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Scheduling Auditions

father of fires

father of fires

Commercial User
Nov 29, 2006
5,361
4,758
BALTIMORE CITY
Disclosures
Chief of Medicine at Damnation Audio
#1
I just posted an ad for a singer and got 5 good responses. We usually only practice once a month so it'll take us a while to get through all of the tryouts.

Do you tell the singers about the other auditions and how much do you tell them?

Do you ever do more than one in a day?

I'm just thinking of how to explain why it might take a while to get them in to jam.

Thanks for any feedback or suggestions.
 
#2
father of fires said:
I just posted an ad for a singer and got 5 good responses. We usually only practice once a month so it'll take us a while to get through all of the tryouts.

Do you tell the singers about the other auditions and how much do you tell them?

Do you ever do more than one in a day?

I'm just thinking of how to explain why it might take a while to get them in to jam.

Thanks for any feedback or suggestions.
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I wouldn't do more than 1 in a day, but you can't wait 5 months to get somebody in either. Odds are they will no longer be available/interested. Do you really want to wait around 4 or 5 months to see if a singer is right for you anyway?
My advice is that you try to work in at least 2 per week. If you want to get somebody in there and start moving forward you will just have to make the time to have a couple of sessions per week and try these guys out. Maybe you could do 2 per day, give each guy an hour or so. Schedule the 2nd guy 2 hours or an hour and a half after the first, so you have time to get the first guy out and debrief a little among yourselves before #2 arrives.
 
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#3
If you told me I would have to wait five months to audition I would tell you bye bye. You will never fill that position with that kind of timetable. You guys need to suck it up and have a couple extra rehearsals to audition people.

I don't mind scheduling multiple auditions on one day but make sure you give each applicant ample time - and schedule plenty of time between appointments. It just seems odd to me for auditionees to meet in passing.

No need to get all wordy, just tell everyone you have multiple applicants. Make a decision after you have auditioned everyone and then make the phone calls.
 
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#5
Agree with everyone so far. Have to make concessions when auditioning. My guys are usually week-day-only, but will adjust accordingly, even have a weekend session, if we audition a new member.

Also, remember, they will be trying you out. So don't be flaky in how you schedule this. Bad group communication is one sure fire way to scare someone off.

Good Luck OP!
 
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#6
Just to be clear what I meant was that we won't be able to try all 5 guys out in one week. We're going to have to break from our usual routine of practicing whenever we can to something more frequent.

While I work the schedule out with the rest of the band I'm trying to decide how much I tell the singers.

Like, "We're trying a guy out this week so we'll get you in the following Sunday." Or just don't say anything and give them a time.

They must know that there might be other singers but do I need to tell them so they can expect it?
 
#7
father of fires said:
Just to be clear what I meant was that we won't be able to try all 5 guys out in one week.
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When I was trying out for bands, there were a few times where I would show up to a sign that said to wait in my car until the person before me had left. After it was my turn, I walked to my car and saw another dude waiting for me to leave. Most treat it like a job interview, which is fine by me. I say book em all in one day. It doesn't take long to know if a singer sucks or not.
 
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#8
When I was looking for a new project, I had a 7 day rule. We get 7 days to verbally chat, and if there's not something scheduled within 7 more, no bass for you. There are too many bands to wait around for months. If your bandmates aren't willing to get some auditions scheduled in a reasonable time period, then you'll lose even the opportunity to hear the singers, and if you're gigging, that means passing on gigs/money.
 
#9
I agree with what everyone else is saying...better to try to get them all done at once so you can get on with the rehearsals. I wouldn't do more than 4 or 5 songs each. That should be enough to tell if they're any good. 5 songs would equal approx. 20-25 minutes, add 10-15 minutes for "getting to know you". Schedule them 45 minutes apart = less than 4 hours out of your bands life. If they're going to be worth while they will show up early and overlap, unless you schedule them hours apart, which would take way too long to get through all 5. Instead of hanging a sign up, I'd just tell them when I scheduled them to wait in their car until you came out to get them (or called/ text them).
I've shown up for a few auditions and seen the other guys coming or going...it always made me "put my game face on" and perform better.
 
