# How to Self-Tape a Musical Theater Audition: Song, Sides, and Track > What changes when a self-tape has a song in it: where to put the speaker so the track and your voice balance, how to frame for breath, where to look while you sing, how to tape the sides with a reader, and why you should read this year's instructions twice. - URL: https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-self-tape-a-musical-theater-audition - Published: 2026-11-03 - Last updated: 2026-11-03 The email asks for 32 bars of something in the style of the show, plus two scenes from the sides, due next Friday. You know how to tape a scene. You've done it for screen auditions, phone at eye level, reader beside the lens. But now there's a song, and every question gets harder. Where does the track play from? Do you look at the camera while you sing? How far back do you stand when you need room to breathe? Much self-tape advice is written for film and TV, where the frame is tight and the only sound is talking. A musical tape has two jobs at once: show that you can sing the song and act it, and show that you can play the scenes. The short version: follow the request to the letter, put the speaker closer to you than to the phone, frame a little wider than a screen tape, keep your eyeline just off the lens, tape each piece as its own file, and learn the sides well enough that you can look at your reader instead of the page. ## Read this year's instructions, not last year's Musical theater requests are more specific than screen requests, and they change. The clearest example is the Musical Theater Common Prescreen that many college programs share. For the 2023-24 cycle it said there should be [no separate slate video](https://getacceptd.com/old-musical-theater-common-prescreen-2023-2024-requirements-and-guidelines): you slated at the top of each piece, inside the time limit. One of the two songs was framed close, head to chest, and the other full frame, head to floor. The [2026-27 criteria](https://getacceptd.com/musical-theater-common-prescreen) change both: one separate slate video of no more than 10 seconds, with no need to slate the individual pieces, and a waist-up frame for songs. Neither version is wrong. They're just different years. So the first step of any musical tape is to read the request twice and write down, in your own words, exactly what it asks for: which song and how many bars, which sides, which order, the length limit, the slate, the file names, and the deadline. Professional casting offices have their own preferences too. When a notice and a general guide disagree, the notice wins every time. ## Get the track right before you touch the camera A song on tape generally needs accompaniment. The 2023-24 prescreen spelled it out: *no a cappella* singing, but live or pre-recorded accompaniment were both fine. The 2026-27 page gives advice on where to put the speaker and on apps that play the piano part, so it assumes you'll have a track or an accompanist too. A live pianist is lovely if you have one. Many actors use a recorded piano track, and [FSU's music theatre prescreening tips](https://music.fsu.edu/programs/music-theatre/music-theatre-prescreening-tips/) note that tracks for many musical theater songs are on YouTube and other sites. If you can't find one in your key, both FSU and the Common Prescreen mention apps that play the piano part from your sheet music. Choose a plain piano track over a full orchestral one. The panel wants to hear you, and a piano track is what you'd sing to in the room. Check that the track has no guide vocal, starts with a clear intro you can breathe into, and matches the cut you've marked. If you're singing 16 or 32 bars, make sure the track starts and stops where your cut does, not halfway through the verse. Our guide on [how to cut 16 bars for an audition](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-cut-16-bars-for-an-audition) walks through finding a clean beginning and ending. ### Put the speaker closer to you than to the phone This is the single most useful tip in this article, and many programs say it. The Common Prescreen, FSU, and Ithaca College all tell you to place the music source **closer to you than to the recording device**, so your voice and the music reach the microphone together. If the speaker sits next to the phone, the track drowns you out. Use a real speaker, not the phone you're recording on. Catherine Walker, a vocal coach writing for the [Great American Songbook Foundation](https://thesongbook.org/about/news-blog/the-songbook-blog-items/top-ten-strategies-for-a-successful-self-tape), says an external speaker is the best option for a recorded track. One simple setup: a small Bluetooth speaker on a stool just out of frame, close to you. Don't sing to a track in headphones. With headphones on, the microphone only hears your voice, and the panel gets an unaccompanied song with no idea whether you stayed in time with the piano. ### Test the loudest and the softest bars [McGregor Casting's at-home guide](https://www.mcgregorcasting.com/at-home-resources) suggests sound tests of the softer and louder parts of the song, so the panel hears you and the backing evenly. That's the trap with singing: a level that's fine for your quiet opening can distort on the belt, and a level set for the belt can bury the opening under the piano. Sing the first four bars and your biggest note, play them back on a laptop with headphones, and adjust the speaker volume, not your singing. The room matters as much as the level. The Muny's casting director, Michael Baxter, in his [guide to creating your best self-tape](https://muny.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Muny-Self-Tape-Suggestions-1-1.pdf), asks for a soft room with very little echo and a sound check before you record. A bedroom with a bed, curtains, and a rug usually sounds better than a bare kitchen or a bathroom. He also says you don't need a USB microphone, just a phone microphone that works. ## Frame for breath, not for close-ups A screen tape often sits at chest-up. A singing tape usually goes wider, because the panel wants to see your breath, your posture, and how you use your body through a phrase. The current Common Prescreen asks for a waist-up frame. Baxter's guide for the Muny describes a medium full shot for singing: the top of your head at the very top of the frame, and the bottom at your waist or mid-thigh. Film in landscape with the back camera at eye level. Stand about three feet from the wall so you don't throw a shadow on it (Baxter's suggestion), and put a piece of tape on the floor where your feet go. Then do one thing screen actors rarely need to do: sing your biggest phrase on that mark and watch the playback. If you lean in