Terri J. Krause Hlubek

“Elevation has made the process of recording incredibly easy and streamlined”

Customer Experience

Terri J. Krause Hlubek, NCTM, currently resides in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Terri holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey. She is a church organist, accompanist, and operates a piano studio. She is currently the President of the Central Oklahoma Music Teachers Association, Vice President of the Oklahoma Music Teachers Association, and a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music.

I have owned a Superscope PSD 300 for over 5 years, and I love it! It is very simple to operate during a piano lesson. I believe it to be the best quality CD recorder on the market. Although it has many features, I found myself just using the recording device. I find a recording device an essential tool in every studio. Teachers must be able to record the students’ pieces so that the students can listen to their performance, critique it, and shape it into a moreperfect performance.

Piano students are concentrating on fingering, notes, articulation, dynamics, and are often surprised at what the final performance truly sounds like. The ability to record and listen to a performance really opens up my students’ ears and redefines the term “listen”. Also, recording simulates a performance experience and makes the students feel like they have an “audience”. The students can see what parts of their pieces will be needing a little bit more work due to the added performance anxiety. Since I have had overwhelming success using the Superscope PSD 300, I decided to try the Superscope software Elevation. Yes, a dream comes true! Now my recording device is on my laptop. And guess what? The image in the Elevation software looks just like my old Superscope PSD 300. I really thought that things couldn’t get simpler than the Superscope PSD 300. However, with Elevation, recording just became even easier! Believe me, I have tried many of the most popular recording devices and Elevation simply is designed for me, the musician-teacher.

I did call Superscope Technologies at their customer service number to ask questions about Elevation before purchasing it. I was surprised to find out that not only could I download a trial version, but I could (drum roll please) speak to Tim Smyth the leader of the Elevation software design team. He was able to answer all my questions and calm my fears concerning using the technology. It is a comfort knowing that I can speak to the software designer or use his easy to read manual in the Elevation software. Yes, easy reading is the keyword here...Tim left out all absurd techno terms and gets straight to the point how to work it. This is a feature that I can really appreciate.

The next attribute that I like about Elevation is that I don’t have to record on CD’s like my old Superscope PSD 300. No more CD’s to pile through or lists to keep. I simply record my students on Elevation, type in the title of the composition, name of performer, and save it in each students’ private playlist. We then listen to each performance and talk about what we have done very well, and what we could change next time to make a more stellar performance. If we don’t like the performance, we delete it with a touch of a button “delete”.

At Christmas time I make a CD of all my students’ pieces that they performed throughout the year on the Superscope PSD 300 complete with CD labels stating the date and performer! In the past, I would have to take the CD’s from the Superscope PSD 300 finalize it then put it on my computer to select which pieces would go on each students’ CD. Then, I would have to copy the name of each piece for the inner label. Now with Elevation, the process is easier. I already have a playlist on Elevation for each student and the names of the composition/composer.

I simply put in a blank CD and press “burn”. DONE! My students wrap up their CDs to put under the tree for their family members. Now, the families can enjoy their students’ progression from year to year and take pride in their success! How cool is this to be able to have made made your own piano CD as a student. The students share these CDs with their friends on all their electronic devices

Elevation is completely user friendly. I take pieces that I record on my flash drive, directly from my Yamaha Clavinova to the Elevation site and drop the files into my student’s playlist. I also burn CDs for my students of some of their pieces that I have performed and then recorded, to help them learn them faster. I can also burn a CD of a student’s performance while the student is still at their lesson… it only takes a second of my time. The student loves to run out to the car and share their performance with Mom or Dad. I enjoy going into my student’s playlists and play their recordings while they are walking into my studio. This always brings a smile to their faces, and what a great way to start a lesson. I also take the Elevation recordings to recitals, camps and car trips to let the students hear that we are sharing the music that they have made with everyone else. I have transferred the Elevation recordings to iPods, iPhones, flashdrive, CDs, etc. with incredible ease.

Although I use Elevation primarily for piano recording, I also use it to record other instruments including strings and voice. I am always recording the accompaniment for professionals and students to practice with. Many music professionals have told me that the Elevation software is producing a recording studio quality product.

Elevation realizes that I am a piano teacher; my time is valuable to me. It is essential to me as a teacher to be able to record my students’ performances. I don’t want to spend time during the students’ lessons to mess with a recording device, to set it up, turn it on, figure it out etc. My students would be upside down on the piano bench by then! I keep my laptop on, ready to go with each lesson. All I have to do is press one button and Elevation is ready to record. ELEVATION has made the process of recording incredibly easy and streamlined, so I can get to do what I love doing-teaching piano! Easy technology, so you can make beautiful music.

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