Audition Room vs Improvisation room

[riga]

Hi!

First of all congratulations for the site, it's wonderful.

As a suggestion, I would create a child node or another forum for "improvisations/personal compositions" in the audition room.

Now everything is mixed in the same room (actually there are much more improvisations than classical pieces)

What do U think?
//Riga

[nilsjohan]

Yes, this has been suggested before and we will make this change very soon. 

[Derek]

I agree that would be a cool idea, but the amount of classical recordings posted here absolutely dwarfs the number of improvisations. 34 pages * about 50 per page = 1700 pieces altogether.  And I think there are approximately, 188 improvisations posted here, as I've tracked them all (hopefully) in my Index of Improvisers and improvisations. So that's roughly 88% pieces by dead people and 12% pieces by living people. Haha   

[riga]

Well, I don't think that it matters if its 10, 20, 30 or 40%. And it does not matter if it's alive or death.
 
What it matters is the meaning and I think its completely diferent (PERFORMANCE vs COMPOSTITION)

Regards,
//Riga

[quantum]

I think Derek wrote his post with a bit of humor in mind 

[pianowolfi]

Well, I don't think that it matters if its 10, 20, 30 or 40%. And it does not matter if it's alive or death.

I want to improvise and play and compose, dead or alive

What it matters is the meaning and I think its completely diferent (PERFORMANCE vs COMPOSTITION)

Why?

[rachfan]

I would vote for creating separate forums, one for classical repertoire pieces and the other for improvisations.  Grouping instead of mixing the two genres would be a more orderly approach, would streamline perusing, and would better cater to personal interests and preferences of the members.  It makes sense to me.      

[pianowolfi]

Okay let's open our improvisation board (or should I say "ghetto" ? ). I am burning to post there.

[Derek]

I think if we make that forum, we should move that existing sticky thread in there, so everyone can find already posted improvs in the earlier forum on the improv forum.  Also, I think perhaps it should be a child board of the audition room.

[goldentone]

Having a room dedicated to improvisations could really bring more sheep into the fold, 
however, I wonder if by itself it would be neglected and forgotten. I think that is a real possibility if it is a sub-board and not an actual board by itself on the main forum menu.

[pianowolfi]

Having a room dedicated to improvisations could really bring more sheep into the fold, 
however, I wonder if by itself it would be neglected and forgotten. I think that is a real possibility if it is a sub-board and not an actual board by itself on the main forum menu.

Yes that's what I think too .

[rachfan]

I don't know why Improvisations couldn't be its own forum, equal to the Audition Room forum.

[Derek]

I don't think improv should be it's own forum..just a child board of the audition room. It would be nice because then I wouldn't have to keep track of all these improvs being posted in my sticky improv thread  .  I enjoy it though...I'd be happy continuing on as we have. It's kind of fun being the improv cataloger.

[ted]

I cannot make up my mind about this. Where would you post a recording of your own composition ? It would be easy to post an "improvisation" actually composed or a "composition" actually improvised. What about recordings containing both ? What about, say, a piece by  somebody else containing improvised bits ? Who is to say what is composed and what is improvised ? Does it really matter ?

While these issues probably wouldn't seriously bother the posters, the moderator may find it impossible to know where a particular recording should reside. Common sense would have to be applied, with one section being mostly improvisation and the other mostly performances of compositions. Having said that, I think it would be a lot more sensible and workable than the Pianoworld split into "classical" and "non-classical", which is just plain silly.

[Derek]

I would like to continue to see a focus on improvisation especially on a piano forum because I think it is something that more pianists could do, enjoy and benefit from.  I haven't seen any website anywhere that has a forum focused on non-jazz improvisation.  Given that it is becoming more and more common in conservatories to explore improvisation as not necessarily being jazz, I think it would set any piano website apart from others to have a forum, even a child forum, focused on improvisation. 

[rachfan]

Hi Everyone,

I thought it appropriate to breathe new life into this thread, as its importance has not diminished.  Nils had said on 12/7/07 regarding separating the two genres of submissions in order to designate the Audition Room for repertoire compositions while also establishing an Improvisations Room (or sub-forum, whichever) "...we will make this change very soon."  But... even with the new Piano Street software upgrade a number of months ago, it never happened, and now it's over a year later.  So is this change no longer in the administrators' plans?

[nilsjohan]

We have some other exciting plans for the audition room which will need some kind of change in the board structure. It's however not yet clear how this will change, which is one of the reasons we have (quite unneccessarily...) put the Improvisation and Composition boards on hold. So thanks for breathing new life into this!

Another reason for hesitation has been that we find it quite nice with the mix in the audition room, not least since the border between performing other's composition vs improvising is  quite solid in today's world of piano performace.
On the other hand, as Derek points out, a dedicated board could possibly benefit the improvisational tradition. So let's try it! We can easily switch back to the mixed version if it doesn't come out well. I'll go ahead and set it up right now.

BTW, I wonder if Wolfgang and Ludwig or Frédéric and Franz had started piano forums back in their time, would they have opted for a separate board for improvisation?

[rachfan]

I know a medium who just contacted Wolfgang, Ludwig, Frederic, and Franz, as well as Johan, Felix, Johannes, Robert, Claude, Maurice, and Sergei.  She reported back that to a man, they all endorsed the Improvisations Room as being a super-cool idea!     

[pianowolfi]

*Celebrates improvisation room*





Cheers!

[Petter]

[rachfan]

Just about everything has been switched over from what I can see to the two distinct forums.  I like it.  Thanks, Nils! 

[pianowolfi]

It seems that the activity in the improvisation board is going down. Now my question: wouldn't it be an option to create a new main board "Improvisations" instead of a child board? This could be audition room as well as a place to discuss improvisation.

[javacisnotrecognized]

Also, it seems that the "Index of improvisations" topic started by Derek has gotten quite out of date; and Derek himself hasn't even logged in for quite awhile..

[pianowolfi]

Also, it seems that the "Index of improvisations" topic started by Derek has gotten quite out of date; and Derek himself hasn't even logged in for quite awhile..

Yes I miss him

[Petter]

I got a mail encouraging me to post in the improvisation thread. The "child board" label is a bit degrading I suppose. But maybe there´s not enough interest. Discussing it would be fun. I´m really into finding out what approaches or ideas others have that doesn't have a jazz background like myself.

[goldentone]

It seems that the activity in the improvisation board is going down. Now my question: wouldn't it be an option to create a new main board "Improvisations" instead of a child board? This could be audition room as well as a place to discuss improvisation.

Yes, I second the Improvisations to be its own main board.  I mentioned earlier my concern that being a sub board might cause it to be lost.  But I have enjoyed the separation of the improvs into its own place. 

[Derek]

I just wanted to say I'm very impressed with the upgrades! I love the ability to just play improvs people have posted right on the website. The player is easy to use. I'm also very happy to see the new child board about improvisation. My impression is that it has encouraged some pianists to post improvisations who may not have otherwise; or perhaps were not aware. Perhaps this will snowball and help encourage classical pianists who find this website to improvise.

[giannalinda]

I like it... I really like it. I like the Audition room but i also like 2 improvise.