Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Recital 52 --- Call For Submissions

Recital #52 is now open for submissions!

Believe it or not, it’s time for the 52nd quarterly “Beginners and Beyond” recital hosted by the Piano World Adult Beginners Forum! The recital will be posted sometime on the 15th of November, which means that submissions must be in by 9:00 pm Eastern Standard Time, November 14th. Please note this deadline is very firm; I cannot start working on the recital until it is closed, and once it is closed, no new entries can be added.

While any and all styles of music are welcome, we do ask that it be piano related. Only one recording may be submitted per forum member (although that recording may consist of a medley of two or more very short related pieces).

Editing or digital alteration of your performance (other than minor edits such as trimming long silences at the end or beginning of the piece) is counter to the 'live recital' spirit of the AB Forum Recital and is thus strongly discouraged. In any event, any editing should be disclosed in the "additional information" section of the recital submission template.

If you are fairly new to the piano, please do not be intimidated by some of the talent here in the ABF. We all consider ourselves to be beginners even though we may have been playing for some time. And, we LOVE to hear recordings from folks new to the keyboard. So even if you’re on your first Alfred’s method book, we would *really* enjoy hearing from you.

Recital submissions must be in MP3 format. The maximum size of the file is 20 MB. We recommend encoding the recording at 192 kbs with a constant bitrate, as that works best with the online streaming player. At that bitrate, a 20 MB file works out to be about 7-9 minutes in length. Your recording will be normalized when placed in the consolidated zip files, but your original link will still be available for those who want it.

If you are new to recording your music, there are several threads in the forum archives that address the ways and means. See the "Important Topics in the AB Forum" thread stickied at the top of the AB forum page. Audacity is an excellent free recording application that can be used.

If you’re new to the forum and the recitals, I encourage you to browse through a few of the past recitals to see what they’re like. An easy way to find past recitals is to use Sam S.’s extremely helpful recital index, located here:

http://recitals.pianoworld.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page


Submitting Your Recording:

We will be using again the absolutely marvelous automatic web-based recital program that mahlzeit wrote for us. You will upload your mp3 file to the recital server as part of the recital submission process.

When you have your mp3 file ready, go to:

https://recitals.pianoworld.com/

and follow the instructions there. Please note that the software does not cope well with international characters, so please convert any such characters to standard American characters. Once you have uploaded your info to the automated recital software, you will receive a confirmation e-mail. You will have the opportunity to revise your submission any time up until the deadline. If you have any problems at all using the website, or if you do not receive a confirmation e-mail within a few hours, just PM me. If you have not participated in past recitals using this software, I strongly encourage you to submit your recital piece at least a day in advance in case you run into any problems with it.

The recital website uses the following submission template to be filled out along with your attached music file. You may want to have your responses to these fields prepared in advance so all you have to do is cut and paste:

Performer's Name: {forum ID and real name if you’d like}
Where you are located: {optional}
Avatar image link: {optional}
Experience: {Yrs/Mos of piano playing experience}
Link to YouTube or other video: {optional}
Home page link: {optional}
Title of piece/composer:
Source of music: {sheet music, improvised score, play-by-ear, etc}
Instrument used: {Piano make, keyboard model, etc.}
Recording method: {audacity, Zoom, digital to PC, etc.}
Constructive technical feedback wanted: {Yes/No}
Additional Info: {Your thoughts on the piece, what you had for lunch, etc.}


The due date for all submissions is 9:00 pm US EASTERN STANDARD TIME on November 14th, 2018.

Did I mention that the 9:00 pm deadline was firm?

Think "consistency of concrete."

By submitting a piece to the recital, you are certifying that it is a recording of your own performance.

Again, the recital order will be presented in the order the pieces were received, so the sooner you send in your piece, the higher you will be on the list! You can revise your entries on the template (e.g., thoughts about your piece, adding YouTube links, and the like) any time and not lose your place in the recital queue, but if you resubmit your recording at any time, for any reason, you will be bumped to the end of the list.

An AB Forum Recital FAQ thread exists that contains this and other information. Should you have any questions at all on what to do or how to do it, do not hesitate to ask. Remember, there are NO stupid questions, as we have a steady flow of new members in AB Forum for whom this is their first recital, so your questions will probably help to eliminate other members’ problems. Please ask away!

Let's all go out and brave that Red Dot and share a lot of beautiful music!

14 submissions so far!

Sam

Up to 20!! Looks like we're off to a good start!

I don't know what number I am; but I got an early start this time. I'd guess about 7. Probably five by the time things are set to rock. . .

Peter, you're No.5 (you *can* check, you know). I surprised myself, in at No.3, but then I always like to get in early so that I can put the current effort to one side and make a start on the next challenge .

I have a date with the tuner on the 9th so after that I could record something. But I have no idea what In fact I have barely touch the piano for over two weeks now. Been so fully involved with the job and some voluntary work plus going through intensive physical rehabilitation. Which btw has cured my back pain finally So what could I learn in a few days? Going back to relearn old pieces does not seem very tempting right now and the pieces under work are all too big or reserved for future recitals...

I think sometimes a chromebook is a bit restrictive on detail. If I wanted to check my position, I'd have to go through the motions of resubmitting my piece . . .

Peterws, go to recitals.pianoworld.com and click on <show me>, just below the red submission deadline. You can see all the submissions.

Sam

Thank you, Sam!

I'm in at 22 with the lovely romantic 70s movie title track Monica was hoping for, but not the tune she thought it might be...although I don't think she'll be too disappointed...

The other serious contender I had for this Recital is currently being played in November's Piano Bar instead (so ok, I was thirsty for a couple of frosty cold adult beverages and had to pay my fare...)

Question: how does one insert a web link into the "Additional Comments" section during the submission process?

I need another week or so to catch up as I've been sidetracked working on my turbo diesel daily driver that decided to go into 'Limp Mode' a week ago, a real term describing extreme power loss and a real pain in the arse as well!

I'm almost done working on that and can now get back to finishing up my piece which will be a selection from the Castlevania / Symphony Of The Night soundtrack; something wildly different than anything I've submitted in the past. Hopefully I can get it all together in time as this is a very challenging piece for me but it's also a blast to play and trust me when I say I'm not holding anything back on this one. Wild passages everywhere! Just wild,...you'll see.

I am in, for the first time. No more waiting for a perfect take...!

I'm in, for the first time in a while. Mine seems to have duplicated itself on upload, but I'm sure Monica K will sort it out :-)

Sorted!!

I changed my entry back to what I originally submitted. The second entry was for Fur Elise, but after slowing down the mp3 and listening to the B section, I realize it needs more work Someone else pointed out the unevenness to me. If I happen to fix it before the deadline, I'll change it again.

I chose another beginner piece , Chopin Op . 28 No. 4 E minor, hope to get it on soon, if not ... then next time.

Mine's recorded on Pianoteq Grotrian. The guy following me plays the real thing . . . .

well I can't find a sound-font of Grotian. But a Steinway yes.
sorry,... not to be a copycat....was just curious of the sound ....

The tuner hasn't called back with a date *sigh*
The piano doesn't sound too bad with some pieces, but is terrible with others, and my first recording session was no good. The least awful is Chopin's Waltz in A minor, which has already been submitted. I was hoping to record one of the 3 Bach pieces that I'm supposedly polishing, but you know how Bach is...

Thanks Monica! I realised afterwards that I had received 2 codes so I could just have done it myself. But you are so darn efficient that it's already taken care of