Tag Archives: competition

Time to get your music ready for the 2012-2013 season

Posted on by

Here it is, the end of May, and for most dance studios, that means that Regional competitions are over, and it’s Recital time! As the dance season winds down, and studios get ready for Nationals, Summer Intensives, and Summer camps, now is the perfect time to start getting your music ready for the 2012-2012 season.

If you select your music within the next 1-2 weeks, and send it to me for editing, you can be sure you have the best music ready for your new choreography well ahead of Summer Intensives. Don’t make the mistake that many dance teachers make…. which is to choreograph first, and edit the music afterwards. The problem with doing it in this sequence is that in many cases, editing the song’s intro leads to a better soundtrack for your dance routine, and that is not possible if that part of the song has already been choreographed. If you choreograph the first minute-and-a-half of the music, you are tying your editors hands in terms of flexibility to deliver the best edited/remixed music possible.

Whenever you are ready to get your music edited, send an email!

Fix your music in time for Nationals

Posted on by

Now that it’s the middle of May, and many competitive dance studios have wrapped up their Regional competition season, it’s time to get ready for recitals and Nationals.

If your music is not all that it could be, it’s not too late to get it fixed in time for Nationals.

Is the music in your routine too soft? Too loud? Are there hiccups? Clicks? Pops? Are there swear words that you are getting point deductions for? Are there odd-beats? Double words? Is there not enough bass or low-end in the music?

Any of these common music editing problems can be fixed. Just email me a copy of the music as you are currently using it, and I will fix it. Most fixes can be done at the standard music editing rate of $39 per song. I will get the song repaired for you as quickly as possible to maximize the rehearsal time you have before recitals and Nationals.

Another title win with a Squirrel Trench Audio track

Posted on by

We are pleased to report that dancer extraordinaire Brianna Roland has won yet another title award, this time at StarQuest competition in West Springfield, Massachusetts, winning the title of Miss Starquest, with her lyrical performance called “Looking Back”. The music is an edit of a Sigur Rós track called Samskeyti.

For a one-minute excerpt of this fine performance, you can view it on YouTube. Unfortunately the audio quality in the linked video is very poor. However, the music sounded fantastic in the auditorium.

Winning the title is nothing new for Miss Brianna, as she has already done so several times this year, and has in previous years as well.

Another routine performed at Starquest using an original Squirrel Trench Remix soundtrack won Classic Top Score Duo/Trio, but I’m not going to provide a link because the audio quality is so poor.

Vocalists take home the prizes at Star Systems

Posted on by

Bookending the Top Vocalist and Third Place Winners at Star Systems' 2012 Worcester Regional competition.

This past weekend, Squirrel Trench Audio was honored to be in the audience for the performances of two amazingly talented young singers at Star Systems’ Worcester Regional Competition.

These two young talents have been rehearsing their singing skills all season long, and with the backing track of Squirrel Trench-mixed instrumentals, have taken home the Top Vocalist and Third Place Vocalist trophies.

The choice of song and choreo for Shaunessey was supplied by Miss Kerrin Clark, and additional choreo for both girls was supplied by Miss Lesley. Additional vocal coaching for Shaunessey supplied by Pam Bussell.

To aid these young singers in improving their performances, I recorded them a month ago, and supplied them with rehearsal CDs that had three versions: the instrumental-only version, a version with a professional reference singer, and their own sung version, which was created by editing together the numerous takes they had laid down in the recording process. The recording process itself is a great learning tool; you can really zero-in on minute details and trouble spots that are not immediately obvious on first listen.

The results speak for themselves, and Squirrel Trench Audio is proud to be associated with these marvelous entertainers.

Here is Shaunessey’s rendition of That’s How You Know

Here is Ava singing Nothing (from A Chorus Line)

What happens if my CD won’t play at a dance competition?

Posted on by

For those of you who make, create, remix, cut, or edit music for dance competition, there is NO worse feeling in the world than watching your dancers get announced, take their opening position, and then….. nothing. Silence. The competition emcee then asks the dancer to leave the stage while the technical difficulties get ironed out.

At a dance competition in Worcester this past weekend, something similar, and yet worse, happened twice to a dance studio. The song played about halfway through, with no problems, and then abruptly went silent in the middle of the song. Fortunately these dancers are already pros at a young age, and finished out their dance routines with no music, with only the cheers from the crowd to encourage them in the last half of their dances.

There is NO REASON this should EVER happen to you.

Without knowing more about how this particular studio created their CD-Rs (Recordable CDs), the likely culprit is the media. You can buy cheap CD-Rs just about anywhere nowadays. Unfortunately these cheap CD-Rs often have bad batches, where something went amiss in the manufacturing process, rendering them unplayable.

To avoid this from happening to you, only use the BEST CD-Rs… which are made by Tayio Yuden, now owned by JVC. These are the gold standards. The optics are impeccable. The burn is greater. The digital data is held more distinctly. And best of all, they are the SAME PRICE per 100-pack than any other brand of CD-R. So what are you waiting for? If you inkjet label your CDs, here is a link to a 100-bundle of white inkjet printable Taiyo Yuden CD-Rs for about $35 on Amazon. If you want the silver version and label your CDs with a Sharpie marker, you can get 100 silver-faced Taiyo Yuden CD-Rs for a few bucks less. A 100-pack of Staples brand CD-Rs costs the same. Remind me how much Staples knows about maximizing optical laser beam recognition and tracking in CD-Rs again?

