source file: m1372.txt Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 08:53:03 -0600 (CST) Subject: 88CET Ear Training CDs, Part 11 From: mr88cet@texas.net (Gary Morrison) Make a Script ------------- Making a factual error is probably the biggest danger in the process of recording these CDs. The very fact that you're making an aid to learn the topics on the CDs means that you're not fluent in them yet, so there's a very real risk that you'll accidentally record a wrong answer on the CD. I have literally one word of advice for avoiding mistakes: "cheat"! You definitely want to write up a script for your narrations, and whenever possible (and it usually is) write out all possible questions with their answers. I was able to do that in most of the exercises I described above. I then laid that script/cheat-sheet on a music stand in front of me as I recorded the material, and consciously put my finger on the particular question/answer pair while I read it off, and then randomly switch to another. Don't forget to check your script, especially the question/answer pairs very carefully before you start recording! Keep Time --------- Managing time is also a major concern as you make these recordings. You'll probably want to cover a variety of topics on each of these CDs (a tape will usually work pretty well if variety is not much of a goal). To keep from getting behind schedule, figure out carefully ahead of time how much time you want to spend on each exercise. The calculate and write out on your script the *cummulative*, record time for each exercise. For example, the first exercise ends 3 minutes into the recording, the second ends 6 minutes into the recording, the third 10 minutes into the recording. Don't write down elapsed time for each exercise, by which I mean, "this exercise lasts 3 minutes, this one 3 minutes, and the next 4 minutes". That requires you to keep starting and stopping your stopwatch as you record, and it's also easy to get behind schedule as you do that starting and stopping. And you'll also tend to get off because it's almost never possible to stop an exercise exactly on time.