Recording and Submitting Your Performance

It is not finished when you stop playing

You can play both pieces beautifully and still have a problem, because a performance submission is not just a recording. It is a pack of three things. Two of those three have nothing to do with music at all, and neither can be fixed later by playing better. This module is the half of the component that happens after the last note.

Three things go in

Every performance submission contains all three of these. One is missing and the submission is incomplete.

Where does each one belong?

Tidying it up afterwards

A student records both pieces cleanly, then goes back and corrects a single wrong note in software so the file sounds right. Can they submit it?

• Yes, because the performance itself was genuinely theirs
• No, because no editing is allowed after the performance
• Yes, as long as they mention the edit on the form
• No, because software may not be used at any point

What the file has to be

Four small requirements sit on the recording itself, and none of them is about how well it went.

How long does the solo need?

The two pieces together have to reach at least four minutes, and the ensemble has to be at least one minute of that total. A student ensemble runs to 1 minute 10. What is the shortest their solo can be, in seconds?

What counts as supporting evidence?

You need at least one piece of supporting evidence. Which two of these would do?

• A notated score of the piece
• A lead sheet
• A photograph of you performing
• A written account of how you prepared
• A signed form from your teacher

No maximum, but short is expensive

The two pieces together have to reach four minutes, with the ensemble making up at least one minute of it. There is no maximum at all, so a long submission costs you nothing. Coming in under the minimum is different. It carries a scaled mark penalty, so the shortfall costs in proportion rather than as a flat deduction, and the specification treats a significant shortfall as something that can be looked into rather than simply marked down. Time both pieces properly rather than estimating them.

What happens after you play

Put these four into the order they actually happen.

• Check both pieces are complete and time them against the minimum
• Save the recording digitally, without editing it
• Get the candidate record form signed
• Attach at least one piece of supporting evidence

One submission, checked

A student records a solo of two minutes twenty and an ensemble of one minute fifty. Combined: four minutes ten, over the minimum, and the ensemble is comfortably past its own minute. The file: both pieces, complete, saved straight off the recorder with nothing altered. The form: filled in and signed. The evidence: a lead sheet for the solo and a notated score for the ensemble, which is more than the one required. Three items, all present, and the whole check took a few minutes. Notice none of it was about how the playing went.

Which two would fail?

Here is a submission described in six details. Tap the two that break a requirement.

• Solo two minutes, ensemble two minutes ten
• One bar of the solo was re-recorded and dropped in afterwards
• The recording is saved digitally on the school system
• The candidate record form has been filled in but not signed
• A notated score is attached for both pieces
• The ensemble piece runs longer than the solo

The pack in a sentence

A performance submission contains _____ things: the audio recording, a signed _____ record form, and at least one piece of supporting _____. The recording must be complete and must not be _____ after the performance. The two pieces together must reach at least _____ minutes.

Is it ready to hand in?

A submission is ready when you can say why. Choose the option in each gap.

In the pack, or not?

Five things a student might hand in. Is each one part of the submission?

A submission to fix

Somebody asks you to look over their performing submission before it goes in.

• Their two pieces come to three minutes forty between them.
• They re-record, and ask whether they can splice the better ending from the first take onto the new one.
• The timings and the recording are now fine, and the record form is filled in but nobody has signed it.

Write the checklist

A friend has finished recording both pieces and asks what else they have to do before handing in. Write your answer.

• Name all three items that go in the pack
• Say what has to be true of the recording itself
• Explain what to check about the timing, and why short matters more than long
• Do not spend any of your answer on how well they played