This CD may look cool, but it is scratched beyond playability. This is what can happen to CDs stored in dance bags without protection.

In any case, you should always burn a backup CD of all of your songs, just in case your primary CD gets scratched. If you print multiple songs on your back-up CD, burn it with four or five seconds between each song so that the emcee has time to stop the CD player before the next song begins.

If you put your CDs in your dance bag, MAKE SURE to seal it inside a plastic baggie. Otherwise, dirt from the dance bag will work its way into the CD sleeve and wreak havoc on the silver surface, scratching it beyond readability.

I have no relationship or endorsement from JVC/Taiyo Yuden, but I can unequivocally state that Squirrel Trench Audio uses ONLY JVC/Taiyo Yuden for burning competition CDs and backups.

Busy and exciting week!

Posted on by

It’s been a busy and exciting week for Squirrel Trench Audio! Not only are we sponsoring this week’s contest in the Dance Mom of the Year competition on DanceMom.com, we also have 23 routines with Squirrel Trench music debuting in competition this weekend! Out of a total of 243 routines at the United States Tournament of Dance Western Massachusetts championship, Squirrel Trench Audio has provided the music for 31 of the routines, which is nearly 13%!

Competition CDs are ready to goAnd as if all of that weren’t enough, we continue to edit the music for numerous solo routines for On Stage Dance Studio in Cedar City, Utah. In fact, we’ve gotten another 3 done in just the past 24 hours alone.

Here’s the latest feedback from one of the dance teachers at On Stage Dance:

“I can’t believe how fast you are, thanks a million!!! Too bad that music alone can’t win a ‘high point,’ because we would have a guaranteed trophy! THANKS!”

More group CDs bound for competition!

Posted on by

Here are just a few of Squirrel Trench’s original remixes for small to large groups in jazz and tap categories that will be competing (and in most cases premiering) this weekend in Springfield, Massachusetts at USTD.

I can’t even begin to fathom the number of hours that went into producing these gems… a true labor of love. We’ll see if it translates into scoring well for the dancers. I can’t wait to see them performed!

Testimonials for Squirrel Trench Audio

Posted on by

Normally I like to contribute many ideas and techniques for how YOU can edit your own dance routine music better, but I would be remiss if I didn’t occasionally post some of the glowing testimonials that are coming in for my Squirrel Trench Audio music editing and remixing work. It is truly a pleasure to make so many dance parents, dance teachers, and dance studio owners happy by providing solid, click-free, glitch-free, well-structured music for their superlative choreography.

Here are a couple testimonials; more can be found on the Testimonial page:

“You are a rock star! This is amazing! I can not wait to see her rock out on stage to this version!”

— a dance mom in Texas,
December 17, 2011

“Oh my goodness!  This is great! I can’t wait to have her listen when she gets home from school today.  I will have her bring it to gym and see what the coach thinks about timing.  I’m sure it will be great.  Thanks so very much! That was fast!”

— parent of a gymnastic student in Ohio,
who needed a music edit/remix for a floor routine
October 11, 2011

“It sounds great; I love your work!”

— Miss Daysha, dance teacher at
OnStage Dance Studios, Cedar City Utah
February 21, 2012

“Thank you! It’s perfect….I’ll be sending some more requests soon.”

— Miss Kimberly, dance studio owner at
Dance for Joy, Brielle, New Jersey
November 2, 2011

Unique music source for choreographers

Posted on by

At many competitive dance studios, guest choreographers are invited to create routines for the most advanced students.

If you are such a choreographer, and want to bring a unique world-class song remix to your students along with the unique world-class choreography you are creating, look no further than Squirrel Trench Audio. I can take your concept and create a unique song interpretation which can then provide the inspiration for your unique choreography. If you are a world-class choreographer looking for unique music which works in a competitive dance format, send me an email.

Squirrel Trench Audio has created the music for a Mr. Junior Nationals Superstar winner in 2011.

Time to clean up your music!

Posted on by

It’s January, and that means that competitions are starting! For many of you, you may have already entered your first competition, or it may be a few weeks away. That first competition will be here before you know it!

Well, you, the dance teacher, has spent hours upon hours cleaning up every last movement of your dancers for the past several months, ensuring they everything is in perfect sync. You’ve probably gotten your costumes in, and hopefully are dancers are delighted with the way they will look on stage.

You’ve cleaned up your dancer’s moves, gotten them the perfect costume to perform your choreo in, but have you cleaned up your music? Is it perfect in every way? Are there hiccups, jumps, skips, dropouts, or any number of other mistakes in the music caused by less-than-perfect editing? If so, it’s not too late have your music cleaned up in time for competition. I can fix any pops, clicks, hiccups, mis-matched phrasing, off beats, or passages that are too-soft for competition, and I can do all of this while retaining the original timing and structure that your dancers are used to (within reason of course). Since you want your dancers totally comfortable with the music they will be performing with, the sooner you get me your music to be cleaned up, the sooner you can start rehearsing with perfect music. And all of this clean-up/mastering for only $39 per song.

When you are ready to get started, send me an email!