Tag Archives: recital

Santa reviews his "nice" list while an elf looks over his shoulder in amusement

Elevate your holiday recital with a welcome soundtrack from Santa!

Elevate your studio’s holiday show with a magical welcome soundtrack from Squirrel Trench Audio! Imagine how excited your dancers’ parents and family members will be when they hear Santa welcoming them to YOUR studio’s recital!

Listen to how incredible this sounds, and imagine Santa saying YOUR studio’s name: Madison Avenue Dance Studio’s Holiday Welcome soundtrack

Both the script and music of this jolly holiday welcome soundtrack will be fully customized for your studio. And no one will disobey Santa’s theater rules or else they’ll wind up on his naughty list! Email me at morriss@squirreltrenchaudio.com today for pricing. Order now to get it in time for your holiday recital!

🎅 Friday, November 10 will be the last day to order a custom holiday recital welcome soundtrack without a rush charge. 🎅

Recital intro voiceover soundtrack

Set the stage for your recital with a voiceover and soundtrack from Squirrel Trench Audio. A professional presentation (with a little humor thrown in) sets the tone for the performance and keeps your dance families coming back. I will write your script, have it voiced, and mix it with music that gets your audience pumped. Your choice of male or female announcer, and you can choose the background music that fits your theme. Here’s how great you can sound: Heather’s 2023 Recital intro

Email me at morriss@squirreltrenchaudio today, and we can get started!

Why choose Squirrel Trench Audio?

I am proud to say that the Squirrel Trench Audio catalog now contains more than 1100 flawless clean edits and mixes, and more are being added regularly. Some of you may not yet have discovered the joys of making your music selections from this catalog. If you haven’t checked it out yet, here is what you get in every track:

  • Every clean edit and mix has been carefully analyzed for song structure, and the resulting edit is optimized for integrity. This ensures that the soundtrack for your choreography has a beginning, middle, and ending, and that the emotional high-point of the song is retained so that your choreo’s emotional impact on the audience is maximized. Too many self-created edits leave the emotional payoff of a song on the cutting room floor, which robs your choreo of impact.
  • Objectionable lyrics have been cleverly omitted, obscured, or replaced wherever they occur. Every cleaned lyric retains the original timing and beat, so that your performers remain on track, and your audience remains focused on your performers.
  • The audio quality of every song and mix in the catalog is impeccable. Too many self-created edits are saved at a low audio resolution. This is similar to saving a photo at low-res. The result is pixelated. With most audio programs, you don’t even hear the damage done to a song saved at low resolution until you play it back. Every track in the Squirrel Trench Audio catalog is saved at a very high audio quality.
  • Transitions are smooth and flawless. Really, this goes without saying. In some cases, virtual instruments are played to ensure that transition is flawless. Reverb and delay are employed where appropriate. Your audience will not even notice that the song has been shortened, keeping their focus where it belongs; on your dancers.
  • Tempo is always analyzed to ensure edits points are precise down to the millisecond where possible. Counts are never compromised, ensuring consistent 8-counts throughout the routine. Sadly, too many instances of self-created edits miss beats, creating strange 6-counts, 7-counts, and even such awkward results as 5.5-counts. In the Squirrel Trench Audio catalog, no song ever misses a beat.
  • Volumes are all at a consistent level. You never have to go diving at your volume knob to turn down a too-loud track, or turn up a too-soft track. If used in competition, you will never experience the embarrassment of your song being abnormally soft in comparison to others.
  • Heads and tails are optimized. Songs do not start abruptly, nor are there long lag-times between when “Play” is pressed before the music actually starts. Endings are smooth and natural, never awkwardly cut off.
  • Every track has a hard ending – no fade outs are employed, which robs your dancers of receiving the applause they deserve on stage instead of in the wings.

Too many self-created edits have issues with one or more of the items listed above. Many dance teachers don’t realize that when such music is played at competition or recital, hearing awkward jumps, skips, or fade-outs takes the audience right out of the routine. With every handcrafted Squirrel Trench Audio edit and mix, you are guaranteed that your audience will maintain their focus throughout the soundtrack where it belongs: on your choreo and your dancers.

When you want the best quality, flawless clean edits and mixes, always turn to the professional resource that you can trust: the Squirrel Trench Audio catalog. And even more amazingly, the pricing is incredibly affordable. Clean edits start at just $4.99 and mixes are $14.99-$29.99, and discounts are always given when you order three or more tracks. Email me at morriss@squirreltrenchaudio.com for more information or to place an order.

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.

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!

Ultra clean Run the World (Girls)

Recently, a dance teacher contacted me in an emergency situation. She needed an ultra clean version of Run the World (Girls) for a fellow teacher’s routine. Her response to the result:

“Wow! Thank you so so much! I cannot express how grateful I am that I don’t have to tell 15 parents their girls aren’t performing tonight. I’ll certainly use your services in the future!”

—Brianna Hafen
America’s Kids in Motion

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.

Edited songs for your dance recital

It’s that time of year again; time to select music for your dance studio’s recital. The good news is that Squirrel Trench is here to save you the time and frustration of aligning waveforms. Instead, browse the Squirrel Trench Audio archives of clean edits and remixes. Every edit and remix is created with recording-studio standards of quality, optimized for choreography. The archive now shows about 400 out of a total of more than 1,000. Special consideration if you’re interested in more than one song:
Squirrel Trench Audio archives

Bruno is BACK with 24K Magic

bruno-mars-bellagio-fountainsWe all remember what a terrific success Bruno Mars had with Uptown Funk in the fall of 2014. The song was written by Mark Ronson and featured Bruno Mars on vocals. The incredible groove was an instant hit. After extensive touring in 2015, Bruno is about to release a brand new album called 24K Magic.

While the full album is not due out until mid-November, the first song is available NOW. The song’s title is the same as the name of the album, 24K Magic. Unfortunately, there are a few words that are not at all appropriate for use in dance routines with youngsters. And that is where Squirrel Trench Audio is at your service with the very first SQUEAKY CLEAN version that eliminates all of the objectionable content. Words that have been eliminated include “sh*t”, “bad b*tches and yo ugly-ass friends”, “pimp”, and one additional occurrence of “sh*t”.

Squirrel Trench Audio has four squeaky clean versions to choose from. The full-length clean version is 3:42 in length, and additional edits are: 2:48, 2:37, and 2:19.

Get more Squirrel Trench remixes at Legitmix