Encumbered, performed by Eden Ryder and choreographed by Ausia Jones. This piece won 2nd place Contemporary at YAGP, and also won 2nd place nationally at Complexions’ Elite Dance Tournament at the LA Finals 2015.

Eden Ryder and Ausia Jones are students of Jacqueline Porter and The Dallas Conservatory.

The soundtrack for Encumbered is now available on Legitmix.

Get more Squirrel Trench remixes at Legitmix