Q from composer: do practice recordings of individual parts (MIDI or otherwise) actually help students?
Composer here, mostly coming from an orchestral/chamber background, only recently starting to write for concert band. I'm considering putting together recordings of individual parts (just MIDI at this point) for recently completed pieces of mine. I know some publishers have done this sort of thing before, but I'm not sure how much directors and students actually find them useful vs. just ignoring them.
So...do these practice recordings get used? If so, are they more helpful at certain levels (middle school vs. high school vs. college)? Are there formats or features that make them more or less useful (play-along vs. isolated part, slower tempo, etc.)? Any strong opinions either way?
Appreciate any insight. Happy to learn more about how things actually work in the band world.