Hakki,
Thank you and I apologize for questioning your motives.

Honestly, I think the best thing people can do is simply listen and thank people for sharing.

I seldom respond in the recordings forum, but I listen a lot.

I have this theory that people are pretty much aware of their faults, don't give themselves enough credit for their strengths, and really just want to be assured that someone out there cares enough to listen.

So are we all caught up on the apologies? I've lost track.

Perhaps if we were more willing to give each other the benefit of the doubt - rather than getting too hung up on "motives" or "intent" or stubbornly believing that an "apology" is owed to us - we'd all be in a better place. Just a thought.

As to the original question...

-- Listen
-- Thank the person for sharing
-- Try to get a sense of who the performer is (amateur, student, professional, troll**) and tailor your comments accordingly
-- If so moved, offer constructive comments - but represent those comments as YOUR opinion only.
-- If you really must share links to other recorded performances of the same piece, do so through a PM.

Bottom line: Be polite and supportive. Folks don't expect to be raked over the coals when they post recordings here. If treated poorly, those individuals tend to go away, never to return again - which is a bit of a shame and completely unnecessary.

** NOTE: When responding to trolls, it's OK to have a little fun.

I am somewhat mystified when people post a recording right before some performance that is important to them. What do they want and expect? If they are just hoping for nice encouraging words - well, fine, they'll probably get some, but this IS the internet. Even if most of the comments are pretty much what they hope for, there's always the chance (and, IMO, a high probability) that some comment will strike them wrong, and that can be pretty distracting, especially if it is contentious.

I think that posting a recording when one is feeling especially vulnerable about the playing in it just a bad idea. And I think the person posting it is responsible for doing so.

To dip into psychobabble - I get a strong passive-aggressive feeling from that kind of post.

Yeah, I don't get it either. I just try not to be "that guy".

Me neither. When I'm posting on those threads, I spend most of my time reminding the people giving detailed criticisms how short the time is. Often they didn't even know, and when they did know, some seemed not to realize how much it mattered.

IMO when the time is so short, it's only good to get feedback from your teacher and maybe from others who are very close to you and know what kinds of things would or wouldn't be good to say.

Mark_C, I was really impressed with the way you responded to someone who had to put together Chopin Ballade 4 (I think) in 3 months or something like that. He did his best and posted his recording right before his performance. Mark asked him when the performance day. When he was told that it was coming up very soon, he said to him, "in that case, don't change anything - its good the way it is. and I will give you my feedback after the performance." I may have misplaced the word or two, but it was something like that. I like the way the forum is taking this matter seriously as manifested in this thread from the OP to everyone involved here. I haven't recorded anything I can share yet but look forward the day I can post my recording.

I think what you'll find is that there are some petty squabbles, but for the most part, everyone wishes everyone else well despite disagreements. Life is far too short to hate someone because they don't agree with your point of view.

How should one respond? In a word: respectfully.

Unless, of course, it's BachMach2. In that case, grab some popcorn.