With the writing of this article the 2008 festival season is off and running. Adjudicators have been assigned their festivals and are eager to share their abundant knowledge with the superb musicians and directors who will perform.

The topic of this year’s adjudication sessions at San Jose State University Fall CMEA Bay Section Winter Conference was “Recording Techniques for Adjudication Comments.” Based on adjudicator evaluations from directors last year, the major concern was the quality of recorded comments. Not so much what was said, but rather could it be heard.

The first part of the session concerned how and where to purchase standard portable cassette recorders and how to set them up for festival use. Adjudicators present were instructed on how to establish volume, speed, voice activated systems, and other controls on the recorder that could create problems. Generally, everything was to be set at “neutral” and then a piece of mending tape was to be placed over the controls so they would not be accidentally moved. We’ve all received tapes that sound like a Mickey Mouse routine (wrong speed) or so soft that they could not be heard over the music being performed. Not much help!
Adjudicators were shown various recording “do’s” and “don’t’s” when recording, and encouraged to practice with the recorder prior to their first assignment. New batteries should always be used at each festival.

An “adjudicator survival kit” was described, listing the various items smart adjudicators will carry with them. The list can be found on our website.
Festival recording procedures followed, with an illustration of a proper recorded greeting, ideas for comments during the performance and a closing statement (also on website).

All of this was to assist the adjudicator in preparing recorded comments that would be meaningful to every director. Poor or blank tapes are useless and are particularly devastating when there are no accompanied written comments. We hope this information will help in this year’s festivals.
The second part of the session was presented by Steve Hendee, and covered the aspect of where are we going as to recording adjudicator comments in the future. Tapes are quickly becoming a thing of the past. It is more and more difficult to find tape recorders and tapes. Ideas were discussed and possible replacement recorders were recommended and demonstrated.

It was recommended that digital recorders be strongly considered. The Zoom H2 Portable 2-Track SD Recorder was strongly recommended for our future use. It provides studio quality stereo recording in an easy-to-use, ultra-portable device. The use of secure digital cards makes this device perfect for our use and the cost is about $200. The H2 not only meets the needs of our adjudicator’s but also is perfect for classroom use by music educators. It will be a most welcome teaching tool. Each adjudicator would be required to purchase his or her own recorder, due to the sizable number of festivals we often have on the same day. Other festivals are making this same change, so your recorder would be available for use by adjudicators working more than just our festivals.

A possible recording routine (subject to review and comment) is:

1. Adjudicator brings Solid State Recorder and three memory cards with his or her name clearly marked on each card.
2. Comments are recorded for the first group.
3. A runner collects comment sheets and memory cards.
4. Headquarters burns a CD of adjudicator’s comments on a computer (the same computer used for certificate printing).
5. Adjudicator records comments on the second and third memory cards while waiting for the first one to be returned, and this cycle is continued throughout the day.
6. Any outstanding memory cards are returned to the adjudicator at the conclusion of the festival.
7. Director will receive the CD along with adjudication rating sheets when checking out of the festival, which will provide immediate adjudication feedback.

To make the transition to the digital recorder more comfortable, we will continue to use the cassette tape recorders during this festival season; however, we will experiment with the new system with some adjudicators in selected festivals. During the 2009 festival season adjudicators will have the option of using cassette or digital recorders (much as we did, allowing continued use of written only comments when we started taping remarks
a number of years ago). In the 2010 festival season only digital recorders will be used.

We encourage your comments regarding this very needed change and ask that you critique the new system if it is used at a festival you participated in. Please send your comments to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it In conclusion, encourage your students to hear as many other groups as possible. Give them adjudication sheets (copies are available on our website) and have them evaluate what they hear and to have open discussions in class the following week. Directors, please
complete the Adjudicator Evaluation form and submit it to me. It, too, is on the website and very quick and easy to do, thanks to Steve Hendee.