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#11
I'd get the auditions over more quickly ... if your band NEEDS a singer, then they need to make themselves available for auditions. You don't have to play an entire setlist ... just give the hopefuls five or six songs, of varying styles, that you are particularly keen on getting just right. Give them all the same list. You could schedule an afternoon and get it done in one day. 1/2 each, 30 minutes between auditions (enough time to say thanks and whatever, and to clear the room for the next singer). If it's too hard to get the band together you could even pre-record the instrumental stuff, and have the auditioners sing to the track. Record the auditions for the band. The band would only need to meet worthy applicants. Don't be too anxious and take on someone who isn't "quite what we want". If you do, you'll be back here with a "I need to fire our singer" post.

You're not looking to propose marriage, just trying to see if they're worth a second date.
 
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#12
I'm an Operations Manager for company I work for, and, as such, I sometimes get pulled away to act as a hiring manager for the warehouse team.

In my experiences, it's better to try and knock out as many interviews/auditions in one day as possible. This way, everything is fresh and you don't spend multiple days going through the same process. You can also get back to people you want more quickly, thus increasing your chances of hiring them on. I've seen too many qualified people move on from a job opportunity because the employer didn't act quick enough.
 
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#13
I would say schedule as many as you comfortably can at each of your upcoming rehearsal times. You don't need someone there for three hours to see if they can sing. Three or four songs, tops, and you know. Sometimes you know in the first thirty seconds. Assuming you rehearse maybe two hours at a time, schedule 2-3 of them each week for half an hour each with a 15 minute gap between. That would get you through them all in two weeks.

I would be perfectly frank and say, "We have several people coming in to audition over the next couple of weeks, and we should be able to let you know a decision by X date." Same as when you're hiring someone for a company. No need to give much more information than that - they don't need to know who else auditioned or how good they were or anything.

And make sure you actually DO follow up and let them know if they didn't get the slot. Very rude to leave someone hanging wondering if they'll ever get a call. Again, doesn't need to have a lot of unnecessary detail, just "Thanks for trying out, you were great but we decided to go with another person. Best of luck to you."
 
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#14
Oh, and my biggest peeve from when I'm on the auditioning side of things - don't take the "first through the gate" approach. Be fair and give everyone their chance. You may get someone great in audition #1 and think you're done, no point in hearing anyone else, let's just hire them now and be done with it. Then #4 comes in and blows the roof off the house. If you stopped after hearing #1 you wouldn't get the best you could have gotten. Besides which, #1 may get hit by a car or flake out or join some other group THEY like better than YOU, and then you have to do it all over and now #4 is ticked off at you for not even giving them a chance the first time.
 
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#15
I'm starting to realize the problem that I have is that my band is not used to a schedule. This project is going from casual to wanting to gig but I don't think we thought it all through. Plus I'm the one pushing to gig. I know they're into the project but I need to have some honest conversations about expectations and how much time they can commit.

The singers all know this is a part-time casual project but they will definitely appreciate a quick audition process.

I'm going to shoot for two singer this week and then hopefully three next week (Fingers Crossed!).

Maybe I should pull the add down before I get inundated
 
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#16
father of fires said:
I just posted an ad for a singer and got 5 good responses. We usually only practice once a month so it'll take us a while to get through all of the tryouts.

Do you tell the singers about the other auditions and how much do you tell them?
Click to expand...

It's understood that you are auditioning more than one candidate. You can tell each candidate that you're in the middle of the process, have other singers to hear, and you'll get back to them with an update as soon as you can. No more information than that is needed.

Do you ever do more than one in a day?
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Always. We schedule auditions one hour apart, and we wrap up the actual performance segment in about 30 minutes. You should be able to tell what you've got in 30 minutes. That leaves a few minutes for chit chat Q&A, and then you can see them out with a good 10-15 minute buffer to avoid the awkwardness of two candidates bumping into each other and exchanging the hairy eyeball.

I'm just thinking of how to explain why it might take a while to get them in to jam.
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Well, to be honest, a band that only rehearses once a month could give one the impression that you're not very serious or ambitious. I'd wait until after the audition to share that detail, and maybe re-think your rehearsal schedule while you're at it. Meanwhile, you should open up another audition night and try to knock out 5 auditions in two sessions, and within 2-3 weeks max. You can't expect your candidates to wait over a month for an answer.
 
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#20
I auditioned for a band, 3 bass players in a row,same night,
one hour apart, got to hear my competition.
lfmn16 said:
Justy my opinion but you should know in 3 or 4 songs if someone has the voice. 15 or 20 minutes to tell if they will fit in personality wise. No reason you couldn't set an hour for each audition and stress that they have to be on time.

If you've got 5 interested, you'll be lucky to get 3 through the door.
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