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With some ABF regulars wondering if an online recital would be possible, it gets me thinking about the feasibility of an online piano party. The idea has been tossed around a little before. My idea would be to pick a date, preferably a weekend in about a month, to host a live streaming event. It would be informal; participants can play one piece, up to 5-10 minutes depending on number of participants, or just watch. You can reprise a prior recital piece ( which would be presumably polished) or try something new; restarts allowed, etc.

We could try to find a time when ppl from several time zones would be awake; as an example, 4 pm EST(FL, NY), it would be 1 pm PST (California), 9 pm GMT (London), 10 pm CET (Italy), 8 am AEDT (Sidney). That covers a great deal of this forum.

I believe video conferencing software exists that would make this possible....if we could pull it off, it might be epic!

Feasible? Interest?

It sounds like fun. Though I am not sure how it would work. Skype?
I don’t know how many people from Italy/France/CET zone would participate- it’s not that we wouldn’t be up at that hour, but rather that we mostly live in apartments and you can’t really play piano at that hour.

I do / can play late in the evening but I use the Silent feature and turn the volume down low or use headphones.
I know it’s tricky to accommodate everyone- possibly impossible!

Even so, I think it is a great idea!
Worth a try!

I take part in an online advanced performance workshop once a month with my teacher. We have students from all over the world, and it is really fun to meet each other. We use Zoom, and it works quite well. We perform our pieces for each other, as well as technical exercises. She sets up time by GMT, and we have had participants from the US, Canada, Britain, Spain, India, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia. The Workshops are generally 11:00 GMT or 16:00 GMT on Saturday and Sunday. Those times might work for this.

I would definitely participate is a PianoWorld online party!

I think that a "gotomeeting" type program that is free might work.
'Stride previously called "hall" is a one alternative.


It is free or paid at $3/mo that allows you to cancel anytime.
Meaning at most you would pay 3 bucks for the online session .
Also it allows unlimited attendees and time duration.

Stride goto

p.s. if you have forelocks for Firefox you can tell what time it would be in any timezone.

Zoom is great for this kind of thing.

Zoom looks good to me (and I would be very interested in participating.) If we were to do this as a regular thing, I would be willing to chip in a month or two for a license to allow longer than 40 minutes. I love my local piano forum, and would love love love and online version!

Great! We have about 5? Maybe we'll make a list with username and location / time zone and figure it out.

cmb13 / FL / EST

I am interested, on the west coast.

I'm very interested. Am in USA, Central Time Zone.

So Far.....probably enough for a test....maybe a weekend in April?

cmb13 / FL / EST
casinitaly / Italy / CET
SwissMS / Spain /
piano_primo_1
sara elizabeth
squidbot / WA / PST
bSharp(C)yclist PST
Ralphiano / CST

Could I join you just to watch and see how it all works this time? I'm also in Italy CET. I don't want to commit to playing just yet and besides I'm not even sure that my Internet connection is good enough for that, I am on LTE and if I happen to be in the country that weekend my connection could be weak.

I would participate if I can. My weekends are quite busy but if I have enough notice I can schedule it in.

Another idea would be to post a thread asking for video submissions for a few days only and theme it to a country with the above like criteria
"post a video with an intro of 5-10 minutes of the said area with personal information you've had e.g. pictures, places or experiences,even food recipes! and a piano piece of your choice"
Vimeo is now accessible to anyone and also a link-able vid on pianoworld. I assume someone could close the thread too once submissions are done.
--so that's another idea ....
In a big way , it's less expensive and nerve racking than travel.

A live party would be pretty hard to accomplish without very firm limits to time and what to present by the presenter. I think making a ghost account somehow on you-tube and presenting a VIDEO of any duration once every 6 months for players to comment on would suffice and be less confusing. Also, people are able to leave comments on you tube so there’s feedback.
The differences in this and a piano bar or recital would be
the less formal aspect of being able to introduce yourself, or talk about anything piano-wise e.g. like what you use to record, or play a piece you like.

For fun I guess you could theme them too, like swiss alps- requiring green knee knockers (lol), or I don’t know… the Bach era ( in humor wear a wig). Or require a food recipe or work of art or something indigenous to the theme for an intro
For instance, I could imagine maybe someone introducing themselves by a vid making homemade ravoli, then say playing “Ave Maria’ on their piano.
The downside (or maybe upside ) is not being “live”.
Maybe I’m way off course, but it is MHO.

In a way I think the first one should be, if it flies that is "your hometown or area "etc......

Very interesting, I would participate. At work, we use Google Hangout for conference and meeting. It's free and works on Mac, Windows and Linux.

Serge

Google hangouts works too. Some of us tested it awhile back in the thread below.

http://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2701395/1.html

call me a -spanner in the works- , but a goto would feel like work.

So Far.....probably enough for a test....maybe a weekend in April?

cmb13 / FL / EST
casinitaly / Italy / CET
SwissMS / Spain /
piano_primo_1
sara elizabeth
squidbot / WA / PST
bSharp(C)yclist PST
Ralphiano / CST
Sinophilia / CET
Serge88 /

I think those are some good thoughts, pianoprimo, I like the idea of a video that's a little more informal...however, I feel like it would create pressure to perfect / polish like in the recitals; my idea is less to polish, but more to just play, hesitations and pauses and all if needed. I personally wouldn't submit a terrible performance to a recital but wouldn't be adverse to playing a partial song or an idea to folks on a live recital.

The google hangouts looks like the best bet yet. I haven't used it - does only one active person speak or does it record everyone simultaneously? Don't want it to be too much of a mess. We could make a list and try to stick with it in order if needed.

For Google Hangout, everyone can talk at the same time like in a conference call or mute their microphone. The participants can choose which camera they want to see. No need for a camera or a microphone, if someone just wants to watch.

Serge