on the high note or lift your arms, check that you stay in the frame. If a request asks for dance, the Common Prescreen and the Muny guide both ask for a full-body frame, head to floor; the Common Prescreen also wants it as a separate video. ## Where to look while you sing The default for a song is just off the lens, not into it. McGregor Casting tells singers not to look *down the barrel* of the camera and to place the eyeline to one side of or above it. Catherine Walker gives the same advice: slightly off center. That spot is the person you're singing to. Pick a real point a few inches beside the lens, at your eye level, and give it a face. Then let the song move. In the room, a good singing actor doesn't stare at one point for 32 bars. A thought can turn to a second point, then come back. Keep any moves small and close to the lens so the camera still sees both eyes. The acting work is the same as it is in a room, and our guide on [how to act a song](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-act-a-song) covers finding who you're singing to and where the song turns. The slate is the exception. When you say your name and the song, look straight into the lens and talk to the panel like people. FSU's example is a model of brevity: your name, the song title, and the show. Keep the energy of the slate warm and simple, then reset your eyeline before the first note. ## Tape the sides like a scene, with a real reader The scenes are where a lot of musical tapes go soft, because actors spend the week on the song and learn the sides the night before. Casting is watching for the same things in the sides as in a screen tape: listening, choices, and eyes that stay with the other character. You can't do that if your eyes keep dropping to the page. Learn the sides until you can look up. Upload the sides to Offbook, and realistic voices read the other characters and wait while you say your lines, so you can run the scene alone as many times as it takes. Then hide your lines while everyone else's stay visible, and run it until you only need the cue. Our [free run lines tool](https://www.offbook.com/tools/run-lines-online) lets you practice looking up from the page on classic scenes, no account needed. Video: [Hide your lines](https://www.offbook.com/learn/hide-your-lines) (1:07) On the day, get a person to read. McGregor Casting asks for the reader off camera, never in the shot, and Baxter's Muny guide puts your scene partner slightly to the left or right of the lens. Put the reader right beside the phone, at your eye level, a little quieter than you. If you have no one in the room, our guide on [how to find a self-tape reader](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-find-a-self-tape-reader) covers friends, classmates, paid readers, and remote options. ## Order, length, and files A musical tape is usually several files, not one. The current Common Prescreen asks for each piece as a separate piece of media, with no continuous videos, and recommends 60 to 90 seconds for each song or monologue. Baxter asks for a video no longer than 90 seconds. Follow the order the notice lists, and keep each file to the cut it asks for. Name the files exactly as asked. The Common Prescreen's format is the song title, then the show, then your full name, and the slate file starts with the word Slate. A casting office may want something else. Write the names down before you start, because nothing feels worse than a perfect take renamed in a hurry at midnight. Then limit the takes. Baxter recommends only three, because the Muny doesn't want an over-rehearsed audition that lacks spontaneity. Three good takes of the song and three of each scene is plenty. If the first is the best, send the first. ## A plan for the week before it's due Here is one way to lay out the week so the song and the sides both get real time. 1. Day one: read the request twice, write down every requirement, and choose or confirm your song and cut. 2. Day two: find or make a piano track in your key, mark the start and stop of your cut on the music, and sing it with the track. 3. Day three: speak the lyric as a monologue, decide who you're singing to and what you want, then sing it with the track again. 4. Days two to four: learn the sides in short daily sessions, and run them out loud until you can look up from the page. 5. Day four: set up the space, find your frame and mark, and do sound tests on your softest and loudest bars. 6. Day five: tape the slate, the song, and each scene with your reader, three takes each at most. 7. Day six: watch on a laptop with headphones, pick the takes, trim the ends, name the files, and send. Keep one thing in perspective while you work. Baxter's guide tells performers that the video's recording quality is not what they're judged on, since everyone has different equipment. A plain wall, a phone, and a cheap speaker are enough. The work is the singing and the acting. For the full process from sides to send, our guide on [how to self-tape an audition](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-self-tape-an-audition) covers every step in order, and our [self-tape sound tips](https://www.offbook.com/blog/self-tape-sound-tips) go deeper on the room. ## Questions actors ask ### Should I sing to a track or a live accompanist on a self-tape? Either is fine unless the request says otherwise. The 2023-24 Musical Theater Common Prescreen allowed live or pre-recorded accompaniment but no a cappella singing. Requests generally expect accompaniment. A plain piano track through an external speaker is a simple, reliable choice, and it sounds like what you'd sing to in the room. ### How should I frame a singing self-tape? Wider than a screen tape. The current Common Prescreen asks for waist up, and the Muny's casting guide describes the top of your head at the top of the frame and the bottom at the waist or mid-thigh. Film in landscape at eye level, and check that your biggest phrase stays in the frame. ### Do I need a reader for musical theater sides? Yes, if the sides have other characters. A person reading off camera, close to the lens, gives you someone to listen to. Before taping day, you can run the scene with Offbook reading the other parts. ### Should I slate before every song? It depends on the year and the request. The 2023-24 Common Prescreen put a slate at the top of each piece; the 2026-27 criteria ask for one separate slate of no more than 10 seconds, with no need to slate the individual pieces. Follow the instructions you were sent. ### Can I use the original cast recording as my track? Not if it has the original singer on it. The panel needs to hear only you, so use an instrumental piano track, a live accompanist, or an app that plays the piano part.